Feedback sought on PNC bank buy

[Concerned]

There is some sentiment in town to buy the PNC property then decide what to do with the building. Before any acquisition is made, it is responsible for the TC to know what the property will be used for, a library or some other function, then have an idea of the total cost to acquire, renovate as well as annual costs so the town has an idea on impact to taxes. No decision should be made before the complete plan is understood.

Everyone concerned with this potential purchase should go to the township committee meeting on May 19 to express their opinions.

[Guest]

As a resident and tax payer, I already sent an email to Ms. Kathleen Cunningham at twpclerk@cranbury-nj.com to express my objection.

I believe a purchase will increase my tax and hurt the Main St. businesses more.

[Guest]

It would make a great library. And out library is kinda small, especially since it meets the needs of the school and the community.

However, since many of us got hit with a big tax increase, and the there are the upcoming expenses for the baseball field, and affordable housing in some form or another....I don't think we can afford it.

I am afraid that the TC will say that the taxes will not go up, because they can finance it another way....but I am skeptical. Show us the numbers!

Buying it is one thing....renovating it is another thing, upkeep, costs associated with it, etc., etc., etc.

[Guest]

I love how politicians like our TC and Corzine all say these purchases won't raise taxes because they come from grants and loans. The loans have to be repaid and where does that money come from?

[Michael]

Anyone go to the meeting? I couldn't make it.

[Michael]

OK, it's early and for some reason i thought the meeting was last night. I need more coffee.

[Cranbury Conservative]

Even if they (The TC) can finance the purchase of the building thru grants. There will be the ongoing maintenance costs of another building in the town. What head count will be added to staff this new building and maintain it? The PNC building is rather old what will they find if they renovate the building? Is there lead paint hidden somewhere? Or asbestos? Did we not just go thru an environmental clean up for the new baseball field which I believe doubled the cost? No one saw that expense coming did they?

This is not the time to be spending money on wants for the town. If we need to address parking then lets look at all of our options. Where else can we build parking? Can we do it for less. Or possibly if someone else buys the building maybe we can give them a small tax break for letting us use the 20 parking spaces.

There are many other options for us to look at here. As I have said before on this board this town has 3500 people not 35,000. The shared library we have is fine for a town of this size. It has also been said on this board we can use the surrounding towns library's if needed.

Before this building became available I had not heard of a real need for a new facility. If there truly is a need then lets keep the shared model the school and library use now. let's look at other options. We could expand the existing school building if needed. With a room or small addition possibly. In the long term the overall cost would still be shared for the upkeep and maintenance.

This makes sense for a town of our size

[Guest]

[Frank J. Brennan, III]

This letter was emailed to the Township Committee on April 17, 2008. It expresses my views only. Although I am an attorney, I do not represent anyone regarding the PNC building. Further, although my father is on the Library Board (its current President), it does not express his views. I do not know what position, if any, the Library Board has on this matter. ~Frank J. Brennan, III

April 17, 2008

Cranbury Township Committee
Township of Cranbury
23-A North Main Street
Cranbury, New Jersey 08512

Re: PNC Bank Building
Main Street, Cranbury

Dear Township Committee:

I understand the Mayor and others toured the PNC Bank Building recently, and note the special Committee Meeting and Agenda items for April 21, 2008.

I have several concerns about converting the PNC bank building for some public or quasi public use. The primary concern is that it takes a key commercial building in a small business district out of commercial use. This further shrinks our business district, which impacts the vibrancy of our downtown. It also takes the property off the tax rolls. The town has several other locations "bookmarked" for future public buildings adjacent to the school and the former Wright Tract which would not negatively impact the business district and would be much more suitable for public buildings.

Secondarily, if the PNC building were converted to a public use, the ability to expand the building or increase the parking capacity would be severely limited given the relative small size of the PNC parcel and the unavailability of any land for expansion adjacent to the PNC parcel.

Third, is the cost of acquiring and converting the PNC building to a new use. Given the asking price and what I believe to be the fair market value of the building, the acquisition costs would be significant. The cost of converting the building to a public use would also be quite substantial. I have toured the building on several occasions and, as you have probably discovered, it has a dysfunctional layout, contains numerous closets and small rooms, and has two (2) safes. The safes consume a lot of space, would not be readily useable in a public building, and would be costly to remove. Finally, the drive-up portico at the building does not easily transfer to any public use and costs would be incurred to demolish it.

An issue related to the conversion of this building is whether its useable space is consistent with its advertised space. I have reviewed the blueprints for the building, which were provided to me by PNC Bank, and have performed my own measurements of the building. These measurements show that the actual useable square footage of the main floor and second floor is significantly less than the total square footage advertised as part of the listing for this property. The listing, I believe, includes square footage for part, or all, of the basement. The basement in my view is not useable space given its low ceilings and the inability to easily access the basement from the first floor. Use of the second floor is also greatly restricted by the current layout of the staircase to that floor.

As to the April 21st special Township Committee meeting, I understand the need for a closed session on matters of this type, but also appreciate that there are significant issues involved which would greatly benefit from a public presentation and discussion. These issues include acquisition costs, renovation costs, the source of funding, and land use issues such as the impact that taking this parcel out of commercial use could have upon the Village Commercial District. The need for public discussion is further underscored by the other financial issues facing our town such as potential COAH obligations, loss of state aid and the Township’s existing debt load. Given all of this, the potential purchase of the PNC building deserves and requires public presentation, discussion and input.

Finally, it is important to keep in mind that the expenses of acquisition, renovation and other related costs are all discretionary. As a Town, we must distinguish between “wants” and “needs”. In my view, the acquisition of this building for a public purpose and all of the related costs qualifies as a “want”, not a “need”. With the uncertain future expenditures that this Town faces which are not discretionary, it would be prudent not to commit to further discretionary expenses.

When you have a minute, I would like to talk with you more about the above.

Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,


Francis J. Brennan, III

c: Trishka Waterbury

P.S. There is talk in Town, at least that I heard recently, that I am not objective on this matter because my wife, Beth, and I expressed an interest in purchasing the PNC building. While we did have such an interest in the past, we decided many months ago not to pursue such a purchase. Thus, my motives are based on being a resident of Town and, along with Beth, owners of two other commercial properties in the business district. Given this, I am keenly concerned about the continued viability of our business district.

[Guest]

To summarize the discussions so far:

1. Buying the site to retain 20 free parking spaces is a bad idea.

2. There are cheaper ways to retain 20 free parking spaces. For example, make a deal with the future owner.

3. Converting the site to a freestanding library is a bad idea; the current library is fine, and we can use nearby libraries.

4. Buying the site takes away a prime spot for business.

5. Most residents are against needless spending that increases property tax.

Did I miss anything?

[Guest]

I'ved lived in town for 43 years. Even before PNC allowed parking the businesses complained, but I never found parking an issue. Yes, I sometimes had to park by first constitution and walk to Teddy's or the pharmacy. But, I walk further in Princeton and other areas.

[wcody]

Considering the purchase of the PNC Bank building, it is important for the township residents to understand what the plan for usage of the building is. Once we understand what it is to be used for, we should understand how much it will cost the taxpayers for this. The most frequently discussed use is for a library. I think the current library is doing a great job serving the community and Marilyn Mullen has done some good new innovative programs but if there is a desire in the township to expand to a free standing library, the total costs should be understood. I talked to many people and prepared an estimated financial model on what I thought it may cost the taxpayers. Based on my analysis, the total annual expenditure for a new library is estimated at $711,000. Based on that increase, it would cost an extra $205 annually for the household assessed at the average value - $669,000. The expense would go up or down proportionately based on the assessed value of the home.

I made several assumptions in this analysis:

• A bond would be issued to pay for the acquisition and one time renovations / fees and would be paid back over 30 years at 5.5% like a mortgage.
• I used an estimate of renovations and one time fees for $3 Million. This is lower than some estimates I heard but the costs will be substantial. The building is not suited well for a library. It is an old building with a hodge-podge of additions. Renovations must be done in a way consistent with being in a historic district. There are two large safes. Handicap access needs to be improved. I don’t know if there are lead paint or asbestos issues. There will be substantial fees to pay for engineering and legal expenses. This being said, it is important to note that I believe the estimate I used for acquisition and renovation are less than some estimates for building a new stand alone library in Cranbury from scratch. Plainsboro appropriated $15.5 Million in a bond ordinance to pay for their new 3 story, 34,000 sq. ft. library (not including the cost of the land).
• The school library will continue and extra staff will be needed for a new library. The school library will be open through the school day and into late afternoon since a lot of children stay after school and sports practices to do homework. I do not think we want to lose that advantage. If we spent money for a new library, I think the town would expect more weekend hours. Some staff will move to the new library, but overall more staff would be needed.
• There will be extra computer terminals, subscriptions, books etc. for a new library.
• The costs are meant to show incremental costs to the township. For this analysis, it is irrelevant if the expense comes out the library budget, school budget or township budget since it is all eventually coming from the taxpayers.

I did the best estimate with the information available to me, I am just a private citizen, I am not on the library board or township committee. If anyone can supply some better estimates, I would be happy to run them through the model. I think these estimates can easily swing plus or minus 20% and will go up over time but this gives a good general indication of the total annual cost.

Annual Bond Payment - $295,863
Annual Operating Costs
- Salary + Benefits - $300,000
- Heat / Air / Utilities - $35,000
- Insurance - $14,000
- Computers / Phone - $10,000
- Books - $10,000
- Maintenance - $20,000
- Loss of Rateable - $27,000
Total Operating Costs - $416,000

Total Annual Costs - $711,863
Tax expense for average home ($669K) - $205

[Guest]

Thanks for the analysis. Even if some of the assumptions turn out not the be accurate (based on facts not yet in evidence), that's more that the Township Committee or even the Township staff and consultants appear to have done in preparation for their vote. Or if they have, they don't seem to feel it necessary to share it with the public...

I for one think the current library is fine and am not interested in personally paying $400/year (the impact to me based on your analysis) for a new, redundant one.

[Guest]

I still think taking away the PNC site from commercial use will hurt the Main St. business more in the long run. There will be a 15.5 million library nearby. Why not use it? Further, library access is moving towards digital. More and more residents will download audio/video materials from the comfort of their homes. We are not a rich family. Please be considerate for us.

[James]

I want it understood that I am not opposed to the library, the fact that the TC is doing due diligence to gain interest or even a stand alone library at some point in the distant future if and when the need arises. I too was very happy to see Mrs. Mullen a long time resident and very nice and smart woman hired as the library director.

With that said, I do not believe the PNC building acquistion would be appropriate at the present time. It is not a library issue as much as a cost issue. Most individuals would not purchase a home if they knew and understood major renovations were required to make it livable. The same arguement holds for this property.

Not only does it represent an unknown issue in terms of costs, but it causes a lot of red flags to go up in Trenton. How can we plead against COAH's cost and against consolidation when our very actions undermine our arguements?

It seems that many people I have spoken with oppose the PNC purchase. However, it also seems that the library is doing an excellent job of getting supporters out to organize for the May 19th meeting based on discussions I've had last night and today. This is not a negative either as it shows an excellent mobilization and I must say I am impressed.

At the same time, those concerned about our long term financial stability and independence also need to recognize the importance of this meeting. I would encourage everyone who is on the fence or concerned about this purchase to attend the May 19th meeting. If individuals do not show up, then the purchase will go through because it will seem to be a majority opinion. Especially in light of the Cranbury Press Editorial today.

[Guest]