lance

Hmmmm. A deal brokered by the Castellini and Tom Williams, head of Western Southern affiliate North American Properties and son of former Western Southern CEO Bill Williams? Western Southern also the parent of Eagle Realty, one of the developers vying in the county process. The new committee controlled by virtually by the Reds (Castillini, an appointment that is at the sole discretion of Castellini, 3CDC board (on which Castellini sits, along with John Barrett, CEO of Western Southern-- Mario San Marco, president of Western Southern affiliate and applicant for master developer Eagle Realty sits on a key 3CDC committee). Tally- Western Southern/Eagle prinicipals/family members/affiliates/business partners- 3 votes, County/City-2 votes. I know it's nice that there is an agreement and we can all sit around the campfire holding hands and singing "We are the World", but all that occurred today was the behind the scenes boondoggle to hand this project to Western Southern/Eagle and the rest of the Fourth Street interests who created this mess by putting the ballpark in the wrong place (Riverfront) to begin with, missing the one golden opportunity to revitalize the urban core by placing it at Broadway Commons. And keep in mind, if my cynicism is justified and Eagle is in fact coronated as master developer, I hope they deliver on this project, unlike the beautiful Nordstrom, er parking lot, on Race Street. I hope I'm wrong about the motives here, but I'm skeptical.

Cincinnati Reds CEO Bob Castellini and fellow Reds executive Tom Williams helped facilitate the meeting. Castellini is on the board of the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp, which was overseeing the Banks project before the county assumed control last summer. Williams and his father, Bill, are on the board of Western-Southern Financial Group, which is vying with several other firms to develop the $600 million Banks project through one of its subsidiaries. What the f&$*!?? Are you kidding me? This is just shows how incestuous this town is. A meeting to facilitate and broker the selection is being mediated and called by a board member in a supposedly "competitive" process to gain development rights. Tom Williams being present at this meeting could not have been any more blatant...Obviously he is trying to facilitate an agreement that would award this job to the company whose board he sits on.