Not residential real estate, but how can I not post this fiasco of epic proportions.
From Philly.com:
Bank begins foreclosure on power plant at Revel
A bank is foreclosing on the power plant at the center of a dispute that has helped keep Atlantic City’s former Revel casino shut.
Bank of New York Mellon has begun foreclosure proceedings against ACR Energy Partners, the sole source of utilities for the casino, which closed Sept. 2, 2014.
ACR and Revel owner Glenn Straub have been unable to agree on a deal to provide utility service for the building.
Under an emergency order from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, ACR is providing enough electricity to power fire-safety systems at Revel. But the bank says Straub has fallen $800,000 behind on those payments.
Guy Amoresano, an attorney for the bank, said in a court filing that Straub’s Polo North Country Club was in “flagrant contempt” of a June court order mandating payments for the utility service ordered by the state.
Building and operating a power plant for one customer seems a little bit short sighted at this point. Staub maybe ruthless, but ACR is looking incredibly rookie at this point. I’m sure those guys thought they were sitting pretty at the prospect of a big pockets customer in a nearly monopoly situation, boy the tide has turned against them.
They should have shut down the power, and told the state that if they wanted the building powered, they’d need to figure it out on their own dime.
NJ economy in a nosedive. Your elected representatives don’t care at all. From the Record:
N.J.’s white-collar sector turns downward
As New Jersey’s employment market struggles to rebound, one sector is doing worse than all the others – and it’s one that the state needs to be booming.
The professional and business services sector, which contains many of the kind of high-paying, white-collar jobs that give the economy strength, has lost 10,900 jobs this year, according to figures released last week.
The figures reflect a weakening in a sector that was already struggling, in part because of the departures of major corporations as well as mergers. Having lost more than 20,000 jobs in 2008 and in 2009, the height of the recession, the professional and business services sector appeared to be rebounding with solid growth in 2010, 2011 and 2012. But the gains slowed dramatically in 2013 and 2014 before the figures turned negative this year.
“It’s not a good trend, to say the least,” said James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, adding that the sector is “pretty key for the office market.”
[2] grim,
I don’t know what is going to happen with those office campuses. Ground rents are gonna get crushed, methinks.
In the meantime, CRE keeps expanding in my area but it is leading to NJ-style congestion. These roads just cannot handle it.
James Hughes needs to be set straight. Where’s Pumpkin?
Industrial space at an absolute premium at this point, vacancies falling fast.
Maybe Christie can demand that all government workers must wear white shirts with collars, so he can assert to the nation on his campaign that he drove white collar employment to new highs in NJ.
#1 maybe this will be good for Revel. ACR will not let them connect electricity to next building they own due to previous owners contract.
Stockton College can not build a school at the Showboat due to previous contract. Selling it to be a Casino
Vigoda > Irwin Schiff
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-19/peter-schiff%E2%80%99s-father-dies-prison-shackled-hospital-bed
NJ’s doing it all by themselves. You really can’t blame Obama for our oversized, overpaid and over benefited government. You also can’t blame Obama for our over regulated business environment which is a result of our oversized government. There are a lot of people in Trenton scrambling to make poor decisions to justify their salaries. My dad moved his business to Brooklyn from Bayonne in the 80s. Seeing how the NJ DEP comes about once a week to make sure our plate processors are dumping neutral chemistry down the sewer, while the runoff from our over fertilized lawns are doing 100 times the damage, it’s no surprise everyone is leaving. I’m not lying to you when we once got flagged from having too many solids in our effluent. That’s right, they tried to fine us since we were not flushing enough water down the toilets with our human feces. I do not make this stuff up. It’s NJ for you!
8.
…or when The NJ Department of Community Affairs (btw, most powerful – can overrule local, county governments) told the sponsors of fairgrounds in Califon several summers ago that the vendors had to install commercial fire extinguishing systems in the vendor food booths.
The fair was sponsored and run by the local Fire department.
I’m pretty sure that Christie reduced the DCA employment numbers by 35% after that.
#1
maybe this will be good for Revel. ACR will not let them connect electricity to the next building they own, due to previous owners contract.
Stockton can not build a school at the Showboat due to previous contract. Selling it to be a Cas!no
Industrial space at an absolute premium at this point, vacancies falling fast.
Explain. I don’t get why this is happening.
If I got canned, I wish my employer would say I have to be on call to answer questions.
Bank’s severance deal requires IT workers to be on call for two years
SunTrust Banks in Atlanta is laying off about 100 IT employees as it moves work offshore. But this layoff is unusual for what the employer is asking of its soon-to-be displaced workers: SunTrust’s severance agreement requires terminated employees to remain available for two years to provide help if needed, including in-person assistance, and to do so without compensation.
Many of the affected IT employees, who are now training their replacements, have years of experience and provide the highest levels of technical support. The proof of their ability may be in the severance requirement, which gives the bank a way to tap their expertise long after their departure.
The bank’s severance deal includes a “continuing cooperation” clause for a period of two years, where the employee agrees to “make myself reasonably available” to SunTrust “regarding matters in which I have been involved in the course of my employment with SunTrust and/or about which I have knowledge as a result of my employment at SunTrust.”
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2994787/it-careers/bank-s-severance-deal-requires-it-workers-to-be-on-call-for-two-years.html
11 – Demand for places where people can do things other than pushing paper I suppose.
Tell you what, I’d rather be owning large scale residential rentals or industrial space in NJ than top-end AAA office space.
Give me 10 shithole warehouses/flex space buildings in Paterson, they’ll get leased 10x as fast as one premium office space.
Maybe 30yr can chime in on my armchair quarterbacking.
Fitting timing, from Marketwatch, like I said.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/blackstone-leads-deal-to-buy-new-yorks-stuyvesant-town-for-53-billion-2015-10-20?link=MW_home_latest_news
grim just read up some of the background on ACR. Interesting stuff. Yeah seems like ACR thought they had Revel and successors in handcuffs with pre-negotiated energy pricing.
As I drive by RT 21 near hotgrill, always wonder why someone could not get the hydro-power plant to work over at the Dundee Dam. I know the flows are not consistent, but you would think you could get some low cost PSEG investment loans on this.
16 – Yeah, I’m with you, I wonder if the real interesting story here is the power plant, and not the hotel at all. NJ Economic Development authority raised nearly $120 million in bonds for ACR, which ACR defaulted on and is getting sued by two hedge funds that look to have lost millions on the transaction (70% of their $35 million investment). Lots of shady stuff goes on in South Jersey for connected players. This stinks to high heaven. I really want to know who got paid on this.
Follow the money…… From Bloomberg:
Two Rosemawr funds bought $35 million of the power plant bonds at 92.25 cents per $100 face amount in March 2014. ACR and its owners “flatly lied” about defaults under the bond covenants which, if disclosed, would have lowered the price of the securities, Rosemawr said.
ACR hid Revel’s failure to make required monthly payments under the energy service agreement and entered into a “special arrangement” with the casino to extend payment terms without bondholder permission, Rosemawr said. ACR also didn’t notify bondholders it failed to fully fund a required reserve account.
The account “provided crucial protection of bondholders’ interests, because it provided a source of payments to bondholders until Revel became consistently profitable.”
…
Finally, ACR made $11 million in improper and fraudulent divided payments to its sole controlling member, an entity set up by South Jersey Industries and DCO, according to the suit. Under the bond documents, dividends were restricted if there was an event of default, Rosemawr said.
The $11 million payments “represented substantially” all of ACR’s liquid assets. ACR missed its June 15, 2014, debt service payment.
I am strictly a residential real estate guy. My family owned apartment buildings throughout North Jersey and several large flex building in Monmouth and Union Counties.
My experience is that the office space markets tends to boom and bust in a way that industrial and residential do not in our area. Remember how long it took to rent up all those Poskanzer-Tulp office building in North Jersey after the economy tanked in the late 80’s?
I am home sick today. Would have ventured out to bid at the Essex or Passaic sheriff sale today but all that is for sale is a steaming pile of inner city dung.
South-Orange/Maplewood school district cancels Halloween, cites “diversity” issues?
Holy f%ck what is happening to NJ.
“One of the strengths of Seth Boyden is that we are such a diverse community, with many cultures represented, and that we truly value each one,” they wrote in the note.
“In the past, in-school celebrations of Halloween have made many of our students feel left out… (and as) a result, after careful consultation and deliberation, we have decided not to hold in-school Halloween activities.”
…
“We understand that many families really enjoy the Halloween tradition and of course are not suggesting that anyone cancel or change how they celebrate Halloween outside of school,” he said.
#21..isn’t that the opposite of diversity?
Tried to post a partial list of bank upset prices and property addresses for today’s Essex sale but it must have gone into moderation?
I’m first generation born in American to Polish parents.
There is no Halloween in Poland (although there wasn’t 30 years ago) – even some hardcore catholics against it.
My parents dressed me up in a Halloween costume and sent me to school. I walked around the neighborhood with my diverse group of friends and collected candy.
I suppose the difference back then was you tried to fit in with the local culture, even though your heritage was different. I wouldn’t expect someone who wasn’t polish to enjoy kapusta, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t serve it at a party out of disrespect to the ethnic foods of my friends. I grew up eating Italian food with my Italian friends, Chinese food with my Chinese friends (the real stuff), Chinese food with my Jewish friends (the fake stuff), Korean food with my Korean friends, crappy food with my American friends, etc etc. Cliche?
As a kid, looking back, if I didn’t get to take part in that it would have been pretty disappointing, kids don’t know any better.
Oy Vey…
Or is that going to be banned next?
Looks like it went straight to blacklist, not sure why.
Diversity is a l1beral device, part of their arsenal and changes to fit the political agenda. It’s a favorite term of theirs and is altered depending on the talking points.
It’s the Pussification of America.
You should see the flack over naming a school in Montclair after Buzz Aldrin since he is a climate change denier.
Well, you really can’t have diversity in a party that wants to build a wall across Texas. Just saying.
Ethnic and racial diversity are accepted, socioeconomic is not. Once you get that, it all makes sense.
Diversity is a progressive term. It didn’t exist when I was younger. Everyone wanted to be American and wanted to assimilate. Nobody asked for exemptions and privileges. Now, you have to accommodate every little p.ussy with every little p.ussy agenda or else they’ll sue, destroy the town or throw a tantrum. And the politicians don’t give a f.uck, they just want votes to push their own personal agenda. So, f.uck diversity.
Middle class jobs on the decline eh? Taxes crushing the budged eh? Fcuk you pay me.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/10/poll_shows_opposition_to_nj_gas_tax_hike_building.html#comments
Tom Moran | Star-Ledger Editorial Board 28 minutes ago
We have an editorial going on this for tomorrow. To me, this is disgraceful and shows what flabby spoiled children voters can be. They want the work done. They don’t want to pay for it. Adolescent logic wins by 57 percent to 37 percent. Sad.
Well, you really can’t have diversity in a party that wants to build a wall across Texas. Just saying.
For those who are opposed, they can pay for those diverse folks.
You might get a letter about that one grim… (sorry)
[21]
Just because you don’t want Biff and his friends dressing up for Halloween, you exercise your privilege and keep them out of school that day. The social ridicule they would suffer for not dressing up would be too much. This was 120 kids in total who stayed home.
So you have a convo with the Principal, you want my child to come to school that day, cancel Halloween for everyone at school. That’s how you use your privilege and introduce the concept to your kids.
I’m a diverse guy myself. I’m part of a small religious minority group (atheist), and am married to a woman of another race. And I work in a department with people from 4 continents and all the races I’ve heard of so far (but no Australians yet). Diversity of thought and experience is a good thing, in a work environment, assuming some level of professional skill, but different angles of attack and perspective.
At the same time, I make strong judgment calls on whether someone’s ideas, culture, habits, and actions are valuable or value-destructive. In other words, I separate good from bad, as anyone who wishes to live must.
I think the diversity movement isn’t just looking for “diversity” they are seeking to negate all ability to make value judgments about whether anyone’s culture, beliefs, habits, actions are any better or worse than someone else’. In the extreme, it’s like saying “Here’s a witch doctor, and here’s a heart surgeon. Let’s celebrate their diversity and don’t be prejudiced about who to turn to when you’re having a heart attack”
diversity = transform America
That’s why I f.ucking hate it.
Lib,
I don’t want a wall. I actually want much easier immigration for people willing and able to support themselves by working. But one could argue that the Texans might be trying to preserve diversity via a wall, not allowing their towns to be entirely dominated by illegal immigrants.
I note that 77% of Maplewood residents voted for Obama last election. Not much diversity of thought there.
I wonder which pressure group in Maplewood is doing the agitating against a school Halloween? Any new Islamic cluster show up there lately?
Bingo!
grim says:
October 20, 2015 at 1:58 pm
Ethnic and racial diversity are accepted, socioeconomic is not. Once you get that, it all makes sense.
South Orange apparently had the same issue last year with Halloween and the acting superintendent overrode it. Well he did not get the nod for the full time gig and now Halloween at Seth Boyden was cancelled again this year and the new the Superintendent well he did nothing, not worth riskking the renewal of his contract, he might have to fly half way around the world again to find work if he does, seems they have him on a 11 month contract and he started in August.
http://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/south-orange-maplewood-hire-ramos-superintendent/
Always check your privilege….
re #39 – socioeconomic diversity is not discrimination yet….
When world war three happens, I’m joining the other side. There is no way our powderpuffs are going to be hardened enough to have what it takes to win a war. Not in the factories and definitely not out in the battle fields. Alloo Akbar.
[40]
Amazing what things can be done when you go to the polls and vote.
BTW – the most successful diversity has been championing gender causes not ethnic or racial. The fact that it wasn’t mentioned shows how much it’s been accepted.
So I read the Jewish culture is 2,000 years older than the Chinese Culture.
So WTF did the Jews eat the fist 2,000 years till Chinese food was created?
The South Orange school district is EXTRAORDINARILY lucky that my son doesn’t attend school in their district.
He self-identifies as Captain America and will celebrate that diversification on Halloween. Anyone bureaucratic administrator who tries to stop him better check their privilege.
Did you hear about the Polish girl who announced at the dinner table she was pregnant? Her Dad asked are you sure its yours?
grim says:
October 20, 2015 at 1:27 pm
I’m first generation born in American to Polish parents.
I wonder if the cancelation is a way of not having to send the kids home from dressing inappropriately. Having to send them home opens up a whole new set of issues, as the parent and student start the whole discussion of “well boys need to learn to show restraint, and if boys cant then maybe they should be send home”
Hey I looked at a house this weekend that was new construction in 1999 and sold October 2000 for $445K. In Nassau County NY. The block has no sales really in last 15 years as entire block was new construction. A cul de sac. How does one ball park a 2000 price to 2015. Guy wants like $770k.
I know folks make a lot more money in 2015 than 2000. At least double and rates have falling like a brick since 2000 so home is just as affordable as it was in 2000 even at the lower price back then. But hard to tell if that is in line with appreciation.
Then why do Indians, Orthodox and Muslims get to dress up in costumes every day if Americans cant do it even one day a year.
walking bye says:
October 20, 2015 at 3:03 pm
I wonder if the cancelation is a way of not having to send the kids home from dressing inappropriately. Having to send them home opens up a whole new set of issues, as the parent and student start the whole discussion of “well boys need to learn to show restraint, and if boys cant then maybe they should be send home”
What happened to the Halloween of old: sugary, noxious treats and cranky old nut cases who slipped razor blades into apples?
Those were the days.
…of course, the neighborhood jerk always got the flaming bag of dog poop at his front door…
When the government taxes me too much, I’m going to claim socioeconomic discrimination. Wish me luck.
Juice box,
The last 2 comments under that link you provided are provocative to say the least.
re # 52 – This year mischief night falls on a Friday night too. I have some fireworks left over from the 4th and lots of Whole Foods paper bags and plenty of poop…..
#54..wow, I’ll say
Is a Netscape hack coming
Why is the CIA Director still using AOL for email?
http://bgr.com/2015/10/20/cia-director-email-john-brennan/
How do these people get jobs?
re # 57 – While AOL isn’t the powerhouse dial-up ISP it was in the 1990s, latest data says it still has 2.5 million subscribers who just need to hear the ole alert “you’ve got mail.” AOL warned all of them they were breached a few months ago and should change their password and reset info. I gather our CIA Director did not heed the warning? Also the guy that runs Homeland Security Comcast account was breached?
Who uses these services? Where is Homeland on all of this? The Chinese and Russians spys are probably having a good laugh over this.
Lol Sir Topham Hatt the hacker?
https://fortunedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/screen-shot-2015-10-19-at-4-01-25-pm.png
Well that didn’t take long.
Five French citizens (whom the researchers didn’t name in either their paper or an interview with WIRED) were arrested in 2011 and 2012 for using a clever workaround to spend nearly 600,000 euros (about $680,000) from stolen credit cards in spite of the cards’ chip-and-PIN protections. Through an investigation that included microscopic analysis and even X-ray scans, the researchers discovered that the now-convicted fraudsters actually altered stolen credit cards to implant a second chip inside of them, capable of spoofing the PIN verification required by point-of-sale terminals.
http://www.wired.com/2015/10/x-ray-scans-expose-an-ingenious-chip-and-pin-card-hack/
The purpose of chip and pin is to stop someone from stealing the data, because once they have it, they can do anything with it, like make another card. This is no different than saving mag stripe data to a dummy card. One you have the “sensitive authentication data”, you can do anything with it.
Don’t you remember the 3 year stretch when everyone and their mother was stealing Satellite TV with hacked chip cards (nearly the exact same technology). It became an arms race of satellite providers fighting against smart card hackers. At one point it became a weekly occurrence to swap out your dead card with a replacement from your neighborhood card hacker. Rinse, repeat. It became so ubiquitous that you could buy the software and the hardware for like $20 bucks and just eliminate the hacker all together.
It got to the point where people were skipping the smart cards all together, and using smart card emulators that were little tiny computers that pretended to be dumb cards (they weren’t very smart).
Then, the sats figured it out and it was all over. In the next three weeks nearly every satellite dish for 50 miles was pulled down.
Unloopers, bootloaders, H-cards, it was a good run!
Now everybody just shares their netflix password
Merry Christmas -> Happy Holidays -> No Holidays -> Gnashing of Teeth
[57] Instant Messaging with Hillary?
Why is the CIA Director still using AOL for email?
Here is the ole USA we are the last of the G20 to issue chip cards but we aren’t doing PIN numbers. Chip and signature is the approach for the US Banks. If your chip and signature card is stolen and used fraudulently, there is little likelihood that a $10-per-hour cashier is going to check the signature against a driver licence or other ID. They are trained not to today, so I doubt that will change much. A chip and signature card is security theater at best.
49- jj – My point was some older grade girls come in dressed like strippers. Girl gets sent home. Mom complains. Before you know it they are on the Today Show ripping the principal for being out of touch. Best to avoid the holiday all together because of few who kids who want come half naked to school.
Wouldn’t an Islamic reboot of I Love Lucy be hilarious?
Never realized Ironhead had a son, let alone a son that plays in the NFL. Ironhead was a legend for us all growing up n the 80s.
http://www.nj.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/10/son_of_njs_craig_ironhead_heyward_battles_nfl_fine.html
Ah, Halloween (and ‘mischief’ night). Too many good memories to recall at the moment. Harmless fun and everyone had a good time (well, except for adults that had to clean up some stuff…but, it was a given – Hey, they did the same).
My best costume was ‘Rocket Man’ (yes, inspired by the Elton John song). Cylinder shaped reinforced cardboard covered in aluminum foil with a cone cap and holes for arms to jut out of. Easily removable. Old jeans and boots sprayed silver… won first place. So many others…
Heh, costume would probably be considered unsafe and a fire hazard today.
The last year we lived in the soon to be liberal bastion (and RIDICULOUS property tax place – relative) known as Rockaway Township (a place I lived all my life prior to that) my son (at 8) decided he wanted to be the Grim Reaper. No problem, that’s a VERY Halloween type costume. So, I bought him the costume and a sickle that couldn’t hurt a hamster.
Principal (new) calls my wife and tells her his costume is inappropriate and could scare the smaller children as well the ‘weapon’ could be dangerous. WHAT!?
Got that witch on the phone in minutes. He wore the costume…ALL DAY.
We’re all immigrants here (unless you’re American Indian – I’m 1/64 Mohawk) with me being mostly Norwegian and Prussian (look it up) – with a Mc in the woodpile, too (so it’s said). Wife is half Sicilian, half German.
As far as I know there’s no Halloween in those countries (OK, Prussia don’t exist anymore and Sicily is part of Italy but you get my point).
If Asit, Muhammad or Boa don’t want to participate, don’t, but don’t complain that they feel unwelcome in the American mainstream.
*Glad we moved to where we did. First year here my kid’s math teacher taught them discount math using a gun sale that Cabelas had going on.
– Stopping now.
Lib, technology has totally replaced the need for a peasant class. Their purpose is about to be eliminated. Past 1000 years, the purpose of peasants was to grow food and fight wars. Technology is about to eliminate their purpose. You don’t need them for farming anymore and you shouldn’t need them for war much longer. Can’t wait to see what society has in store when the majority of the population serves no purpose.
Libturd in Union says:
October 20, 2015 at 2:48 pm
When world war three happens, I’m joining the other side. There is no way our powderpuffs are going to be hardened enough to have what it takes to win a war. Not in the factories and definitely not out in the battle fields. Alloo Akbar.
So war and farming are done? YAY! – Dolt.
Dammit. Not a damn thing has changed around here. Seven years later, the damn sky is still falling and the stinking liberals and real estate terrorists have totally wreaked this damn economy. On top of that, that yellow bellied coward in the damn White House has allowed the damn Ruskies to start feeling their oats and the damn sneaky dog Putin has invaded Syria and is helping ISIS. The world has gone to shlt with these damn liberals, real estate terrorists, muslims and commies running amok. There’s needs to be some order put in place in a damn hurry and Donald Trump is just what the damn doctor ordered. Trump will put up that wall to protect our damn border and ban all unamerican activity. If you’re talking about foreclosures and the economy being bad, you better watch your damn step because Trump is going to have your ass on his damn subversives list. Trump will also deal with that punk Putin by turning the entire middle east into glass.
We went from having 90% of the labor force working as farmers in 1800 to less than 2% of the workforce today. Farming has been done for a long time. War is next. It’s inevitable that machines will become
NJT says:
October 20, 2015 at 5:40 pm
So war and farming are done? YAY! – Dolt.
It’s inevitable that machines will replace the need for huge infantry forces.
Have you ever worked on a farm or severed in the military?
Severed in the military. Izzat like coming into money?
Check out this video. Bernie was right way back in 2003. Here is your evidence. He even touches on what would happen to IT jobs.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WJaW32ZTyKE
It’s a lot less expensive to hand a guy a rifle.
Life is cheap.
The Great Pumpkin says:
October 20, 2015 at 6:08 pm
It’s inevitable that machines will replace the need for huge infantry forces
I also read some rightwing news article on Bernie today. I must say, now I know why these individuals are so as$ backwards, the propaganda machine is strong. This article totally fed bs about Bernie to its readers. I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I was reading. How do people take this serious? They were calling Bernie things like “Commie”. People can’t be this easily misled, right? The sad answer is yes.
Yes, when a drone mows them down, leaving some alive, but in a wheel chair for life, you will realize there is nothing cheap about war. Someone has to take care of their families and the disabled. Machines don’t carry these costs.
D-FENS says:
October 20, 2015 at 7:16 pm
It’s a lot less expensive to hand a guy a rifle.
Life is cheap.
The Great Pumpkin says:
October 20, 2015 at 6:08 pm
It’s inevitable that machines will replace the need for huge infantry forces
Is it time for your bipolar medication yet Michael?
Bernie goes after Bernake hard! Based on some people’s comments on this blog, I’m surprised you are not fans of Bernie. He is attacking the very issues you guys have with the fed.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rCWXrMCGJT4
#28 Lib
“Well, you really can’t have diversity in a party that wants to build a wall across Texas. Just saying.”
They could build it across the Northern Border of Texas and it could make both sides happy!
Christie should consider a wall on our southern border.
Yeah, one that keeps people from leaving.
#85 Grim
78 or 287?
[71] pumpkin
” Can’t wait to see what society has in store when the majority of the population serves no purpose.”
There’s already an ongoing case study. We could hang around your house and take notes.