Back in January, Allentown's Redevelopment Authority (ARA) voted to issue what is known as a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the old toy factory located at 725 10th Street. Amazingly, two then members of this five-person board (Jessica Ortiz and Christopher Raad), just happen to be realtors. No conflict there.
Unlike a sealed bid, a request for proposals gives the selectors a lot of wiggle room. They can actually award a project based on factors other than price, though I'd hope that a governmental entity would at least try to be frugal.
Surprise, surprise! That's not what happened with the Toy Factory. There were two proposals, and the ARA is going with the one that makes the least sense, at least for now. A lawsuit recently filed by Nat Hyman, whose proposal was rejected, has thrown a monkey wrench into things.
Though he actually lives in Allentown and is one of the very few developers who actually has a track record of successful projects inside the Queen City. But he's no ass-kisser and generally refuses to bend the knee to those local governmental officials who can be both supercilious and officious.
Hyman proposed buying the Toy Factory for $410,000, about $10,000 more than it cost the ARA. The stated purpose of the RFP was to create workforce and affordable housing. Hyman proposed 20 affordable apartments and would be able to provide parking on the site with no need for off-street parking.
Hyman has a history of 41 projects creating 1,480 apartments. None of these has ever required any taxpayer assistance, no matter how blighted the property may have been.
What about the other proposal? That came from Warren Lim, another realtor who has done 4 projects with 26 apartments. Unlike Hyman, his deal is contingent upon his ability to obtain financing for $1.39 million. Lim had two alternatives. On both of his options the ARA would lose between $50,000 and $100,000 over what it spent to acquire the toy factory. Option A would provide just 6 apartments, a daycare and no off-street parking. The other would create just 12 apartments with no on-site parking.
It gets better. After both proposals were submitted, Lim was called in for a back room meeting with three of the five authority members, which certainly appears to be a Sunshine Act No No, along with staffers like Vicky Kistler, who reputedly smeared Hyman for daring to insist in an unrelated matter that a homeless encampment was a public safety nuisance.
After that back-room meeting, the ARA decided that Lim, and not Hyman, was the best choice. That's right. They went with the project under which taxpayers will actually lose money. They are backing a project that is contingent on financing. They are backing a project that will result in less affordable housing.
Along the way, Alan Jennings, who participated in that private meeting along with a quorum of the authority, condescended from his self-adulation to instruct Hyman to apologize for telling the authority that they are full of shit. (figuratively, of course).
Hyan sued instead.
By the by, the authority also awarded realtor Lim the project at 540 W Hamilton.
Thank you for covering these stories, Bernie. This is the exact sort of thing local media used to investigate.
ReplyDeleteBusiness as usual in the Queen City.
ReplyDeleteYa’ couldn’t make this stuff up.
Jennings once again proves he is the north end of a south bound jackass.
ReplyDeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteIt's a contest between Bethlehem and Allentown as to which can be the most corrupt.
ReplyDeletePlease.
DeleteNo contest here.
Allentown by a slam dunk!
I'd say Bethlehem has the edge there. Willie is just better at hiding it.
DeleteWhy would Allentown want anything to do at all with Hyman ? Isn’t Nat the guy who tried to evict his tenants during Covid, when there was a statewide ban on evicting people into the street ?
ReplyDeleteHis then property manager sent an email to tenants warning them. And Nat, when made aware, immediately apologized to the tenants. He took responsibility.
DeleteOr maybe because he is the only one investing in the city without our tax dollars being used
DeleteAllentown’s government is, to put it mildly, a total mess. Decisions made are unbelievably ignorant.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hyman sued the City for the homeless encampment, I wrote here that Hyman is too smart, too rich and too tough for these bureaucrats and they should just settle the matter with him. Of course they didn’t and of course he won. As far as this matter….ditto!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right ! The Tuerk administration has been sued a bunch of times for discrimination. Let’s add this to the list !
DeleteThe City would rather lose money than make money ???!!!! That tells you everything you need to know about Tuerk and his band of sycophants !
ReplyDeleteSomeone is making money, follow it.
DeleteThis stinks and doesn't surprise me that Jennings was involved!
ReplyDeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteFuck you, coward
DeleteGreat reporting BO! The Tuerk administration is rotten to the core !
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone in the back rooms even bother to tell Mayor Pee Wee what’s going on?
DeleteIt's 1933 all over again. Rinse and repeat. Nat failed to meet the majority team's religious requirements. It's just that simple.
ReplyDeleteAll you have to say is “Alan Jennings” and you know the process is corrupt. That guy made a lifetime of fleecing people out of their money and doing nothing for the community. He thinks he’s important and that people admire him. Little does he know that everyone thinks he is do nothing asshole !
ReplyDeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteYou get the government you vote for. If I lived in Allentown I would be laser focused on how to get myself and my family out of there. If I had to work 2 jobs or whatever. The city government is a disaster. The school district is one of the lowest performing in the state. Yet they keep voting for the same shit.
ReplyDeleteBernie, as I'm reading this I'm scratching my head at the difference between common sense and pettiness that appear to have influenced this decision.
ReplyDeletePettiness?
DeleteDana, this is stone rotten corruption.
Totally agree. Something is rotten in Denmark and it is Tuerk and his flunkies. Someone got paid here
DeleteThe ARA is filled with flunkies of the mayor.
ReplyDeleteIt is anything but an independent authority, and has been since Pawlowski remodeled it into its current form.
Ok what the hell is Alan Jennings doing in that room? I swear, I have never seen someone try harder to remain relevant. Alan, you're retired. Enjoy it already.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Alan just go away !
DeleteRetirement doesn’t begin to satisfy the narcissistic self.
DeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteMr. Hyman has taken all of these ugly old buildings in Allentown and invested his own money to make them beautiful. And this is the way Allentown treats him? That sends the wrong message to anyone who wants to invest in our city without the benefit of NIZ or other tax incentives.
ReplyDeleteHyman for Mayor!
DeleteAllentown’s last best hope.
The next time Tuerk wants to raise our taxes remind him of this and how his hand picked people choose to lose our money instead of make money for the taxpayers
ReplyDeleteThe Performance Mayor neither knows nor cares.
DeleteThis is so blatantly corrupt it’s like they are begging to go the way of Pawlowski. Every one who voted for the money losing bid should be investigated by the FBI
ReplyDeleteVicky Kistler used to be the director of health. When you look at her, the first thing that comes to mind is “healthy lifestyle”….not!
ReplyDeleteHyman will win.
ReplyDeleteThere’s no bigger blowhard in the world than Alan Jennings. If you ask him, he knows everything !
ReplyDeleteA legend in his own mind
DeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteKistler, Ortiz, Jennings - a Dream Team of Allentown brain trusts. A Trinity of wisdom and experience. A Hat Trick of honesty and integrity.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s not to love?
What could possibly go wrong?
Give them all microphones a recording device and start a Super Group!
The blind leading the blind
DeleteNothing “blind” about it. The fix is in for someone.
DeleteOrtiz here what exactly are you saying...FYI i.been resigned
DeleteJessica Ortiz, It was your motion to send out the RFP.
DeleteYes, I'm along with my motion.I also asked for different members of the community to be on the selection committee, not the city staff.What should we keep it property for. But never was it my intention for another developer to come and get that property ever?And as you will notice, I have resigned for several months now, before any bids came in again.I can go on and tell you more
DeleteShilling for your boyfriend again?
ReplyDeleteHyman is the biggest (or second biggest) developer in Allentown. He is the news all of the time. TV, Newspaper and blogs. Molovinsky wrote about him last week. But Bernie writes something and he is “shilling for his boyfriend”. Also, this is hardly shilling , he is just telling the facts. This article is about corruption , not Hyman. And I’m glad Bernie informed us.
DeleteWhat I want to know is why Nat even bothers with these people any more? He has rebuilt this city and they continue to shit on him. He’s too good for them and should forget Allentown and move on
ReplyDeleteGreat reporting Bernie. The Morning Call is asleep and we rely on you for the real news. I also liked your story about the waterfront developer which was never carried by MCall.
ReplyDeleteThe Morning Call has been completely compromised by the biggest Democrat and Liberal players. Either that, or their Tribune overlords give them absolutely no editorial privilege on anything but mundane matters like sports, local leisure activities, etc.
DeleteTo be honest I never found the argument that TMC is biased in favor of Dems or liberals as particularly persuasive. I believe it has always been biased in favor of whomever is in power, especially in Allentown. But most local newspapers, who depend on local officials for stories, are that way. The problem I see with TMC these days is that it no longer provides even those stories. You have to go to local community pages on Facebook and read what people say about their community and learn to distinguish bullshit from fact. I no longer rely on local papers or even lehighvalleynews.com, whose newsroom has been destroyed. The closest thing to a local news source is WFMZ and the weekly papers. .
DeleteThe Morning Call’s articles dealing with State and Federal political news are HIGHLY biased to favor liberalism and the Democrat Party. This is more than obvious to anyone but a very casual skimmer of the “news” it lifts from Associated Press, CNN, Bloomberg, New York Times, etc. I rarely read further than the first couple paragraphs of that garbage to know exactly the kind of propaganda being pushed each morning.
DeleteBottom line, citizens should never base their political knowledge solely on what they read in the Morning Call. Too much deception there. Often untrustworthy.
@ 4:58.. I mean look at the other party? LOL not much positive to write about! LOL silly wars with countries that have no nukes, global rise in gas prices and everything else. Stock market tanks every other day. Over $40 trillion in debt now, and added a trillion in half a year! Yeah I’d talk about other parties also..
DeleteNat is a decent guy- on the other hand, Alan Jennings has been a scrubber his entire adult life- I wish he would just go away!
ReplyDeleteFuck you,, coward.
DeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteIf they don’t give this building to Mr. Hyman there should be an investigation.
ReplyDeleteIt’s past time for a statue of Alan Jennings to be erected.
ReplyDeleteHasn’t the First presbyterian Church of Allentown already erected a monument for Alan?
DeleteFuck you, coward.
DeleteKistler may be a thoroughly unattractive human being in every regard, and she is that, but the POS has been a virtually indispensable apparatchik for multiple administrations over what amounts to several generations now.
ReplyDeleteGive her props for being capable, flexible and utterly devoid of conscience.
Hyman for Mayor!
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a critical piece of backstory missing here.
ReplyDeleteThe particular group of co-conspirators doesn’t get to together without a specific reason.
Who precisely is Warren Lim?
Why would Jennings, for one, go to bat for this particular guy?
They is most definitely more to this story than meets the eye.
Excellent work, BOH.
Please stay on it.
How does the Morning Call not cover this ? It is corruption in our local government plain and simple. This is what local journalism is about, or should be
ReplyDeleteWhat’s in this for Jennings? There’s always something in it for Jennings even if it’s just adulation.
ReplyDeleteSome felons return home from the Federal Penitentiary and no longer recognize the world.
ReplyDeleteIt must be reassuring for Ed Pawlowski that when he recently returned little to nothing has changed.
Alan Jennings has never helped a single homeless person in his entire grifting life. The poverty business has been very lucrative for him.
ReplyDeleteVicky Kistler may be on the Allentown City payroll but she gets her marching orders from Ed Meehan at Pool Trust.
ReplyDeleteMeehan is the puppet master here.
Pennsylvania Fiscal Code passed in 2021 legally keeps the specific tax details of the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) secret. Is it any wonder that the city and state that creates a law specifically to legally hide details about the NIZ feels secure in making rules to do as they please with our tax dollars in secret and with no retribution? Our only hope in Allentown is if we get Mr Hymen or someone as adept as he is to become mayor. And it don't look good.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Bernie. This is what investigative reporting is all about. How people respond to it in practice matters more than flip statements and twisted political views ever will. This same problem is being presented not only in Allentown but also throughout the Lehigh Valley.in different forms and packaged different ways. The problem remains the same. It’s Public Corruption and not a joke.
ReplyDeletenates a slumlord right ?
ReplyDeleteTenants who refuse to pay rent and end up evicted will always claim their landlord is a slumlord. I know several of his tenants here in Nazareth, and they speak highly of him. But these are people who actually pay rent.
DeleteYes, isn’t it always the non-payers, the ineligible, the criminals and thief’s, etc. who scream the loudest, accuse others of racism, etc. whenever their little rackets are exposed and brought to a halt?
DeleteGeez, in America we have Members of Congress who fit this description.
No, Nat is definitely not a slumlord.
DeleteI did not read but my 1st comment is to address it resigned months ago because I felt there was conflict of interest ( not with me) , miss management and do much more
ReplyDeleteWhy didn’t she read ? Is it because she can’t read ? It is a few paragraphs
DeleteI didn't read your article past my name...but I resigned months ago. Now ask me why?
ReplyDeletewhy?
DeleteMy first reason was because invoices were being paid to people who weren't provided the service. My second was because they were choosing on who they decided to use as contractors, and then when I questioned it one to make it difficult for others, sir, they chose the selection committee that would rig the choosing process. Those are my first 3 reasons. The process for this particular toy factory also has been shady since day.One , and those are just the tip of the iceberg
DeleteHuh? She is illiterate
DeleteAnonymity is cowardice.
ReplyDeleteThat is more often than not true but they could be cowards who are still telling the truth. You, on the other hand, have been behind nearly every major mistake in Allentown, from your rabid support of Fed Ed to your role in the facade grants, and don’t get me started on other communities. Yet you think every time you fart. People should applaud
DeleteSpeaking of cowards, it's pretty pathetic that you won't publish my response to the paranoid schizophrenics. And you take cheap shots knowing we can't comment on the substance of the lawsuit.
DeleteI know you're too smart to believe your bull shit. You know damn well that my salary was among the lowest in the nonprofit sector. You know damn well that I declined raises. You know damn well how modest my home is. You know damn well that I received countless awards from groups throughout the Lehigh Valley, from the Conference of Churches to the Chambers of Commerce, from the US Marine Detachment to the CPA's. You may not know that my papers are in the archives of the Lehigh County Historical Society and that I was inducted into the National Community Action Foundation Hall of Fame. Surely you can''t believe that all of these people are members of Sinister Creeps and Satan Worshipers of America's Lehigh Valley Chapter.
Despite my retirement I continue to volunteer my time working on a range of groups' agendas, including housing, the arts, children and community development.
You, on the other hand, have, for decades, been a mean-spirited loser, a malicious liar who takes pleasure in trying to smear good people trying to do good things for their community, trashing their motives because you hate that people could care for others if for no better reason than that it makes them feel like decent human beings.
So, come after me, you pathetic SOB, remind us what a small, ugly antidote you are for all that is good in our world.
Alan, I have published every comment you submitted, from you patting yourself on the back to the vulgarities. Aren't you special!
DeleteFuck you, coward.
ReplyDelete