IS IT TRUE January 24, 2013
IS IT TRUE the big day of Mayor Winnecke’s chosen hotel developer finally came and went yesterday complete with some very nice renderings that include a curved glass front, a residential tower, a parking garage, a storage building with retail space, and of course two new walk bridges to tie in the bridge to nowhere that is now standing?…no financial details were released yesterday and the only real action other than the spectacular media production was a unanimous approval of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to begin negotiations with the developer?…there was a slip of the tongue that revealed neither of the other two proposals were deemed to be unacceptable for financing reasons?…one of the other bidders proposed using the same EB-5 financing that was the excuse for the elimination of Verville & Associates during the last round of bids and the other wanted the City of Evansville to own the whole kit and caboodle?…after 4 years and three failed choices the chances for a downtown convention hotel come down to only one qualified developer in the free world that has an interest in what Evansville is willing to give them to build a hotel complex?…it would seem given the passion among the political class of Evansville to build a hotel that HCW Development of Branson, MO is sitting in the cat bird’s seat in the forthcoming negotiation?
IS IT TRUE the renderings are quite appealing with the residential units being a new twist?…Browning had some very appealing renderings that even included a steakhouse named JW’s that were revealed in former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel’s press conference in Innovation Pointe in 2008?…when that deal failed to materialize upstart Woodruff Hospitality had a nice set of 3-D renderings that got everyone’s interest piqued too?…when the Woodruff deal fell to pieces and the Kunkel Group won the next bid they produced a curved front rendering complete with a parking tower option that looked very much like the renderings released yesterday?…even Verville’s group put together a nice looking rendering and recruited an experience operator to run the hotel if they built it?…it has now been a year since Mayor Winnecke put the brakes on Mayor Weinzapfel’s serial failures and started over from scratch?…at the end of that year what we really have is a single supposedly qualified developer with an exquisite rendering?…this is a déjà -vu moment taking us back to that hot summer day in 2008 when Mayor Weinzapfel had exactly the same thing?…the next couple of months will be very interesting to watch unfold as the City of Evansville negotiates with HCW from about as weak a position as is possible?
IS IT TRUE that the last time Mayor Winnecke and his surrogates negotiated in secret and made a big announcement the result was the Earthcare Energy fiasco?…the Winnecke Administration, GAGE, and 5 members of the City Council to quote Councilman Al Lindsey “got the wool pulled over their eyes†that time?…the Earthcare Energy fiasco is still hanging in the unbalance with the City of Evansville owed $186,000 by a company whose officers whereabouts could not be found by the Evansville Courier and Press?…somehow that $380 interest only minimum payment always seems to show up on time every month so these people are out there somewhere?…the City County Observer would like to grease the skids to help find the officers of Earthcare Energy so we or the CP can interview them and learn their intentions for the future of their deal with Evansville?…we would like to know why they are paying the note that will come due in March of 2014?…we would like to know if they are in agreement at this time with the default position that the Winnecke Administration asserts that they are?…we are offering a reward of Dinner for Two at Cavanaugh’s Restaurant for information that leads to an interview with the officers of Earthcare Energy?…Winnecke Administration officials are not eligible for the dinner?
IS IT TRUE for those who missed it, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applied a verbal beat down on a select group of United States Senators yesterday that they should never forget?…if these senators could have concentrated on asking short easy questions instead of grandstanding they may have actually learned something about what happened at Benghazi, Libya back in September?…they didn’t and if this is how the Senate conducts an investigation and inquisition they could not convict Charles Manson?…the Senate blew a great opportunity so now it is time for them to move on to the next assignment which is to develop and pass a budget in the next 3 months to avoid another debt limit crisis?…we would not bet 2 dinners at Cavanaugh’s on the Senate being successful at anything?
If the Second World War would have been run by this local group of political hacks then we would all be speaking German but at least the buses would run on time..
The Mayoral/Council system is a broken abortion from an earlier age.
There needs to be a city manager who has a strict set of guidelines and a supervisory group…
Until then say hi to the new boss…same as the old boss…
I am still glad that I voted for Gary Johnson..
It seems possibly obvious that we might want to wait on a big hotel decision until the land based casino ruling comes down through the state. If say Aztar had the option to go on land and ditch the boat, would they possibly be interested in building a new casino and hotel on the “empty lot”? Which could possibly open up the idea of converting the Two hotels they have already into say apartments, condos, or even public housing? My guess is the tax payers would save possibly $40 million dollars quick. We would also have what every ( well most every) convention goer wants. A hotel, casino, the convention, bars, a couple museums, restaurants, large venues, all within 4-7 blocks. Throw in a short taxi ride to the east side for shopping and we are close to a real game changing situation.
I say we wait to see how the state comes down on land based casinos before we sink our buts in more debt.
I like your thinking.
Am I the only one who has noticed the similarity between the design of ONB on the Ohio and the proposed Arena Hotel? Is anyone else aware that CRIPES, LLC was brought here to address and remedy the problems with glare and heat build-up in the ONB building? They had to spend a fortune retrofitting the windows with shades to make it a decent working environment.
CRIPES also got a contract with the EVSC, but AFTER the NEW North HS had shades installed in all the classrooms in those “fingers” facing Hwy 41 North. Could they have consulted with them and are being paid through the new contract?
I realize the proposed hotel was not designed by VPS/Mike Shoulders, but you would think someone would consider the cost of heating and cooling a building that big when they are designing it, or when they are considering paying to have it built. You might also think they would create something that looks original and not like the building a few blocks away.
What makes you think that Aztar wouldn’t want $40 million too? The precedent has been set. No major construction project will ever occur downtown again without major incentives.
A bad precedent has been set. I very much agree!
I agree with mole 3.14..they need to get it right this time..plus save the $40 mil.
I’m guessing Marsha Abell and Mayor Weinnecke show up at Cavanaughs’ if you are picking up the check.
They are not eligible.
It would still be worth it to get to interview Mr. Haney.
We agree.
Kind of funny how fast the stuff about the hotel got swept off of the “main page” of the C&P.com site. Some stuff stays there for days and these articles made it for about one day.
It looks like the C+P is “Owned” by the Chamber of Commerce, thus dissent from “The Agenda”, is quickly sent to the nether-world.
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