By Gina Passarella and Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal staff
Perception is reality for parties involved in the troubled project to build a new family court facility in Philadelphia. Opposing sides have each pointed to the same e-mail or letter regarding the development process as proof of their individual arguments.
In Friday's Legal, an e-mail sent from developer Donald Pulver's lobbyist to the Philadelphia Parking Authority in March 2008 referenced that "Jeff and Don will jointly develop the project." The line refers to Pulver and Jeffrey B. Rotwitt, the First Judicial District's tenant representative in the deal who has since been fired from his firm when it came to light this year he was also a co-developer.
Pulver and Rotwitt representatives said that shows the PPA knew of the relationship, which went against recent comments from the PPA that it had no knowledge of the co-developer deal until earlier this year. The PPA said the line in the midst of an e-mail on other topics was hardly full disclosure.
The PPA also points to comments and a letter from Pulver that stemmed from a March 2010 meeting to show Pulver wasn't up-front about his relationship with Rotwitt. Pulver points to the same letter as proof he was completely up-front about the deal.
Parking authority General Counsel Dennis Weldon and Executive Director Vincent Fenerty said this week the authority asked for clarity on Rotwitt's role by calling a meeting with Pulver in early March 2010, and Pulver was explicitly asked whether Rotwitt and he had a financial relationship.
At the meeting, Pulver "flatly said he just didn't have one," Weldon said Thursday.
In response to Weldon's point that Pulver said there was no relationship, Pulver spokesman Mark Nevins said, "In March of this year, the parking authority asked if Jeff was a partner in Northwest 15th Street Associates [Pulver's entity created to develop the court]. We told them that he is not."
"We sent them a letter to that effect but we made it clear in that letter that we have a relationship with him, a relationship that we had previously disclosed to them that was a co-developer relationship," Nevins said Thursday.
Rotwitt's co-developer role was through his own real estate development company, Deilwydd Property Group FC. He was not a partner in Northwest 15th Street Associates.
The letter Nevins referenced, which was sent as two separate letters to both the PPA and the FJD, said "as you are aware" Northwest is working with Rotwitt on the project.
"To avoid any potential misunderstanding or possible uncertainty, please note that Mr. Rotwitt does not have an ownership interest in or control over Northwest," the letter signed by Pulver said. "He is not an agent for Northwest and has no power to bind or to speak on behalf of the entity."
In an interview Thursday, Weldon said that Pulver agreed in the meeting to send a similar version of a letter that he was going to send to the court to the parking authority as well.
The parking authority now views the letter "as intentionally deceptive," Weldon said. "He knew that he didn't want to say that he had a relationship with Jeff Rotwitt."
Fenerty also pointed to the letter in an interview in May as an example of Pulver not directly and forthrightly disclosing his business relationship with Rotwitt.
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