STOP THE UNVETTED TRANSFER OF A $100+ MILLION COMMUNITY ASSET AT 259 GEORGE STREET, NEW BRUNSWICK — A Petition for Transparency, Accountability, and a Congregation Vote —

 
For decades, the 3,000 members of Abundant Life Family Worship Church — working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and immigrants who built this city — gave what they had every Sunday. Their tithes, their sacrifices, and their generational faith built and paid for 259 George Street in New Brunswick, New Jersey. That property is now estimated to be worth over $100 million and is the proposed site of the largest development in New Brunswick's history: a 45-story, 800-unit mixed-use tower with a total development cost of $500 million.

Court-ordered civil discovery in Middlesex County Superior Court Case MID-L-002242-24 has produced signed contracts, corporate filings, and sworn court exhibits revealing how this community-built asset is being managed — and who is being paid. The community and congregation was never told. They deserve to know now.

 
WHO IS COLLECTING — AND HOW MUCH

Shimon Jacobowitz / Ifany LLC is the designated controlling developer. Under signed contracts produced in court discovery:

• He holds 65% equity in NB Plaza Venture LLC, the entity that controls the project, as its sole Manager — with "full, exclusive and complete discretion and authority... to make all decisions affecting the Company's business and affairs." The congregation has no seat at the table.
• On top of that equity, he is entitled to a development management fee of 10% of all hard and soft construction costs on a $500 million project — totaling an estimated $50,000,000. The recognized industry standard for such a fee is 3%, making Jacobowitz's fee approximately $35 million above market rate (plus 65% equity above market rate) — extracted from a nonprofit community church's asset.
• This fee is non-refundable even if the project fails. The signed contract states: "Manager shall not be required to refund or repay the amounts... in the event that the Fee is insufficient."
• He simultaneously controls both the Owner entity (NB Plaza Urban Renewal Owner LLC) and the Developer/Manager entity (Ifany LLC) — meaning he negotiates fees he pays to himself, with no independent oversight.

George Searight Jr. / SDG NB Plaza LLC — the senior pastor's son — receives under the same signed contracts:

• $250,000 cash on the effective date (January 2023)
• $1,500,000 payable within 10 days of site plan approval
  $5,250,000 in 18 monthly installments after the first construction loan advance
• A 35% equity stake in NB Plaza Venture LLC — with a capital contribution, per the LLC Agreement, of zero dollars, described as being rendered "in the form of services"

A WhatsApp exchange produced in court discovery (January 19, 2023) shows Jacobowitz texting Searight Jr., "U got the money?" — and Searight Jr. confirming: "Money received! 🙏🙏" — referring to the $250,000 first payment.

Abundant Life Family Worship Church — receives under the same signed contracts:

• The Church contributes the land that is worth north of 100 Million Dollars
• The Church has no control or membership in NB Plaza owner Urban Renewal, and it seems only gets use of 50 parking spaces.

The congregation of 3,000 members receives: no guaranteed cash payment confirmed in the signed contracts. Only 160 of 800 units (20%) are designated as affordable housing in a city facing a severe affordability crisis.

 
WHO IS SHIMON JACOBOWITZ? — THE COURT RECORD

The New Brunswick Housing Authority was told it was awarding the largest development in the city's history to an experienced, ‘financially capable developer’. The documented court record — drawn entirely from signed contracts, court exhibits, and sworn filings in Cases MID-L-002242-24 and MID-L-001179-25 — tells a different story.

A Civil Arrest Warrant in New Jersey — Never Disclosed Court exhibit S (MID-L-002242-24) documents that Jacobowitz had an active civil arrest warrant issued against him on September 11, 2020 by the Hudson County Law Division, related to misconduct in a New Jersey development project. Under the Redevelopment Agreement, Jacobowitz was required to certify that no such actions existed. Based on the court record, this warrant was never disclosed to the City of New Brunswick or the Housing Authority.

Evicted — Twice — While Pursuing a $500 Million Project Court exhibits N and R (MID-L-002242-24) document:

• July 5, 2018: Jacobowitz was served an eviction warrant in New York for nonpayment of rent.
• January 25, 2025: Jacobowitz was again subject to eviction proceedings from his family residence in Miami — while actively pursuing control of a $500 million project in New Brunswick.
  Public records additionally document unpaid utility bills (Con Edison, National Grid) and a series of collections actions. (Court exhibits O–Q.)

Credentials That Cannot Be His — Buildings Built Before He Was Born In his application for redeveloper designation, Jacobowitz listed three comparable projects to demonstrate construction experience:

• Bridgeport Manor — Memphis, TN: Tax records (Court Ex. V) confirm it was built in 1967.
• New Horizons — Memphis, TN: Tax records (Court Ex. W) confirm it was built in 1971.
• The Pine — Jersey City, NJ: An 8-story, 56-unit building, shown in court developed by someone else — dramatically different in scale from a 45-story, 800-unit tower.

Jacobowitz is 34 years old. Ifany LLC was formed in 2021 (Court Ex. X). The Memphis projects were completed approximately 20 years before Jacobowitz was born and 50 years before he formed his company. He could not have built them. The public record confirms he did not.

Court filings in the related Folxco case (MID-L-001179-25) further allege that Jacobowitz represented a partner's development projects as his own personal track record in order to win the redeveloper designation.

No Financing — Zero — For a $500 Million Project The Redevelopment Agreement required NB Plaza to demonstrate financial capability. What was submitted was a series of letters expressing vague interest — not capital commitments, not term sheets, not equity agreements. Public records confirm that three of the named "lenders" are themselves borrowers and brokers with no demonstrated capacity to fund a project of this scale — including one that defaulted on a $50,000 loan from a high-risk cash advance lender at 24% himself.

At the February 28, 2024 public Housing Authority meeting, the Housing Authority's own Commissioner noted the letters were not binding commitments. NB Plaza promised a "full financial plan down the road." As of the date of this petition — more than a year later — no financing plan has been submitted. Construction was required to begin by July 1, 2025. It has not.

As Folxco LLC's counsel stated in a December 11, 2025 letter filed in the public court record: "Jacobowitz has no apparent resources of his own to bring to bear, and his repugnant business reputation renders it unlikely that anyone would partner with him."

It Has Already Happened at Another Church — A Better Life Ministry at 129 Linden Avenue, Jersey City Court filings in the Folxco case (MID-L-001179-25) document that Jacobowitz previously entered into a similar development agreement with a church at 129 Linden Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey — and that it was the pastor of that church who introduced Jacobowitz to the leadership at Abundant Life.

The result at 129 Linden Avenue - A Better Life Ministry Church: loan default.

The pattern documented across multiple projects: Jacobowitz identifies a church with a valuable property, presents fabricated credentials and financing, enters into agreements, extracts value, and when things collapse, moves on. The congregation of 129 Linden Avenue is now in default. Abundant Life Family Worship Church cannot afford to be next.

The Title Is Already Clouded A Notice of Lis Pendens — a legal notice that clouds property title — was recorded against 259 George Street on February 26, 2025 (Court Ex. AC). Based on the court record, this was not disclosed to the Housing Authority as of the November 19, 2025 Housing Authority meeting — a material omission that itself constitutes a breach of the Redevelopment Agreement.

 
WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR

This petition is not anti-development. New Brunswick needs housing — 100% affordable housing. The George Street corridor deserves thoughtful, qualified investment. But any process involving a community nonprofit's generational asset must be conducted with transparency, competitive review, and the full participation of those whose contributions made it possible.

We call on the following officials and authorities to act:

1. NEW BRUNSWICK PLANNING BOARD — Table or reject the site plan application for 259 George Street until: the full congregation has held an informed vote under independent legal counsel; and the NJ Attorney General's Charities Bureau has reviewed the transaction; and the active litigation and recorded lis pendens have been resolved.

2. NJ ATTORNEY GENERAL / CHARITIES BUREAU — Open an investigation into whether the transfer of ALFWC's primary asset — built by 3,000 congregants — was properly authorized under New Jersey charitable trust and nonprofit law, and whether the congregation's rights as beneficiaries have been protected.

3. NEW BRUNSWICK HOUSING AUTHORITY — Initiate proceedings to revoke NB Plaza's redeveloper designation based on documented material misrepresentations in the application, breach of construction and financing milestones under the Redevelopment Agreement, and the undisclosed lis pendens.

4. CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK — Require a full public hearing on the affordable housing component. 20% affordable units (160 of 800) is inadequate for a community nonprofit's asset in a city in a housing crisis, which should be closer to 100% affordable.

5. NJ LEGISLATURE & GOVERNOR — Investigate the proposed use of tax money, of up to $96 million in NJ Aspire Program subsidies and Long Term Tax Exemptions for a project whose controlling developer has an undisclosed arrest warrant, no verified construction experience, no confirmed financing, and is already in documented default on a comparable church project.

6. CONGREGATION OF ALFWC — The 3,000 members of Abundant Life have the right to demand an emergency congregational meeting — with independent legal counsel chosen by the congregation, not the developers — to review all contracts in plain language and vote on the future of their asset.

7. ALL PARTIES — Full public disclosure of all contracts, financial agreements, and communications related to 259 George Street before any further approvals are granted.

 
All facts cited in this petition are drawn from signed contracts, court exhibits, and sworn filings produced under court-ordered civil discovery or filed in public court proceedings in Middlesex County Superior Court. These documents are available from the court clerk.

Primary case: MID-L-002242-24 | Related case: MID-L-001179-25

Development in New Brunswick should strengthen the community — not exclude the very people whose commitment and generosity created the foundation for it. By signing this petition, you are supporting transparency, accountability, and the right of a community to have a say in the future of an asset built through generations of faith and sacrifice.