Representatives from Daibes Enterprises LLC, the developer for a 5,000 square foot mixed-use building on Springfield Avenue across from the Police Station, were a no-show at the Maplewood Township Committee meeting on Tuesday.
Daibes project on Springfield Avenue in April 2015
The representatives had been asked to attend the meeting to provide an update on the troubled project, which broke ground nearly two years ago.
Daibes site on Springfield Ave. in September 2014
Township Attorney Roger Desiderio told the committee he had reached out to Daibes’ attorney Joseph Vena, who said no one from the company was available to attend the meeting. Desiderio told Vena that Maplewood’s governing body was “quite dissatisfied” with the lack of progress at the site, and also asked for an explanation of outstanding environmental issues.
The TC considered terminating the agreement with Daibes twice before, in 2013 and 2014, but decided against it after Daibes’ attorney assured them the developer was sincere in its wish to proceed. In April 2014, Daibes submitted a performance bond as a guarantee that the project would be completed by June 30, 2015.
In September 2014, representatives from the company told the committee construction had been delayed because of a disagreement with an adjacent property owner as well as issues with environmental contamination, but that both had been resolved and the company was on track to complete the project by spring of 2015.
Daibes representatives appearing before Maplewood TC
Township Committeeman Marlon K. Brownlee said then that he wanted to keep the project on a “short leash,” and Mayor Vic DeLuca told Daibes it would be “keep[ing] an eye” on them.
DeLuca said in an email to The Village Green last Thursday that the township was working on the issues with Daibes.
