"Project Sailfish" or "Operation Guppy"

Dear Nieces and Nephews:

Do you remember the TV commercial for a website developer, “A website makes it real”? In this advert, the beauty and business-like appearance of a website (their particular brand created for your business), leads one’s customers to believe that one’s showroom, factory, whatever, is an actual brick and mortar structure.  A place of business that is replete with examples of products or services. And then the camera fades to the actual location: an empty loft or warehouse.

Keep this in mind as we proceed. 

Project Sailfish, a 1-million-square-foot warehouse proposed by Bluewater Industrial Partners, aka Bluewater 1 LLC in Delaware and New York, is currently being proposed for the Town of Montgomery and they are seeking tax incentives through the town of Montgomery IDA. If approved, this massive warehouse will be located on the south-west corner of Route 17K and Route 747, an access road for Stewart International Airport. http://hvt.staging.communityq.com/stories/project-sailfish-feis-released,9571

They will be seeking the following from the Town of Montgomery IDA:

1) exemption from mortgage recording taxes with respect to any documents, if any, recorded by the Agency with respect to the Project in the office of the County Clerk of Orange County, New York or elsewhere, (2) exemption from deed transfer taxes on any real estate transfers, if any, with respect to the Project, (3) exemption from sales taxes relating to the acquisition, construction, renovation and installation of the Project Facility,and (4) in the event that the Project Facility would be subject to real property taxation if owned by the Company but shall be deemed exempt from real property taxation due to the involvement of the Agency therewith, exemption from real property taxes (but not including special assessments and special ad valorem levies), if any, with respect to the Project Facility, subject to the obligation of the Company to make payments in lieu of taxes with respect to the Project Facility.

https://montgomeryida.com/projects/project-sailfish/ 

The Project sponsors promise that Project Sailfish will occupy 190 acres, provide 300 temporary jobs, jobs jobs! in construction (hello Todd!) and 750 full time non-skilled jobs paying around $33K/year.

“Bluewater Property Group was formed by a dedicated team of career industrial real estate practitioners with a deliberate focus on identifying and capitalizing on unique investment opportunities and advisory situations within the US industrial marketplace.” https://www.bwipartners.com/ 

The Bluewater “team” now consists of Stephen J Butte and A Donald Chase.

The contact info for Bluewater is:

Bluewater I LLC

52 Lochwood Drive

West Chester Pa.

484/680.1967

The phone number for the business is Don Chase’s cell phone.

The address is for a private home owned by Steven J Butte, the home formerly owned by his parents.

  

Are you starting to understand the reference to the TV Commercial? We can just see it now, Don and Stephen running their big operation with “multi-million dollar deals” from the basement of the home of one of their parents.

But they do have a website! So, it must be real!!!

Auntie and the team are also disappointed by Don Berger. (Just kidding, Don) You seem to have missed another conflict.

At the public hearing, the Hearing Officer (a judge-like position) is also the attorney for the Montgomery IDA!!!

Even if it is legal, wouldn’t it have been nice if the Town of Montgomery IDA tried to at least appear impartial in their pick of hearing officer?

Not in Orange County.

  

https://montgomeryida.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TOMIDA-BLUEWATER-PUBLIC-HEARING-TRANSCRIPT-2.12.19.pdf 

PS

Auntie has a theory: The reason they, the Bluewater folk, are not revealing who the tenant will be, is because they do not know!!!! And they have the clowns in Orange County, Town of Montgomery and Town of Montgomery IDA leadership running around like giddy fools thinking it’s AMAZON (“ Oh boy, we are going to get Amazon, we are going to get Amazon!!!”)

Even their attorney admits it:

“The hope is to try to attract one of a number of national e-commerce tenants who are looking to get into the Orange County market place,” said David Everett, attorney for Whiteman Osterman, & Hanna LLP serving as legal counsel for Project Sailfish.”

http://timeshudsonvalley.com/stories/project-sailfish-takes-a-dip-into-montgomery,376? 

Who builds something like this on spec? 

PPS

"Local Talent" working on Project Sailfish so far:

David Everett, attorney for Whiteman Osterman, & Hanna LLP serving as legal counsel for Project Sailfish

Charles Utschig, Principal Engineer for Langan Engineering

   July 11th 2018

NYS DOS

     June27th 2018

Delaware DOS/Division of Corporations