PEABODY — Developer Ed Greeley will have to wait two more weeks before he knows the fate of his proposed Bell Inn & Tavern project on Washington Street.
Greeley, along with partner, restaurateur Jeff Cala, submitted a $751,000 bid on a Request for Proposals (RFP) put out by the city to purchase city-owned properties at 2, 12, and 16 Washington St.
They appeared before the Legal Affairs subcommittee Thursday hoping to secure a council vote authorizing Mayor Ted Bettencourt to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement.
Instead, the duo walked away shaking their heads after being thrown a last-minute curveball. The subcommittee appeared to have improperly attempted to add new conditions, including a right of first refusal, to those contained in the RFP.
“I responded to an RFP, and I had no problem abiding by how it was written,” Greeley said at the meeting. “I am 100 percent on board with working with the city on a potential — and hypothetical — provision on the first right of refusal. But, the way that it’s written, and the way that it could be interpreted legally, could put me in a bad way.”
Subcommittee Chair Ryan Melville agreed.
“You can’t start adding conditions beyond the scope of the RFP, as may have occurred here,” said Melville, who noted that adding conditions would be illegal.
Greeley and Cala have proposed converting the former O’Shea Mansion and the other two properties into a 10-room bed-and-breakfast inn with a restaurant, speakeasy-style bar, spa and other amenities.
Bettencourt opened the meeting with glowing remarks about the project, which Greeley said may cost as much as $6-9 million upon completion.
“This is an outstanding plan and an ideal vision for this property,” Bettencourt said, and added that the project stood to bring new economic opportunities to Ward 2, an area “that has offered very little in recent years.”
The councilors in attendance indicated their support and enthusiasm for the project.
“This is that missing piece we are searching for in Peabody,” said Ward 5 Councilor Joel Saslaw.
“It’s a great step forward and will reinvigorate that area,” Ward 1 Councilor Craig Welton added.
“This is something we can’t pass on,” said Ward 2 Councilor Peter McGinn, who presented the motion and later withdrew it after concerns were expressed.
However, Councilor-at-Large Anne Manning-Martin expressed her concerns long before the motion was introduced.
“I’m all in support of this project and, as the mayor said, it’s been a long and bumpy road,” she said. “We should not be putting further restrictions on this gentleman who, in good faith, put his best effort forward in this proposal.”
Manning-Martin pressed City Solicitor Donald Conn, who said “any restrictions that are imposed are the restrictions that come from the RFP that these folks bid on.”
A lengthy discussion ensued after McGinn’s motion. When asked by Manning-Martin if the eight restrictions in McGinn’s motion were what he expected, Greeley replied that they were “not exactly as they were written in the RFP.”
McGinn stood by the restrictions in the motion, saying that the “language was lifted directly from the RFP and [he] only deviated when instructed to do so by Attorney Conn.”
Bettencourt pleaded with the subcommittee, to “just sell this property.”
“What are we doing here?” he asked the subcommittee. “Let’s just tie to the RFP. This is a great project. Let’s just let these gentlemen do their thing so we can have something special downtown.”
In an interview Monday, Bettencourt said he was confident the subcommittee would get it right at its next meeting on April 20.
“This project is important to the city and we need to do it right, and stick to the language in the RFP,” he said.
Melville agreed, saying the next step is to “be sure the RFP is followed to the letter” — without additions beyond the RFP — so that it is legal, and then to gain council approval on April 22.
“The worst thing anyone can say to me, as chair, is there was no due process,” he added. “In this case, we cleared it up. We need to be able to look at it and make sure we are doing it the right way.”
