The developer of a proposed student housing complex told the College Park City Council last week that a contract disagreement between the two parties could delay the project’s opening for a year.
The StarView Plaza, a five-story, 500-bed apartment building, is slated to be built off of Route 1 next to Jiffy Lube on city land. City officials have said they were eager to sell the property to build student housing, but at last Tuesday’s council meeting many found themselves at odds with Mukesh Majmudar, CEO of Star Hotels, the developer of the planned prject.Star Hotels CEO Mukesh Majmudar, the developer of the planned project
Councilmen expressed concern over what they saw as vagueness in the contract, which would require the developer to pay $200,000 in improvements on the property. Majmudar said that if he couldn’t soon reach an agreement with the city, he might be forced to push the apartments opening back to 2010 from 2009.
The property value on the building’s land has doubled since the city bought it seven years ago. To compensate, city officials said they want the authority to dictate various improvements to the property that could include new underground utilities and a pedestrian bridge across Paint Branch between StarView and the campus.
The original agreement called for Star Hotels to only pay off the $415,000 loan the city took out to acquire the property, city Planning Director Terry Schum said.
Both sides informally agreed to the additional spending earlier this month, but city officials appeared to be caught off guard when Majmudar seemed hesitant to make a formal promise.
“[Majmudar] gave us back a document that had words that were pretty far from a commitment,” district 3 councilwoman Stephanie Stullich said.
Mayor Stephen Brayman agreed.
“We’re hearing and understanding that this doesn’t have any force to it,” he said.
At last week’s city council meeting, Majmudar said the drawn-out negotiations could delay the project’s opening date, and were unnecessary because “there is no difference in opinion.”
“We are running out of time, and you recognize that too. And when you’re running out of time, sitting on this land for another year is, well, you know the expense,” he said. Because Majmudar said he would only open the student housing at the start of a school year, a delay of a few months could force the completed project to wait almost another year. “I’m sorry I’m putting you on the spot, but I need this to work.”
In a subsequent interview, however, Majmudar denied that he was concerned about delays. Stullich said that the city had its version of the contract – which clarifies the developer’s commitment to the $200,000 worth of improvements – that will be ready at its meeting tomorrow. Majmudar would not say whether he was as confident as many from the city that the agreement would be reached that soon.
“Certainly at the end of [last week’s] meeting, he seemed to be saying ‘no problem,'” Stullich said. “But you never know until it’s signed.”
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