What began as a much-heralded move to get hundreds of homeless New York City drifters out of Orange County backyards and back alleys has turned into a real estate campaign of war chests, ability and viability.
Michael Palermis, a civil engineer and restaurateur from New Jersey, said he has never “in all my days of being in business” witnessed the activity regarding the ongoing negotiations to buy Camp LaGuardia, a 258-acre fenced former homeless facility that sits in three municipalities ”“ the towns of Blooming Grove and Chester, with a slice in the village of Chester ”“ each with a vested interest in the outcome. He called negotiations “a spectator sport” and did not intend the reference as a compliment in the manner of a good Yankees-Red Sox game.
Camp LaGuardia is the  property both he and Joel Mounty, president and sole proprietor of Mountco L.L.C. in Westchester, are left vying for, now that a third developer, Easy Equities in Queens, was thrown off the list of potential buyers after a public outcry alleging Easy Equities was a front for another buyer.   Â
Ever since the Orange County Legislature voted to buy the camp from New York City in mid-2006 for $8.5 million (adding  approximately $1 million more for closing, mortgage taxes and other last-minute add-ons), the property has sat waiting for the perfect buyer ”“ and it”™s still waiting.
County Executive Edward Diana and several other legislators have said they want Camp LaGuardia back on the tax rolls as quickly as possible.
One theory making the rounds is that the property might be “flipped” once it is bought, with the public having less say in any future transaction when the parcel is in private hands. The theories are apparently well enough rooted in reality to have initiated talk of a “no flip” clause in the sale contract.
Although no one is willing to go on record as to whom the alleged flipping will benefit, nor who will be lead agency in the project, nor which company has the best plans and aspirations for bringing Camp LaGuardia”™s property to its fullest potential and bringing in the highest rateable revenue, it seems the most important objective is how high are bidders willing to go to obtain it with a “no flip” clause that expires at a preset date.
Both Mountco, which has aligned itself with Mount St. Mary College, and Palermis ”“ who wants to build a university based on Aristotelian principles ”“ presented their vision and initial site plan proposals to the Physical Services Committee of the county Legislature on July 23 and spent three-plus hours answering questions, waiting outside in the halls while legislators went into executive session, only to learn no one could make a decision without the county executive being present and a full vote from the Legislature. Now, the property”™s future will most likely be put off until September, since many of the members will be on vacation this month.
Mounty, who has upped his bid for the property, sent his greetings and his lawyer to field questions, which included:
Ӣ Whether Mountco could afford to pay out in a lump sum for the property;
Ӣ If the applicant was capable of building such a large project, even though MountcoӪs portfolio of completed projects far exceeds the scope of work his company has proposed for the site; and
”¢ Would the company agree to a “no flip” clause.
“It isn”™t going to be built in a week,” said Mounty”™s spokesman. “We have several projects going on simultaneously, and they are all built on time, on budget and totally conform to what we have promised to deliver. Why should this be any different than any other project?” Â
For Palermis, who says a desire to leave a legacy in his adopted country is no pie-in-the-sky ideal, but is grounded in facts, figures and is planned of a desire to build something spectacular focused on education ”“ ala Aristotle.
Palermis said he has been disdainfully referred to as a pizza shop owner. “I”™m an engineer with a degree from M.I.T. and a 2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor holder, and there are very few of us that have been awarded that honor by this country,” he said. “I”™ve built bigger, more complex projects in New York City.”
Legislator Roxanne Donnery, D-Highland Falls, succinctly pointed out another pie-in-the-sky idea that”™s become a magnet: “AveMaria College was built by the CEO of Domino”™s Pizza, and it”™s the best thing that”™s happened to Naples, Florida.”  Â
Accreditation? “No one needs accreditation to build,” said Palermis. “You build it and then go into the accreditation proceedings, which can take years, and everyone in the room knows that.” Flipping? “No problem. We will agree to sign a ”˜no flip”™ clause.”
What Palermis doesn”™t like is the fact that the bidding, which is supposed to be sealed and private, has become a matter of public debate and has two qualified builders bidding against each other. “I have worked on many jobs in New York and New Jersey, and I”™ve never seen anything quite like this … a bid is sealed, it is opened, and it is decided in private. Now, the process has become a public spectator sport,” referring to a boisterous “community meeting” held at Chester Academy just a week earlier.
If  the communities with a stake in the property get too cantankerous, Legislator Alan Seidman, R-Salisbury Mills, reminded fellow legislators that all it takes is an act by the county to assume lead agency status and decide how, when and where the project will be built and what zoning will be put in place to accommodate it. “But let”™s hope it doesn”™t come to that,” he said.
In the meantime, the public waits and Camp LaGuardia sits behind a chain link fence waiting for its new owner.
