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Mocco owes more for land
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Mocco owes more for land
Thursday, February 05, 2009 A final chunk of land earmarked for the Liberty Harbor development in Downtown Jersey City just got costlier. Already determined by a court to be worth $18.6 million, a Hudson County judge last Friday tacked on another $2.1 million in interest to what the property's former owners are owed for the 3.4-acre lot at the foot of Jersey Avenue. The city condemned the property in 2004 and turned it over to Peter Mocco, Liberty Harbor's developer. Jersey City officials said yesterday they plan to appeal the order the judge is expected to sign in the next few days. Jersey City Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Robert Antonicello said the city successfully argued a 4 percent interest rate should be applied instead of the 6 percent rate sought by the former owners. Mocco must reimburse the city whatever it ultimately has to pay the former owners. KEN THORBOURNE
Posted on: 2009/2/5 13:55
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Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco? Developer gets $125G bill for unlicensed lot
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PARKING FOIBLES
Developer gets $125G bill for unlicensed lot Monday, January 12, 2009 By KEN THORBOURNE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Developer Peter Mocco has been slapped with a nearly $125,000 bill for operating an unlicensed parking lot on the western edge of his Liberty Harbor development, Jersey City officials said last week. Sent out Thursday, the bill includes $12,000 to register the 220-space lot on Jersey Avenue, just south of Grand Street, with the city officially and $112,860 for parking taxes owed for the past three years, said city attorney Carmine Scarpa. Parking lots pay the city a 15 percent tax on gross revenue and Mocco never registered the lot with the city, officials said. Mocco has 30 days to pay up, Scarpa said. If he doesn't, the city has several options, including possibly shutting down the lot, he said. A former North Bergen mayor, Mocco leases the parking spaces to the Jersey City Board of Education and state Schools Development Authority for $250,000 a year. The spaces are used by the teachers and administrators of Schools 3 and 4 on Grand Street, officials said. Mocco declined to comment about the bill since as of Friday, he hadn't received it. In the past, he has chided city bureaucrats for missing the "big picture," which is the $250 million investment he's made so far to build one of the city's premiere residential and retail developments. Spread out across 80 acres, the project is ultimately to include 10,000 residential units, 4 million square feet of office space, and 250,000 square feet of retail space. The parking fee isn't Mocco's only problem. In September, city Zoning Officer Anthony J. Lambiase cited Mocco with two zoning violations: one for operating the parking lot in a zone where it is not a "permitted use" and the other for a "freestanding billboard sign" on Grand Street that was "erected without prior approval." Both violations came with automatic $1,250 fines. And if the violations were not corrected within 30 days, the city had the right to impose daily $1,250 fines for each violation, officials said. Mocco declined to provide an update on where these violations and possible fines stand, as did city officials. Four months later, the parking lot is still operating and the billboard is still up.
Posted on: 2009/1/12 14:19
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Mocco owes $19 million in JCRA waterfront deal
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Mocco owes $19 million in JCRA waterfront deal
Monday, December 15, 2008 By PAUL KOEPP JOURNAL STAFF WRITER With the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency's bid for a new trial in a waterfront condemnation action rejected last week, the amount that developer Peter Mocco owes the property owners is $19 million and growing. But will he be able to pay? A jury awarded Ronald Kerrigan, his wife Lynn and his sister Katherine $18.6 million for the land in September, and interest is accruing on that sum. The city's last offer for the property was $3.8 million. Last Monday, Superior Court Judge Mark A. Baber ruled that although the family's Florham Park attorney, William J. Ward, had made "various improper comments" during the trial, that was not grounds for a new trial. The JCRA seized the property through eminent domain during August 2004 and turned the deed over to Mocco. As part of his redevelopment deal with the city, Mocco must reimburse the city's legal fees and acquisition costs for any property taken for Liberty Harbor. Ward is concerned that neither Mocco nor the JCRA will be able to come up with the cash. Mocco did not return phone calls seeking comment. The 3.4-acre parcel is at the foot of Jersey Avenue. ========================= Show the money trial victors to Mocco Monday, December 15, 2008 By PAUL KOEPP JOURNAL STAFF WRITER With the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency's bid for a new trial in a waterfront condemnation action rejected last week, the amount that developer Peter Mocco owes the property owners is $19 million and growing. But will he be able to pay? A jury awarded Ronald Kerrigan, his wife Lynn and his sister Katherine $18.6 million for the land in September, and interest is accruing on that sum. The city's last offer for the property was $3.8 million. Last Monday , Superior Court Judge Mark A. Baber ruled that although the family's Florham Park attorney, William J. Ward, had made "various improper comments" during the trial, that was not grounds for a new trial. Baber also denied Ward's request that the JCRA put up more money, in addition to the $1.25 million it has already deposited, in an escrow account as the case heads to appeal. The JCRA seized the property through eminent domain during August 2004 and turned the deed over to Mocco. As part of his redevelopment deal with the city, Mocco must reimburse the city's legal fees and acquisition costs for any property taken for Liberty Harbor. Ward is concerned that neither Mocco nor the JCRA will be able to come up with the cash. "Peter Mocco has gone bankrupt before . Nothing is preventing that from happening again, and we're not protected," he said. Indeed, Lakewood company A.J. Stairs Inc. said in a court filing this week that the developer owes almost $156,000 for work done during the last two years for his Liberty View Construction Corp. But JCRA attorney John Curley downplayed that fear. "The JCRA has been around for over 50 years and it's never not paid an award," he said. Mocco did not return phone calls seeking comment. The 3.4-acre parcel at the foot of Jersey Avenue, currently being leased by a drilling company, is the last that needs to be acquired for the 80-acre Liberty Harbor development.
Posted on: 2008/12/15 14:00
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A bad week for Peter Mocco
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A bad week for Peter Mocco
Thursday, October 02, 2008 By KEN THORBOURNE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER I t's been a rough week for Peter Mocco, developer of the Liberty Harbor development rising in Downtown Jersey City. Last Friday, officials in the city's Division of Commerce socked him with a bill for more than $100,000 for operating a parking lot at the western end of his project that he never registered with the city. Last Monday, a jury awarded a property owner $18.6 million as compensation for a 3.4-acre patch that was seized through eminent domain for the development - four times what city officials believe the property is worth and money Mocco would have to reimburse the city for. The award is being appealed. Then last Thursday, city officials announced they are citing Mocco for two zoning violations - one concerning the parking lot, and the other for a huge billboard Mocco erected on Grand Street advertising his development. The parking lot along Jersey Avenue is "not among the permitted uses in the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan," reads one violation, which will be hand-delivered to Mocco's 10th Street office today, said Zoning Officer Anthony J. Lambiase. The other violation states the "freestanding billboard sign was erected without prior approval and which use is prohibited as per The Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment Plan." Both violations come with automatic $1,250 fines. If the violations are not corrected in 30 days, the city can impose $1,250-a-day fines for each infraction, Lambiase said. Mocco chalked up his parking lot problem and the violation notices to a political vendetta on Lambiase's part, and said it might have to be resolved in court. "I totally disagree with Mr. Lambiase and his program of using his office as a political device... to harass a developer and the (Jersey City) Board of Education and the (state) Department of Education." Mocco, a former mayor of North Bergen, contends that he signed a ground lease with both agencies for the parking lot, so if anyone should pay parking taxes and registration fees, those agencies should - but, as he pointed out, they're tax exempt.
Posted on: 2008/10/2 14:47
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Re: Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
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I did a quick Jersey Journal archive search re: Peter Mocco and parking lots and this is what comes up. The results are not the full articles.. just the first paragraph. These results will show a long history when it comes to this issue.
I have no pity party for Peter Mocco and happy to see that the laws are being enforced. Yes, I'm a bit passionate when it come to this issue, since I am the resident that took him on and publicly exposed the 10th street situation to the City and the Media.
SEARCH - RESULTS LIST from The Jersey Journal Archive
2008/09/26 FriPg 3, 341 words No Headline KEN THORBOURNE, JOURNAL STAFF WRITER ... KEN THORBOURNE, JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Bad week for Mocco It's been a rough week for Peter Mocco, developer of the Liberty Harbor development rising in Downtown Jersey City. Last Friday, officials in the city's Division of Commerce socked him with a bill for more than $100,000 for operating a parking lot at the western end of his project that he never registered with the city. On Monday, a jury awarded a property owner $18.6 million as compensation for a 3.4-acre patch that was seized...
2008/09/24 WedPg 3, 23 words CAPTION ... REENA ROSE SIBAYAN JOURNAL PHOTO THE PARKING LOT owned by developer Peter Mocco across from the Jersey City Medical Center on Jersey Avenue....
2008/09/24 WedPg 3, 348 words No Headline KEN THORBOURNE, JOURNAL STAFF WRITER... Liberty Harbor development rising in Downtown Jersey City has been told by city officials that he owes the city more than $100,000 in parking fees and taxes for operating a temporary lot along Jersey Avenue that he never registered with the city. Peter Mocco's Liberty Harbor Holding Inc. was sent the letter last Friday from John J. Coyne, the city's chief license inspector in the Division of Commerce - the day after The Jersey Journal ran a front-page story on the topic. According...
2008/09/24 WedPg 3, 269 words No Headline KEN THORBOURNE, JOURNAL STAFF WRITER... The city's last offer for the property, which has views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Liberty State Park, was $3.8 million. The deed to the property - which is rented to Warren George, a drilling operation - has already been turned over to Peter Mocco, the developer of Liberty Harbor, officials said. And Mocco has more than a passing interest in the outcome of this compensation case. As part of his redevelopment deal with the city, he is on the hook to reimburse the city...
2008/09/19 FriPg 2, 49 words No Headline ... Correction Yesterday's story about a temporary parking lot owned by Jersey City developer Peter Mocco should have referred to his development as Liberty Harbor. The story also should have stated that Mocco believes the two agencies he's leased parking spaces to should pay the city's parking tax....
2008/09/18 ThuPg 5, 23 words CAPTION ... REENA ROSE SIBAYAN JOURNAL PHOTO DOES PETER MOCCO, top, need permission to have this billboard on Grand Street advertising his development?...
2001/07/11 WedPg 3, 357 words A shameful abuse of discretionary authority ... up debate" gave a detailed account of an example of excessive discretion exercised by the Jersey City Parking Authority, in which a "decision" or "consensus" was made not to enforce the parking laws for parking spaces on 10th Street near developer Peter Mocco's Hamilton Park Health Care Center. Arrogantly, Mocco asked "What's the hurry?" and said "All we asked is that enforcement be suspended until the next administration comes in and gets a chance to address the issue." It was.
2001/07/10 TuePg 1, 785 words Parking revs up debate Alberto Canal, Journal staff writer ... Alberto Canal, Journal staff writer Residents of a Hamilton Park neighborhood in Jersey City are wondering whether former Hudson County Freeholder-turned-developer Peter Mocco is above the law. Mocco told The Jersey Journal last year that a contractor working for him used "leftover materials" to pave part of a city street and create angled parking. No government agency ever granted permission for the job. Nearly a year later, the 20-plus parking spaces along 10th Street between...
2000/08/10 ThuPg 3, 669 words City probes developer's street paving job Alberto Canal, Journal staff writer ... Canal, Journal staff writer A Jersey City developer and former Hudson County politico decided to use "leftover materials" to pave part of a city street over the weekend, leaving city officials and residents baffled. It is unclear what penalties developer Peter Mocco and the contractor could face, since this is an unusual case, according to a city engineer. The city is still investigating the matter, including looking into who actually paved the street, but Mocco told The Jersey...
2000/07/19 WedPg 3, 495 words Mocco's new parking lot makes Council members see red ... Developer Peter Mocco got no sympathy at the City Council caucus meeting this week from city officials who are angered about how he reportedly created a parking lot without the proper approvals from the Planning Board. At the meeting Monday, Housing, Economic Development and Commerce Director Annmarie Uebbing, while not spelling out what penalties - if any - Mocco faces for his actions, said the developer "knew exactly what he was and wasn't supposed to do. Instructions are going... 2000/07/14 FriPg 1, 17 words CAPTION ... Journal photo by M. Kathleen Kelly PETER MOCCO'S parking lot just west of the Sand Bar in Jersey City...
2000/07/14 FriPg 1, 574 words Parking lot must go, councilwoman says Earl Morgan, Journal staff writer ... Earl Morgan, Journal staff writer Several Jersey City Planning Board members are fired up about a waterfront parking lot for nearly 1,000 cars, saying developer Peter Mocco ignored and violated city building codes and requirements to build it. The lot issue surfaced during Tuesday's Planing Board meeting at City Hall, when City Councilwoman and Planning Board Commissioner Melissa Holloway and Commissioner Jeffrey Kaplowitz requested a cease-and-desist order be issued to prevent
Also, these are some photos that appeared in the press when he decided to create private parking on a city street.
10th street between Coles and Brunswick.
Jersey Journal articles dated:
2000/08/10,
2001/07/10,
2001/07/11
If you notice he did this on a side of the street that was a no parking side (see the signs). For those who don't recall what this section looked like before he removed and paved over a grass curb the next time you go to 10th street look at the section between Jersey Ave and Coles St. That's what it use to look like. All of this illegal paving was done on a weekend. We also have the photos of the company who did the actual demolition work and was turned over to the City Council and the DOT back in 2000. I can't blame the company who was hired by Mr. Mocco it wasn't their idea. I will give them some stupidity points for not checking that this was legal for Peter Mocco to do.
 
Posted on: 2008/9/27 16:44
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So if I do some community service can I get out of paying my property taxes?
Posted on: 2008/9/27 15:29
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Re: Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
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WOW, the more you post, the more transparent you become. Your information is so twisted, and whoever feeds you this crap and tries to discredit me, needs to get some better material and/or do much better research into facts before posting, otherwise you just come across as a common troll. So, all in all~ I now give you an A+ for sock-puppetry and a F+ for investigative fact finding.
Posted on: 2008/9/27 14:24
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Nice deversion.
Erie street was your club house that Jr paid below value rent for month after month while you were in office. The Mocco property had the full window Jr signs that were forced to come down on election day because they were illegal. All of your operations were run out of sussex street and i do recall you running a fund raiser out of the sand bar before the election. Not that there is any thing wrong with this,just don't be so sanctimonious now that your not getting free rent. How many developers is the former councilmen working for now,For that matter how many are you working for????
Posted on: 2008/9/27 4:02
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Re: Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
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Maldonado's headquarters was on 4th and Erie, the campaign headquarters you speak of was a Healy Team headquarters. If you have a problem with the former Councilman Maldonado bring it up with him face to face, like a real man. Going after him through me is like a hole in water. I am proud of my work ethics as a council aide for Ward E from 2/2003-7/2005. If you have something to say to me about anything I did as a council aide, please feel free to express yourself. I seriously doubt you will have many people who will side with you on that issue. Now back to the topic of this thread: As far as Peter Mocco goes, you seem to have a short term memory of the stunt he pulled on 10th street when in 1999 he illegally paved a city street, took away the green space by the 10th street embankment and created 20 illegal parking spaces for his employees. All the street cleaning signs were illegally taken down, not once, not twice but 4 times and the people doing this were caught on video tape bringing the removed signs into A-1 self storage building by the resident of 10th street who took Mocco on....that Mocco, such a stand up guy, huh? So, all in all~ I give you an A for sock-puppetry and a D- for investigative fact finding.
Posted on: 2008/9/26 23:29
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Re: Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
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So i assume you think he is a bad guy,Pinky. As i recall your former Boss Jr Maldonado had his campaign Head quarters in a Mocco owned Building on the corner of Sussex and Washington where the bank now sits.He got this rent free as there is no elec report which shows a payment nor an in kind contribution. When did he become a bad guy? Before or after he gave you the free space across from school 16.
Posted on: 2008/9/26 22:53
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Re: Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
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Alb, you may want to do a Google search and a Jersey journal archive search on this developer before you take on his cause. I'm thinking go back to his days as mayor of North Bergen to current ~ enjoy the reading!
Posted on: 2008/9/26 20:53
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Re: Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
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I'm not a huge fan of real estate developers, but I think the city ought to recognize that real estate developers are caught up in terrible economical upheaval right now and be careful about starting new enforcement actions against them right now.
If, say, the city sees that Mocco is doing something with construction that will someday make the buildings fall down, then it should step in. If Mocco is really violating some limit on new construction, and building where he shouldn't build, the city should stop that. If Mocco maybe owes the city some money because he took in revenue that wasn't quite kosher -- well, OK, maybe the city should put in a claim, but it shouldn't be tying Mocco up in meetings right now, and it shouldn't necessarily expect Mocco to cough up a huge amount of time at a time when he probably has a hard time tapping existing credit loans, let alone taking out a new loan. In general, I think the city has to go on the assumption right now that best path to future stability is to try to nurse reasonably responsible developers along till the economy turns, and not assume that a company that looks big and stable actually is stable enough to deal with an unexpected $100,000 bill. There may be a lot of companies out there right now that are secretly $100,000 from liquidation. In theory, maybe we should be wiping the weaker companies out in the hope that newer, better companies will spring up, but I don't think there's any guarantee that newer, better companies will spring up. If Jersey City wipes out Mocco, for example, maybe it will be another 20 years before another Mocco comes along. And, maybe not, and maybe 10 faster, stronger, better Mocco alternatives will show up next year, but I think counting on that to be the case seems pretty aggressive right now.
Posted on: 2008/9/26 17:34
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Bad week for Mocco
Friday, September 26, 2008 By KEN THORBOURNE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER It's been a rough week for Peter Mocco, developer of the Liberty Harbor development rising in Downtown Jersey City. Last Friday, officials in the city's Division of Commerce socked him with a bill for more than $100,000 for operating a parking lot at the western end of his project that he never registered with the city. On Monday, a jury awarded a property owner $18.6 million as compensation for a 3.4-acre patch that was seized through eminent domain for the development - four times what city officials believe the property is worth and money Mocco would have to reimburse the city for. The award is being appealed. Yesterday, city officials said they are citing Mocco for two zoning violations - one concerning the parking lot, and the other for a huge billboard Mocco erected on Grand Street advertising his development. The parking lot along Jersey Avenue is "not among the permitted uses in the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan," reads one violation, which will be hand-delivered to Mocco's 10th Street office today, said Zoning Officer Anthony J. Lambiase. The other violation states the "freestanding billboard sign was erected without prior approval and which use is prohibited as per The Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment Plan." Both violations come with automatic $1,250 fines. If the violations are not corrected in 30 days, the city can impose $1,250-a-day fines for each infraction, Lambiase said. Mocco chalked up his parking lot problem and the violation notices to a political vendetta on Lambiase's part, and said it might have to go to court. "I totally disagree with Mr. Lambiase and his program of using his office as a political device . to harass a developer and the (Jersey City) Board of Education and the (state) Department of Education." Mocco, a former mayor of North Bergen, contends that he signed a ground lease with both agencies for the parking lot, so if anyone should pay parking taxes and registration fees, those agencies should - but, as he pointed out, they're tax exempt.
Posted on: 2008/9/26 15:11
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Mr. Mocco should have long ago been imprisoned. Any problems he has with the city over his real estate empire are just a tiny portion of what he is owed.
The man thinks he can flout the law just becasue he has gotten away with it so often in the past.
Posted on: 2008/9/25 11:49
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I guess Mr. Mocco didn't grease Mr. Lambiase's hand like everyone else who gets things done illegally in this city so now he feels he has to go after him. It's a shame. People try to do good for the city and they hammered. Have you ever tried to go to 30 Montgomery and get a permit to do work on your house it's ridiculous. There are people who abide by the rules and then there are people who grease some palms and get what they want. Just drive around the city and you'll see all these illegal driveways, some aren't even big enough to put a car in them but they are there, this way that person will always have a spot in front of his house. Wow I wonder how much that goes for now a days.
Posted on: 2008/9/24 22:37
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The guy should just pay the City what he owes and be done with it.
Posted on: 2008/9/24 20:33
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Jersey City tells developer: Parking lot will cost you Peter Mocco
by Ken Thorbourne Tuesday September 23, 2008, 6:47 PM The developer of the massive Liberty Harbor development rising in Downtown Jersey City has been told by city officials that he owes the city more than $100,000 in parking fees and taxes for operating a temporary lot along Jersey Avenue that he never registered with the city. Peter Mocco's Liberty Harbor Holding Inc. was sent the letter last Friday from John J. Coyne, the city's chief license inspector in the Division of Commerce -- the day after The Jersey Journal ran a front-page story on the topic. According to the Coyne letter, Mocco has been collecting $20,900 per month from the Jersey City Board of Education and the Schools Development Authority, formerly the Schools Construction Corp., since January 2006 for 220 parking spaces. Mocco never registered the lot with the city, never paid the city's 15 percent parking tax on gross revenue, and never paid the annual parking license fee, officials said. The city's 15 percent tax adds up to roughly $112,000 for the three years. And the annual parking license fee -- based on 4 cents per square foot for Mocco's 89,208-square-foot lot -- totals $10,500 for three years, city officials said. Paul Barna, the city's commerce chief, said today he's not seeking penalties or interest on the money since the relevant statutes don't provide for that. Mocco said last week he opened the lot to help out local school officials who completed Schools 3 and 4 on Grand Street without adequate parking for teachers. He chided city officials for missing the "big picture," which is the "$250 million worth of investments" he's making in this section of the city. "If it is determined money is due and owed it will be paid," Mocco said today, adding: "This one employee of the city has taken it upon himself to reach certain conclusions. I disagree with him." Coyne said the law is not ambiguous. "Everything is cut and dry," Coyne said. "If you park vehicles and charge for it, you have to pay for a parking lot license and you have to pay the parking tax."
Posted on: 2008/9/24 13:37
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Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
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Jersey City 'lot' of trouble for developer Mocco?
by Ken Thorbourne
Wednesday September 17, 2008, 6:55 PM
Billboard for Liberty Harbor on Grand Street in Jersey City. The parking lot, leased by Peter Mocco to the Jersey City school board, isn't registered, Jersey City officials say.
Twenty-four years in the making, and the first phase of Jersey City's massive Liberty Harbor North development is just coming on-line. But in addition to 700 housing units and 20,000 square feet of retail, the developer, Peter Mocco, the former North Bergen mayor and freeholder, may have built more than city officials signed off on.
City Zoning Official Tony Lambiase said today he's investigating whether or not Mocco received necessary approvals to build a temporary sales office, a huge billboard advertising the development, and a temporary parking lot at the western edge of his property at Grand Street and Jersey Avenue.
But a couple of things are certain. Parking lots must be registered with the city commerce department and parking lot owners have to pay the city 15 percent tax on gross revenue. Mocco has not done either, city officials say -- stiffing the city $112,500.
For nearly three years, Mocco has rented out 220 spaces at the temporary lot to the Jersey City Board of Education and state Schools Development Authority for $250,000 a year, according to representatives of those agencies.
The state and local agencies should up the tax tab, Mocco said today, since it was he who came to the rescue with the parking lot when Schools 3 and 4 were built without their own lots.
Mocco brushed the other issues aside yesterday, saying that the "big picture" is the "$250 million worth of improvements" he's making in this section of the city.
But City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis said Mocco should pay.
"All parking lots and parking garages in Jersey City that earn revenue from leasing spots have to pay the parking tax," Matsikoudis insisted.
John Coyne, chief license inspector in the division of commerce, said Mocco never registered the lot with city. His agency would seek to recoup parking fees "if we find out there has been parking there a long time," Coyne said.
According to Planning Director Bob Cotter, Mocco sought and received Planning Board permission to have a temporary parking lot. But that was eight years ago and Mocco was only given permission to have the lot for three years, Cotter said.
Cotter said he didn't believe Mocco needed site approval from the Planning Board for the sign and temporary sales office since they are both temporary structures.
Mocco said he was dumbfounded by the hubbub.
"I find it to be a tempest in a teapot," he said. "The idea of not having sales office is ludicrous and absurd. ... This is so counterproductive it boggles my mind."
see photos:
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_lot_of_trouble_for.html
View Larger Map
Posted on: 2008/9/18 0:55
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