TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! KANSAS CITY INSIDERS PLAY 'RENAISSANCE NORTH' BLAME GAME AMID EFFORT TO DUMP DOWNTOWN CONVENTION HOTEL!!!!
Behind the scenes, vicious fighting over the Downtown Convention Hotel proposal and the ongoing City Council effort to abandon obligations negotiated by Mayor Sly and City Manager Troy Schulte continues to rage with even more rhetorical tactics.
To wit . . .
OLD SCHOOL ACCUSATIONS OVER THE FAILED "RENAISSANCE NORTH" DEVELOPMENT ARE BEING THROWN BY BOTH SIDES OF THE DOOMED DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY CONVENTION HOTEL DEBATE!!!
For those who don't know . . .
Renaissance Village and Prospect North . . . Called for an 80-acre mixed-use development near Maple Woods Community College. But the project encountered numerous roadblocks and never really got off the ground. A couple of years ago the city settled claims for about 7 million.
Like a great deal of the Northland . . . A lot of the project remains a suburban wasteland where the hint of upcoming development offers a haunting sketch of a neighborhood what was abandoned before it was constructed.
Now . . .
The nasty accusations going back and forth blame some politicos for long ago vote on the project while Mayor Sly is supporting his pal Mike Burke's Downtown Hotel plan despite the power player's pivotal role in the Northland flop.
While we're on the subject of lawyers . . . Here's where things get really tricky . . .
ONCE AGAIN MAYOR'S SLY'S ADMINISTRATION USES THREATS OF LEGAL ACTION TO SCARE COUNCIL INTO DOUBLING DOWN ON THE DOOMED DOWNTOWN CONVENTION HOTEL PROJECT!!!
While the financial hole of fees, planning and consulting grows deeper . . . Mayor Sly's team is trying hard to keep council from bailing out before the debt is insurmountable. Yet again the Mayor's people are reminding Council that the KCMO commitment to the project is contractual while many critics of the project are willing to gamble that developers won't sue and can't win given the limited interest in the already controversial endeavor.
At this point, the upcoming Dec. 20th deadline is mostly for show and a lack of significant investors, a competing project from the Hilton and City Council skepticism has doomed this project that once again threatens to discard another Kansas City scheme before it really gets started.
Developing . . .
Time to cut losses. This is one of those projects that's bad from the start. If there's an option to get out, it'll probably save money.
ReplyDeleteWait a second. I thought Kansas City had 24 million tourists every year? With those kind of numbers, it doesn't make any sense not to build it. Hotels and businesses should be throwing their money at us to get in on this amazing deal. If not, I suspect that they probably know better than to do business with KCMO.
ReplyDeleteYet another great example of local politicos' being hoodwinked by development attorneys.
ReplyDeleteThere's no where near the necessary private investment to even try to get this fiasco off the ground, yet the contract is written in such a way that the city has to keep looking for more public money for it or they'll be sued.
These clowns walk out of "negotiations" with developers wearing nothing by their socks and big satisfied smiles.
A city that works.
Just not for you.
All this shovel ready vibrant and frosty building and construction in KCMO would be great if it wasn't creating a total mess - clusterfuck in the process.
ReplyDeleteThese clowns walk out of "negotiations" with developers wearing nothing by their socks and big satisfied smiles.
ReplyDeleteLMAO nailed it.
How can you negotiate with someone who owns you?
ReplyDeleteThis swindle needs to stop. There have been too many "fees" spend over this project already. It all looks like a payoff to me and without any real investors, we need to lure bigger business to downtown KC and get going with a better plan.
ReplyDeleteLoar lies. What a petty, simple minded old fool she is.
ReplyDeleteWhat is this "competeing project from the Hilton"? First, I've heard, anyone have a link or know what TKC is talking about????
ReplyDeleteTeresa Loar is the worst. She will fuck up KC beyond belief, but as long as her buddies get contracts, she wins.
ReplyDeleteNote that Tony won't say a negative thing about Loar because he protects his sources. Right Tony?
ReplyDeleteI expect Burke to sue the City a-la the Citadel project and Renaissance north. He is already saying the city has not kept its promises.
ReplyDeleteBurke hasn't delivered anything he claimed he would, or met any deadlines. The City should sue Burke!!
ReplyDeleteAs a somewhat regular reader of this blog, any way you slice it, I'd say TKC has been calling this boondoggle project correctly from the start!
ReplyDeleteAsking about:
1) the relationship between former Mayoral competitors, James and Burke.
2) the excessive reliance upon tax incentives.
3) when playing tax favorites for developers, schools/libraries/mental health oftentimes get penalized, forcing them in turn to ask for additional tax increases.
4) the extreme secrecy surrounding the negotiations from the start.
5) the borderline illegal exclusive hotel catering deal.
6) the identity and reputation of the hotel consultants, and investors.
7) how was it that JEDunn Construction was awarded the building contract in advance?
8) the local attorney who worked on hotel financing and tax incentives is the same woman who got The KC Star their tax breaks.
9) the relationship between campaign contributions to Mayor James from those connected to the hotel project.
hmmmmm.
ReplyDeletewould love to have a shiny new hotel, if it's other people's money on the line.
if my money were involved, would have to actually study it.
The city and taxpayers need to fund this. I deserve a world class downtown hotel to stay at when I go downtown to ride the street car and patronize Power and Light and a symphony at KPAC.
ReplyDeleteSo get off your internet troll blue collar asses and get this done for me.
Someone of my elite intellect and status in society shouldn't have to stay in hotels that you people could afford.
M-I-Z
Shut it down.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah Mike Burke! The guy Tony Botello's TOP ECHELON INSIDERS swore would undoubtedly, clearly be the next mayor!
ReplyDeleteSo this HAS to be true, best kc fake news blog, right?
You beem reading for 6 years at least wildman. You lose.
DeleteI just saw 4 assholes.
ReplyDeleteI see dead people......
ReplyDeleteThere is just not enough free money to satisfy people like Mike Burke.
ReplyDelete1) Who has NOT adequately overseen and assured that the City's side of the contract is upheld? -Ultimately the City Manager.
ReplyDelete2) Who originally crafted and oversaw the legal documents that have put the city in the cross-hairs of potential litigation? -Ultimately the City Manager.
The Buck Stops with him. In this case, the Buck Started and Stops with him. HE DESIGNED THE CONTRACT THAT HAS PUT THE CITY IN THIS SITUATION!
Don't forget this City Manager was promoted from the ranks of the City's finance department. He had no previous City Manager experience or experience financing and building $300 million hotels. If he did, the City would not be in this mess. If he did know what he was doing there would be a construction crane on the development site right now. Just because he's likable, doesn't mean he knows what he's doing. KCMO needs an experienced City Manager. Not one that's getting on the job training at the tax payers expense.