The Deed transferring title of Wilson Borough's vacant Dixie Cup factory was recorded today along with an $11 million mortgage to the former owner.
WilsonPark, Ltd (a collection of five estates in which Joe Reibman has an interest) conveyed title of the plant and an adjoining parking lot to Skyline Investment Group Easton, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. The purchase price? $10. But the $110,000 state transfer tax indicates that the actual purchase price is $11 million.
Interestingly, none of this $11 million has gone to Reibman;s WilsonPark, Ltd. Instead, he has accepted an $11 million open-ended mortgage from Skyline. It is due when Skyline gets its $29 million tax break known as a TIF as well as loan proceeds from a "third party lender." If unsuccessful, it's due in 33 months.
Brian Bartee has executed the mortgage as manager for Skyline Investment Group Easton, LLC.
Basically, Bartee has acquired title for nothing, and is hoping to leverage the $29 million in taxpayer funding to pay off Reibman.
Despite Lamont telling you to not look into th NDA, this is just part of the big sting.
ReplyDeleteMcClure should focus on his government building and health Center and let this nonsense die a natural death., He will blame council (what else does he do) But I doubt it will keep them up at night.
A taxpayer shake down for a private company to make profits. Be careful who you vote for, there are consequences!
ReplyDeleteSo very true. Sucks that people supported Trump when his tax “cuts” only truly helped the 1%’ers! Trust me I won’t be voting Trump this time either. Sorry you did mean voting D all around, correct?
DeleteSo, this guy can’t even buy the property without the TIF money? This is quite insane. How is he going to pay to develop it? Way too many questions with this guy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for continuing to expose this scam. There will be a full slate of candidates against the Wilson Area School Board next year if they pass this.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think any of those board members will care? I mean they would lose that sweet deal of a salary, currently at $0 if they are voted out! Sadly your sorry butt most likely won’t run… lol
DeleteBack room deals with tricky finances must always be viewed with suspicion
ReplyDeleteThis is the problem with government involvement in what should be a private transaction. Costs are inflated beyond their worth to whatever the government will pay.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we end up paying when government overrides the free market and overpays.
Ask yourself what services you want to see cut, or how much of a tax hike you’re willing to pay for this project at the county, municipal and school district level?
And to those involved, please spare me the trope about how much revenue will be generated from the project. There are developers willing to buy and develop this property without getting a taxpayer subsidy and forcing the taxpayers to overpay a negligent owner.
Doubt very much that there will be tax increases due to this project. Deep breathes friend, but taxes at municipal level should be raised with or without this building!
DeleteBernie, follow the $, this deal stinks to high heaven!
ReplyDeletePlease explain further what this means going forward. Is there no money being paid toward the hoped-for mortgage now? Is this similar to paying for an option to purchase, but in this case, not actually paying anything? Is this McClure-supported investment of my tax dollars really just rainbows and lollipops now? Is anyone actually paying taxes on those same acres now, and what is that annual amount?
ReplyDeleteThis whole thing is soooo. . . sketchy!
An independent counsel investigation is needed here. Something is terribly wrong. This is a stunning amount of corporate welfare directed from one individual to another individual. This falls so far outside county responsibility it's shocking.
ReplyDeleteIts a scam! Anyone who votes for this should be gone from office! Especially the School Board members!!!!
ReplyDeletelol think any school board member cares if they get voted off? You simpletons and your threats to VOLUNTEER school board members! Get over yourself! You going to run? Doubtful
DeleteReibman fucking around with Wilson again. No way does this project get built with this developer. Reibman can never do anything straight.
ReplyDeleteI'm really fearful of what happens to the tens of millions of County General Authority bonds if the project is not completed, or is not successful, and the expected tax revenues are not generated over the next 20 years to pay the bonds off.
ReplyDeleteRemember the half-completed baseball stadium south of I-78, that involved an entity with little development experience? It was eventually demolished, after many local contractors were screwed over.
Who would buy these bonds if they don't trust the developer to pay them off? Based upon his lack of experience and lack of personal equity in the project, I don't think he could get funding from any conventional lender.
As Bernie has pointed out, it seems really suspicious that the developer and his comrades are proposing to cash out many millions from the project near the beginning of the project, instead of many years after completion and full occupancy.
This is not necessarily a scam unless $11 million is an inflated price for the building. I do not know what it's worth so I can't comment on the scam part.
ReplyDeleteI can comment that this is slippery beyond belief and wonder why Lamont is letting himself get caught up in this type of deal. He's smarter than this.
Run away NorCo.
The Banker
Joe Reibman is screwing over Wilson one more time.
ReplyDeleteReibman refused Nat Hyman's 10 million dollar offer? Reibman will be lucky to get the back-taxes off his ledger, but won't be lucky enough to see any of the 11 million dollars he bargained for. Hyman had this pegged from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteHey Banker, you don't know Monty McClure. His ego trumps brains.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the approved June 10th meeting minutes ,this topic was never mentioned.
ReplyDeleteBernie, you should request a copy of the minutes and see for yourself what was discussed
Would the proceeds of the County bond be issued in relatively small amounts at a time as construction proceeds in phases? Or, would millions be released immediately to the developer to buy the property and to pay profits in advance to the developer and his buddies?
ReplyDeleteThese types of tax incentives and bonds are usually used to build public improvements that are necessary to support a project, such as road improvements, public parking decks, stormwater improvements and sidewalks. If the money is used for needed public improvements, the diverted tax dollars typically would not be wasted if the project went belly-up. However, it appears this project is being used for expenses that the developer should be paying, including interior work on a private building and property acquisition. It appears the developer is not putting up sufficient private investment of his own up-front.
Reading the minutes of the Wilson Council June 10th meeting there is no mention of Mr. Reibman holding any note for the buyer. READ the Attorney report in the minutes on all matters. Reibman never mentioned. Someone is holding something back from the Borough of Wilson and it sounds awful phony.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mcall.com/1999/06/27/flahertys-record-is-sketchy-developer-says-he-can-finish-williams-township-stadium/
ReplyDeleteNews article about how the Northampton County Industrial Development Authority started questioning the credentials of the developer who was building the baseball stadium south of I-78. It was never finished and was eventually demolished. Fortunately, in that case, the main public incentive was a $5 million state grant that could not be received until the project was finished. Therefore, the state tax dollars were not wasted.