HOBOKEN — The scheduled date of a closing between the city of Hoboken and S. Hekemian, future developers of the city’s Observer Highway municipal garage property, is Friday, Aug. 13.
But despite a recent deal for the city to move some of the garage operations off of the property by then (and into a private uptown warehouse that Weehawken will also use), not everyone is sure that the long-awaited sale of the property will take place.
NJ.com notes in an article today that the state DEP still has to sign off on the cleanup of the property. They also note that at a CIty Council meeting in June, S. Hekemian’s attorney wanted to modify the sales contract so that the company could pay something closer to what he said is the property’s current $14 million value, not the more than $20 million that was promised to the city years ago.
So even though the city is moving forward to sell to the developer, and the DEP signoff could come at any day, there are worries. NJ.com quotes 4th Ward Councilman Michael Lenz as saying that with Hekemian’s earlier comments about the price, that company ‘is clearly sending the message that they have no ability or intention to close…I think what will happen is that they will default.”
Uh oh.
But the article also says that S. Hekemian’s counsel is “proceeding towards the closing date” without having talked to the city lately. For our prior reporting about the garage issue, see links below.
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