Sale of Barclay North and South a done deal

.   The Township Committee adopted a resolution Aug. 23 assigning the contract of sale to West Orange Baby, LLC.

By: Paul Koepp
   The $2.1 million sale of the Barclay North and South properties is final.
   The Township Committee adopted a resolution Aug. 23 assigning the contract of sale to West Orange Baby, LLC.
   Township Administrator Christine Smeltzer said Tuesday that the sale officially closed Aug. 24 and the township received a check for $2.1 million.
   West Orange Baby has changed its name from Apples & Oranges Inc. since beating out 15 other bidders, including the next highest bid of $2.05 million, for the property at a June 15 auction. The company is owned by agricultural investor Leslie L. Alexander.
   Max Spann, president of Max Spann Auctioneers, conducted the June auction and said at the time that he believed Mr. Alexander planned to lease the land to local farmers.
   Committee member Pari Stave said Thursday she was pleased that the sale had been finalized.
   "It’s a great relief," she said. "The sale has been held up in litigation for far too long. We’ve wanted to use the proceeds to pay down some of our debt."
   The money will go toward paying down debt from the township’s $3.5 million purchase of the land from the Barclay family in June 2000. The land, located west of North Main Street, is deed-restricted for agricultural use.
   The township’s previous attempt to auction the property in October of 2004 was derailed by a lawsuit filed by Cranbury resident Arthur Danser, who lived on the property from 1929 until November.
   Mr. Danser won that auction but then refused to enter into a contract of sale. He said the township had improperly extended the deadline for bids, bringing more bidders into the auction and driving up his winning bid from $1.2 million to $1.9 million.
   The Appellate Division of the state Superior Court ruled in August of 2006 that the auction had been conducted legally.