WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. April 2, 2006: The highest bidder for the eight Railside Avenue properties on the consent agenda as part of this evening’s Common Council meeting said today he was never notified by the City of White Plains prior to bid opening that one of the properties, 90 Ridgeway, was withdrawn from the sale. He did not have the opportunity to revise or restructure his bid.
The City of White Plains plans to officially approve the other eight properties on Railside for sale, five of them (Lots 2,3,6,7, and 8) to Joseph S. Petrillo, the President of All New York Title Agency, Inc.; Lot 5 to Ricardo Tedesco and Frank D’Ambrosio, Lot 9 to HCG Drywall of Scarsdale, and Lot 4 to S & J & J Holding of White Plains as part of the consent agenda at this evening’s Common Council meeting. The total of all winning bids comes to $2,912,183, according to the finance department,
Jacob Selechnik, Principal of Rental Masters, 2855 Grand Concourse, The Bronx, placed a $3,000,000 bid for all nine properties as part of the sealed bid auction last week. Mr. Selechnik’s bid was rejected by the city as “nonconforming,”
However, prior to the bid openings, 90 Ridgeway was withdrawn from the sale, according to Councilman Benjamin Boykin last week, in order to place a conservation easement on the property and offer it for resale with the easement.
According to Mr.Selechnik, he was never notified by the city that one of the properties was withdrawn, and given a chance to revise his bid downward or upward.
Selechnik this morning told WPCNR he had never been notified of the results of the opening of the bids. He said he had never been told by the city that Lot 1 had been withdrawn from the sale. He said he had never been given a chance to revise his bid, because only eight lots were for sale instead of 9. And, he has not received his deposit check back. Asked if he had been given a chance to reconfigure his bid, since the city rejected it as “nonconforming,” Mr. Selechnik said he had not.
According to city officials, Mr. Selechnik’s bid was non-conforming because he had bid a total price for all nine properties. However, one winning bidder had bid the same price for Lots 3 through 9 with only a price for Lot 2 different from their other 7 bids.
