The owner of Tri-Town Plaza is endorsing Democratic First Selectman candidate Paul Roy in next month’s election, believing Roy will be easier to work with than current office holder Robert Koskelowski.
Ron Spector, owner of the shopping plaza off Route 8, said Thursday that he feels he will have a better chance of working something at the shopping center with Roy in charge than he has with Koskelowski, the eight-term Republican incumbent.
“I’m hoping to get someone I can work with. I just want a partner in Seymour interested in working with Tri-Town,” said Spector, of Lake Tahoe, Nev. “The last time I was in town, we had lunch and discussed the issues. He was eager to hear what we could do and wanted to see about getting new people (in the plaza). He’s willing to work with me and willing to discuss issues.”
Tri-Town’s redevelopment has been held up for nearly six years because of litigation.
Spector and his Connecticut Properties Tri-Town Plaza LLC are contesting the plaza’s property assessment in state Superior Court in New Britain. Tri-Town Plaza has 98,000 square feet of vacant space since Ames closed in 2002 and Adams Super Food Store left in 2003.
Spector said Koskelowski has been unwilling to talk with him about settling matters, making it hard to attract new tenants.
“I think the issue is about bringing investment to Seymour and having a partner to work with,” Spector said. “Our family has been investing in Seymour for 50 years and the first selectman has been difficult to work with.”
Republican Town Committee Chairman William Paecht called Spector’s endorsement of Roy “a smokescreen” for his inability to work with the Koskelowski administration to get the building and the land fixed.
“The town has offered many times to work with (Spector). We’re willing to work with him, but him being an absentee landlord, he hasn’t given us the opportunity to work with him.”
Paecht added that the assessment challenge should not hinder him from finding tenants to occupy the plaza.
“Why would that stop him from trying to rent it?” Paecht said. “Why wouldn’t he go out and rent the building? If you have a viable tenant, sure the town will be willing to sit down and work with you. But you have to bring something to the table. It’s still empty.”
Roy, a member of the Board of Selectmen, said Tri-Town’s redevelopment is the number one issue among the 2,000 voters he’s visited on the campaign trail. While Roy is not guaranteeing anything to Spector, he said he would listen to Spector and try to find out a solution that works for Spector and the town.
“We’re losing out on tax dollars and we’re losing more tax dollars because he (Spector) can’t improve the property,” he said. “People want to be able to stop into town and get things. We have to improve the quality of life.”
The Democrats running for office held a rally at the Tri-Town Plaza Saturday to spread the word about the endorsement.
Koskelowski could not be reached for comment last week.
Dear Mr. Paecht:
First off, I don’t even get your statement that my endorsing Selectman Roy is a smokescreen for my “inability to work with the Koskelowski administration”. Simply put, I have endorsed Mr. Roy because he has already shown a desire and the ability to work with me in bringing new investment to the Town of Seymour. The only smokescreen employed here is First Selectman Koskelowski’s many explanations as to why my court hearing was yet again delayed and postponed until after the election. First, Mr. Koskelowski stated that I caused the delay. Then he told the local papers that the Town needed a delay to run a title search to see who the owner of the shopping center was, and with that explanation I’m just a bit curious, has the title search been completed, what did it cost the Seymour Taxpayer, and what did it reveal? Most recently, the First Selectman and Town Counsel Temple stated that the Judge withdrew himself from the case because he had a conflict of interest. After five years in court, doesn’t anyone in Seymour think the truth matters? The transcripts of that hearing were released weeks ago, so why don’t people know who is telling the truth? It is absolutely astounding that after six years you are still asking “Why wouldn’t he go out and rent the building”. And I am just a tad bit curious why you choose to ask that question, after six years, to a reporter and not to me? My maintenance people are local, my management people are local, my commercial leasing agent is local, and the fact that I’m an “absentee landlord” didn’t stop Mr. Roy from getting together with me for lunch to discuss the issues, nor does it prevent you from wasting my time and money traveling to Seymour only to discover that my tax appeal has been delayed time and time again. Since you now appear to want to know the answer, even if it is only a week before the election, here it is: We work at renting Tri-Town Plaza every single day. The building is fifty years old and now requires a great deal of capital investment to either demolish and redevelop or to make the existing improvements leasable. As I told Bob Koskelowski many years ago, I am not willing to even consider putting more money into the center until such time as my tax appeal has been resolved. So perhaps the next question is: After five years in the courts, why hasn’t the tax appeal been resolved?
I think it is quite shameful that Mr. Koskelowski and the Republican Party have lied about this whole affair for political gain. I expect our leaders to tell the truth, not to deceive the public on town affairs. The comments by Mr. Paecht are indicative of the corruption and dishonesty of today’s Republican party. It is not surprising that the Republican party has its lowest approval rating in the last quarter of a century.