The Burton Towers building at 36 Cerone Place.
By Nancy Peckenham
The Newburgh Housing Authority on Friday agreed to give up its effort to purchase the Burton Towers senior housing apartments from the Department of Housing and Urban Development or at auction. A tentative agreement was reached in the suit that pitted the NHA against Christine Bello, the city councilwoman who sued the NHA to stop its purchase of the problem-plagued building. Last week, the city joined the suit with Bello. The housing authority must approve the settlement before it becomes final and has announced a meeting next Tuesday, September 20, at 5 pm.
In the settlement reached in Surrogate Court in Goshen, the housing authority will end its joint venture with Wilder Balter Partners formed to purchase and renovate the seven-story apartment building on Cerone Place. Mountco Construction and Development, which was chosen by the city council as its partner in the purchase and renovation of Burton Towers, will move ahead.
The building was slated to go to foreclosure auction next Wednesday if neither the city nor the NHA could agree to withdraw their competing bids. If neither withdrew, they would forfeit a chance to be excused from a two million dollar debt to HUD for the unpaid mortgage. With Friday’s tentative settlement, that money can now be used for repairs and upgrades to a building that is home to low-income seniors and disabled people.
Bello filed suit against the housing authority in late August, claiming that it did not follow the open meetings law when it voted to create a joint venture with Wilder Balter. As part of the settlement, the NHA will review and upgrade its policies for holding open meetings.
“I am pleased with the settlement and especially pleased that the residents of Burton Towers will soon enjoy renovations and a better quality of their apartments because that will improve the quality of their lives,” Councilwoman Bello said Friday afternoon. “It was good for the NHA too and they will be a better organization as a result.”
As part of the settlement, the NHA would still play a role in issuing the tax-free bonds needed to finance Mountco’s purchase and renovation.
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