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| The public works yard is actually covered by the white box that says Barclay Chase at Marlton in the picture above |
At the most recent Evesham Town Council meeting on July 14th, 2020, the Council unanimously passed Resolution 236-2020 approving the 'Letter of Intent' sent by Fieldstone Associates to purchase the Department of Public Works Yard on Evesboro-Medford Road. The sale is the result of a long process that began in 2016 and is much closer now to becoming a reality.
Both before and after approving the resolution, there were some wondering why it took so long to approve the sale. Questions were raised by a member of Council along with numerous members of the public as to the delay. While I have no information on the exact cause of that delay, it is apparent that the terms of the Letter of Intent (LOI) are very different from the previous LOI dated February 14th, 2020. Perhaps these differences explain the delay.
I have provided links to both LOIs at the bottom of this post. Because they are in PDF rather than Word format, I did not have an easy way to compare text, other than by eyeballing it. These are the significant changes I have found. If I've gotten anything wrong or missed anything, please let me know.
1) The agreed upon sale price was increased from $1,456,000 to $1,520,000, an increase in revenue to the town of $64,000. That represents slightly more than a 4% increase.
2) An increase in the incremental price of additional units from $16,000 to $16,703.33. The basis for the sale price is for 91 rental apartments. If you divide the purchase price of $1,520,000 by the number of units (91), you get $16,703.33 per unit. If the developer is approved for more than 91 units, each additional unit increases the purchase price by $16,703.33. If they are approved for less than 91 units, the purchase price is decreased by $16,703.33. On the previous LOI, the incremental unit price was $16,000.
It should be noted that 'Exhibit B' in the February 20 LOI notes that the developer is expected to be approved for 107 units. If they are indeed approved for 107 units, under the February 20th LOI, that would bring the purchase price to $1,456,000 + (16 * $16,000), or $1,712,000.
Under the new LOI, the purchase price for an approved 107 units would be $1,520,000 + (16 * 16,703.33), or $1,787,253.28.
3) Under the new LOI, Fieldstone agrees to perform a traffic study at their cost to determine if a traffic light is required at the intersection of Evesboro-Medford Road and Sharp Road. If it is required, Fieldstone would be responsible for the costs of obtaining permits, approvals and constructing the signalization. If a traffic light is deemed unnecessary, Fieldstone will post a $300,000 bond with Evesham for a period of 5 years from the date the first Certificate of Occupancy is received (when the first new apartments are 'rentable'.) If it is determined that a light is needed within that 5 years, the bond will be used for that purpose. If not, it will be returned to the purchaser.
Under the previous LOI (February 14), "the purchase price shall be reduced by an amount equal to the design, approval and hard costs to design and construct the signalization."
In other words, the new LOI saves Evesham from the potential cost of a new traffic light if one is deemed warranted. Based on the amount of the bond required, it could cost up to $300,000 for the new traffic light.
4) Evesham is now responsible for obtaining the issuance of a NJDEP Wetlands Delineation. This was not mentioned in the previous LOI.
5) An entirely new section called "Approval Timeline" was added to the LOI, rigidly documenting the duties of each party.
- Within 30 days, Evesham shall provide a Redevelopment Agreement and Purchase Agreement designating Fieldstone as the redeveloper
- During the 60 day due diligence period, Fieldstone will obtain "all necessary studies, environmental investigations, financial estimates..." The Township would deliver a long-term tax abatement (PILOT)
- Fieldstone will file a preliminary and final site plan within 60 days of the expiration of the due diligence period
- The Township will review that submission for 'completeness' within 45 days.
- The Township will schedule a hearing within 60 days of the completeness review
None of these terms were spelled out in the prior LOI.
6) The purchaser has the the ability to extend the Approval period for 2 periods of 3 months each by paying $10,000. Under the old LOI, that $10K would be credited against the purchase price if the transaction eventually closes. Under the new agreement, it does NOT count towards the purchase price.
6) The purchaser has the the ability to extend the Approval period for 2 periods of 3 months each by paying $10,000. Under the old LOI, that $10K would be credited against the purchase price if the transaction eventually closes. Under the new agreement, it does NOT count towards the purchase price.
A couple of other notes:
The plan includes 3 new buildings where the DPW yard is - one 3-story building (marked with #1 below) and two 4-story buildings (marked #2 and #3 below).
It looks like a new exit from Barclay Chase will align with Sharp Road (marked #5 below), at least according to the site plan included with the February 14, 2020 LOI. There was no site plan included with the June 26, 2020 LOI. I am unsure if the current entrance (marked #4 below) will remain.
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| Site Plan included in the February 14, 2020 LOI |
Thanks go out to Evan Scott who provided the February 14th LOI.
-- Fieldstone Letter of Intent dated Febuary 14, 2020
-- Fieldstone Letter of Intent dated June 20, 2020
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