Dear Mayor Milner and Aiken City Council,

Here are my written comments upon which my verbal comments on June 22nd were based. I will repeat that I believe the City owes the owners of Taj Aiken and Warneke Cleaners a public apology for the false hopes and uncertainties created by city policies and practices as a commercial landlord. 

Following my comments is a timeline with references regarding the fate of the nine businesses affected by Project Pascalis. 

1. Written Comments: 

In November 2021 the City of Aiken’s Municipal Development Commission, the AMDC, used $9.6 million of city funds to purchase seven properties, collectively known as the Project Pascalis properties. The properties as a whole were misleadingly presented as blighted. Misleading because nine businesses were operating successfully on five of the properties. (Only the Hotel Aiken and the Holley House motel were entirely vacant at the time of the purchase). 

Each of these businesses were presented with relocation options. Five of them signed rent reimbursement agreements prepared by Gary Pope Jr, one of the city’s contract attorneys. Since he is still on excellent terms with the City, he should be asked about the origin of this relocation template—-one that Mr. Bedenbaugh excitedly claimed on June 8th was so unprecedented—derived. 

Newberry Hall was not one of those asked to sign the rent reimbursement agreement. Instead, when the City obtained that property, it knowingly inherited a modified lease that required reimbursement of lost income during the demolition and construction period of Project Pascalis. This arrangement was negotiated between WTC Investments and Newberry Hall—which further undermines Mr. Bedenbaugh’s insistence that such generous deals are unheard of in the private sector. 

Newberry Hall was also the sole candidate for managing or even owning a new conference center.  Nearly a year of negotiations ensued after the AMDC purchased the properties. After negotiations ended and Project Pascalis was cancelled, the City reimbursed the business $36,799.93 in legal fees. To my knowledge, no other tenant has had their legal fees reimbursed. 

On Board Realty.  When the City obtained the seven properties and nine tenants, it awarded a no-bid property management contract to On Board Realty. The firm has earned a 10% management fee on all rents for more than four years. In the first year, this amounted to as much as $1,400/month and likely more than $1,000 per month to this day—if they remain the property manager. On Board also benefited from the rent-reimbursement relocation agreement. 

The Willis Agency (Nationwide Insurance) and Security Finance also signed the agreement. They moved in 2022 and 2025, respectively, collecting on the rent monies. 

Beyond Bijoux. According to City records, the City paid Beyond Bijoux about $74,000 to relocate it from the Beckman Building at 106 Laurens Street SW to the former True Value Hardware store property, also on Laurens Street SW. This was more than four times the rent accrued at that time. This showed that the rent reimbursement agreements were not as favorable to the tenants as presented by Mr. Bedenbaugh two weeks ago. 

(I will offer that a simple internet search for “business relocation agreements” reveals that such private business arrangements are not unprecedented.*

Ginger Bee, Flawless Glow, and Vampire Penguin received five year leases from City Council in March 2024–a process that began in January 2024. Flawless Glow was not even a tenant during the Pascalis proceedings, but moved into the Beyond Bijoux space and received a one-year lease from the City in late 2023. 

(correction: These were four year lease extensions. )

Taj Aiken and Warneke Cleaners.

No businesses have endured more uncertainty and false hopes that were generated by the City than Taj Aiken and Warneke Cleaners. These were the two most complicated and expensive businesses to relocate, yet they were only initially offered the rent reimbursement agreement that would have provided nowhere near enough funds to relocate had Project Pascalis moved forward. 

In January 2023, four months after Project Pascalis was cancelled, the City proposed to keep both businesses in place as part of the downtown SRNL project. This included moving Warneke Cleaners to another location on the same block. 

Mayor Rick Osbon would later write in an Aiken Standard op-ed that: 

“Any local businesses potentially impacted if the current preferred site being considered is selected will be fully protected and made whole. Those highest of priorities include the Taj Aiken Restaurant, Warneke Cleaners, Newberry Hall, and the preservation of the Johnson Drug Store building at the corner of Richland and Newberry. “

The City also tentatively offered to move Taj Aiken to the Johnson Drug Store building. 

When the City opted to put the lab building on Newberry Street, these commitments withered. 

However, Taj Aiken was reportedly offered a five-year lease shortly after the city agreed to the other five-year leases. There has never been an explanation for why the City reneged on the offer. 

Then, when the City Council approved the RFQ for Realtor Services, only the Holly House Motel was on the list of buildings authorized for demolition. Yet, neither Taj nor Warneke were offered any longer term leases that could have preserved their successful businesses; as the City had expressed a desire for just a year earlier. 

Footnote on examples of relocation agreements

*”Relocation. Landlord, at its sole expense, on at least 120 days’ prior written notice to Tenant, may require Tenant to move from the Premises to another suite of substantially comparable size and decor in the Building or in the Complex. In the event of any such relocation, Landlord shall pay all the expenses: (a) of preparing and decorating the new premises so that they will be substantially similar to the Premises; (b) of moving Tenant’s furniture and equipment to the new premises (including Tenant’s data and communication wiring and cabling); and (c) that Tenant actually and reasonably incurs out-of-pocket (and which Tenant can document with written records) in connection with Tenant notifying its clients of such relocation, obtaining new letterhead and business cards, and other incidental expenses related directly to Tenant’s relocation.”

See more at: 

https://contracts.justia.com/contract-clauses/relocation/

2. Timeline of the Disparate Treatment of Tenants in the original Project Pascalis footprint. 

November 2021: The City of Aiken’s Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) acquired seven properties, at a cost of $9.5 million, in downtown Aiken for the express purpose of pursuing the demolition and redevelopment endeavor known as Project Pascalis. The properties were obtained with City funds approved by City Council in August 2021. The seven properties housed nine active businesses (Newberry Hall, Warneke Cleaners, On Board Realty, A Nationwide Insurance broker, Security Finance, Taj Aiken Restaurant, Beyond Bijoux, Vampire Penguin, and Ginger Bee.) 

At the time of the acquisition, the City/AMDC knowingly agreed to a lease with Newberry Hall that had been modified in June 2021 (see Page A-9) to include a provision for the reimbursement of lost revenue during the demolition and construction phase of Project Pascalis. The lease stated: 

“C. The development of the Project contemplates that the improvements on the Property would be demolished and replaced with a larger conference center and kitchen and that Carlisle would be compensated for loss of income during interruption of Carlisle’ s business and would lease the replacement conference center and kitchen pursuant to a replacement lease and operating agreement, the terms of which are under discussion but are not finalized (the “Operating Agreement”).

December 2021 to March 2022: Five of the tenants signed relocation agreements that authorized the City/AMDC to repay them all rents, minus management fees, to assist with any relocation effort. The agreements were prepared by AMDC attorney Gary Pope Jr., who also regularly represents the City in bond issuances. 

October to December 2022: At the city’s expense, Beyond Bijoux was relocated to 121 Laurens St, SW–the former True Value Hardware Store. According to the email below (obtained via FOIA in 2024), the cost for this move appears to have been $74,500; but only the City’s finance department can confirm the exact total. Beyond Bijoux had not agreed to the same relocation agreement as the five other tenants; it appears to have been offered a more generous deal. 

In January 2023, Mayor Pro-Tem Ed Woltz announced the Savannah River National Laboratory project, a $20 million endeavor that would site a workforce development complex on a portion of the Project Pascalis properties. He informed a large audience at the State of the City event that both Warneke’s and Taj Aiken would remain downtown, with Warneke’s being relocated to another location on the same block. 

In July 2023, Mayor Rick Osbon was credited with an op-ed in the Aiken Standard that stated “any local businesses potentially impacted if the current preferred site being considered is selected will be fully protected and made whole. Those highest of priorities include the Taj Aiken Restaurant, Warneke Cleaners, Newberry Hall, and the preservation of the Johnson Drug Store building at the corner of Richland and Newberry.”

At the time, there were no other sites that were publicly known to be under consideration. One graphic for the project, contained in an Aiken Corporation feasibility study that was funded by the City, actually showed Warneke Cleaners and Taj remaining in place. (see below)

According to the owner of Taj Aiken, during the same time frame City of Aiken Economic Development Director Tim O’Briant offered to move Taj Aiken to the old Johnson Drug Store building—which was to be unaffected by the lab project. (Page 4) 

September 2023:  the Aiken Corporation chose the Newberry Street NW site for the SRNL/”Mixed Use” building, leaving Taj and Warneke in limbo again. 

In March 2024, the City agreed to five year leases with three business owners who occupied, and still occupy, the Beckman Building at 106-110 Laurens Street, SW. 

(correction: These were 4-year lease extensions).

In February 2024, Taj Aiken was offered the same lease opportunity. The City never finalized this promised arrangement, essentially reneging on its offer.  

In December 2024, the City issued a Request for Qualifications for real estate services for the Project Pascalis properties, minus Newberry Hall. This RFQ included the stipulation that Taj Aiken and Warneke Cleaners buildings would be preserved, or at least be subject to adaptive reuse, due to their historic status. Only the Holley House Motor Court was eligible for demolition. 

In late April 2025, in response to concerns over the treatment afforded Taj Aiken, City Councilman Ed Girardeau stated that “he (Taj owner) will be included” and “he felt sure that he would be included” in any future plan. 

Thank you for taking the time to read these comments, 

Don Moniak
Aiken County Resident
Contributor: aikenchronicles.com

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Below is the response from Mayor Milner