Asbury Partners Afloat in Red Ink -Waterfront Goes on Auction Block

Today's Asbury Park Press leads with a story that is anything but cause for Thanksgiving here in AP. As many have been criticized for saying, master developer Asbury Partners has defaulted on its loans to a heretofore unmentioned financial partner, iStar Financial Inc. Another seldom mentioned financial partner, Cherokee Partners, and Asbury Partners together owe $70 million to iStar, according to the APP. iStar, a real estate investment trust, intends to liquidate the loans' collatoral by auctioning off waterfront parcels, perhaps as many as 70 - 80 parcels, at an auction in NY, on December 15th.
This raises numerous questions -
What happens to the eminent domain cases tied up in the courts now, because the Partners want to pay less than the property owners contend the properties are worth?
What happens to the payments the Partners are contracted to pay the City? There is a payment of over $400,000 due on the bond to pay for the sewer plant upgrade, which used the sewer plant for collateral and certain legal fees and City positions that are paid for or partially subsidized by the Partners
What does this say for the future of the environmentally controversial beach development site, known as Bradley Cove, at the north end of the City's boardwalk? In presentations to the city council, the Partners had estimated the sale prices of the 15 planned beach houses at $1 million, at least. What are the odds that they'll be the first to go at auction?
I'm sure there will be more questions. To add a comment here, click twice on 'comment' below.

NJ Considers DEP 's CAFRA Expert Mark Mauriello for Top Job

Mark Mauriello, who was in charge of the DEP's Division of Land Use when Asbury Radio interviewed him on September 11, 2003, is under consideration to replace State Environmental Commissioner, Lisa Jackson, who was recently selected to lead the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, according to the Sunday (1/25/09) NYTimes.
In this excerpt from that radio interview, you can hear Mauriello insisting it is irrelevant to the DEP's review of the City's and Asbury Partners' Waterfront Development application that the man the city credited with the plan had pled guilty to extorting developers in Ocean Twp., where he was mayor. The developers in turn were to get greater density for their projects.
Listen for yourself, but I stick to my original judgment that Mauriello's intentions to handle the application with routine processes was not adequate. What still disturbs me is the way Mauriello characterizes former city manager Terry Weldon's Federal crimes as "local feelings" about officials or former officials, reducing this critical point to some kind of Mayberry RFD politics.
The "Governor" referred to is James McGreevey.
Also, throughout the interview Mauriello admits he's not yet familiar with some aspects of the plan on a detailed level -- including the plans to build in front of Asbury Tower and North of the Tower on the triangle by Deal Lake -- yet he seems well versed on the points the redevelopment rights holders (Asbury Partners) had spun in the press about the benefits to the community - the infrastructure Asbury Partners was to replace, and the renovation of blighted areas and "crummy" parking lots.
Note also that he says his department is responsible for areas "seaward of the boardwalk". Wonder if this is another reason why the plan is to remove the existing boardwalk, which runs west of the proposed townhouses, and build a meandering boardwalk east of the townhouses.
I've divided the interview into 10 files, in which Mauriello answers questions about parking spaces, permiable surface coverage, etc. If you want to hear more, please let me know and I'll post it. Click here for this excerpt. Note: Mauriello isn't intentionally talking over us. We were working then with very primative studio equipment.