Christie's brother

Governor Christie's brother invested in real estate near new PATH station in Harrison

BY SHAWN BOBURG AND JEAN RIMBACH

Governor Christie’s brother, Todd Christie, and two business partners have bought and sold a handful of properties within walking distance of the PATH station in Harrison, slated for a $256 million renovation funded by the Port Authority and championed by the governor, records show. Todd Christie and his partners — one the owner of Ferreira Construction, a large firm that has done tens of millions of dollars of work for state agencies since Christie took office — created a company and began buying small residential lots in early 2011, about a year before the train station renovation was approved by the Port Authority.

The company built three homes on those lots in the first year and sold each of the improved properties — after the announcement of the station overhaul — for nearly triple the property’s original price. The company also demolished a home and sold the vacant lot to the school board in Harrison, where Todd Christie’s partners grew up and have worked in real estate for the past decade.

West Hudson Properties LLC owns at least two other parcels in the gritty Hudson County town that has seen its fortunes — and potentially its property values — rise with the promise of a modern commuter station that links to Manhattan. The quarter-billion station renovation came into focus this week when The Record reported that Port Authority Chairman David Samson had private ties to the land around the Harrison station. As chairman of the bi-state agency, Samson voted to approve the Harrison station overhaul, months after a client of his law firm proposed converting a nearby warehouse into luxury apartments.

Samson also faces questions about his role in addressing the George Washington Bridge lane closures that gridlocked Fort Lee in September. And his firm, Wolff & Samson, is connected to another development proposal in Hoboken that the mayor has said the Christie administration pressured her into backing. Samson has denied any wrongdoing. One of Todd Christie’s partners, Tony Ferreira, said Tuesday in a statement on behalf of the company that he and his brother asked Todd, whom he described as a friend, to partner with them in 2011.

Tony Ferreira, who said he was a licensed Realtor, did not respond to questions about Todd Christie’s role in the company. Todd Christie is currently a director at the professional services firm Ernst & Young and was active in his brother’s campaigns. Ferreira issued the statement in response to an email sent to Todd Christie. Nelson Ferreira, the third partner, is owner of Ferreira Construction, which was paid nearly $10 million in public contracts by state transportation agencies in 2012, records show.

The firm serves as a construction manager at the World Trade Center site and has done heavy highway construction throughout New Jersey and Florida. Nelson Ferreira has also donated thousands to the Republican Governors Association led by Christie and was appointed by the governor to a state board that oversees borrowing to pay for the state’s network of roadways, railways and other transportation assets. In comparison to the million-dollar contract work undertaken by Ferreira Construction, the Harrison projects seem small. They are mostly newly built homes crammed into narrow lots and sold for less than a half-million dollars.

Tony Ferreira said he and his brother were born in Harrison and have worked there for most of their lives. He said they have been aware for a decade of plans to improve the Port Authority PATH station and attract developers to a post-industrial area near the Passaic River that now appears on the verge of a building boom. But it was Christie who made those plans a reality, his appointees at the Port Authority have said publicly. When Christie held an event at the station last August to celebrate the renovation plans authorized by the Port Authority, he said his father had used the PATH train station in Harrison to commute into lower Manhattan for years. He joked that his 80-year-old father, Bill, was the “lobbyist in the Christie family for this project.”

The 77-year-old station is cramped, not handicapped-accessible and swells beyond its capacity before and after professional soccer games at the nearby Red Bull Arena. The station renovation is expected to be completed by 2017. Christie’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday. West Hudson Properties was formed Feb. 2, 2011, state records show. It bought three residential lots that year and built new homes. On March 29, 2012, the Port Authority approved the station renovation — what the mayor of Harrison called the “cornerstone” for future development in the town. The three properties were sold later that year after construction. A brick-face, two-family home on Cross Street was sold for $445,000. It had been purchased for $155,000.

Others on Cleveland Avenue and Jersey Street were purchased for $150,000 and sold for $450,000 and $437,900, respectively. It’s not clear how much the construction firm spent to demolish and build the homes before selling the properties. On Tuesday, workers were putting up the wooden frame of two two-family homes West Hudson Properties is building on Warren Street. The company purchased the single property for $330,000 in 2011 and subdivided it into two lots last year. And it bought another property on Cleveland for $181,400 last April that is now vacant. One person who bought a home, but did not want to be identified, complained on Tuesday of the quality of some of the materials in the house. “Initially I had a tough time with the builder, but he came back and fixed things,” said the person, whose identity matched property records. Tony Ferreira was the only company representative the person dealt with. The person was unaware of Todd Christie’s involvement.

The proximity to the PATH station and the planned renovation was a draw, the person said. The company also tore down a house next to the Harrison Board of Education office on Hamilton Street and sold the vacant lot to the school board. Michael R. Pichowicz, the assistant school business administrator, said the home was in foreclosure when, records show, West Hudson bought it for $140,000. The company tore down the house, leveled the lot, and then sold it to the school board for $220,000. Pichowicz said the school board moved to buy the property, which sits next to the school board office, when they heard that a three-family home was proposed for the land.

He said it made sense to buy the property because the home would have been built close to the offices and the middle school above them. Right now, it sits vacant. Pichowicz said it could be used in the future as a playground or for a classroom trailer. Hudson County records show that West Hudson Properties LLC last year entered into a contract with the owners of a corner lot on Rodgers Boulevard North. It’s not known if there are plans to build on the corner lot, which neighbors say was previously occupied by a restaurant that burned down last March. It’s not clear if Nelson Ferreira’s construction company is involved in the residential projects. He did not return a call to his office.

 In May of 2013, his businesses donated a combined $25,000 to the Republican Governors Association, according to a midyear report filed at the end of June. The association, which pays for Christie to travel the country campaigning for other Republicans, is seen as a potential springboard for Christie as he considers whether to run for president in 2016.