THIS WEEK'S GAZETTE----MICHAEL BALTER---BARI MANOR

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Click on the photo by Michael Balter, all rights reserved

The following letter appears in this week's Gazette:

To the editor,

        Bari Manor is a large apartment complex at 31 Old Post Road South in Croton. It is made up of a little over 80 units. It was recently sold to a new owner. Since no announcement of this major event was made by the village board, it took some reporting by myself and investigations by others in the village to finally figure out who the new owner is: UNPPG Management, a large real estate and management company located in Spring Valley, New York. The purchase appears to have been finalized in August, but is not yet reflected in the tax rolls.

      Earlier this year, months before the sale went through, some representatives of UNPPG (and others whose relationship with UNPPG are less clear) began creating LLCs with names such as Bari BDS LLC, Bari BDS Managers LLC, and Bari BDS Investors LLC. The purpose of these LLCs is not yet clear, but the addresses provided all included 31 Old Post Road South.

     My reporting on this matter is ongoing, and I hope to be able to say more soon. One key issue is how long the board has known about this very large purchase which could have major implications for our village depending on the new owner's long-term plans--which at present we have no way of knowing. But transparency is always the best policy, and that has seemingly been lacking so far in this case.

     It is important to put the purchase of Bari Manor into the context of ongoing discussions about development in the village, the proposal for a floating zone (see a letter by Trustee Len Simon in last week's Gazette), and what we envision the village looking like in the years to come. While these discussions continue, I would urge the following measures

        -- No new large projects should be approved until the Katz-Regan project on Maple Street is completed, the residents have all moved in, and we can see clearly the effects of the development on its surroundings

         -- No projects of any size should be approved without full and complete transparency about their ownership.

Michael Balter

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YOU MAY ALSO HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE NEW EVERYTHING CROTON: BARI MANOR-IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---UNPPG MANAGEMENT BUYS BARI MANOR FOR $14M