If New Rochelle officials ever wondered why New Rochelle residents do not trust the real estate developers who, in exchange for grand but vague promises, are offered generous tax abatements, coddled by the New Rochelle IDA, offered public property giveaways and granted repeated MOU extensions despite a complete lack of progress on developing projects, they need to look no further than the once active apartment building at the corner of North Avenue and Anderson Street.

The building known as "5 Anderson" is a monument to the unreliability of promises from real estate developers and the gullibility of city officials when dealing with them.

In never before seen photos of the interior of 5 Anderson (after the jump), obtained exclusively by Talk of the Sound, the utter devastation of the building is clear. Every single room, in every single apartment has been gutted and otherwise left unusable. Exterior photos show the faded remains of window treatments installed under the terms of a 2010 MOU extension obtained by Cappelli Enterprises under the condition they beautify the outside of the building and address various code violations. Additional photos in the slideshows below.

John Golden has a must-read article today in the Westchester County Business Journal, New takes on New Rochelle development

Golden talks with Mayor Noam Bramson, Development Commission Michael Freimuth, City Council Member Al Tarantino and Cappelli Enterprises spokesperson Joe Apicella.

The big news coming out of the article is that announced attention of Cappelli Enterprises to submit a scaled black for LeCount Square.