Council Grants Madison Marquette Exclusive Development Rights

Madison Marquette's Special Favors To Continue

Council Does Mall Developer's Bidding Two More Years

Tonight the Emeryville city council granted Bay Street Mall developer Madison Marquette another two years exclusive development rights to the empty land north of the mall at a contentious council meeting.  Added to the six years already granted, the developer will enjoy eight years of exclusive rights. The council voted 4-1 with Jennifer West dissenting.  More than 20 residents spoke urging the council to open up the valuable land for all developers to make proposals.

The council refused to consider requiring a fee to hold the land for the developer to partially offset the loss in revenue the city has experienced by the fallow land.

The majority of the contention centered on how a better project could be had were competition to be allowed but Council member Ruth Atkin dismissed any such talk, "competition happened in 2004" Ms Atkin sniffed, referring to the first year the council selected Madison Marquette for exclusive development rights.   Council member West spoke in favor of opening up the process to "new possibilities, new thinking" but was rebuffed by her colleagues.

Council member Ken Bukowski dared residents to vote him out of office if they didn't like his support for extending the exclusive rights to Madison Marquette, "You can vote us [the council] out" he taunted.

But the most fire came from Mayor Nora Davis.  The mayor took umbrage with the residents that spoke out against the ongoing special favors the city keeps granting Madison Marquette, and she said such talk "undermines people's confidence in the representative elected officials" raising the specter of wholesale people power for Emeryville.  She reprimanded residents that the "original concept" of the Bay Street mall was to have "one large mall" extending all the way to Powell Street.  "We have to get serious" she said as a warning to those who would ask for a better use of the land, possibly by a different developer.

The residents made much reference to establishing a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) with the developer of the site.  A CBA is a legal agreement between residents and a developer and it is set up to assure a project enhances a community.  Mayor Davis expressed a surprising ignorance of the idea of a CBA stating it isn't needed since the Bay Street mall already benefits the community by "strengthening the tax base".  This is the same recycled rejoinder that has been offered by city officials each year the council extends Madison Marquette's exclusive developing rights.  "It's the same argument every year; what disrespect"  said one dejected resident shuffling out of City Hall after the 4-1 vote.

Madison Marquette: Poop Or Get Off The Pot

Tuesday night is the showdown

Enough Is Enough

Opinion

We keep waiting...year after year for mall developer Madison Marquette to make a development proposal for the empty land north of the Bay Street mall and they won't make a move.

But from their perspective, why should they?  After all, this is a freebie for them.  They get to enjoy exclusive negotiating rights to this extremely valuable piece of land along Shellmound Street for as long as they want.  They get to keep this bestowal in their vest pocket for some later date that suits their particular intrinsic corporate stratagem.  So from Madison Marquette's vantage point, if the city council is so smitten with  them and willing to keep re-upping this free ride, why wouldn't they take it?

Enough Is Enough
After almost six years of sitting on this land that could be earning us much needed revenue, now Madison Marquette wants to add another two years while they dilly dally.  The council is doing Madison Marquette's bidding and will not allow any other developers to even make proposals for this important land.  Bearing all this in mind and the fact that that other developers over the years have proposed development there and conceded to meeting with residents to craft a better project, something Madison Marquette refuses to do, we now say enough is enough.

First Choice

The city council has to start working in our interests, not Madison Marquette's.  This valuable piece of undeveloped land needs to be put to work for us now and Madison Marquette doesn't seem up to the challenge.  We call on the City of Emeryville to end the years of special favors for Madison Marquette and open up this land to competition from many developers so we can select the best option for us, the residents.

Second Choice

If this city council cannot change it's stripes and stop the iniquitous give-a-ways to Madison Marquette due to some unseen force acting on them, then at least they should charge Madison Marquette a fee to continue to hold the land for them.  This is the absolute minimum that needs to be required at this point.  It is not in the resident's interests to give this away for nothing when our budget is in crisis.

We need to start the revenue stream from this land NOW.  Eight years is too long to wait with nothing to show for it.  Tuesday night, the council is going to have to move outside of their comfort zone and place our interests before Madison Marquette's interest.

Please show up at City Hall and weigh in on this important topic.  The council has shown they will listen to the residents if enough show up and speak out.  Tuesday night December 7 at 7:15 PM at City Hall.

Will Madison Marquette Continue To Get Special Treatment?

Council Ready To Extend Taxpayer Benevolence

Tuesday Showdown At City Hall

After months of cancellations, the council is finally ready Tuesday night to vote Bay Street mall developer Madison Marquette exclusive development rights to one of the most valuable pieces of real estate left in Emeryville.  The Washington DC based developer Madison Marquette wants more time to consider whether to develop a piece of empty land, cleared by the city north of the existing Bay Street mall along Shellmound Street.  The vote would grant the developer another two years of exclusive rights added to the five years previously granted by the city, shutting out any other developers from making proposals for the parcel of fallow land.

Possible Increased Funding Of Schools Rebuffed
Other developers have expressed interest in the site and at least one, Federal Development LLC has indicated it would enter into negotiations directly with residents to provide community benefits such as increased funding for the schools and providing funds for building family friendly housing and local hiring agreements.  Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE) has called on the city to negotiate better funding for the schools with developers but the 2001 deal struck between the city and Madison Marquette for the existing Bay Street mall is minimal in terms of community benefit, including school funding, RULE members say.  So far the council has rebuffed all overtures from other developers regardless of commitments of more funding for the schools than Madison Marquette has been willing to provide.

The seven years continuing exclusive rights to this one developer represents a taxpayer subsidy by denying the city receipts from a developed property.  This subsidy is added to the $50 million the city already extended to Madison Marquette for the existing mall.

For its part, Madison Marquette has said it needs more time to figure out if or how it wants to develop the land because of the recession.  Residents have complained that this seems a convenient argument since the economy was in much better shape before the recession and Madison Marquette still was granted exclusive rights and still wouldn't decide.  Madison Marquette it seems is content with keeping this valuable property in their vest pocket as long as the people of Emeryville will allow them.

If granted, Tuesday's exclusive negotiating agreement hand-out would be the longest exclusive rights deal given to any developer in Emeryville history.

'Bay Citizen' Tracks Bay Street Mall Expansion

Re-printed from today's Bay Citizen:

Emeryville Residents to Challenge Development Plan

In business-friendly city, group wants community benefits and open bidding on new project

By ZUSHA ELINSON on November 29, 2010 - 4:45 p.m. PST 

Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

Developer Madison Marquette wants to build on this parcel of land just north of the Bay Street mall

Emeryville is known for Best Buy, Ikea and the Bay Street shopping mall — not so much for organized political dissent.

But next week, a group of residents will challenge plans to build a hotel and a Macy’s on an empty lot adjacent to the outdoor mall that brings shoppers from around the Bay Area to the 1.2-square-mile city.

The group, which calls itself Residents United for a Livable Emeryville, or RULE, wants developer Madison Marquette to pay for community benefits such as affordable housing, parks and living-wage jobs.

In San Francisco and Oakland, developers often pony up. Homebuilder Lennar, which is embarking on a 10,000-home project in San Francisco’s Bayview district, agreed to a community benefits package including job training and affordable housing that is worth $1 billion.

But in Emeryville, where two decades of rapid development have transformed an industrial wasteland into a retail center to the envy of many surrounding cities, there has never been such an agreement.

“There’s an attitude in Emeryville of development and business at all costs that’s really transformed the town in a short period of time,” said Jennifer West, a City Council member who ran successfully as a member of RULE in the last election.

“We feel it's time to slow it down and be a little bit more careful about what we do,” she said.

But West isn’t necessarily in the majority on the five-member City Council. The others say that developers like Madison Marquette are already doing a lot for the city just by building and bringing in tax revenue.

“If you want a city and [you want to] be able to pay your bills, you need a commercial section of town,” said Ken Bukowski, who’s been on the City Council for a quarter of a century. “A lot of these folks don't see the benefit the business community brings.”

On Dec. 7, Madison Marquette — which developed the Bay Street mall — will be asking the city to extend its exclusive negotiating rights to develop a 5-acre parcel of land just to the north. Although no plans are final, one scenario envisions a Macy’s as a bookend to the existing mall along with space for a hotel.

The down economy makes the extension necessary, according to Eric Hohmann, a managing director for Madison Marquette.

“The city owns one of the best commercial properties in the entire East Bay, and interest is strong,” Hohmann said. “It’s just that we need more time to strike a deal.”

Madison Marquette has promised the city that “Macy’s is interested in opening a store at the Bay Street Site B,” but offers no other details or assurances. 

In an e-mail, Macy’s spokesman Jim Sluzewski said the company doesn’t disclose “where we are or are not looking for new store locations,” adding that “as of this time, we have no announced plans for any future new Macy's stores.”

The city’s redevelopment agency has spent $30 million to clean up contamination from the site, where the Sherwin-Williams paint company and Union Oil once made their homes, said Patrick O’Keefe, Emeryville’s city manager. The city is also considering building a parking garage at a cost of $17 million as part of the deal. 

“To bring in a large anchor tenant who doesn't and can’t pay the rent of small shops does require this investment from the city to make it happen, but the city gets financial benefits in terms of revenues,” said Hohmann of Madison Marquette.

Members of RULE — a group of artists, professionals and longtime residents that formed a few years back — say it’s precisely because of the $47 million subsidy that Madison Marquette should be paying for community benefits. Faye Prince, an Emeryville resident for decades and a RULE member, said Emeryville doesn’t have to give away as much to developers as it used to.

“Umpteen years ago when you had to walk across the railroad tracks and there was nothing here, sure,” said Prince. “But that’s old news.”

RULE has also suggested that the city open up the project to other bidders who might be more open to the group's demands.

Madison Marquette is looking to the City Council to give the word on community benefits. And if council member Ruth Atkin has her way, the word will be no, at least for this project. 

“The goals of RULE and the goals of the city are not contrary to each other,” said Atkin. “The question is, they think they’re going to get more by pursuing another approach, and I’m skeptical.”

Atkin said that businesses benefit Emeryville — for example, the free Emery Go Round transportation service is paid for by businesses, she said.

Part of the battle with Madison Marquette is also over labor, with unions who are working with RULE looking for concessions from the developer and eventual hotel owner.

The battle over Madison Marquette comes on the heels of Emeryville's rejection of plans for an Ikea expansion after a neigborhood group voiced its concerns.

“There is a shift taking place in Emeryville,” said West, the council member.