Gotta say I am worried if there's a possibility of Novarr & Cornell working a deal. I mean, 62% tax exempt, no wonder people aren't happy with the high taxes in the city. From the Ithaca Journal:
Novarr, Cornell deny tax-exempt plans
Residents worry about Collegetown Terrace project
8:21 PM, May. 13, 2011
Written by
Liz Lawyer
Ithaca -- A group of Ithaca residents say they are concerned over the prospect of losing another large chunk of property from the city tax rolls if the developers of the Collegetown Terrace student housing project on East State Street eventually sell the development to Cornell University.
The residents, including green building architect Todd Saddler and real estate agent and landlord Mark Mecenas, say a previous development formerly owned by John Novarr and Ithaca-based property developers Integrated Acquisition and Development, College Circle Apartments, was sold to Ithaca College as student housing and subsequently removed from the tax rolls.
Though a PILOT, or Payment in Lieu of Taxes, is on the College Circle property, it applies only to the Town of Ithaca. The Ithaca City School District and the county receive no income from that land.
Those concerned about Collegetown Terrace say College Circle could be an indication of how things will play out in the city.
Sixty-two percent of the land in the City of Ithaca is tax-exempt. Of that land, 87 percent is owned by Cornell University.
Novarr addressed the city council's Planning and Development Committee April 20 with some harsh words for those claiming suspicion of his intentions.
"I have heard that some few residents of Collegetown and some Collegetown multi-family unit owners are unhappy with my business practices of putting housing together," Novarr said. "I have been accused of being a dupe for Cornell. Some have fantasized that once the (project) is completed, Cornell will be interested in buying and taking the properties off the tax rolls."
Novarr said he was "amazed that these property owners ... have the guts to criticize developers."
One of the houses Novarr purchased to make way for Collegetown Terrace he bought from Mecenas, both men say. Mecenas is now among the most vocal opponents of the project because he worries it will eventually mean the loss of more property from the tax rolls.
"I believe what is happening is allowing a situation that will inevitably be bad for the community," Mecenas said. "It is going to lead to properties coming off the tax rolls."
Cornell denies any existing interest in Collegetown Terrace. In a letter addressed to Mayor Carolyn Peterson Jan. 11, Cornell Vice President for Government and Community Relations Stephen Johnson said the university has no financial involvement in the development or in 312 College Avenue, another building owned by Novarr and his partners.
"In 2008-09, Cornell considered whether it should become involved in the proposed development of Collegetown Terrace," Johnson's letter says. "Ultimately the university decided that it would not participate in the project. Cornell presently has no connection, financial or otherwise, to the Collegetown Terrace Project. No ownership arrangement has been made between the owner/developer and Cornell, nor are any such arrangements presently being contemplated."
In a letter to Common Council, Saddler wrote that College Circle was built under a set of conditions that "amounts to complicated shell game ... that allows a seamless transfer of ownership from the developer to the university."
Saddler said another building at 312 College Ave. has the same set of arrangements, and says Common Council "will have to admit that there's at least a reasonable possibility" of Cornell acquiring the building and removing it from the tax rolls, despite the university's statement otherwise.
Saddler also offered a binder of public documents he says illustrate the College Circle deal and the possibility of the same deal for Collegetown Terrace, including leases, Ithaca College and Cornell financial statements, mortgage modifications and other documents.
"There is nothing to prevent the same process from playing out with the development now being built along State Street," he says, urging the council to vote against the ordinances included in the 2009 Collegetown Rezoning Plan, which would allow the development to move forward.
Novarr declined to comment further on the issue, but did say he was glad that development would soon be free to resume in Collegetown after a five-year wait.
"The city's been working for five years on rezoning Collegetown," he said. "During that time, development has effectively stopped. I'm happy to see that the city is about to take a substantial step toward rezoning so that Collegetown can become a better place to live and work."
Here's the link:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE