[RP TownTalk] Wachovia and the Field of Rubble

[Heather Blanchard]

When exactly is the date  of the time out clause? What needs to happen?

This development is not the right kind of development for RP. If  
Caputo is looking to building something, why can't we -- as a  
community -- tell him what we want to see there? Why are we letting  
developers just offer up development that isn't right for the area?  
ESPECIALLY, since that piece of property is one of the most valuable  
and visible that this town has.

If there is any redress on this development, it would be great to  
know. Maybe we need to rethink how a development like this can get  
through the council with a, "well...okay..."

Just think about Hyattsville - they stuck to their guns and are  
experiencing PLANNED, gradual, steady and hopefully sustainable  
development. There might be lesson's learned from our sister  
communities as we go down the road of development.

Heather

On Jul 15, 2008, at 2:12 PM, Roland Walker wrote:

> The new Town Council added a time-out clause to the covenants Caputo
> needs to erect the building.
>
> If Caputo doesn't break ground in the upcoming months, the whole deal
> is off.  I don't recall the exact deadline -- it was set at one year
> after the granting of the covenants.
>
> It is Caputo who has let the lot go to ruin, and Caputo who has
> floundered and dragged his heels on getting a development in.
>
> It will be better for the town if the deal falls through; I have no
> doubt about that.  The Wachovia development is a spectacularly poor
> use of our best retail location.
>
> The town can cite Caputo for the weeds; I don't know why they don't.
>
> R
>
> On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 12:00 PM, Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes at gmail.com 
> > wrote:
>> Yesterday, driving by our Gateway (Rt 1@ 410), I couldn't help but  
>> notice
>> the weeds again taking over, two or three 'yard signs' placed here  
>> and there
>> advertising something (We buy houses fast! or Donate your car to  
>> us!, I'm
>> not sure which), and our Farmers Market banner looking rather  
>> forlorn,
>> sagging to the point of not quite being readable.
>>
>> And then it occurred to me that the reports on Wachovia have not  
>> been good,
>> and I wondered what this might portend for the future of our  
>> Gateway corner.
>>
>> And then I saw this this morning in the New York Times:
>> "Wachovia, the investment bank, lost 20 percent after a well-known  
>> Wall
>> Street analyst deemed its prospects "bleak.""
>>
>> If you ask me, I'd be a bit surprised if they break ground this  
>> year.  True
>> or not, is there something we can do to make the lot look like  
>> somebody
>> cares?
>>
>>
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