The developer who has needed three extensions to close a $21.5 million Laconia land deal with the state continues to break agreements on other deals, according to a February lawsuit and another foreclosure, this one on a Gilford property she bought less than two years ago.
In addition, emails obtained through a right-to-know request by the New Hampshire Bulletin show that the state was growing frustrated with its chosen buyer, Robynne Alexander, and her legal team last year, at a time it was publicly voicing confidence in her.
Much of the dispute has been over a snowmobile trail that crosses the Laconia property, running through land Alexander wants to develop into housing, medical offices, and a hotel. Alexander and her lawyers wanted it relocated prior to closing; the state said that was never part of the agreement and refused. Negotiations over this went on for months and grew more testy.
In a July 6, 2023, email to one of Alexander’s lawyers, Jared Nylund — who is overseeing the property sale for the Department of Administrative Services — said demands to move the trail before closing the sale had undermined his trust in Alexander’s team.
"You just threatened to blow up this deal on very shaky grounds if the state doesn’t scrap the (purchase and sales agreement) as written and give the buyer what it wants,” Nylund wrote to Laura Dodge, one of the lawyers at McLane Middleton representing Alexander.
Department of Administrative Services Commissioner Charlie Arlinghaus is due back before the Executive Council Wednesday with an update on the property sale.
He’ll face stern questioning from Councilor Ted Gatsas, who has opposed a deal with Alexander because of her real estate legal problems. In a March 2023 email to Alexander and her legal team, Nylund reminded them of Gatsas’ opposition.
“As you may recall, there is one executive councilor who has remained consistently opposed to the current sale contract, and we have every reason to believe that he will continue to seize any opportunity that may arise to disrupt or publicly cast doubt on the feasibility or merit of the pending sale,” Nylund wrote.
Gatsas said Friday he wants to ask Nylund about his email at the council meeting Wednesday.
In an interview Friday, Arlinghaus said Alexander still had not shown the state evidence that she’s secured a second buyer to replace the one who departed the project in February. Nor does he have a new closing date, he said. He also said Nylund’s frustration has been with Alexander’s lawyers, who he said have been “nitpicking details and using them to delay” closing. The lawyers did not return a request for comment.
“It would be good for the state. It would be good for the city (of Laconia),” Arlinghaus said, referring to the sale and Alexander’s massive development plan for the 220-acre property. “If there is a chance for this to happen, we need to give them every opportunity. We need not to act precipitously. But we also need not to be patsies.”
‘Delay is the enemy’
The Bulletin began reporting on Alexander’s long history of tax liens and lawsuits brought by investors in December 2022, before the Executive Council voted 3-2 to approve her $21.5 million offer for the former Laconia State School property.
The price was nearly twice what three other biddershad offered, and Alexander proposed a vision far beyond what they had: 1,800 housing units, a 250-room hotel, medical offices, retail, a conference center that can accommodate 1,000 people, child care facilities, and a dog park. She has since scaled back some pieces of the project, including the housing.
Alexander’s real estate problems — which now include three foreclosures, nine lawsuits, unpaid taxes in multiple communities, and notices filed with the state’s Consumer Protection Bureau — led Councilors Gatsas and David Wheeler to oppose a deal with her.
The Bulletin’s reporting also worried Laconia city officials, who had been unaware of Alexander’s real estate woes. They have long wanted to see the property, held by the state for nearly 100 years, developed and returned to city tax rolls.
“Delay is the enemy right now,” Mayor Andrew Hosmer said. “As I’ve said before, we need housing now. I’d like the jobs and the tax revenue sooner rather than later. Regardless of who the developer is, we are ready to keep working with them. It would be a shame if we work this long and it does not come to fruition, but maybe it will. It seems like a longer shot than it was before.”
Alexander’s unpaid property taxes and lawsuits didn’t concern Arlinghaus, however, and they still don’t, he said Friday. Alexander must pay the state cash at closing, which leaves the state without risk.
“From the state’s standpoint, we don’t care about the buyer’s interactions with other property,” he said. “We care about her interaction with one property, and that’s ours.”
Councilor Joe Kenney, whose district includes Laconia, said Alexander’s problems on other projects don’t worry him because on this project she’s working with a team he trusts. He said that includes Melan Hotel Group in Bedford, Greystone Funding, TF Moran, and the McLane Middleton law firm
Kenney said the state is ahead even if this deal fails because drafting a purchase and sales agreement with Alexander forced the state to sort out difficult property title issues, work that will make another deal move quickly.
“All that stuff has a tremendous value,” Kenney said. “If we put this back out to bid . . . I think we have moved the ball tremendously. Granted, we may not get the big price, but we’ve added so much value.”
Scott Tranchemontagne, the spokesperson for the Laconia project, said it was difficult to resolve issues with the title given the state’s long ownership and years of expired leases to resolve. Those were not resolved until March 8, he said, after the first financing agreement expired and the lender declined to give Alexander an extension.
The team is working with a lender it has planned to use later, for development.
“They have committed to funding the acquisition, but require some time to complete their due diligence,” Tranchemontagne said. “We remain solely focused on securing the funds and closing as soon as possible.”
Unpaid taxes, foreclosure, and breach of contract
Last week, Alexander was foreclosed on for at least the third time, this time on two Gilford properties spanning 20 acres that she agreed to pay $2.5 million for in August 2022. Attorney Phil Brouillard, who is representing the mortgage holder, said Alexander was not keeping up with payments.
The property is scheduled to be sold at auction next month.
“She hasn’t responded to anything,” Brouillard said of multiple attempts to reach Alexander. “We had to do what we had to do.”
He added: “If she ignores the (Laconia) State School (property) the way she ignored (my client’s) property, it’s going to be a serious problem for the city of Laconia.”
The foreclosure is one of several legal problems Alexander has faced with the property.
She owes the town of Gilford nearly $6,700 in taxes that were due in December, according to the assessing office. She was late in paying the taxes in May, according to deed records.
In January, the town cited her for code violations for failing to ensure a tenant in one unit had adequate heat and for letting “rubbish bags, trash, a vast assortment of junk, and garbage” pile up on the property, according to the violation notice obtained through a right-to-know request.
Tranchemontagne said the debris was on the property when Alexander bought it. “The purchase agreement called for the seller to vacate the property and remove all of the debris, which has not happened,” he said.
The seller, Willard Drew, of Gilford, disputed that Friday, saying the agreement required her to keep current with taxes and remove the debris.
In February 2023, a Massachusetts man sued Alexander for breach of contract for using $100,000 he had given her to invest in a Seacoast housing project for the Gilford property, according to the lawsuit. It alleges Alexander failed to tell Samuel Stockwood that the Seacoast deal had fallen through and had transferred his money without his permission.
Stockwood later learned that the closing date on the Seacoast project had been extended “multiple times.” Stockwood alleges Alexander failed to close on the Seacoast deal because she didn’t have sufficient investors or other funds to pay $5.4 million that was due at closing, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges that Alexander abandoned the Seacoast deal because she had begun pursuing the state’s property in Laconia. Stockwood’s attorney, Sean O’Connell, said in an interview that his client settled the case but declined to say for how much.
Investors in other projects have made similar allegations in several lawsuits.
In February, a California man sued Alexander in Hillsborough County Superior Court for allegedly failing to repay a $100,000 loan made in May. Alexander told the man she’d pay him in 90 days with 18 percent interest with money she expected to get by selling a piece of property, according to the lawsuit.
Alexander has paid nothing, according to the lawsuit.
New Hampshire Bulletin is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Hampshire Bulletin maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Dana Wormald for questions: info@newhampshirebulletin.com. Follow New Hampshire Bulletin on Facebook and Twitter.
