Firm Re-ups Offer to Buy Sain Building for Senior Housing

NEW CITY, NY — The same company that submitted a bid for the Sain Building six months ago is the sole bidder again, according to Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

The bids were requested by the Legislature, which opened them today.

One bid was received and opened Thursday for the sale of the crumbling county building, Day said in a press release. National Development, the same company that submitted a bid six months ago, was that bidder.

The Rockland County Legislature rejected National Development's first offer and put the sale out to bid again this spring.

In June, lawmakers said they had questions the County Executive's Office hadn't answered. Also in June, Day implemented austerity measures he said were necessary to lower county spending because the failure to sell the building left a $4 million hole in the budget.

The same company today submitted a bid in the same amount: $4.51 million.

The company has indicated that it does not want to comply with the terms set in the bid specifications by the Legislature, Day said. Instead, the company said it wants to proceed according to the terms negotiated with the county in the first bid process.

Day criticized the lawmakers for getting the county to this point.

“It is very hard to understand what the Legislature achieved by playing this game except for delaying the sale, forcing the county into austerity and just about guaranteeing that Rockland will end the year with a budget deficit,” Day said in his statement. “The taxpayers of Rockland deserve better.”

SEE: Sain Building Sale Delay Latest Spat Between Day, Wolfe

Day proposed the sale of the dilapidated office building nearly one year ago when he submitted his 2015 budget proposal to the Legislature.

The legislature approved the budget, which counted on $4 million from the sale to make ends meet.
National Development in March responded to an advertisement for the sale, offering to pay $4.51 million – $510,000 above the appraised value.

“If not for the Legislature, we could have had that money in the bank by now,” Day said. “This fiasco speaks to a continuing pattern of fiscal irresponsibly by the Legislative leadership.”

Back in June, Legislator Chairman Alden Wolfe said the county was not in extremis financially and that the “emergency” had been manufactured by the County Executive to put political pressure on legislators to approve the sale.

“This Administration has gone back on its commitment to provide the Legislature with answers to reasonable questions about the property, which has caused an otherwise unnecessary delay in our deliberative process,” Wolfe said in June.

The bid received today is currently being reviewed by Rockland County Attorney Thomas Humbach to see if it satisfies the requirements of the law. He noted that there was no down payment included with the bid as required.

Day wants to relocate county employees from the Sain Building to Building A in the Pomona complex. The Massachusetts-based firm had previously said it wanted to buy the county-owned building on New Hempstead Road in New City and create senior housing.

PHOTO: Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Rockland Budget Director Stephen DeGroat at the Sain Building/ contributed