A once-promising proposal to transform landfills in Northern New Jersey into an 800-acre master-planned community now appears headed for a long legal battle. \u00a0After years of delays and environmental problems, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission decided on Wednesday to sever ties with EnCap Golf Holdings, which had proposed a $1 billion project spanning three counties west of New York City. EnCap, controlled by Cherokee Investment Partners, wanted to build more than 2,000 homes and two golf courses. \u00a0According to published reports, the commission cited EnCap\u2019s inability to secure the financing needed to finish the environmental remediation at the site. Following the commission\u2019s decision, EnCap filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, according to a report today by Maura McDermott of the Newark Star-Ledger. \u00a0Last November, Cherokee brought in the Trump Organization in a bid to move the troubled project ahead. Donald Trump had indicated interest in adding hotel and office components into the project\u2019s mix. As recently as late April, Trump said he might try to\u00a0 assume the majority financial interest in the project. \u00a0But the project ahead had drawn blistering criticism in a February report issued by Mary Jane Cooper, New Jersey\u2019s inspector general. Cooper concluded that EnCap had misrepresented the qualifications and financial backing required to handle the large and complex remediation of the landfill project. According to a report by Ken Belson in the New York Times, the state attorney general\u2019s office recently told Trump that EnCap needed an additional $125 million to wrap up the landfill closure. Cherokee officials could not immediately be reached for comment, but in a statement, the firm contended that the commission\u2019s decision \u201crepresents a default on the commitments that the state has made to the Trump Organization and the private institutions that have invested millions in funding to remediate and redevelop the Meadowlands,\u201d according to the Associated Press. Michael Cohen, executive vice president for the Trump Organization, told the Star-Ledger that years of litigation were likely to result from the decision to end EnCap\u2019s involvement with the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A once-promising proposal to transform landfills in Northern New Jersey into an 800-acre master-planned community now appears headed for a long legal battle. \u00a0After years of delays and environmental problems, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission decided on Wednesday to sever ties with EnCap Golf Holdings, which had proposed a $1 billion project spanning three counties…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21742],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003801477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n