Armory Plan On Tap Tonight

If the City Council agrees to make a deal on the Armory with Real Estate Advisory and Development Services for a charter school tenancy along with cultural uses, maybe somebody should launch it by writing this excerpt from the redevelopment plan 100 times on the school blackboard: “At no point would READS seek compensation from the City of Plainfield.”

The emphasis would reflect the city’s current dilemma regarding almost $300,000 the senior center developer wants from the city for the “no-cost” project at 400 East Front Street. Better yet, write “At no point would Build With Purpose seek compensation …,” because the day after the redevelopment plan was submitted, the company took a new name. Just sayin’.

As suggested in an eight-page document to be discussed at tonight’s City Council meeting, READS has a track record of charter school development and would convert the Armory for such a purpose, with the Queen City Academy Charter School as the proposed tenant. The space will also be offered for activities that would “fill a gap in the educational and cultural landscape of Plainfield and Union County.”

At present, the city is leasing the Armory from the state for $1 and READS is looking for a 30-year lease at the same rate, but would obtain private financing to renovate and upgrade the facility at an overall cost of $5 million. READS would sublease to the tenant “to meet debt service requirements.” The due diligence process is to start no later than Sept. 30 and the lease start date is projected to be Dec. 31, 2011. The proposed tenant would occupy the building “no later than September 2014.”

One hopes the council members have read all eight pages and made notes. The mayor has asked the governing body to approve more than $6,000 in monthly maintenance costs until the developer takes over. Some council members have disputed the need for another cultural venue in the city and have questioned how non-school activities would be managed and paid for. Others feel strongly that the city must guide the Armory’s future by endorsing the redevelopment proposal.

Unfortunately, the city’s last big venture with a developer fell prey to missed deadlines and once completed, to bills for unforeseen costs. At present, the administration may not have a strong enough team in place to monitor all aspects of the proposed redevelopment. While Queen City Academy has now been in operation since 2000, can any charter school bank on three more decades?

These are among the concerns that form a backdrop to this decision-making process. The meeting tonight is 7:30 p.m. in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave.

--Bernice