Newark residents to battle dollar store developer again

Members of the Broad Street Block Association have told a New York developer that they do not want a Family Dollar discount store in their neighborhood.

This is a project that won't go away for residents of the Broad Street Block Association in Newark.

Last summer, a New York developer tried to bring a Family Dollar store to the neighborhood at Broadway and Gouverneur Street.

Bad idea.

The city's planning board said no to Equity Management, LLC, and the residents had a lot to do with that decision.

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They picked apart the proposal and proved to the planning board that the project was not compatible with the city's master plan, which calls for retail stores on the ground floor and residential units on top. This is the kind of development that already exists in the community, but Equity Management only wanted a retail store and needed the planning board to approve eight variances to make it happen.

Lisa Gray, second from left, president of the Broad Street Block Association, tells Robert Podvey, an attorney for a New York developer, that residents do not want a Family Dollar discount store in their neighborhood.Barry Carter | The Star-Ledger 

None of it made sense to residents.  The project didn't fit. Plus, there are two other Family Dollar stores within walking distance.

Nobody needs that much cheap shampoo.

So, why is the developer back on the planning board agenda for Monday night with a new project that residents contend is essentially the same?

"We thought we were done with this,'' said Lisa Gray, president of the association.

Hang on. I'll explain how this happened after a little recap.

If Equity Management had received approval for its first plan, the company would have purchased an auto body shop on Gouverneur Street and leased the renovated property to the Family Dollar.

After that failed, the developer came up with a new proposal that calls for demolishing the auto shop to build a new structure with retail space on the first floor and offices on the second floor.

In a meeting with the developer's attorney on Wednesday, residents weren't falling for the okey-doke, calling the latest move a slick way to bring back the Family Dollar store.

"Don't try to dupe the community,'' Avi Richardson told Robert Podvey, the attorney. "We're not stupid.''

Podvey didn't get far during his presentation once he said the tenant had not been determined. He told the residents he would talk to his client, Albert Nigri, who is the co-owner of Equity Management, about the residents' desire to have a mixed-used development in their community.

Residents doubt further conversation will change anything. They plan to go to battle with the developer at Monday night's meeting and reiterate how the project does not benefit the neighborhood. 

Having to do this again is frustrating for them, but several factors beyond their control explain why this is happening for a second time.

First, Nigri and Equity Management are still under contract to purchase the auto body shop from its owner, Gary Demirchyan.

Second, the developer sued Demirchyan after he tried to cancel the contract. You can't blame the guy. He thought his involvement with the developer was done when the planning board shot them down.

"I don't  understand,'' he said. "This is not fair.''

The developer circled back in September and wanted Demirchyan to sign another planning board application for the new project.

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Demirchyan refused, but Equity Management wasn't having that. The company filed a lawsuit in November, claiming  Demirchyan breached the contract they signed in December 2014.

Podvey argued that the contract requires Demirchyan to cooperate with the developer to get approvals for the intended commercial use of the property.

Demirchyan thought he had satisfied his obligation by giving them a 60-day "due diligence'' period to find out what they needed as a company to move the project forward, such as securing appraisals, environmental and economic studies of the property.

In the lawsuit, Podvey stated that the "due diligence" period doesn't have anything to do with Demirchyan agreeing to help his client get approvals and there also isn't anything in the contract that allows him to back out.

Surprisingly, Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Moore agreed.

Demirchyan reluctantly signed another planning board application in January to give the developer a second crack at a project residents don't want.

His attorney, David Avedissian, said the judge's decision unfairly gives the developer an unspecified amount of time to buy his client's business and pursue the project.

"My interpretation is very simple - the buyer will not be held to the contract unless he gets approvals,'' Avedissian said. "They had their opportunity and they lost.''

Demirchyan, meanwhile, said he's in limbo.

He has a business that he wants to keep, but he can't move forward with making improvements because there's a chance he could be forced to sell if the planning board approves the developer's project.

"It's not right,'' he said.

The planning board can make it right by rejecting the developer's application, and that is what the community is banking on once again.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL