Letter to the Mayor from John Friend

31
Posted by the CCO without opinion, bias or editing

Lloyd,
As we discussed, I apologize for not getting back to you before 9 pm...After 
discussion with Dr. Adams, he and I both feel that the City needs to be 
prepared to go "all in' on the downtown Med School RFP.

According to Dr. Adams, Warrick must be receiving inside info, and, apparently, 
will boost the RFP to 40 million and 40 acres. This is highly concerning. 
You and I both realize that the Med School downtown is the game changer. 
From the failed McCurdy to the main street walkway, the med school represents 
the total transformation of downtown. 

The hotel is very important, but, pails to the Med...if we lose this because we 
just could NOT wait for a lousy 4-5 months, this will be blunder of the century. 
For those who think that we MUST move on this ASAP and we are the laughing stock 
of the mid-west are drinking euphoric kool-aid. In addition, med school will not
come because we have decided to construct a hotel. They know that the Med will 
bring the hotels without massive amounts of taxpayers hard-earned tax dollars. 

So, do we over-subsidize the project, and are forced to pay millions for 
the Med school, and HCW pockets the intrinsic value on their way out. If not, 
why did Mr. Huffman indicate rolling the hotel into a REIT [Real Estate
InvestmentTrust] in other words, a mutual fund of sticks and bricks. This was
the discussion when he met with Dr. Adams and I over two months ago. 

So, in summary, why didn't the administration negotiate to these levels 
months ago? And, why do I feel that I'm a contestant on the game show 
"Let's Make a Deal" The only thing that seems to be missing here is Monte 
Hall. Seriously, what is the motive, the extreme sense of urgency concerning
a project that has been debate and reviewed for four years, and especially, 
with the Med school in the mix.

Again, I appreciate your thoughts and comments. 

John

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31 COMMENTS

  1. What fools these ERBC jerks must think the citizens of Evansville are. REITS are moving up but lets all put $37.5 million in this one on the backs of EVV and watch it grow. Also watch the HCW assholes get out of town faster than a race horse at Churchill.

    • I quote a very credible source that states the reason that HCW did not comply with the vetting request by the city council is that this organization sells fast and is out from under leaving the victims holding the bag.

  2. I confess I have not been following the med school issue closely. I have not read enough about it to make a judgment still, but I’m really beginning to see how this Med School might be truly enormous for Evansville. Getting it downtown would require all the financial leverage the city can muster. That much I do know.

    • Agreed! If Warrick County is offering 40 acres and $40 million, that is going to be a real issue in getting it located downtown, so we need to be prepared to trump “quantity” with “quality”. That, in my opinion, is more likely to be done with upgraded infrastructure and public transit, rather than a “convention hotel” and “upscale apartments.”
      This Medical School could be Evansville’s last chance at “getting it right.” We are going to have to put up our best fight just to get it in Vanderburgh County, much less, downtown.

      • elkaybee, you are so right.

        This just might be classified as a miracle if downtown can pull it off. And it will take EVERYONE working together in a unified, honest, straightforward manner, not this sneaky, split version of government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. Warrick has a big open field and a lot of money. We can trump that if we put our minds to it and are smart in the bidding game.

  6. I appreciate the transparency Councilman Friend. It really means a lot in a town where you wake up every day and these projects have been changed behind closed doors. So thank you.

    As for the med school- Look no one wants to see downtown grow more than I and I’m thoroughly satisfied that it’s being used as a weapon against this horrible hotel deal, but come on don’t match $40 million and 40 acres. That is beyond reasonable for one project for downtown.

    You could build a minor league ballpark (about 28 mil these days for 7,000 seats), do the 220 room hotel with Kunkel for $8 mil, AND have $4 mil left over just to make the roads go the other way for that price.

    The only deal that makes sense to me is for the city to give the med school Old North High School and explore various funds such as the Build Act, the dinosaur tax credit, etc, etc to retrofit it to med school standards. There’s already classrooms there, there’s already a fitness work out area gym (Baby Roberts), and there’s already plenty of road and walkway infrastructure there.

    That would be a huge boost towards revamping the Jacobsville area where residents who will be working in the downtown of tomorrow will be living. Like I said before, from there, you can put the proposed tech park at the Old Hercules Motor district because it has great road and rail access and it would connect Jacobsville, Downtown, UE, and the Old 41 District together with revitalization.

    So yea, getting in a bidding war makes no sense. Using existing assets and using existing proposed projects to surround it (ball fields, tech park, hotel, yada, yada) DOES MAKE SENSE.

  7. Jordan makes some good points but fails to note a few positives for a downtown med school location.

    1. It is very near downtown Deaconess where much of the nitty gritty stuff happens in Evansville as well as much of the good medicine as well.

    2. It is closer to USI for both the med school’s needs and those of USI than Warrick Co.

    3. There are a bunch of really cool old buildings that could be repurposed as living quarters for students.

    4. Other professionals work downtown so a nice contact area.

    5. There are many charitable organizations downtown that need assistance that these med students could provide for a great background on ethics for the profession. There is a big push for Public Health Medicine on now. There are course requirements for ethics in professional schools.

    These are only a few reasons that occurred to me in about 5 seconds but I am sure that Dan Adams can come up with quite a few more. And also granted that anywhere in Evansville or Vanderburgh County is not very far from any where else in EVV or Vand CO. But if you look at this youth generation across the board they are spending less car time and more feet, bike, and bus time. They live by their smart phones more and more daily.

    What we have to do is to think like a 23 yr. old student as, to some extent, the med school will. They will also be thinking long term development potental which can be argued for as much downtown as Warrick County. Do you want urban sprawl or creative living and working in a condensed urban area?

    Finally UI med school in Indianapolis sits right in the heart of Indianapolis and has withstood slums and their negatives as well as the renewal that now surrounds it.
    Been there, lived there, and it was cool.

    • Martha, Old North satisfies all 5 of your points as Jacobsville is basically the connecting bedroom community of Downtown. Think Stringtown to Downtown just like with the ball fields at Kleymeyer it would be Bosse Field to Ford Center.

      When you get a chance take a look at Indy’s 16 tech tech park they are building. Part of that development includes converting old Bush Stadium into apartments (construction is wrapping up in the next few months). Quite amazing. That tech park isn’t too far from their med schools either btw…

      http://www.developindy.com/redevelopment/16-tech.aspx

      • I disagree Jordan. You seem to be stretching the definition to make your argument. Working professionals? REALLY cool old buildings? There are also folks who have made many inroads to develop and populate downtown. Granted I will take running up N. Main but old North High School I don’t think would be what IU is after although I might be wrong.

        • Which old buildings are we talking about. The only one I can think of would be the old Swanson building but them seem hell bent on tearing it down. Yes, it has toxins in it but funds can be obtained to remove it. Boise was in the same position with their linens building…

          http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/2013/03/12/what-the-build-act-could-build-the-linen-building-in-boise-idaho/

          Outside of that there are no real old buildings that could be fused into this project. Neither the Coliseum nor the Old Courthouse are designed for that, the Greyhound Bus Station & Old Post Office are spoken for as well, and so is the old Central Gym. The Old Welborn Building is now being leased out to tenants by Kunkel with the hospital guts ripped out of it iirc. Really, there isn’t many old buildings that fit this criteria.

          The Old North & Old Hercules Plan on the other hand has a countless amount of buildings to the south of them including those two buildings themselves.

          No, Old North is not in downtown when you look at it from a geography standpoint. But from an urban planning standpoint it does serve downtown and most importantly the urban core. The renderings of the Indy tech park in the link above account for 6-7 blocks wide. Imagine Old North plus 6-7 blocks of development towards downtown. My how different Jacobsville & the US 41 communities would look.

    • Why would that be? And who says it was John Friend that shared? Wouldn’t all city council members have received it? The important thing is that the public was in some way informed about the thought processes going on to support Mr. Friend and Dr. Adams’ decisions.

      In years past this would all have taken place in a very long and drawn out public meeting which still may happen, but not nearly all the interested public could fit into the room to attend it. I just called WNIN radio to see if they could broadcast the audio for tonight’s meeting — all of it, and they are looking into it technically. Stay tuned to WNIN to see if they announce if it will happen.

  9. LISTEN TO LIVE AUDIO COVERAGE OF TONIGHT’S CITY COUNCIL MEETING BEGINNING AT 5:30 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    THANK YOUR PUBLIC RADIO STATION FOR PROVIDING THIS SERVICE ON SHORT NOTICE. THE REQUEST WAS JUST MADE AT 2:15 PM TODAY.

  10. John Friend and Dan Adams have known about the IU Med Center and the possibility that it may land downtown for quite some time now. They also have known for some time that the med center might locate at USI, the Martin Development, or on Epworth Road in Warrick County.

    So why did Friend, Adams, and other council members wait until the 11th hour to throw med center red herring into the mix? I call bogus!

    Grow up, guys.

    What’s next from these two?

    • The school seems to be exactly what we should be going for. We fought with one another to get this best hotel deal. Imagine if our efforts were united in securing this school.

      • I thought the speaker who carried up the big sign with his notes on the back side spoke eloquently to the notion that local taxpayers would need to come up with a big financial package in order to get the med school located here.

        There are plenty of large corporations that do business in the medical industry that are involved in philanthropy targeted on that industry. Our ability to contribute financially in comparison to theirs is minimal. These people would love to see another 4 year medical degree program come on line.

        ___

      • I agree 100%. The med center would be great to stimulate downtown growth. But med schools more logically might choose to locate near modern medical facilities (Epworth Road in Warrick).

        And the Warrick County Commissioners might just offer a greater incentive package than the Evansville City Council – especially considering the known political pressure that will be exerted on our Tea Party-challenged city council by the Foes of Anything Resembling a Government Give-a-way.

    • My first comment was not intended to be a reply to you. This one is.

      How is it that you have a problem with how Friend and Adams handled the IU opportunity and call it bogus, but you seem to must have not had any issue with how Winnecke almost gave away $20 million more than was necessary? The 11th hour, well actually 6th hour, deal was from Winnecke and a few investors still in the shadows? And why is it that you have an issue with these council members performing due diligence but appear to be fine with the city putting skin in the game but not being included in the profits when HCW and these shadow investors take the profits from this deal?

      Six of the nine council saved us $20 million. They are the grown ups.

  11. To the Vanderburgh County planners:

    When medical facilities were built in Warrick County the COIT (County Option Income Tax) tht could have gone to Vanderburgh County now goes to Warrick County.

    The planners must remain aware that the VC-WC line is more than just an imaginary line separating places on a map, it is used to determine which county gets this and other tax money.

Comments are closed.