I am thrilled to report that it seems like the RenSquare players are finally coming to their senses! The RGRTA woke up from their temporary coma, and announced last week that they think their original location for the new and improved bus terminal should be the original site on the "old" RenSquare footprint. What a shock, they are thinking. Now, it should only be a short time before MCC comes to the same conclusion. Of course, this humble correspondent predicted all of this months ago.
We now have The RGRTA saying exactly what I said before the old RenSquare fell apart. Coming "back" to the old location is the only way to get ANY value from the 24 million dollars that has been completely squandered during the 12 year RenSquare fiasco. It makes perfect sense. After MCC gets a new team of experts to examine other locations, they will come to the same conclusion...Main Street, was, and still is, the best place for the new campus.
Now, the plot thickens once again. The County government is back in play. Although the County recently offered Phyllis Cohen almost $900,000.00 for all of her properties during the RenSquare debacle, they are now foreclosing on her Main Street properties for back taxes. The timing is a bit suspect. The County Government here is simply atrocious. They are underhanded, and will stop at nothing to get what they want. Remember, Phyllis owns a common wall with the County on the only building that they control, Gateway Center. I recently leased that building to a local woman who is renovating the old McDonalds building and turning it into a small grocery store. It is scheduled to open at the end of March. That would make things a bit difficult for the County when they realize that they are coming back to the Main Street site.
Rather than try to deal with Phyllis, they are trying to foreclose for $24,000.00 in back taxes.
I am negotiating a sale with Phyllis as this is being written. There is no reason that either the City, or the County, don't simply make an offer to purchase the properties. After all, they have purposely driven all the values down so they could "steal" these properties at ridiculously low prices. Most of this news is very good for me personally. I need MCC and the RGRTA to come back to Main Street so my plan for the corner can come to fruition. Now that the PAC is headed for Main Street at the old McCurdys site, my property at the corner is available for development. I have a great plan for that corner. In the meantime, I have completely remodeled 1 Clinton Ave. This was the old Amiels sub shop. I am in the process of remodeling my fathers old jewelry store into a diner style lunch counter that will be connected to the new restaurant on Clinton. I should be done with those renovations by June 1st. We are now open for business at FOOD. We are serving all types of breakfast and lunch items. I hope you will visit us.
I think this issue will finally come to closure in the coming weeks. Phyllis Cohen's property is the lynch pin. She owns all of the important properties on that block. Phyllis has been foreclosed on her personal residence, and that will come to auction at the end of March. Interestingly, just days after she received the auction notice on her home, the County piled right on and started their own legal action to acquire her properties. They are a real lovely group of individuals.
I expect this to play out very quickly and I will update this blog as things happen. Talk soon.
Neil
