Quoted from benny salami

"We have personal guarantees from the former owner" (who filed bankruptcy), stated Metrograft Ray. He will pursue remedies on the brewing equipment? Has this guy resigned in disgrace yet? How stupid does he think we are? Don't answer...

Just about that stupid.......

for some folks it's this......

Quoted Text

Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen quote published in the Daily Gazette on December 8, 2007 (see above):
"If the auction results in more than $475,000 being paid for the building and parking lot, Metroplex will recoup its investment,” he said.

So, the building that Gillen said was of value greater than $1M, sold at auction today for $252,000.  The winning bidder also agreed to pay back taxes in the amount of $147,000.  The sale price will satisfy the $250,000 first lien to Berkshire Bank.  The Schenectady county taxpayers, who the Metroplex board allowed to be placed in second position will receive no return on 1/4 of a million dollar investment PLUS a $100K lease of the parking area.

Mr. Gillen, our business development expert, is now suggesting that we can recover our investment by auctioning off the restaurant equipment.  This suggests that the equipment has value greater than the real property.  I recall that he gave his guarantee/assurance that the county would recover every penny that was invested by the Metroplex in the Van Dyke (and also the Big House).  According to the information published on the Metroplex web site ( http://www.schenectadymetrople.....etail&NewsID=109 ) the Metroplex was to secure a mortgage on Mr. Olsen's Saratoga residence.  Thus, the questions to be answered are, what lien position on the home does the Metroplex hold and, considering the decrease in real estate property values will there be any equity to be realized?

Mr. Gillen and the actions of the Metroplex Board have cost Schenectady County 1/4 of a million dollars because of unsound investment practices.  For his service, he will reportedly receive a salary of $155,228 when the County Legislature approves his raise in 2009.  Before passage of this increase in compensation, perhaps he can disclose to the county residents the present status of 411 State (a.k.a., the Big House).  

Schenectady County and Wall Street appear to be similar in their financial conduct.

Thank you Brad for all your work on behalf of the oppressed County Taxpayers. All the cheer leaders for the socialistic Metrograft experiment look like complete dupes now.

     Ray floated the figure of $1 million before the auction. There was one bidder who was $1,000 over the minimum. Berkshire Bank protected its interest. Metrograft dropped the ball AGAIN. Enough is enough. This is how you fix the record County deficit-end Metrograft now.

Mr. Gillen should honorably resign from his post. He has failed the taxpayers miserably. His position should NOT be replaced with anyone else. The Plex should be desolved before they TOTALLY bankrupt this county.

Has anyone driven down state street lately? It is pathetic. I was driving through the area last week during the so called 'lunch hour'. The two blocks of state street was a driving disaster!! Very poor planning. And after a decade and millions of tax payer's dollars, the buildings look a-shamble!

Gillen is the front guy for the plex, but where is Neil Golub? I thought he had more business sense than this. I am disappointed in him. Whenthe plex first came into existance, I was against it. But when I heard that Neil Golub was on the board, I thought that MAYBE, it would be theright thing to do to revitalize the area. Well my first instinct was correct!

But, Proctors and Bowtie look nice - along with Apertivo, Pizza King and um  ... I think that's it downtown.

As much as I'm against Metroplex, they have done decent things for SOME of the community, IMHO.  Railex - while not "high end" jobs, is a sizable employer in the Town of Rotterdam.  I'm sure there are a few examples of successes - but they're outshadowed by the UNFINISHED/INCOMPLETE projects that "should have been".  Do the good projects justify a multi-million dollar "development agency"? I'd have to vote no. It was designed with a few simple goals - one of them being reduced residential tax base in the County. We know how that one turned out.

Galesi could have gotten Rail-ex on their own. Galesi is a savvy businessman and needs help from no one. By Galesi naming the plex as part of this deal, just gave Galesi more jobs with the plex. Ya know...the old, 'one hand washes the other'.

Quoted from bumblethru

Galesi could have gotten Rail-ex on their own. Galesi is a savvy businessman and needs help from no one. By Galesi naming the plex as part of this deal, just gave Galesi more jobs with the plex. Ya know...the old, 'one hand washes the other'.

Well, I can't argue with you on that one, you're 100% correct.

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
New owners vow to reopen club
Family steps in, buys Van Dyck
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    An established local family of restaurant operators purchased the landmark Van Dyck for $252,000, plus $147,000 in back taxes, at a foreclosure auction Wednesday, promising to restore and reopen it.

    The famed former jazz club on Union Street had once been listed for sale at $1.6 million.

    The McDonald family purchased the Van Dyck property at 235 Union St. and a parking lot at 301 Union St. The McDonalds own and operate Pinhead Susan’s, the Stockade Inn and the Park Inn on Michigan Avenue.

    Family spokesman Jeffrey Mc-Donald, a Schenectady County legislator, said the family plans to reopen the Van Dyck as a restaurant. He said it was too soon to speculate on the nature of the facility and whether jazz would return there.

    “We will do whatever we have to do to make it succeed. We have a long-term commitment to the city and the Stockade. We really believe in it. It is a landmark,” Mc-Donald said.  The sale satisfies most of a $250,000 loan

Jack and Dennis McDonald took a dilapidated Civil War era  building on the corner of North Broadway and Liberty Street in 2000 and turned into an Irish pub and restaurant called Pinhead Susan’s. In 2003, brothers Jack and Jeff McDonald refurbished the former Mohawk Club, at Union and Church streets, into an elegant restaurant called the Stockade Inn. The McDonalds did both projects on their own, without tapping into Metroplex’s resources.

    Gillen said the McDonalds have a proven record of operating successful restaurants and have the financial resources to own and operate the Van Dyck.

    “They will do extensive renovations and restore the building to match the name and history of the place and restore the legacy of the Van Dyck,” Gillen said.

    Gillen said the country’s ongoing financial crisis hurt Metroplex’s chances of recouping its money through the foreclosure auction. Had the auction gone off as scheduled in July, before the current climate, Gillen said, he is confident the property would have sold in the $400,000 range, satisfying both defaulted loans.

    Olsen stopped the July auction through a court order. Metroplex and Berkshire subsequently overturned the order, resulting in Wednesday’s auction.

    “We knew in July we had multiple bidders and the price would have come in higher and that would have covered the loans,” Gillen said.

    The McDonalds and Berkshire Bank were the only bidders at the foreclosure auction held in the Schenectady County Courthouse.

    Berkshire representative Tom Matejek opened bidding at $251,000. Tom Hoffman countered with the second and final bid of $252,000. Under the terms of the auction, the McDonalds must repay $147,000 in back taxes to the city.

    Matejek said Berkshire will receive most of the $252,000, less costs associated with the auction. “Metroplex gets nothing,” he said.

McDonald representative Peter Olsen defaulted on with Berkshire Bank but leaves unpaid much of a $200,000 loan and $75,000 line of credit he defaulted on with the Metroplex Development Authority in early 2007. Olsen did business as Electric City Brew Pubs.

    Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said Metroplex will auction off Van Dyck equipment on Oct. 22 — including everything from the building’s furniture to the brewing equipment — in the hope of satisfying the defaulted loan. Metroplex will also go after assets owned by Olsen, he said.

    “We have personal guarantees from the former owner. Metroplex will pursue payment under the guarantee until the debt is satisfied,” Gillen said.

    Metroplex retains rights to the name “Van Dyck” but lost its 10-year lease on the parking lot through the auction. Metroplex paid Olsen $100,000 to lease the lot in 2005.

GOOD TRACK RECORD
    Gloria Kishton, president of the Schenectady Heritage Foundation, a preservationist group, was pleased the McDonald family purchased the Van Dyck.

    “The family has done a tremendous amount of preservation on historic buildings in the community. We are looking forward to them being there and getting the club up and running again. The Van Dyck is important to Schenectady,” she said.

    Berkshire had first position on the property, Metroplex had second. Metroplex, however, has first position on equipment inside the former Van Dyck. The equipment includes a microbrewery Olsen installed in a bid to make the business viable.

    The property at 237 Union St. features a four-story building with dining areas upstairs and downstairs, a kitchen and upstairs offices.

    Metroplex and Berkshire foreclosed on Olsen last January. Several months later, Olsen declared personal bankruptcy in federal bankruptcy court. In March, a federal judge dismissed Olsen’s Chapter 11 case. The dismissal allows Metroplex and other creditors to foreclose on his properties in Schenectady, Saratoga and Washington counties.

    Olsen shut down the former jazz club in March 2007, saying he planned to close temporarily for repairs. He never reopened and shortly thereafter put the Van Dyck up for sale. He initially listed it at $1.6 million.

    Olsen and three partners reopened the Van Dyck on its 50th anniversary in 1997. The jazz club experienced problems almost from the start. The owners defaulted on loans and faced lawsuits over the next several years.

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Loan record takes first hit
Metroplex 34-1 after Van Dyck foreclosure
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    There was mixed news for the Metroplex Development Authority’s loan portfolio this week.
    On Wednesday, Metroplex took a hit when it failed to recover through a foreclosure auction the full cost of a $275,000 loan to the former owner of the Van Dyck Restaurant and Brewery. The auction fetched $252,000, most of which will go to Berkshire Bank, which had first position on repayment.
    On the same day, however, Metroplex announced that Cyclics, a high-tech company headquartered in Schenectady, had earlier in the week made a final payment on its $1.25 million loan.
    During the summer, Metroplex officials expressed concern after Cyclics failed to repay its $857,832 loan balance by December 2007. The Metroplex Audit Committee gave Cyclics an extension to repay the balance in three $200,000 installments, plus principal and interest payments of about $14,000 per month.
    Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said Metroplex collected interest payments totaling more than $553,786 on the Cyclics loan.
    The Van Dyck loan is the only loan to go bad among 34 others Metroplex has made since its inception nine years ago, said Schenectady County Legislator Vincent DiCerbo, chairman of the Legislature’s Economc Development Committee. “Many banks would kill for Metroplex’s portfolio. And I think over time, Metroplex will recoup the loan.”
    Metroplex plans to go after former Van Dyck owner N. Peter Olsen’s personal assets, which include properties in several counties, Gillen said.
    Since 1999, Metroplex has loaned out $21 million and has collected $5 million in principal and interest payments. There are no delinquent loans in its current $17 million portfolio, Gillen said.
    “Our other loans are very strong,” he said. “We try to write agreements so they are secured by assets and other personal guarantees.”
    Because of these and other factors, Metroplex has an A bond rating with Moody’s Investors Service. The rating is Moody’s third best and means Metroplex has adequate security to cover principal and interest, but there is some risk over time. Gillen said Metroplex uses loan repayments, plus sales tax income, to fund other projects, sometimes through loans and sometimes through grants.
    The Van Dyck loan, signed in 2004, was controversial with the Metroplex board, which approved it 8-3. Dissenters were concerned Olsen would use the loan to stabilize some of his debts, setting a bad example for public money. Metroplex receives a portion of the county sales tax for use in its economic development mission.
    “It was the toughest loan we gave,” Gillen. “But we went forward to preserve the venue, the name and the building and we also thought we were in a strong position regarding collateral.”
    Metroplex had second position on Olsen’s real estate assets, behind Berkshire Bank, and first position on equipment in the restaurant. It also secured a personal guarantee from the owner. “We had three firewalls built into the deal,” Gillen said.
    Under the agreement, Metroplex would lease the Van Dyck’s 301 Union St. parking lot for 10 years at a one-time fee of $100,000, would provide the Van Dyck with a $200,000 zero-interest loan, and would grant the Van Dyck a $75,000 line of credit. Metroplex also retained rights to the name “Van Dyck Restaurant and Brewery.”
    Metroplex board member Gary McCarthy, who voted against the Van Dyck deal, said Metroplex should never have worked with the Van Dyck management. However, he said he thinks Metroplex will come close to breaking even on the deal.

Metroplex says it's had only one bad loan but how many failed businesses have they funded, how many jobs were created, and did they lower the residents taxes? When you look at the over all results of Metroplex it's a failure by anyone's standards.

How much money has gone into the non-profit Proctors? And how much money are the taxpayers getting back on that investment?

How long will Mr. Waite be allowed to sit on our tax dollars before he decides to open the Big House?

How long is the proposed Saratoga clothing store going to sit on our tax dollar before that opens?

How many people actually STAY at the Hampton Inn?

How many people actually attend the Bow Tie Cinema. (I hear it is near empty most of the time)

How long will we wait to recoup our investment of the $425,000 plex buy out of the old Bethesda House building?

How many taxpayers will actually benefit from Kosiur's 'kid park' other than the 60 kids? (and that number may be too high)

And lastly, how long will it be before, we the taxpayers, see some professional, fiscally responsible decisions made by our high paid, spend and tax, elected officials and the created patronage jobs?

"Metrograft{Taxpayers} get nothing". Quote of the decade from Berkshire Bank's Tom Makejek.

     34 and 1? Complete Rubbish! What about Big Hose? What about the Center City debacle, where $100,000 in an outdoor patio has been destroyed? What about the Chamber of Commerce building where over a million dollars has been wasted on the Gillette House which sits unoccupied? What about CardioMag that took both City Development and Metrograft funding? What about the Downtown Wi-Fi "the biggest in the State" where $175,000 has been thrown down the toilet? What about ALCO where Ray and Shumer want to replace industrial jobs, which we need, with coffeehouses and condos?

Quoted from bumblethru

How much money has gone into the non-profit Proctors? And how much money are the taxpayers getting back on that investment?

How long will Mr. Waite be allowed to sit on our tax dollars before he decides to open the Big House?

How long is the proposed Saratoga clothing store going to sit on our tax dollar before that opens?

How many people actually STAY at the Hampton Inn?

How many people actually attend the Bow Tie Cinema. (I hear it is near empty most of the time)

How long will we wait to recoup our investment of the $425,000 plex buy out of the old Bethesda House building?

How many taxpayers will actually benefit from Kosiur's 'kid park' other than the 60 kids? (and that number may be too high)

And lastly, how long will it be before, we the taxpayers, see some professional, fiscally responsible decisions made by our high paid, spend and tax, elected officials and the created patronage jobs?

You forgot:

What benefit did Schenectady receive now that the Hotel Foster is in Bankruptcy?

I was hoping others would add to the list. thanks!

Quoted Text

The Van Dyck loan is the only loan to go bad among 34 others Metroplex has made since its inception nine years ago, said Schenectady County Legislator Vincent DiCerbo, chairman of the Legislature’s Economc Development Committee. “Many banks would kill for Metroplex’s portfolio. And I think over time, Metroplex will recoup the loan.”

Many banks would kill for Metroplex's portfolio???????

A private bank wouldn't give 0% interest loans, and then restructure the loan when the person or company couldn't pay on the original loan structure.  The banks shareholders wouldn't allow it.  If Metroplex was a private bank, investors would pull their money out with such mindless lending, where the lender bares all the risk.  You know how I know this?  Banks would have made the loans to those 34 business's that Metroplex did, if they were considered to be secure profitable investments.  As we can see, Berkshire Bank put themselves in the first position to collect on their loan, protecting the business and shareholders investments. Not Metroplex,,,,, we take second position, since we are the stupid taxpayer, or what would be considered the shareholder in a private bank. We get led around by idiots like Vince DiCerbo telling us how privileged we should feel to only have lost $250,000, which Vince says we will recover some day.  

We the taxpayer are legislated to continue funding funding Metroplex, keeping it solvent.  If we as taxpayers were shareholders, and had the ability to pull our money out of Metroplex at will, Metroplex wouldn't exist. I can guarantee that!  I do my best to starve Metroplex of sales tax revenue by shopping in Albany & Saratoga Counties as much as possible.  I know it's biting off my nose to spite my face, but it's the only action I can take when our elected official of both political stripe don't listen.