AP Wire | 06/12/2006 | Critics, real estate agent say Easley got sweetheart deal 

AP Wire | 06/12/2006 | Critics, real estate agent say Easley got sweetheart deal

Gov. Mike Easley got his pick of lots in a gated community on the Bogue Sound. paying a bargain price for the waterfront lot compared to sales of other property in the development. The Charlotte Observer reported.
But his broker. the project's developer and the man who helped finance the development are all friends and contributors whom the governor has appointed to high-profile state boards. the Observer reported in Sunday's editions.
The price was 3 percent above the lot's assessed tax value. But 49 adjacent waterfront lots in the same development sold for an average of 20 percent to 36 percent above tax value. the Observer reported.
Raleigh broker Mcqueen Campbell. a longtime friend and contributor. told Easley about the property and insists the governor got no discount or favors.
Tax records show that a nearby lot sold for $469.000 - a 38 percent profit in three months and more than double the tax value.
People involved in the development and the sale of Easley's lot are all close associates of the governor. Mcqueen Campbell. was named by Easley to the N.C. State University board of trustees in 2001. the same year he appointed Campbell's father. to the state Board of Transportation.
Campbell helped broker the sale of the development last year for its original owner. Raleigh businessman Steve Stroud. Stroud said he negotiated the sale with Gary Allen of Charlotte-based Waterfront Communities.
The developer is R.A. North Development of Matthews. run by Allen's brother. while his own purchase was pending. Easley named Randy Allen to the state Wildlife Resources Commission.
Democracy North Carolina. an advocacy group that tracks campaign money. said Gary Allen and his family have contributed at least $197.000 to the state Democratic Party since Easley began running for governor in 2000. Randy Allen also has been a major contributor.
Another Easley donor helped finance the Cannonsgate sale. Investor Lanny Wilson of Wilmington loaned R.A. North $12.5 million. He has been on the transportation board since Easley appointed him in 2001.
Neither Allen returned repeated calls from the Observer. Wilson said that other than making the loan. he had "nothing whatsoever" to do with the project. Campbell said the governor "was treated just like any other investor."
"It's pretty common people are going to do business with people they know and trust." Campbell said. "I don't know too many people who do business with their enemies."
Frank Tursi. Cape Lookout Coastkeeper for the N.C. Coastal Federation. followed the development's long pursuit of environmental permits and said he saw nothing to suggest that the developers got any special treatment.
"It was pretty clear they used it for their marketing purposes." Tursi said. "A lot of people who attended their open houses said they were told by salesmen. the governor owns a lot here.'"





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