Demand mall owners help with costs of moving
By:Charlie Olsen
Manville Pizza has been a staple of the borough for 37 years a business passed from father to son but if things fall through at their May 26 court hearing, owner Anthony D’Aniello and the owners of five other Manville businesses will be evicted from Rustic Mall.
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Company behind mall specializes in redevelopment Over the years, Rustic Mall has often been a focal point for the borough sometimes as the town’s retail center, but more frequently in recent years as the center of borough frustrations. The Borough Council declared the site a redevelopment zone in 2003, and threatened to condemn the property when mall owners failed to present plans for redeveloping the mall. The mall’s owners presented plans at the 11th hour in 2004 as the council again prepared to take action, but didn’t follow through on further steps towards redevelopment for several months despite deadlines to do so set by the council. So, who owns the mall and will be paying for the redevelopment of the property? Rustic Mall was originally purchased in 1965 as a partnership between Harry Wilf, Joseph Wilf and Sydney Hartmann. In March, 2002, the property was transferred for one dollar to Rustic Mall LLC, a limited liability company that lists Leonard Wilf, the CEO of Garden Commercial Properties amongst its list of members. Garden Commercial properties is a private development company in Short Hills, that specializes in redeveloping existing commercial and industrial brownfield sites. According to their Web site, the company, a subsidiary of Garden Homes, "actively seeks available land sites which could provide for large scale retail and mixed-use development projects." Garden Homes was created in 1955 by Holocaust survivors Harry and Joseph Wilf. Starting in single-family housing, the company moved into the development of apartment complexes with Garden Communities. Garden Commercial Properties was created for the purpose of entering the commercial development market. Garden Commercial owns or developed over 25 million square feet of retail and commercial space in the tri-state area. Types of projects include pre-WWII buildings, shopping centers and multistoried buildings. Operating out of Short Hills, the business extends as far south as Florida and as far west as California. The three key executives in the company are Chief Executive Officer Leonard Wilf, Chief Operating Officer Zygmunt Wilf, and Chief Financial Officer Mark Wilf. Zygmunt Wilf is an attorney and real estate investor. In 2005, he headed a financial group that purchased the Minnesota Vikings professional football club from Red McCombs and is the owner of the club. His total holdings are unknown, but Garden Commercial’s estimated worth is $101.1 million according to Hoover’s Inc., an online business information company. |
"We’re asking for termination of the lease and possession of the space," said Rustic Mall project manager Joe Korn. "It ends up being eviction in layman’s terms … every tenant was given the opportunity to leave."
The businesses were to have vacated by April 30 to make way for the redevelopment of the mall, but Mr. D’Aniello and the owners of 8 New Fortune Chinese Restaurant and Speedwash Laundromat say they deserve some compensation for moving because of their leases.
Mr. D’Aniello says he’s going to court because it is extremely costly to move a pizzeria.
"To move this two inches would cost the same amount to move it 200 miles," said Mr. D’Aniello.
A spokesperson for Able Apollo Moving & Storage estimated it would cost anywhere from $4,00 to $8,000 to move a typical restaurant kitchen, after the utilities are disconnected.
But the hardest part, he said, was the kitchen equipment because of all the grease and other debris that gets swept underneath all the equipment.
Mr. D’Aniello said that most of his equipment is old and can’t be moved, so instead he ‘dwould have to purchase new equipment. According to a salesperson at E & A Bar and Restaurant Supply in Plainfield, Mr. D’Aniello’s equipment needs, which include two six-burner stoves, a pizza oven and 10 feet by 20 feet walk-in refrigerator would cost roughly $27,400.
On top of that, booths would cost $400 to $1,000 each and the ventilator hood costs $1,250 per square foot of coverage. Throw in a cooler, which costs about $30,000, and the costs of getting up to code grow.
By his estimates it would cost about a quarter of a million dollars to move, and he feels he should get some kind of compensation.
"We’re being forced to move," said Mr. D’Aniello. "I’ve got a 15-year lease. What would you do?"
Zi Jin Chen who owns 8 New Fortune with Min Chen said the reason she wasn’t leaving was also because of her lease.
"We have another location that is not set up yet," said Ms. Chen. "It will take three or four months. I have a lease until 2009."
Mr. Korn said that the tenants have all been given ample notice, since October, of the mall owner’s intent to demolish the building, which is based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) cleanup of the former grounds of the Federal Creosote Co.
"The EPA is planning on starting Aug. 28," said Mr. Korn. "We have to get the building down … it will take about four months to disconnect the utilities and remove any asbestos."
The attorney for 8 New Fortune restaurant Stephen Tsai said that although it is in the best economic interests of the Rustic Mall management to tear down the building, it will take time to set up the new restaurant at 281 S. Main St.
"Our lease allows until 2009," said Mr. Tsai. "We feel that compensation is desirable."
However, Mr. Tsai said that he had spoken with the EPA about the decision to tear down the building and that the decision to do so comes from the mall owners, not the EPA.
"If they didn’t tear the building down, the EPA wouldn’t remediate underneath," said Mr. Tsai.
Remedial Project Manager Rich Puvogel said that he wouldn’t comment on what lawyers say to one another. According to his estimates, excavation outside the building would be completed by Aug. 29, but "any work depends on the demolition."
Rustic Mall LLC is a subsidiary of Garden Commercial Properties, whose Chief Operating Officer is Zygmunt Wilf, best known for heading the financial group that purchased the Minnesota Vikings professional football club from Red McCombs in 2005.
When asked about the holdings of his company, Mr. Korn pointed out that Mr. D’Aniello owns real estate on Main Street.
Tim McKeown, an attorney with Norris, McLaughlin and Marcus representing Mr. D’Aniello, said that he and his client hadn’t prepared a formal reply, but they’d would be ready for their May 26 court date.
Jack Lack, owner of the Speedwash Laundromat, said he hadn’t seen the subpoena, but he’d be staying open for as long as he could. Mr. Lack didn’t know what he would do if he’s forced to close because the costs of moving a Laundromat exceed $100,000 and it’s difficult to find a location with sufficient parking and utilities to support his business.
"It’s just too bad it’s come down to this," said Mr. Lack. "I mean, these guys own the Minnesota Vikings and probably have 100 lawyers us little guys can’t fight that."
According to Diane Smith, executive director of New Jersey’s Somerset-Sussex Legal Services which offers free legal consultation for residential tenants facing eviction, there are a lot less protections for businesses facing eviction by judgment of possession.
"They’re usually given 10 days notice to come to the court date, which always falls on a Friday," said Ms. Smith. "Three business days later, they (the landlord) can apply for a warrant, and three days later a law enforcement officer shows up to lock the premises."
According to the access agreement signed by property manager Daniel Marshall and the EPA on Dec. 12, the owners of the mall agreed to "demolish the roof and walls of the strip mall building" and "crack the concrete floor slab of the strip mall into pieces less than two feet in diameter" on or before December 2006.
Mr. Marshall did not return phone calls requesting comment.
"We really have tried to work with the tenants," said Mr. Korn. "We’ve been a part of this community for a long time and will be there after the cleanup is done."
The remediation is scheduled to be completed in February 2008.

