Mobsters tried, and failed;
Leona Helmsley tried, and failed;
and more recently Larry Silverstein tried, and has now failed.
They all tried to insanely profit from the development of one of the most valuable plots of land in New Jersey -- the one with the stellar views of Manhattan, and premium easy access to the George Washington bridge to New York City.
This is the stuff of developers dreams. This is something worth going 'that extra mile' for. THIS is the plot of land locally known as Redevelopment Area 5 in the 'traffic-troubled' New Jersey borough of Fort Lee.
Only one small problem for long-time David Samson client Larry Silverstein -- someone got there before him -- some other developer saw the potential and had already bought half of that plot of land -- FIRST!
Well, David Samson has moved bigger fiscal mountains than this, just give him time to don his other official hat as Chairman of the NY-NJ Port Authority; Just give him time to enforce a month's worth of traffic-gridlock, enveloping Redevelopment Area 5 with the exact opposite of premium easy access to the George Washington bridge to New York City. And then see what unfolds.
And just let them schedule this "traffic trouble" at a critical phase in the Area 5 Redevelopment cycle -- the signing of loans for the hundreds of millions in construction financing -- that the other "early bird" developer (Tucker Development Corp) just had to get, in order for their development plans to move forward. Such a perpetual, city-wide Traffic Jam may affect more than just Mayor Sokolich's daily to-do list, it may stop in its tracks "our billion dollar redevelopment" project, that this democratic New Jersey Mayor had been shepherding along; the project that was to be his signature hallmark achievement of his time at governing the local affairs of Fort Lee.
A perpetual, city-wide Traffic Jam may have sent that historic Redevelopment Project, back into the Re-bidding phase, back into hands of another primed-and-ready developer (Larry Silverstein), still waiting in the wings ever-ready to strike prime New Jersey gold ... just as soon as the Tucker Development Corp fell flat on its financing face ...
This is what some suspect that the intentional caused Traffic Troubles in Fort Lee, were surreptitiously designed to do ...
Set the Fort Lee clock back a few years ... when these Redevelopment Plans were still the stuff of competing Redeveloper dreams ... dreams that each hoped, would not end in failure:
Glittering Potential, Shady Past
by Antoinette Martin, NYTimes.com -- Aug 14, 2009
[...]
Previous plans for the site collapsed last year when Town and Country Developers of Westwood conceded that its mixed-use Centuria project was stalled. Half the property was then sold at auction to the Tucker Development Corporation of Chicago.
Two weeks ago, the borough of Fort Lee called for new development proposals for either all or half the site -- and received one from Tucker for its half; one from SJP Residential Properties and the Bergen County developer James Demetrakis for the other; and two proposals for the whole site.
The first of the whole-site proposals was from the World Trade Center developer Silverstein Properties, in conjunction with the high-end fashion mall developer Taubman Centers (owner of the Mall at Short Hills). Their plan is for a regional retail center, with a couple of housing towers situated to take advantage of the up-close view of the bridge, the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline.
[...]
“But right now, today, we believe this is an extremely valuable property,” Mr. Goldman added [the eventual winner of eastern half of the project 'The Modern'], “suitable to become a dynamic town center that offers every element the borough seeks, from retail, to housing, to hotel, and office.”
[...]
The "early bird"
Tucker Development put in a bid, to develop
their own land. It is the bid that council of Fort Lee
chose. Concurrently however, the local big-wheel developers of
Silverstein Properties (and Taubman Centers) put in a bid to develop the whole site, presumably with someone in authority assisting them to obtain (at bargain rates),
what was not their own land. Fortunately for Larry Silverstein, he had an inside guy at the NY-NJ Port Authority, who in the past was always willing to go that '
extra mile' to meet his corporate-business and public-financing needs ...
Port Authority Chairman Nominated
by Eliot Brown, wsj.com -- Oct. 1, 2010
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday nominated as chairman of the Port Authority David Samson, a prominent attorney who for years had as a client World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, the bi-state agency's most high profile tenant and frequent adversary.
[...]
A partner at the law firm Wolff & Samson, he has strong ties to many in the New Jersey political world, did work for Mr. Silverstein that included government affairs over matters at the World Trade Center site, according to a person familiar with the matter.
[...]
A spokesman for Silverstein Properties said Mr. Samson's work for the firm began in 2004 and ended in November 2009.
The appointment comes just over a month after the Port Authority finalized its latest lease renegotiation with Mr. Silverstein, who was granted a new subsidy package to construct his towers [World Trade Center]. The agreement faced resistance from multiple members on the Port Authority board.
It's good to have attorneys in high places, especially if you're looking for "subsidy packages" and other plumb projects, that just keep those millions rolling in, year after income-generating year.
Yes but, an astute observer would note that "Mr. Samson's work for Silverstein Properties ended in November 2009," -- before Samson took over the Port Authority, and long before any "traffic problem" orders were issued for Fort Lee. Yes, so it would appear, at least as their PR spokespersons would tell the story. The actual subsequent events however, kind of tell a different story of their ongoing "interwoven" relationship:
Silverstein Said in Deal With GroupM on Trade Center Lease (1)
by David M. Levitt, businessweek.com -- July 09, 2013
[...]
A deal would allow [Larry] Silverstein, founder of Silverstein Properties Inc., to move toward obtaining financing and government subsidies to erect the skyscraper, which would be the third constructed on the 16-acre (6-hectare) site that was attacked by terrorists almost 12 years ago. One World Trade Center, being built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey with the Durst Organization, and Silverstein’s 4 World Trade Center will be completed by early next year.
‘Key Milestone’
A GroupM lease would be critical to “completion of our efforts downtown,” David Samson, chairman of the Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center site, said in a telephone interview. “There are a lot of different pieces that need to come together in order to reach our objective of a fully built-out, fully developed and fully operational site, but this is certainly a key milestone.”
Nevermind that
NY-NJ Port Authority already has several longstanding Agreements and Contracts with
Silverstein Properties -- the details of which the PA refuses to release to the public -- despite numerous
FOIA direct requests:
1. The 7/24/2001 Silverstein Properties Contracts
2. The 2006 Master Development Agreement
3. The contract between Durst Corporation and the Port Authority
4. The agreement announced on 8/26/10 between Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority.
Is it any wonder that some observers of Bridgegate still
call into suspicion this long-standing "relationship" between Samson and Silverstein?
Especially when David Samson reacted with such uncalled-for anger, when the NY Executive Director of the Port Authority -- put the planned 30 days of GWB Gridlock, to a very early halt:
New Bridge Scandal Emails: Port Authority Official Said Christie Team's Lane Closure "Violates Federal Law"
by Molly Redden, MotherJones.com -- Jan 10, 2014
[...]
On Thursday, Christie expressed confidence that Samson played no part in causing the Fort Lee traffic disaster, saying, "I am convinced that he had absolutely no knowledge of this, that this was executed at the operational level and never brought to the attention of the [Port Authority] board of commissioners." Yet when Foye ordered the lanes reopened on September 13, David Wildstein, a Christie appointee at the Port Authority official wrote to a Christie staffer, "We are appropriately going nuts. Samson helping us to retaliate."
[...]
And another email released on Friday indicates that the Christie crew was worried about Foye. On September 18, Samson wrote Scott Rechler, the vice chair of the Port Authority Board of Commissioners,* that he strongly suspected Foye of "stirring up trouble" by speaking anonymously to a Wall Street Journal reporter about the Fort Lee traffic debacle. He [Samson] went on: "This is yet another example of a story -- we've seen it before -- where [Foye] distances himself from an issue in the press and rides in on a white horse to save the day. In this case, he's playing in traffic, made a big mistake."
[...]
Is it any wonder that some observers of this Bridgegate story, suspect
this is WHY David Samson (and Chris Christie
confidant)
was so vindictively angry about the ENDING of the Fort Lee Gridlock -- after only 4 days of municipal chaos surrounding
Redevelopment Area 5?
Could this be the 'monkey wrench in the works' that was just "remotely" lifted, from so many well-made NJ "traffic trouble" plans:
TODAY’S DEALS: Tucker Development-Led Partnership Closes on $218M Financing for Hudson Lights
Multi-Housing News Online -- Sep. 17, 2013
Fort Lee, N.J. -- A joint venture partnership of affiliates of Tucker Development Corporation, Ares Management and Kushner Real Estate Group announced that it has secured $218 million in financing for Phase I of Hudson Lights, a large-scale, 1-million-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment of a prominent eight-acre site located at the base of the entrance to the George Washington Bridge in the heart of downtown Fort Lee, N.J
[...]
A mere 4 days after the "Traffic Troubles in Fort Lee"
ENDED,
Tucker Development got their ground-breaking Green Light ($218 million in financing); and the last-ditch 'extra mile' efforts to get
Silverstein Properties this billion dollar land deal -- were stopped cold in their
fake traffic-study tracks ...
Nefarious actions in lieu of quid-pro-quo arrangements, have historically been made of lesser motives than these, with fewer 'wheelings and dealings' being protected from on high -- never to see the public light of day.
Just check the history of this "most valuable plots of land in New Jersey" for a baseline reference.
Poster's Note: this sordid tale of where the New Jersey evidence might eventually lead, was pulled together in "summary form" -- per the request of Daily Kos user Auriandra, who earnestly asked me to:
... to summarize the backstory concerning the question of land development motives behind the traffic jams in the Fort Lee.
This is what I have attempted to do with today's post: to provide
one possible over-arching narrative to the "real" motives behind Bridgegate. May Investigators and Journalists better than myself, find the facts and physical evidence, which actually proves (
or disproves) this tale of so many competing "vested interests." As always, thank you for your time, and consideration of the questions raised here, that hopefully will be answered to the public's satisfaction, sooner as opposed to later.