Debate will weigh in on renovations

Skeptics of the deal say the town would not get enough from air rights

GREENWICH — The fate of a massive plan to renovate Greenwich Plaza and build two new train stations is at stake as the town prepares for a contentious debate over the value of the air rights at the development.

Under the current plan, the town of Greenwich would give its air rights to the developer, the Ashforth Group, in exchange for many improvements at the downtown site.

But David Weisbrod, a member of the

Board of Estimate and Taxation, said the town did a “halfbaked job” assessing the worth of the “very valuable” air rights.

The town’s outside assessment pegged the value of the air rights at $10 million, which is the estimated cost of the improvements Ashforth is proposing for the Greenwich Plaza property.

“No independent probe appears to have been made as to specifically what the financial benefits to the town are and how that compares to the value that is being relinquished as part of this onesided proposal,” Weisbrod said.

Currently, Ashforth leases the air rights from the town as part of a 90year agreement signed in 1967 as part of the original Greenwich Plaza construction.

The new Greenwich Plaza would include a transportation center, two train stations, a dropoff and pickup area, retail space, including a luxury movie theater, and a park.

The project is currently before the Planning and Zoning Commission, but approval of the design is not the only one needed. The RTM must approve the deal and is expected to begin its consideration next month. And the BET is also scheduled to discuss the deal at a meeting at 9 a.m. Sept. 19 at Town Hall.

The town would be relinquishing more than just its air rights in the deal, Weisbrod said. It would also give up its future 53 percent ownership interest in the 320,000squarefoot office buildings on Greenwich Avenue. That interest would not become official until 2057, when the current lease expires, he said. But Weisbrod said that confirms his point that the deal does not take into account the future value of the property.

He said the $10 million assessed value the town received for the air rights, compared to the $7 million assessment Ashforth has for it, is too low. And the town would be missing out on revenue that comes through the town’s current lease with Ashforth for the air rights, he said.

Weisbrod questioned why the town would not receive any cash in exchange for giving up the air rights and would accept only Ashforth’s improvements to the property as its contribution. The changes would benefit the retail portion of the property, which the town has no financial stake in, he said.

“Forsaking a property with such enormous value for many generations of people in Greenwich is unnecessary and raises a host of questions as to what is motivating this,” Weisbrod said. “I’m not saying I am opposed to the redevelopment of the train station.

“But there was no effort, apparently on the part of the selectman’s office to consider alternative arrangements whereby the town would maintain this valuable equity interest while at the same time providing reasonable incentives to the developer to make improvements,” he said.

Those alternatives, Weisbrod said, would include extending the majority of the air rights or other forms of partnership through which the town would retain an equity interest in the property. He said alternatives should have been explored but weren’t.

First Selectmen Peter Tesei and Town Administrator Ben Branyan issued a joint statement responding to Weisbrod’s concerns. The current lease between the town and Ashforth is set to expire in 2057, they said, and “the uncertainty is having financial loss to both the town and Greenwich Plaza today” by bringing down the value of the buildings, which they say will continue with every revaluation, without resolving that uncertainty.

“From the town administration’s perspective, leveraging an asset valued at just under $10M for $15M in public benefits, coupled with the removal of assessment impairments to the Greenwich Plaza properties and longterm expectation that the assessed values in the surrounding area will increase makes this project a good deal for the town,” Tesei and Branyan said. “The value of the public benefit is further increased because all future maintenance requirements of the public benefits are the sole expense and responsibility of Greenwich Plaza.”

The town’s administration chose to leverage a town asset for “tangible public benefit,” Tesei and Branyan said. That is preferable to a onetime cash deposit to the town’s general fund because the town will receive a “recurring, sustainable benefit” from the new Greenwich Plaza and its tangible benefits than it would from cash, they said.

The town and Ashforth’s professional, independent appraisers will attend the Sept. 19 BET meeting to answer questions about valuation, Tesei said. The town will also send representatives to the meeting as will Ashforth.

“We look forward to hearing from the BET about their concerns and, more importantly, tangible solutions for alternatives to the agreement,” Tesei and Branyan said.

Weisbrod is not the only one who has expressed concerns about the deal. Several members of the finance board also say more scrutiny is needed.

Leslie Moriarty, chair of the BET’s Budget Committee, said she is “not convinced the town is getting fair value.”

“I have also heard many comments about losing control of potential future development at Greenwich Plaza and that needs to be addressed,” Moriarty said. “I can understand the limitations of the current lease, which has impacts on both Ashforth and town, and am open to addressing those limitations that gives fair value to both parties.”

BET Budget Committee member Michael Mason said a lot of questions still need to be answered and said more alternatives should be explored.

“The devil is in the details in a deal like this,” Mason said. “The question is not just what the value of the air rights is, but whether the town even wants to sell the air rights at all. I think there’s going to be a big debate about that.”

Critics say they want to get more information about the proposal and make sure it is a good deal for the town.

BET member Leslie Tarkington said that for this to become a respected publicprivate partnership that adds value to the community, the plan must be modified.

“Constituencies must be listened to, including the commuter who will use the new station, the commuter who parks in the plaza underground parking,” Tarkington said.

“The commuter who will endure the construction period; drivers and pedestrians who navigate ... Railroad Avenue, and the Steamboat Road and Arch Street intersections,” she said, continuing the list. “The residential taxpayer; and the residential and commercial property owners who want to maintain the town’s character, appeal and New England heritage.”

Tarkington and her husband park at Greenwich Plaza when commuting on MetroNorth.

BET member Jeff Ramer said the board needed a few more “relevant facts” about the plan and said the town would benefit from “some expert advice” in making a decision on the deal.

The improvements at Greenwich Plaza would have “certain collateral benefits to the town,” Ramer said. But he said the current value of the town’s ownership would be in the low nine figures, more than what would be spent to develop the property.

“The numbers currently being proposed do not seem appropriate,” he said.

For information from the town on the project, visit www.greenwichct.gov/GreenwichTransportation Center.