Liberty Harbor Slammed By City, Courts
The Liberty Harbor North development has been having a rough week. The city is demanding payment of $100,000 in unpaid fees for the operation of a parking lot, a judge awarded $18 million to a property for land seized through eminent domain, and the city is fining the developer for an illegal billboard.
Liberty Harbor has been operating a parking lot on Jersey Avenue, the future site of retail building and parking garage in the development. The lot was leased to the board of education to provide parking for faculty, but developer Peter Mocco has not been paying city parking taxes for the spaces. Now the city is looking for $100,000 from the last year that went unpaid.
In an unrelated ruling, a segment of land within the development will cost about four times as much as had been previously paid. A three and a half acre lot in the redevelopment zone was seized through eminent by the city, and bought back by Mocco. A judge ruled the property owner should have been paid $18 million, and ultimately that will come back to being the developer's responsibility.
Finally, an advertising billboard on Grand Street violates city codes, and the city is fining the developer more than $1,000.
Liberty Harbor North is a long planned development that will eventually have between 8,000 and 10,000 housing units, a million square feet of office space, and retail districts. Construction in the first phase has slowed following last years mortgage crisis and a dearth of new buyers. Three new streets of faux brownstones have so far been completed and two larger buildings; a third larger building is currently under construction. Mocco stated several months ago that there would no new construction for a least a year, save for the completion of the half built buildings.
Other lots in the redevelopment zone are being built by third party contractors, including a residential tower that broke ground on Grand Street last week.
Liberty Harbor has been operating a parking lot on Jersey Avenue, the future site of retail building and parking garage in the development. The lot was leased to the board of education to provide parking for faculty, but developer Peter Mocco has not been paying city parking taxes for the spaces. Now the city is looking for $100,000 from the last year that went unpaid.
In an unrelated ruling, a segment of land within the development will cost about four times as much as had been previously paid. A three and a half acre lot in the redevelopment zone was seized through eminent by the city, and bought back by Mocco. A judge ruled the property owner should have been paid $18 million, and ultimately that will come back to being the developer's responsibility.
Finally, an advertising billboard on Grand Street violates city codes, and the city is fining the developer more than $1,000.
Liberty Harbor North is a long planned development that will eventually have between 8,000 and 10,000 housing units, a million square feet of office space, and retail districts. Construction in the first phase has slowed following last years mortgage crisis and a dearth of new buyers. Three new streets of faux brownstones have so far been completed and two larger buildings; a third larger building is currently under construction. Mocco stated several months ago that there would no new construction for a least a year, save for the completion of the half built buildings.
Other lots in the redevelopment zone are being built by third party contractors, including a residential tower that broke ground on Grand Street last week.
Labels: Liberty Harbor
1 Comments:
Surely Mocco is not above the law. But at the same time, it is a really nice looking development in a public transit friendly area and it's taking over unused land and converting it into property that will return significant tax revenue to jersey city in the future.
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