Salisbury City Council, mayor at odds over troubled housing complex. Here's why.

Plans to rehabilitate the nearly vacant Mitchell Landing Apartments in Salisbury will proceed amid concerns raised by Mayor Randy Taylor following a recent contentious City Council work session.

On March 25, the city received a letter from attorney John P. Custis, who represents Rivermitch, LLC, the developer and purchaser of the apartment complex, stating his client is eager to honor their side of the deal to rehabilitate the condemned units and turn it into much-needed affordable housing. The issue, according to Custis, is the city's attempts to stall the process as a result of Mayor Randy Taylor's reassessment of the deal in the face of looming deadlines.

The property, located on 135 Mitchell Road, has a total of 24 units, with only eight being occupied. The remaining apartments have been condemned on the grounds they are not structurally sound.

"Despite my client's continued efforts and substantial expenditures in reliance on the (purchase contract), recent actions by the city have called into question it's commitment to honoring its obligations under the agreement," the letter said. "On Jan. 22, 2024, Mayor Taylor, in no uncertain terms, expressed to my client he did not intend to allow for the city to proceed with the terms of the agreement as written without any clear legal argument as to why he intended to do so."

Citing that the developer has already spent over $750,000 in predevelopment costs, Custis noted that meeting included his client and members of the mayor's development team. That was followed by Rivermitch, LLC being notified of a March 4 closed work session where Taylor informed the council he wanted to increase the sale price of the complex by $350,000.

In the letter, Custis contended no such attempt has been made to contact the developer to discuss the new sales terms. A deadline of April 3 was mandated by Custis for the city to reply in writing that they still intended on moving forward with the sale on the terms of the unrevised agreement.

"Absent a written response or clear indication of the city's willingness to honor the agreement, my client will be left with no other option than to seek a judicial determination of the validity of the mayor's position that the city is not obligated to carry out the transaction," the letter said.

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City council moves forward on troubled housing complex

According to Taylor, he continues to support affordable housing in the city, but wanted to get a fair price for the property before developers started rehabilitating the complex.

"Council gave me permission to go back and renegotiate with the buyer after the closed session," Taylor said during the April 1 work session. "One of the things I wanted to do was inspect the property and talk to the state and do additional due diligence. (In late March), I spoke to legal counsel that would officiate a conversation with Mr. Custis and Green Street Housing, LLC, the parent company of Rivermitch, LLC to discuss what happened and how we can work this out."

Salisbury City Council President D'Shawn Doughty, who is employed by Green Street, LLC, has recused himself from any dealings concerning the Mitchell Landing Apartments. Yet that did not stop the remaining members of the council from moving ahead anyway with the previously agreed upon deal with the developer.

Through what was termed an "administrative tool" that could be employed by the body, the city would proceed with the sale of the property under the current terms. According to Salisbury City Council Vice President Angela Blake, they gave Taylor two weeks to continue his investigation into the contract, with the mayor taking closer to a month and the deal no closer to being closed.

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"The council did give (Mayor Taylor) in closed session a two-week period to negotiate with Green Street, LLC regarding the property. However, as a contract was already written and the council has already approved it, we're going to use an administrative act to tell Mr. Custis to move forward," Blake said.

Councilperson Michele Gregory added the goal of the development was to add affordable housing to the city and efforts to stifle that had to be addressed.

"We need to honor the contracts and documents to which we have already agreed to move forward," Gregory said. "Ultimately, this is about bringing low income and affordable housing to the community. The nation is facing a housing crisis, and Salisbury is no different. So any delays in this project can lead to people ending up on the streets."

Custis highlighted how Rivermitch, LLC has operated in good faith, navigating increasing bond interest rates and inflationary pressure on construction projects to the amount of 20% across the board.

"It isn't necessary to create anymore supporting legislation to move the project forward and so the council will be able to sign those documents. That's important as cities and municipalities cannot legally operate housing properties. There needs to be a middleman," Gregory said.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Housing complex is in crosshairs of Salisbury mayor, council dispute