Tag: Ridgewood Real estate

>Given the current economic environment, fiscal discipline certainly is in order. Look at approval of emergency appropriations from 12/10 meeting-
Approve Emergency Appropriations – Current Fund – Makes an emergency appropriation for various departments in a total amount of $332,548 which is necessary due to the fact that the Uniform Construction Code Trust Fund will not generate sufficient revenues to support its indirect expenses for the Current Fund Operating budget for these various departments

In addition, you would have to imagine next year’s budget will be facing a big hole in terms of higher pension costs given most pension funds are down 20%+ this year and this is one of the largest expenses in the budget.

Since I moved to Ridgewood 5 years ago, I have been appalled by the village’s lack of fiscal discipline (spending on putting greens,etc.) and inability to manage large capital projects (village hall reconstruction, Habernickel farm development). Why will the Schedler property be any different? Also, the Village would be giving up $40k in annual taxes as an undeveloped property plus how much in additional costs (insurance, etc.) where the Village really needs all the revenue it can get at this point.
I’d rather see Schedler developed as single family homes or as a commercial space where we can get more property taxes.

There’s nothing wrong with open space but the problem with Ridgewood is they haven’t shown any ability to manage or maintain properly their existing open space.

>Mall owner’s default risk high

Wednesday, December 10, 2008
THE RECORD

NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings downgraded Tuesday the credit ratings of General Growth Properties Inc., which owns shopping centers in Paramus and Wayne, saying default may be imminent for the mall owner.

Fitch noted that General Growth’s recent move to extend the amount of time it has to repay debt and said it thinks the company may need to restructure its debt to avoid bankruptcy. Fitch considers a distressed debt swap, in which a company exchanges its debt for new bonds at a heavily discounted rate, to essentially be a default.

Fitch also said conditions in real estate debt capital markets are hurting General Growth’s ability to raise money to repay about $600 million in 2009 maturing unsecured debt. General Growth, which has 200 malls nationwide, owns the Paramus Park and Willowbrook malls. It is not expected that bankruptcy would affect the malls’ operations or relationships with tenants.

As one of the nation’s largest shopping mall owners, General Growth has been hit hard by the deteriorating U.S. economy and problems at struggling retailers. It also has taken on massive amounts of debt — last month in a regulatory filing, General Growth said nearly $3.1 billion worth of debt will come due next year.

Earlier this month, General Growth reached an interim agreement to extend the time it has to pay back $58 million in notes to Thursday, just days after the Chicago-based real estate investment trust got a two-week reprieve to pay off $900 million in mortgages.

Fitch downgraded the issuer default rating to “C,” its lowest junk rating, from “B” for General Growth Properties Inc., GGP Limited Partnership and unit The Rouse Co. Fitch also downgraded the revolving credit facility, term loan and exchangeable senior notes ratings for GGP Limited Partnership to “CC/RR5” from “B-/RR5.”

General Growth remains on “negative watch,” meaning further downgrades are possible.

Last month, the company reported disappointing third-quarter results and cut its year-end forecast, weeks after the mall owner’s board removed its chief executive, president and chief financial officer. Their ouster came after the company disclosed that former CEO John Bucksbaum’s family trust provided $90 million in personal loans to cover margin debt for the former CFO and president.

New management has warned that crushing debt combined with the declining economy bring the company’s viability into question.

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When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

If you approve, please pass it on.

>A six day week – canceling 1 day could save us 1/7th of our costs. Nothing should happen on that day, nothing, just breathing. Just pick any day. I would go for Wednesday. It’s hard to spell anyway.

Rent space in our enormous Village Hall to other towns. C’mon, do we really need a palace THAT BIG just for us?

As mentioned above, NO 4th of JULY parade or holiday period. I mean, the nation’s birthday was sooo long ago.

Get rid of the VC and the BOE. We’ll save a lot of hot air that way and who knows what else.

Do we really need a town swimming pool? Get rid of Graydon and its subsidy; it’s a chemical laden toxic site anyway. Just think of how much we’ll save on insurance.

Cops should use horses. Hay is cheaper than gas.

School should only be 4 days a week. Less bad math to screw up our kids. Let the tutors parents hire fill in the gaps. They do that now anyway.

Let the Internet be our town library. Close the building down. Have all the library donations go into the now flush town fund.

Let’s get a blow up doll to be our superintendent. You think anyone will notice? Nah.

Ignore all state and federal mandates. That should save us a bundle. What are they going to do, invade?

Make divorce a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 affair. Split everything equally between the husband, wife and town.

Kids are expensive, pay us a hefty fee if you want to have them.

>The problem is a simple. There is much more money to be made in giving parking tickets than there is in enforcing moving violations. And, there is no confrontation as there would be if a policeman actually pulled a car over for failing to yield in a crosswalk or talking on a cell phone.

The problem is only going to get worse until the Ridgewood police change the priorities and take crosswalk and cell phone violations seriously.

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Economy Leaves Americans with Empty Plates

More than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, either live with or are on the verge of hunger. In New Jersey alone, an estimated 250,000 new clients will be seeking sustenance this year from the state’s food banks. But recently, as requests for food assistance have risen, food donations are on the decline, leaving food bank shelves almost empty and hungry families waiting for something to eat.

The situation is dire, no more so than at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), the largest food bank in the state, where requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent. Warehouse shelves that are typically stocked with food are bare and supplies have gotten so low that, for the first time in its 25 year history, the food bank is developing a rationing mechanism.

As the state’s key distributor of food to local banks – providing assistance to nearly 1,700 non-profits in the state serving more than 500,000 people a year – the stability of replenishment of the CFBNJ is essential to ensuring that individuals in need have access to food.

If everyone could just do a little, it would help those in need a lot. To help, people can:

1. Make a monetary contribution: Visit www.njfoodbank.org.
2. Donate food: Drop off a bag of food at your local food pantry.
3. Organize a food drive: The CFBNJ can help explain the logistics of starting a food drive. Just call 908-355-FOOD.
4. Help “Check Out Hunger:” Look for the “Check Out Hunger” coupons at your local supermarket and donate. No donation is too small!

One thing that people commonly confuse is the role of the food bank. The CFBNJ is similar to a wholesale distributor, as they provide food to more than 1,600 charities throughout the state, which then give food directly to the hungry (the food bank does not give food directly to individuals). The food bank also does not accept small amounts of food, such as a cart of groceries. They encourage those donations go directly to a local food pantry or soup kitchen. Rather, the food bank accepts large quantity food donations, such as a truck full of groceries, as well as monetary donations which they stretch to purchase food at wholesale prices, such as 300 lb. bags of rice, for example.

Thank you for taking the time to review all this. Please contact me ASAP if you would like to participate. We are planning to do press releases and include the list of blogs involved.

Deborah Smith
JerseyBites.com

>Two recent and serious traffic accidents, involving what is alleged to be driver inattention at crosswalks, has caused me to wonder whether there’s much incentive for drivers in Ridgewood to drive within the limits of the law. As both a driver and a pedestrian, I see a lot of crosswalk violations, and from what I observe, the drivers are either not looking, or are simply oblivious to their obligation to yield. Yes, the arguments are made that drivers can’t be expected to stop on a dime, but that’s not what I see. The latest accident involving a crosswalk pedestrian saw a lady in her late 80’s being struck. Come on folks, can you really picture this lady “darting out” into traffic?

As for other driving problems, talking on cell phones while driving is at epidemic proportions. Argue the rights and wrongs of this law all you like, it’s the law. Next time you are in town, just observe passing traffic and you will see about half of the drivers are on the phone, as well as a few of them dialing numbers. For goodness sake Ridgewood drivers, hands-free devices are really cheap. Spend a few bucks and then you can legally yak away all you like.

Speeding is probably the fundamental driving issue in Ridgewood. 25 mph may be the norm in the center of town, merely because driving any faster isn’t possible due to the busy-ness of downtown. Beyond the center, speeds typically reach 35-45 mph. Right now as I type this, I am looking out onto Godwin Avenue and while I don’t claim to be an expert on visually calculating driving speeds, I know for sure that they are doing well over 25 mph.

I’m not looking to bash our PD. I just think that their ticket books need to be produced a little more often. Is there a problem in Ridgewood with not wanting to upset its residents? An environment of zero-tolerance strict traffic enforcement will encourage better driving habits.

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NEW LOCATION FOR TREE LIGHTING is at Memorial Park at Van Neste Square.

6:45pm – Music: Band, Flag Salute, Harmony Chorus, Art of Motion Children, Official Greeting from Mayor

7:30pm – Tree Lighting

7:40pm – Musical Entertainment continues until 9pm

*** SANTA will be in his House in the Park on SATURDAY, Dec. 6th, 13th, 20th and Christmas Eve – 12/24 10am – 2pm

SPONSORED BY THE RIDGEWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERC

>”All I Really Need To Know I learned In Kindergarten”

BY Robert Fulghum

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash you hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for Traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup–they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all-— LOOK.

>At the next Board of Education meeting on Monday, December 8, recommendations made by the Board’s Facilities Committee for building improvements and expansion will be presented by Angelo DeSimone, assistant superintendent for business. Mr. DeSimone will discuss the district’s plans for each building, including expansion and/or performance of required capital maintenance projects. He will also speak about the projected costs.

The Board of Education meets on Floor 3 of the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

>Empty stores in region on rise
Thursday, December 4, 2008
THE RECORD
BY ANDREW TANGEL
STAFF WRITER

The number of vacant stores along major corridors in North Jersey increased to 5.7 percent in November, from 3.6 percent earlier this year, according to a recent survey, another sign of the steep drop in consumer spending.

The vacancy rate along a 15-mile stretch of Route 17 experienced the most dramatic increase in North Jersey. In a survey of 141 properties, |R.J. Brunelli & Co., a real estate brokerage in Old Bridge, found a vacancy rate of 7.3 percent in November, up from 4.5 percent in the weeks following New Year’s 2007. It was the highest vacancy rate found in the ­survey for Route 17 since at least 1999.

The survey also found the vacancy rate along Route 4 was 10 percent, a 0.1 percent drop from early this year. The retail hub has been hard hit by closures of stores specializing in home furnishings, said Richard Brunelli, the firm’s president.

Increased retail vacancies are further evidence of a recession and do not bode well for the holiday shopping season, when consumer spending – which accounts for 70 percent of the American economy — is highest.

Brunelli expects vacancy rates to increase a percentage point early next year, as more stores go bankrupt because of sales shortfalls. Typically, he said, stores have filed for bankruptcy in January and vacated properties in February and March.

He said Routes 4 and 17 may be hit particularly hard because of their high concentration of stores selling home furnishings and decorations. Those stores, he predicted, will fold because of the downturn in the housing market.
“I hate to be the bearer of projected bad news, but I think Routes 4 and 17 may feel a disproportionate amount of pain that we’re going to feel in 2009,” he said.

While the increase in vacancies may be bad news for landlords and their mortgage lenders, they will likely be a boon to businesses that can afford to expand. An increased supply of space will likely push down already depressed rental rates. In February, the average rent for retail space at shopping centers in northern New Jersey was $21 to $22 a square foot, according to a report by NAI Global, a commercial real estate services firm. (The figure excludes malls and downtowns.)

“They’re going to make some great deals in the next six months,” he said. “Landlords are just caving in and making deals they never would have made before.”

North Jersey has fared better than central Jersey, according to Brunelli’s survey, and better than the national average. The vacancy rate for retail space in central Jersey ticked up to 6.6 percent in November, from 4.7 percent earlier this year. The survey does not include enclosed malls.

A national report in September by Marcus & Millichap, a real estate brokerage and investment firm based in California, said the average retail vacancy rate for 2008 nationwide is expected to be 11.1 percent.

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>Village of Ridgewood CFO Dorothy Stikna disclosed during Wednesday evening’s Village Council Work Session that the Village’s AAA Bond Rating could be at risk because of the increasing percentage of debt service as compared to the Village’s overall budget.

During a discussion about financing the controversial North Walnut Street parking garage/retail complex, Village Manager James Ten Hoeve had informed Village Council members that municipal AAA Bond Ratings generally become subject to scrutiny when the debt service percentage approaches 10% of total budget.

Following Ten Hoeve’s comments, Ms. Stikna was called to the meeting room podium where she confirmed that the Village is now approaching the 10% debt service/total budget ratio. A loss of our AAA Bond Rating would definitely result in higher costs for borrowing money.

Despite the startling revelations regarding upcoming Village Hall layoffs and a possible increase in interest rates, Village Council members voted to:

1) purchase the Schedler property on West Saddle River Road for an as yet undisclosed amount (“to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood” – Village Mayor David T. Pfund)

2) proceed with plans to construct $10 million parking garage (preliminary cost estimates) and retail complex on North Walnut Street

Surprisingly, Deputy Mayor Keith D. Killion and Councilwoman Anne Zusy both voted “yes” to continue funding the controversial parking garage project. Killion and Zusy had both opposed this project prior to May’s Village Council election.

>Hi,
Just got detoured in town. Ridgewood Ave @ Oak is ‘taped off ‘ with the yellow crime scene tape, a car is within it, and a towel or blanket on the road, along with a few RPD cars, but significantly the Prosecuters office has 2 ‘FAIU” trucks…which I would interpret to be ‘fatal accident investigation unit’. Cops taking pictures etc..see what your sources have to say… then I saw oak by the YMCA all full of fire trucks/ambulances..must be something else…busy day in town i guess.