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2005-09-28 SRA Special Meeting MinutesSRA Minutes September 28, 2005 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES OF THE BOARD MEETING OF THE SALEM REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HELD ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 A Special Meeting of the Salem Redevelopment Authority (SRA) Board was held in the third floor conference room at the City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street, on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 1:30pm. Chairman Michael Brennan called the meeting to order and on roll call, the following members were present: Michael Brennan, Michael Connelly, Christine Sullivan, and Russell Vickers. Lynn Duncan, Executive Director, and Tania Hartford, Economic Development Planner, were also present. NEW BUSINESS 1. Appointments – Appointment of Christos Christoudias to the Design Review Board. Mr. Brennan introduced the item to appoint Mr. Christos Christoudias, owner of Digital Bungalow to the Design Review Board (DRB). Ms. Hartford provided background on Mr. Christoudias and his qualifications to serve on the DRB. She also stated that the process for appointment to the DRB, which is an advisory body to the SRA, was that the SRA would vote to appoint Mr. Christoudias and then the City Council would have 30 days to confirm the appointment. Ms. Sullivan stated that she thought this was a great appointment. She knows Mr. Christoudias and feels he and his company are a huge asset to the City of Salem. Ms. Duncan welcomed Mr. Christoudias to speak and provide the Board with his background. Mr. Christoudias spoke on his background and his commitment to Salem. There being no further discussion, Mr. Brennan asked for a motion. Ms. Sullivan moved to appoint Mr. Christoudias to the DRB. Mr. Vickers seconded the motion. Motion passed (4-0). 2. Old Salem Jail – Review and approval of an amendment to the Scope of Services for The Cecil Group and Peter Smith Associates. The amendment will include services by the consultant to provide financial review and analysis of the proposals selected as finalists. Ms. Duncan explained that she would like to move ahead with hiring The Cecil Group and Peter Smith Associates (PSA). It would be an additional service to their original contract. The review would include the following: financial, market feasibility and developer capabilities review; reference and credit checks; and review of design and architectural issues. At the conclusion of this review, The Cecil Group and PSA will complete a memorandum for each proposal. Following the submission of this evaluation, the Cecil Group and PSA may be asked to meet with the SRA to present the results of this evaluation. She noted that the SRA staff would do the reference checks using a framework of questions provided by Peter Smith. The consultants may also come to a meeting, if requested by the SRA. Ms. Sullivan made a motion to approve an amendment to the Scope of Services for The Cecil Group and Peter Smith Associates for an amount not to exceed $5,000. Mr. Vickers seconded the motion. While the motion was under discussion, Mr. Vickers stated that he wanted to the consultants to comment on the pro forma submitted by each finalist and determine whether they can reasonably accomplish the project within their listed pro forma. The Board agreed. The motion passed (4-0). 3. Old Salem Jail – Review and discussion of the proposals to redevelop the Old Salem Jail Complex. Ms. Duncan stated that she did a review of the proposals submitted by the nine respondents and also heard feedback from her staff and representatives of Historic Salem, Inc (HSI). She commented that HSI will SRA Minutes September 28, 2005 Page 2 of 3 continue to review the proposals for historic content. She further noted that t he Massachusetts Historic Commission (MHC) received copies of the proposals and is awaiting their comments. Ms. Duncan proceeded with the staff recommendation on the finalists. She stated that first she eliminated those proposals that did not meet the threshold requirements stated in the RFP. Based on this she eliminated GLM and Medieval Days & Knights because they did not have the funds to support the project. The proposal submitted by ISNEA for the Cooler Museum was creative but it was unclear that they had the means to move the project forward. The proposal submitted by JUDGE Development was not extensive and lacked information about the qualifications of the development team. Further, this pro forma submitted by JUDGE Development did not seem workable. Ms. Duncan stated that she is recommending three groups move ahead as finalists. She stated that each of these three groups met all the threshold requirements and ranked highly advantageous or advantageous on the evaluation criteria. The three she is recommending be advanced are: New Boston Ventures, Old Salem Jail Partnership, and Diamond/Sinacori, LLC. Ms. Duncan noted that two groups remained in question: The Classic Group/Boardwalk Enterprises and Raymond Properties. She stated that The Classic Group submitted additional information based on her question of whether Phase II was necessary. The team responded that they could move ahead with the project without Phase II by revising their pro forma (Ms. Duncan handed out the additional information to the SRA members). Ms. Duncan commented that this was a creative proposal that included much of what the SRA, and the community, were looking for in the redevelopment. She stated that the development team asked for 30 days to secure financing. Ms. Duncan told the members that they have three choices to move forward: 1) they could designate the team as a finalist; 2) they could not designate the team as a finalist; or 3) they could request additional information and make that a condition of designation. Ms. Duncan deferred to Mr. Brennan to discuss the status of Raymond Properties. Mr. Brennan stated that the proposal submitted by Raymond Properties stated that the site was difficult and if it were going to be developed, it would have to be housing; therefore they incorporated the neighboring church property into their proposal. Mr. Brennan stated that he spoke with the Archdiocese of Boston and they were clear in a letter they wrote to Raymond Properties that they had no interest in selling or leasing the property to Raymond Properties. Mr. Brennan noted that he thinks the property is actually going to be leased to another Polish school being relocated. He said that it begs the question of whether Raymond would move ahead with the project with just the Jail Complex site without the church property. Mr. Connelly stated that The Classic Group proposal has given the City the more “buzz”. He questioned whether they could give the team 15 days to get us the information needed to move forward. He also suggested that the same time be given to Raymond Properties. He stated that they could be perhaps called “tentative finalists” until they get the information necessary to the board. Mr. Connelly further stated that all the proposals were quality proposals. Mr. Vickers asked whether Peter Smith Associates could review the basics of The Classic Group proposal without the financing piece seeing as there was something for him to look at and analyze. Ms. Sullivan stated that she was happy to include The Classic Group as a finalist. She stated that The Cooler Museum proposal had a great team and she thought it was a great proposal. She suggested that it would be great if someone else could pick up the proposal to help make it happen. Ms. Duncan stated that the process from this point forward would be that the finalists would be asked to come in to make presentations and be interviewed by the SRA on October 19. Mr. Brennan commented that a lot of the proposals submitted had a letter of interest from t he bank because they had done something in the past with the bank and the bank knows they can get the job done. He stated that a simple letter of interest from a bank would suffice. SRA Minutes September 28, 2005 Page 3 of 3 Ms. Duncan clarified that the SRA was ready to designate the three groups recommended as finalists and wait on the other two groups for additional information. Mr. Brennan stated that in the case of Raymond Properties, they have thirty days to provide the SRA with a strong proposal on the existing site now that the church property is off the table. Mr. Connelly made a motion to designated three teams – New Boston Ventures, Old Salem Jail Partnership, and Diamond/Sinacori, LLC – as finalists in the redevelopment of the Old Salem Jail; these three finalists, along with The Classic Group/Boardwalk Enterprises will be sent to Peter Smith Associates for evaluation; the three finalists will be interviewed on October 19; and The Classic Group/Boardwalk Enterprises and Raymond Properties will be designated as conditional finalists and given 30 days to get back additional information on their proposals. Mr. Vickers seconded the motion. Motion passed (4-0). Mr. Brennan stated that if the board had specific questions for Peter Smith, they should get them in writing to Lynn Duncan as soon as possible. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mr. Connelly motioned to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Vickers seconded the motion, and the motion passed (4-0). Meeting stands adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Tania Hartford Economic Development Planner