Friday, October 05, 2007

A question on the Marina District - what about Riverfront Park?

In response to a comment from Tim Higgins on my earlier blog post about the funding for the Marina District, I came across this press release on the city of Toledo's website.

It's the original announcement from March of this year that highlighted the details of the agreement between Toledo and developer Larry Dillin. What I found interesting were the following statements:

"After Dillin solidifies private funds $50M* for vertical buildings and $15M* to fund the balance of the Riverfront Park area, the City will deed the land to Dillin Corp and invest $10M* in the Riverfront Drive and Park area.
...
Dillin is currently in negotiations with users on several parts of the site both commercial and residential. “When the Waterfront Park is delivered, there are several other interested developers for other areas of the land,” stated Sarah Penner, Project Manager of the Marina District for Dillin Corp. “The backbone of this agreement is the Riverfront Park.” The Riverfront Park would typically be funded as a “Public Works” project. In this case, the City, State and Dillin will all participate in the expenses.
...
To jumpstart the vertical development and Riverfront park, Dillin will provide the following by October 1, 2007**:
• Leadership for the entire development/master-planning process
• $50M* in private investment for building structures
• Financing for the gap in funding to complete the Waterfront Park ($15 M*)
• Vertical Development to begin before December 31, 2007
**"

The press release also details the city's commitment, including "$10M* for the Riverfront Park which includes monies available from the State or Federal government."

So it appears from the agreement that Dillin is supposed to have not only the $50 million for the development, but financing for any gap in funding for the park as well. Because of the way the press release is worded, it's unclear if Dillin's commitment is for $15 million - or if the total cost of the park is $15 million. Either way, Dillin needs to come up with the funds to add to the city's $10 million that is apparently dedicated to the park.

But nothing I've seen in any of the news coverage or council ordinances specifies that the city's portion is going to the park. Now, this doesn't mean it isn't, but I will be watching to see whether or not gap financing for the park is part of the public announcement now scheduled for October 11th - and how the city's $10 million will be allocated.

5 comments:

Chad Quigley said...

Darn Maggie...you are good. I forgot about that part. Which is exactly what I bet they hope we all did..forget the detailsss...and now it's the 11th? Let me guess..spin doctor got sick??

Maggie said...

testing comment moderation...

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

Just a flashback/thought:

Con-Doughs. . .

Old dogs, even older tricks...

Chad Quigley said...

Whenever I hear Real Estate and Carty in the same sentence...I get the same flashback Hooda... and I can see the pride floating down the river.

Timothy W Higgins said...

Maggie,

Your work, as always, inspires effort from the rest of us. I found this on a web search from Toledoblade.com: www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070612NEWS16/70612035

It details a $1.5M grant that is part of the city's $10M contribution to a $25M park. Mr. Dillin is responsible for coming up with $15M for the park as his share. This does not appear, according to the article, to include the $50M development that Mr. Dillin will be doing, and that he has an October 1 deadline to procure guaranteed funding for.

I was sure that I remembered a quote from Mr. Dillin when the city was at $9M, saying that the project would move forward regardless, but was unable to find it.

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