When the Redevelopment Authority acquired the former Allentown Toy Company, the intention was for a non-profit to use the first floor, with affordable housing on the upper stories.
However, two of its four board members now want the parcel to go to the Islamic Society of Greater Allentown, chaired by Hasshan Batts. One of these board members works with Batts, and that member made a sizable payment to the other board member, for work on a political campaign.
Hasshan Batts is a gift to Virtue Signalers. If being a rehabilitated former convict wasn't enough, he is also a Muslim. Not only does Batts have these cards in his deck, he plays them. When the Redevelopment Authority failed to turn over the former Allentown Toy Company building to the Muslim Association, Batts said.."I get the impression they don’t want us there,” Already every government official throws money at his organization, Promise Neighborhoods. So far in recent memory he has received $1.5 mil from Susan Wild, and another equal wad from Gov. Shapiro.
Mayor Tuerk will be appointing a fifth member to the Redevelopment Authority. I hope the new member has more real estate expertise and less conflicts of interest.
shown above a teddy bear, manufactured for and distributed by Allentown Toy Company
It is DOCTOR Hassan Batts for you!
ReplyDeleteWhy should we hand over this building to any religious organization? That is the simple answer isn't it?
ReplyDeleteAssuming the building is only worth $450k in its current condition the $600k offer only amounts to a 6% annual rate of return on the loan with all the risk and opportunity costs associated with holding the mortgage. Not a solid offer at all.
ReplyDeletescott@6:53: I'm not sure how religious this organization is? The MC article references a mosque whose Allentown location ended because of a fire. However, that congregation relocated to the 6000 block of Tilghman St. Besides an address affiliated with Batts, I can find no information on the Society of Greater Allentown.
ReplyDeleteWell that seems fishy? This sort of inside deal should raise all sorts of red flags.
DeleteWhere do I start with this story?
ReplyDeleteFirst you have the Allentown Redevelopment Authority, whose purpose is supposedly to get problem properties back on the tax rolls. However, they have once again bailed out a property owner by purchasing their property (and taking it off the tax rolls), even though the Authority had no funding (and apparently no plan) available to do anything with the property.
Then you have another non-profit organization (the Islamic Center), that is politically connected to members of the Redevelopment Authority Board, wanting to circumvent an open bidding process to get the property at a bargain so they can take it off the tax rolls permanently.
Finally, you have the ethically-conflicted board member who sees nothing wrong with selling the property without an open bidding process. Still, nobody from the mayor to some of our ethically-conflicted council members - seem willing to speak out and say this is wrong. Instead, the Mayor laments the lack of a unanimous decision by the Authority's board.
There is no greater evidence of the continued problems in Allentown City Hall than the points above.
Since City Hall seems unwilling to state the obvious, allow me:
1) The Mayor should publicly tell the Redevelopment Authority to stop bailing out property owners and let the market determine the buyers of properties. The only exceptions should be in the worst cases.
2) The Redevelopment Authority should put the property out to bid and allow others to make their best bids. The Authority can set a minimum bid needed to obtain the property. They should also review other properties they have owned for an extended amount of time and divest themselves of those properties as quickly as possible through a public bidding process.
3) The mayor should remove board members (on any board he has power over) who seem unable to see obvious conflicts of interest. This would help set an ethical standard that residents can expect from all of city government and go a long way towards restoring the public trust in City Hall.
Finally, we are once again seeing a problem with another City Authority. The Redevelopment Authority should be added to the current study of the Parking Authority as to what the implications of disbanding it would be. This is long overdue.
A public auction of the property in question seems the most fair way to turn the building back to good use. Highest bidder gets the property
ReplyDelete8:39 here. I wanted to clarify my somewhat off-the-cuff assertion that the Redevelopment Authority "bails out" certain property owners. Here goes:
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Morning Call article on the issue, the "Allentown Toy Manufacturing Co shut down in late 2021."
According to county tax records, the Redevelopment Authority purchased the property in April 2022.
I would love to see some inquiry and reporting by the Call on why the Redevelopment Authority chose to purchase this property when it would seemingly have had (at most) six months on the open market.
Is this somehow a key location/property? Was the owner in any way connected to anyone in City Hall or the Redevelopment Authority? Were there other interested buyers? Why would the Authority purchase the property without a plan and funding in place?
Maybe it's not actually a matter of bailing out the owner. Maybe it's the Authority trying to block another private purchaser (including the Islamic Center). Maybe it's the Authority trying to tinker with the open market in some other manner. Maybe it's just another bad decision by an organization that seems to have a history of making bad decisions.
Any way you look at it, there seems to be a lot of questions beyond the superficial reporting to date in the Morning Call.
Did a quick search of the minutes of the ARA meetings. Below are what I could find as far as references to the 10th Street property:
ReplyDeleteMinutes of November 10, 2021; New Business:
Megan Hart stated the Authority was approached to possibly purchase a manufacturing building/warehouse that is closing and the owners are retiring. Megan Hart explained there is some grant money that we could use for the purchase. Rebecca Williams asked Megan Hart what the disposition would be. Megan Hart answered it may be a good option to generate some income by putting either condos or apartments that are truly affordable housing. Tyrone Russell agreed that it would be great to generate the income we need while at the same time providing affordable housing especially for the people that can’t afford $2000 a month. Megan Hart said this is just preliminary and will work on gathering additional information for next month’s meeting.
Minutes of December 8, 2021:
729 N. 10th Street – Allentown Toy Manufacturer, Megan Hart said with the appropriate variance(s) we could potentially get approximately 18 units. Megan Hart suggested integrating a community space within the building to which Rebecca Williams agreed. Tyrone Russell asked what the value is for low to moderate income, Rebecca Williams asked Megan Hart to confirm what the low to moderate income is to which she explained HUD’s income guidelines.
Minutes of 2/9/22: Old Business
Megan Hart gave an overview of the previously discussed possible acquisition of 725 N. 10th Street and said the owner would still like the Authority to purchase and develop the building into something that benefits the community. Tyrone Russell stated there seems to be many options for use of the building and it would be a great way to benefit the community.
RESOLUTION – Tyrone Russell motioned for approval for Staff to acquire 725 N. 10th Street, Rodney Bushe seconded, and all were in favor.
Minutes of 3/9/22:
“Minutes not yet available”.
Yes, that’s what actually comes up. It’s been over 15 months, but hey, nothing to see here. Obviously it’s quite a well-run organization.
And the same comes up for all months after that for 2022.
There’s not even a tab for 2023 under the Meetings/Agendas/Meetings section of the website.
Great job on transparency and keeping the public informed. Similarly great job of oversight by our elected officials in City Hall. Glad that they're watching things to protect the public interest.
Sigh.
Signed,
Anonymous (for Molovinsky on Allentown, who’s been doing the job the Morning Call won’t do for far too long).
anons@8:39&10:17: The Redevelopment Authority has been through many incarnations. In the late 60's and early 70's they were very active... Lehigh and Lawrence Streets project, etc.
ReplyDeleteBy the mid 80's they restricted themselves to arranging tax-free mortgages for projects they approved. I constructed a small four unit in center city through them. (by the time I was done paying points to several lawyers I saved no money) I assure you I had no connections then or now, on the contrary.
By the Pawlowski era they were virtually inactive. He appointed people to various Authorities, Boards and Commissions for the purpose of political support, especially for his last campaign.
anon@11:07: I got wind of the story from a Morning Call article by Lindsay Weber. She has been doing a good job, but like most of the reporters of late, has no institutional knowledge of Allentown.
That’s good news if she (Lindsay) is looking into it. One question I’d like to see answered is if the property was sold to the Authority in 2022 for $400,000, why is Batts offering $200,000 over that price ($600,000) to buy it now?
ReplyDeleteI’m assuming that the previous owner knew what their building was worth and wouldn’t have sold it for $200,000 less than they could have gotten elsewhere. I also don’t think that building prices have increased by that much in the last year.
So did the Authority make any improvements that would justify the price hike? We don’t know because they’re not posting their minutes.
Or does the Islamic Center, flush with federal and PA grants from pandering politicians have money to burn?
If the latter, it’s important to remember that it’s actually OUR money and apparently Batts has gotten more than enough.
The Batts' offer requires the Authority to hold the mortgage at zero interest.
DeleteWould this property becoming a house of worship be taken off the tax role not be put back on the tax role?
ReplyDeleteThe Redevelopment Authority purchased this property originally with the intent of adding low to moderate income housing that would also generate revenue for the Authority because unlike the other Parking & Housing Authorities, the Redevelopment Authority does not generate sustainable revenue. There was not any connection to anyone, the previous owners reached out to the Authority to ensure the end use would benefit the community since the business was well known within the community. While grant funding has been explored and applied for, it is unfortunately challenging and takes a bit of time. The Authority is fully transparent, the website is undergoing an over haul which should be completed within the next week or so. If you would like a copy of any meeting minutes, please feel free to contact me in the meantime and I will be more than happy to provide 610-437-7733 or Megan.Hart@AllentownRedevelopment.Org
ReplyDeleteThis blog appreciates direct signed comments such as this for information. At the same time we host all reasonable comments, even anonymous, which may be less accurate.
DeleteWhile I appreciate Megan Hart's comments on the 10th Street property, I would note that the purpose of the Authority isn't to build income sources to "generate revenue for the Authority". It's to deal with blighted or problem properties within the city.
DeleteThere is no evidence that the 10th Street property was either blighted or a problem, and the operations in the building had only ceased a short time before the Authority stepped in. The Authority should not interfere with the workings of the free market.
The introduction of additional rental housing units in the city is straining city services, creating parking issues in neighborhoods, and adding students to an already struggling school district. Therefore, I would argue that any involvement by the Authority that early in the process should have been limited to finding another private industrial buyer for the property.
As to transparency, the website has not had updates to the minutes, meetings and agendas section since February 2022. That's 15 months. This is not a matter of the "website undergoing an overhaul" but rather gross negligence. It's certainly not the actions of an entity that is "fully transparent" and is quite likely a violation of the Sunshine Act.
While I appreciate that now the Authority "would be happy to provide" the materials they are already required to make public, no individual should have to provide their personal info (through e-mail address or CallerID) to a government entity to get what they should already have.
Finally, as more facts have now been provided on this issue, I would hope that it is clear to both the Mayor and City Hall that it's not just the Parking Authority that has outlived its usefulness and needs to be reviewed.
Thanks again to Molovinsky on Allentown for providing the avenue for those facts to come to light.
To promote Redevelopment and maintain social infrastructure and healthy community housing within the city limits. Working closely with the City to define areas and properties that are problematic and in need of sound redesign, repurposing or redevelopment for public convenience, economic and community welfare
DeleteI'd like to address your comment about not being a property manager. Let me point out a specific line " to define areas and properties that are problematic and in need of sound redesign, repurposing or redevelopment for public convenience, economic and community welfare" . It is up to the board to develop ideas and plans that fall with this mission and also sustainable income to run the Redevelopment Authority. Creating a community space would definitely align w the Authority's mission and vision.
Since you're obviously in-the-know, maybe you could reveal who it was in city government that the Redevelopment Authority "worked closely with" in defining how the N. 10th Street property was "problematic and in need of sound redesign, repurposing, or redevelopment..." after only ceasing operations a few months prior.
DeleteFrom the few minutes available on the Authority's website, discussion of those items doesn't even appear to have been discussed by the Authority's own board, much less with anyone in the city.
But if you have additional information that isn't in the minutes and want to name names in City Hall, I'm happy to listen.
MM, while you are looking into the redevelopment authority and there shenanigans. They had a meeting with the zoning hearing board aug 22, 2022 for 428-440 6th st. There has never been a follow up meeting as the authority brang a cartoon caricature picture of what they purposed.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience this was a more entertaining than watching looney tunes in the morning?
428-436 N 6th Street received conditional approval for an 8 unit for the Authority to construct, grant funding was awarded however the funding will most likely be re-allocated to a larger project thru no fault of the Authority.
ReplyDeleteConditional approval upon returning with proper plans not just a facade cartoon caricture picture of what you purposed. I have all of the zoning board meetings pfd copied since that infamous date and hadn't seen any documentation as to your entity REvisiting the board. Also this has not been REposted as per your conditional REapproval? I was there at the meeting and unless you had a closed door meeting.
DeleteThan there are many other of your entities convelooted criminal acts I could REveil butt MM wouldn't liked me to sign as not anonymous! You and I as well as many others know the facts behind the criminality as the nightly shredding sessions have allready begun some time ago.
anon@8:43: I struggled whether to post this comment or not. I assume your reference to cartoons are actually architectural renderings. Furthermore, Hart's explanation and disclosure seems to address your original issue. However, if there is some irregularity with the 6th St. property, I don't wish this blog to repress such a revelation.
DeleteBatts and his broken group of men are con artists. They have received millions while claiming to prevent crime and standing on youth death. They cry like victims while most of them don’t even have a relationship with their own family. These people need to be shut down.
ReplyDeleteSo you have an authority that isn't being utilized by the city and the authority has decided to operate outside their stated purpose to raise revenue on their own by converting tax-paying commercial and residential properties to rental properties that could be removed from the tax base because they are owned by the Authority?
ReplyDeleteAnd if you go to any neighborhood in the city, you'll likely hear the most complaints about rental units, because of the parking issues, noise, and transiency issues that they cause. And transiency is also one of the biggest problems facing the school district.
What will it take for anyone in City Hall to see this as a problem? Instead of appointing and confirming a fifth board member, the mayor and council should look at reigning in the Authority.
5/24 @ 8:51 am:
ReplyDeleteAs I think about it, after reading through the minutes from October of 2021 through February 2022, it seems there was little discussion on most agenda items, much less how any action fit into the broader goals of the Authority or the city.
It makes me wonder if these things are actually being debated and discussed at the meetings, or if they're worked out behind the scenes to render the meetings meaningless political theater.
I know the Mayor lamented a lack of unanimity on the plan for the N. 10th Street property, but I hope he wasn't endorsing sham meetings as a solution.