IS IT TRUE August 23, 2013
IS IT TRUE it was pointed out yesterday by Brad Linzy that the Hunden Study among many other things did state that a downtown hotel with 120 – 150 rooms would be capable of sustaining a profitable operation without public assistance?…for some reason this little tidbit of information seems to have been conveniently forgotten by all of the powers that be?…the reason there were no other hoteliers who have come forward during this 5 years and counting process is that the RFP that the City of Evansville issued specifically stated that there had to be about 250 rooms in the hotel?…the Hunden Study did legitimately state that 240 – 270 would be the optimal size of hotel to have in place to put the Reverend Mayor, Deacon Warren and their Travelling Salvation Show on the road to hope, pray, beg, and pitch Evansville as a place to have a convention?…this whole process has been focused on conventions which are a shrinking business with an oversupply of suitors instead of a healthy profitable hotel that would still serve conventions as needed?…one has to wonder just who came up with such a plan and why?
IS IT TRUE a couple of members of the Mole Nation were asking about the status of the project to refurbish the old Riverhouse into a 2-Star economy brand hotel?…the CCO did a little checking around and what we learned was quite disturbing?…it seems as though it is fairly common knowledge in the civic center that the developer did inquire about applying for a tax abatement and was tersely told “NO, don’t bother, we will not even consider itâ€?…it is also alleged that a “CODE WAR†is being waged against this property as if the deadbeat previous owner who has been charged with crimes was still letting it rot down?…it is curious given the intent of the developer to invest in a 90 room hotel in downtown Evansville with his own money that the City of Evansville is doing everything possible to blunt those efforts at the same time they are willing to GIVE AWAY $37.5 Million for a hotel a mere 5 blocks away?…the Riverhouse property sits right next door to the McCurdy Hotel that still has a $960,000 incentive available to the developer who does the job and a $603,000 parking lot paid for with taxpayer dollars?…that golden parking lot is right up against the Riverhouse structure?…the next property north is of course the Old National Bank palace that was granted the maximum tax abatement allowed by law only to turn around and do a sale and leaseback deal that turned that tax abatement into immediately available cash?…this inconsistent and capricious policy has no place in any American city?
IS IT TRUE if the Riverhouse has 90 rooms that would mean that a 150 room hotel attached to the bridge to nowhere would bring the total rooms available for conventions up to the 240 that the Hunden Study called optimum?…if there were enough planning and oversight in the government of Evansville to have made a master plan (which they don’t have) that designated the McCurdy as a hotel to be refurbished into a vintage hotel like the Seelbach and Brown in Louisville the room total available for conventions would rise to about 350?…if Tropicana would allocate just 100 of their rooms during the week for to be convention eligible then the Reverend Mayor Winnecke’s youtube dreams of having 3 hotels and 450 rooms in downtown Evansville would be true and most of it would be done with private money?…we really wonder why no-one has thought outside of the BOX in 5 long years and made this suggestion?
IS IT TRUE that anytime the City of Evansville gives cash incentives to a project there is a provision called a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) mandated contractually into the contract?…that forces the developer to pay “prevailing wages†or even forces them to hire union workers?…the unions and the contractors then return the favor of overpayment by making lavish campaign contributions to the very politicians that put them into a monopoly position to supply labor to the project?…in such a situation (and Ford Center was a prime example) the unions win, the union contractors win, the POLITICIANS that get greased win big time, and the taxpayers get hosed?…when a project is funded entirely by private dollars this little money laundering scheme is not made mandatory and is usually not played?…there may just be a reason that politicians like to give away money for construction projects?…that reason is that they are on the back end of every deal with their hands out for a good greasing?
