$54M from the city and $39M from the county that's 20% of the project cost.... and this received a TMUD! 

 

If the economics were this upside down not sure it should have happened. Probably an unpopular opinion. 

 

I'm sure we could have spent half that and gotten a heck of an expanded North Market, not sure we need to be funding a hotel, market rate apartments, and office space that no one will want. 

 

I know cities waste money on all kinds things, but 🙄

19 minutes ago, 17thState said:

$54M from the city and $39M from the county that's 20% of the project cost.... and this received a TMUD! 

 

If the economics were this upside down not sure it should have happened. Probably an unpopular opinion. 

 

I'm sure we could have spent half that and gotten a heck of an expanded North Market, not sure we need to be funding a hotel, market rate apartments, and office space that no one will want. 

 

I know cities waste money on all kinds things, but 🙄

The cities portion is basically all going to the addition and interior buildout of the north market portion. They will also be chipping in $8 million for the parking garage, which unless the city gets the revenue, is pretty stupid. $7 million is going towards the removal and relocation of the bodies that they find. I’m fine with all of that and it doesn’t really sound like much of the city money is benefiting the developer. 
 

“Franklin County's $39.9 million will support the publicly accessible parts of the project and a separate affordable housing project, the details of which are still to be determined, Crawley said.

 

The county's payments will be made in five installments and payments are tied to the developers meeting certain requirements, like moving forward with additional affordable housing and participating in the Building Futures program.”

 

Edited July 13, 20231 yr by VintageLife

I agree in that I’m pretty iffy on so much public money going towards the project, but at the same time, most of where the funding is going sounds reasonable. I like that current merchants are getting support during the construction, and if the funding means the city and county get more control over the NM portion of the project, I think that’s a good thing too. 

I'm not upset about it at all. At least we know exactly where the public money is going and we can actually all benefit from it as residents of Columbus and it's only going to make downtown more and more attractive which will help Columbus gain more interest from investors, small and medium sized business owners, downtown event planners, people thinking about a move, people looking for a weekend getaway etc.

Edited July 14, 20231 yr by TIm

This isn't just 54 and 39. Or even 47 and 39 (of you remove the cost to relocate bodies) There is also the separate funding for infrastructure. The land was transferred to the developer for free. So the city lost out on 9 million for the sale of the parking lot alone. The tax abatements. The TMUD. I think we will come to find out over time that it is still more publicly supported than what has been released.  Ultimately, an expanded market would have cost the city less to just fund it directly.  

 

And the original agreement was that the developers were going to pay the market 300k a year in perpetuity AND a 500k boost during construction to support the vendors. now is that just the city taking over that too?

 

I think I would be more ok with it if the city clawed back abatements. The city and schools are already losing out on millions of dollars over the next 15 years, if it doesn't get extended, while also supporting the project directly. 

 

I think it should also  be noted as an indicator as to how difficult it will be to get major projects like this done. And it does validate those with concerns over whether the Merchant Building was indeed facing significant financing issues and it was. They brought in some serious players and investors too and didn't get it across the finish line. 

 

We saw it with Millenial as well. A property can be as attractive as Merchant but still need significant public buy in to make viable to investors. We can see it as invaluable but those crunching numbers didn't.  Millenial didn't work because it couldn't get buy in from the city.  

 

Private investment alone probably isn't going to yield more of these without a major corporate buy in or building of headquarters. I think we will see a similar struggle with the concept of a Penninsula tower. Why we have never seen anything with Wolfe properties on Capitol Square. 

 

Then we will have to assess, how many reasonings can we justify public investment to make for various projects. It's a transit hub, or a garage, or services museums, etc etc etc. 

 

It is what it is and I'll enjoy it as it is built but I'll still think I'd have been perfectly OK with and expanded market  and less direct funding of a private venture  and have concerns over what it means for future large scale projects. 

Edited July 14, 20231 yr by DTCL11

3 hours ago, DTCL11 said:

This isn't just 54 and 39. Or even 47 and 39 (of you remove the cost to relocate bodies) There is also the separate funding for infrastructure. The land was transferred to the developer for free. So the city lost out on 9 million for the sale of the parking lot alone. The tax abatements. The TMUD. I think we will come to find out over time that it is still more publicly supported than what has been released.  Ultimately, an expanded market would have cost the city less to just fund it directly.  

 

And the original agreement was that the developers were going to pay the market 300k a year in perpetuity AND a 500k boost during construction to support the vendors. now is that just the city taking over that too?

 

I think I would be more ok with it if the city clawed back abatements. The city and schools are already losing out on millions of dollars over the next 15 years, if it doesn't get extended, while also supporting the project directly. 

 

I think it should also  be noted as an indicator as to how difficult it will be to get major projects like this done. And it does validate those with concerns over whether the Merchant Building was indeed facing significant financing issues and it was. They brought in some serious players and investors too and didn't get it across the finish line. 

 

We saw it with Millenial as well. A property can be as attractive as Merchant but still need significant public buy in to make viable to investors. We can see it as invaluable but those crunching numbers didn't.  Millenial didn't work because it couldn't get buy in from the city.  

 

Private investment alone probably isn't going to yield more of these without a major corporate buy in or building of headquarters. I think we will see a similar struggle with the concept of a Penninsula tower. Why we have never seen anything with Wolfe properties on Capitol Square. 

 

Then we will have to assess, how many reasonings can we justify public investment to make for various projects. It's a transit hub, or a garage, or services museums, etc etc etc. 

 

It is what it is and I'll enjoy it as it is built but I'll still think I'd have been perfectly OK with and expanded market  and less direct funding of a private venture  and have concerns over what it means for future large scale projects. 

Much better use of public funds than I have seen for anything in a long time (other than the grave fiasco). This is truly a transformational project.

City and County Announce $70 Million in Public Funding for Merchant Building, North Market Expansion

 

The City of Columbus and Franklin County will both be contributing significant public funding to the long-planned expansion of the North Market and the construction of the Merchant Building, a 32-story tower just now beginning to take shape on the 1.5-acre parcel that once held the market’s parking lot.

 

Columbus City Council will hold its first reading of several pieces of legislation regarding the project on July 17, and the Franklin County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a vote for next week on the project.

 

The city funding will come from its capital budget (some money was already allocated this summer, and more will be in future budgets), while the county will be utilizing Covid-relief funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/city-and-county-announce-70-million-in-public-funding-for-merchant-building-north-market-expansion-bw1/

 

New affordable housing to come from Rockbridge and Edwards Cos, per agreement with Franklin County

 

Developers Rockbridge and Edwards Cos. will build 35 affordable housing units in return for additional public financial support of their planned Merchant Building project rising next to the North Market Downtown.

 

The units, priced at a variety of price points averaging 60% of the area median income, will be developed at a location to be determined, but must be completed by July 1, 2026, according to the contract between the developer and the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority. The units will have to be held at an affordable rent for at least 20 years after completion, according to the county's agreement.

 

The developers had already planned to include 50 units in the 32-story Merchant Building priced at 80% and 100% of area median income, but the additional units were a condition of Franklin County's decision to support the project.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/07/14/north-market-affordable-housing.html

 

21 hours ago, DTCL11 said:

It is what it is and I'll enjoy it as it is built but I'll still think I'd have been perfectly OK with and expanded market  and less direct funding of a private venture  and have concerns over what it means for future large scale projects. 

That is probably my biggest concern too. And I imagine you’re right, that the Peninsula towers will likely need substantial support too, if/when those get built. 
 

My hope, however, is that as downtown continues to rebuild, successive major projects will need less and less funds, as they (hopefully) pencil out for future developers. 

While the public money could be seen as excessive, one thing to remember is that these public funds and abatements aren't just gifts, they're investments. So there should be some sort of return to Columbus/Franklin Co./Ohio either in the form of shared revenues, increased convention traffic/bed taxes, eventual property taxes, spin-off development or even achieving more affordable housing units. Many are skeptical of public cost/benefit analyses for good reason, but apparently this public funding checked the boxes. 

Kinda surprised it ended up being that close:

 

Columbus City Council approves additional $31M for North Market expansion in near split vote

 

“Columbus City Council has approved legislation that will allocate $31 million to the North Market expansion. 

 

This legislation, approved Monday night, would bring the city of Columbus' total investment in the North Market expansion to about $43 million.

 

However, council members Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, Shayla Favor and Councilman Rob Doransvoted against the legislation.
 

"I understand the sticker shock," Bankston said. He said that the city has the ability to make this investment and in other key areas, such as new parks and investments in public safety. The 2023 Capital Budget has $1.1 billion in new spending, he said.”

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/07/25/north-market-legislation.html

I'm not. Direct funding is very different than incentives. Many cities draw the line at this or prohibit it. Let alone this level of direct funding. There are ways that people can tell themselves they can justify it but it's hard to sell such massive investment into a largely private venture on the promise of being transformational or being a catalyst. Those are hard concepts to get buy in on. And they aren't as guaranteed as the tangible aspect of having a completed park or bridge etc. The origin of TMUD is a project that couldn't get direct buy in for a 'transformational' project so legislators, also squeamish on direct funding, worked with developers to build a massive incentive plan from the state to spur these projects and yet, it wasn't enough. Direct funding like this is really a rarity.

 

At the highest end of costs, the same city and county investment could create over 100 miles of barrier protected bike lanes. Hundreds more at lower cost options. And that's what some of these leaders see. How do we apply these funds to a more equitable set of projects versus a project that is largely going to benefit a small section of the city population. If there's discretionary spending of this magnitude, what other projects should benefit from it and that's why it was close.  

 

Edit. I should specify outside of sports stadiums which are a whole different can of worms but alot of that frustration also overlaps. 

Edited July 25, 20231 yr by DTCL11

Has anyone been by the site recently? What's the construction status?

37 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

Has anyone been by the site recently? What's the construction status?

 

I'll actually be there within the hour.  I'll try to get a quick progress pic if I can

 

1 hour ago, cbussoccer said:

Has anyone been by the site recently? What's the construction status?

 

Not a lot has changed since last week:

 

 

 

Waiting on the checks to clear 😅 

2 hours ago, DTCL11 said:

I'm not. Direct funding is very different than incentives. Many cities draw the line at this or prohibit it. Let alone this level of direct funding. There are ways that people can tell themselves they can justify it but it's hard to sell such massive investment into a largely private venture on the promise of being transformational or being a catalyst. Those are hard concepts to get buy in on. And they aren't as guaranteed as the tangible aspect of having a completed park or bridge etc. The origin of TMUD is a project that couldn't get direct buy in for a 'transformational' project so legislators, also squeamish on direct funding, worked with developers to build a massive incentive plan from the state to spur these projects and yet, it wasn't enough. Direct funding like this is really a rarity.

 

At the highest end of costs, the same city and county investment could create over 100 miles of barrier protected bike lanes. Hundreds more at lower cost options. And that's what some of these leaders see. How do we apply these funds to a more equitable set of projects versus a project that is largely going to benefit a small section of the city population. If there's discretionary spending of this magnitude, what other projects should benefit from it and that's why it was close.  

 

Edit. I should specify outside of sports stadiums which are a whole different can of worms but alot of that frustration also overlaps. 

Completely disagree about the impact. This is like the Hilton - its bringing in an amenity that could help open up Columbus to bigger and better conventions, driving more revenue for local shops and businesses in the area. 

I assume that real construction is not yet underway. They cannot have closed on the full financing yet with all these recent government approvals. 

40 minutes ago, columbus17 said:

Completely disagree about the impact. This is like the Hilton - its bringing in an amenity that could help open up Columbus to bigger and better conventions, driving more revenue for local shops and businesses in the area. 

 

I'm not disagreeing on whether Merchant Tower will have a positive impact. But thats IS my point. The project can almost certainly be a home run project and while also acknowledging the complexities and detractors of direct public funding. We shouldn't be surprised or act indignant about people or leaders who are holding back on outright support. 

 

I can spin why Gravity should have garnered $54 million in public funds or why Easton should which is a better comparison than the Hilton which is a publicly owned asset. The list is endless when it comes to projects that we can say draw visitors, improve business customer base, serve as a catalyst, etc. 

 

We have to understand that this is not black and white net positive for the ages where public funding is absolutely warranted and should be praised. That some hesitation is not unwarranted or should be shamed. 

Edited July 25, 20231 yr by DTCL11

4 hours ago, DTCL11 said:

 

I'm not disagreeing on whether Merchant Tower will have a positive impact. But thats IS my point. The project can almost certainly be a home run project and while also acknowledging the complexities and detractors of direct public funding. We shouldn't be surprised or act indignant about people or leaders who are holding back on outright support. 

 

I can spin why Gravity should have garnered $54 million in public funds or why Easton should which is a better comparison than the Hilton which is a publicly owned asset. The list is endless when it comes to projects that we can say draw visitors, improve business customer base, serve as a catalyst, etc. 

 

We have to understand that this is not black and white net positive for the ages where public funding is absolutely warranted and should be praised. That some hesitation is not unwarranted or should be shamed. 

Don't forget that part of this project is an expansion of the North Market. The North Market is for everyone, you can just go in there and we can all access it as residents or visitors to Columbus. It's not like all this money is going towards making the penthouse super fancy or something.

4 minutes ago, TIm said:

Don't forget that part of this project is an expansion of the North Market. The North Market is for everyone, you can just go in there and we can all access it as residents or visitors to Columbus. It's not like all this money is going towards making the penthouse super fancy or something.

This is where I’m at. While I agree this money could have went to bike trails, it is still for public use. I think we should spend this and also another $30 million on protected bike lanes. There is no reason it couldn’t be both. 

27 minutes ago, TIm said:

Don't forget that part of this project is an expansion of the North Market. The North Market is for everyone, you can just go in there and we can all access it as residents or visitors to Columbus. 

 

Oh yeah! I TOTALLY forgot that part!  And it has a public parking garage anyone can use! That changes EVERYTHING and I take back any support of people skeptical of such significant direct public funding. Can't believe I never took that in to account or any of these leaders that voted against it didn't even consider that! 

 

26 minutes ago, VintageLife said:

This is where I’m at. While I agree this money could have went to bike trails, it is still for public use. I think we should spend this and also another $30 million on protected bike lanes. There is no reason it couldn’t be both. 

 

Funds are limited. That's the reason it can't be both. That and Columbus literally doesn't know how to implement best practices without reinventing the wheel. 

6 hours ago, columbus17 said:

Completely disagree about the impact. This is like the Hilton - its bringing in an amenity that could help open up Columbus to bigger and better conventions, driving more revenue for local shops and businesses in the area. 

It would be if the city owned the Merchant Building like it owns the Hilton. If the city has a way to profit from this "investment" I could get on board, but this just a handout to private developer for a privately owned building. I could wrong here, but think most if not all of the property taxes will be abated, and payroll taxes for the office portion will likely just be swaps from other locations in the city. I'd have a lot less issue issue with this if the city was treated like any other investor and got an ownership stake. 

 

If we wanted a bigger North Market we all could enjoy there are cheaper options for that and agree with @DTCL11, until Columbus starts printing it's own money funds are limited and you can't have everything. So you have to choose. 

1 hour ago, DTCL11 said:

Funds are limited. That's the reason it can't be both. That and Columbus literally doesn't know how to implement best practices without reinventing the wheel. 

I mean yeah funds are limited but there are things in the budget that could be cut by $30 million for bike lanes and still keep this funding in. It’s obviously never ideal to add that much money to a project, and I get why people would disagree with it. 

2 hours ago, VintageLife said:

This is where I’m at. While I agree this money could have went to bike trails, it is still for public use. I think we should spend this and also another $30 million on protected bike lanes. There is no reason it couldn’t be both. 

It's basically an indoor public park where you can also buy awesome food, drinks, treats, some groceries and greeting cards for some reason. It's also expanding the footprint so more local small businesses have an opportunity downtown in a fairly low risk environment from a business perspective. Your family, friends, neighbors right here in this city could have an opportunity to open their dream food business here. And I can't reiterate this enough, it's for literally anybody. Anything that gets more people walking around, talking to each other, having a good time in the heart of the city is worth a bit of public funds to me. 

Edited July 25, 20231 yr by TIm

Woof. 
 

North Market Merchant Building project price tag climbs to $430M

 

“The Merchant Building development rising in the North Market parking lot will cost $430 million, according to the city of Columbus.

 

That's up from $345 million as of late 2022, the most recent publicly shared financial total, which itself was an increase from prior iterations of the project. Columbus Development Director Michael Stevens shared the new project cost with Columbus Business First.

 

Public investment in the project has grownalongside its total price tag. This month, Franklin County approved its first contribution to the project, nearly $40 million, while the city of Columbus agreed to kick in another $31 million, bringing its total contribution to $54 million.

 

Stevens said the developers approached the city about additional public funding, which will go toward public-facing portions of the project. Franklin County's contribution includes $5 million for a separate affordable housing project to be completed by the developers.”

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/07/31/north-market-project-cost-increase.html

9 minutes ago, amped91 said:

Woof. 
 

North Market Merchant Building project price tag climbs to $430M

 

“The Merchant Building development rising in the North Market parking lot will cost $430 million, according to the city of Columbus.

 

That's up from $345 million as of late 2022, the most recent publicly shared financial total, which itself was an increase from prior iterations of the project. Columbus Development Director Michael Stevens shared the new project cost with Columbus Business First.

 

Public investment in the project has grownalongside its total price tag. This month, Franklin County approved its first contribution to the project, nearly $40 million, while the city of Columbus agreed to kick in another $31 million, bringing its total contribution to $54 million.

 

Stevens said the developers approached the city about additional public funding, which will go toward public-facing portions of the project. Franklin County's contribution includes $5 million for a separate affordable housing project to be completed by the developers.”

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/07/31/north-market-project-cost-increase.html

Separate project? So not in the tower or??

6 minutes ago, columbus17 said:

Separate project? So not in the tower or??

Correct. I'm pretty sure there will be a small number of affordable units in the tower and then the developer will be building something new likely nowhere near downtown that's all affordable housing (allegedly). I want to say the last time I read about it they still did not have anywhere picked out for that development.

Edited July 31, 20231 yr by TIm

15 minutes ago, TIm said:

Correct. I'm pretty sure there will be a small number of affordable units in the tower and then the developer will be building something new likely nowhere near downtown that's all affordable housing (allegedly). I want to say the last time I read about it they still did not have anywhere picked out for that development.

I'm thinking the space they tore down for construction staging...

9 minutes ago, columbus17 said:

I'm thinking the space they tore down for construction staging...

 

The agreement for $5 mil was with the county. The County will likely have more incentive and tolerance for them to build it further out of the city where dollars go further. I vant really see it being applied to a core project. 

Just a mere 2.5x the cost of the original $192 mil proposal that was originally awarded. 

 

Honestly, the longer this goes on, the bigger of a mess it is. Having a big RFP contest to choose the original Wood-Schiff proposal because of its iconic structure only to modify the project to actually resemble 2 other proposals submitted by other developers that were rejected, a massive increase in cost, public subsidy, and still uneasy about funding... 

 

I'm ready for it to be done and just turn a blind eye to the drama of this all and then eagerly await for similar processes for the peninsula and old Greyhound site as we grapple with the balance of private and public development in search iconic and transformational projects... 

 

Even the crew stadium was a smoother process which is rare for stadiums. 

48 minutes ago, columbus17 said:

I'm thinking the space they tore down for construction staging...

Where Dahlia was? Maybe, but they could do literally anything with that and make way more money off it. Would be a prime spot for nicer rentals or even for sale condos, especially if they ever move all that damn electrical infrastructure. I bet it'll be somewhere way outside downtown in Linden or something.

1 hour ago, amped91 said:

Woof. 
 

North Market Merchant Building project price tag climbs to $430M

 

“The Merchant Building development rising in the North Market parking lot will cost $430 million, according to the city of Columbus.

 

That's up from $345 million as of late 2022, the most recent publicly shared financial total, which itself was an increase from prior iterations of the project. Columbus Development Director Michael Stevens shared the new project cost with Columbus Business First.

 

Public investment in the project has grownalongside its total price tag. This month, Franklin County approved its first contribution to the project, nearly $40 million, while the city of Columbus agreed to kick in another $31 million, bringing its total contribution to $54 million.

 

Stevens said the developers approached the city about additional public funding, which will go toward public-facing portions of the project. Franklin County's contribution includes $5 million for a separate affordable housing project to be completed by the developers.”

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/07/31/north-market-project-cost-increase.html

Just took a look at the scope of the project and yes that price tag is giant. Basically a couple hundred hotel rooms and 180 or so apartments 430Mil is wayyy up there. The previous 345mil seemed elevated but about right. I’m starting to think some of these projects need to be put on hold nationally, construction costs are outrageous now.

23 minutes ago, 646empire said:

Just took a look at the scope of the project and yes that price tag is giant. Basically a couple hundred hotel rooms and 180 or so apartments 430Mil is wayyy up there. The previous 345mil seemed elevated but about right. I’m starting to think some of these projects need to be put on hold nationally, construction costs are outrageous now.

Construction is through the roof - it's becoming a giant mess at the moment.

2 hours ago, columbus17 said:

Construction is through the roof - it's becoming a giant mess at the moment.

Well maybe if they stopped AT the roof and didn't build THROUGH the roof, they wouldn't have these problems!

 

/s

This project does have some quirks to it. Building on top of a cemetery an obvious one. I would love to know how much that exhumation process cost. They are also tying into a 100 year old building and possibly reconfiguring part of the current North Market. The entire North Market portion of the tower is specialized which is going to be more expensive than building generic office space or residential space. It's also build kind of an odd location, essentially bound by alleys as opposed to actual city streets. I would imagine they had to do more utility work than normal to prep for this tower, but that's just a guess.

 

Add all those quirks to the skyrocketing price of raw materials and it's easy to see how the price is so exorbitant.  

1 minute ago, cbussoccer said:

This project does have some quirks to it. Building on top of a cemetery an obvious one. I would love to know how much that exhumation process cost. They are also tying into a 100 year old building and possibly reconfiguring part of the current North Market. The entire North Market portion of the tower is specialized which is going to be more expensive than building generic office space or residential space. It's also build kind of an odd location, essentially bound by alleys as opposed to actual city streets. I would imagine they had to do more utility work than normal to prep for this tower, but that's just a guess.

 

Add all those quirks to the skyrocketing price of raw materials and it's easy to see how the price is so exorbitant.  

They don't seem to be value engineering this, either. Hopefully the hotel will be truly world class as well. Our first five star.

2 minutes ago, aderwent said:

They don't seem to be value engineering this, either. Hopefully the hotel will be truly world class as well. Our first five star.

Honestly would be a top notch location for a super high end hotel.

19 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 I would love to know how much that exhumation process cost

 

I read recently they originally thought it would be just over $1 million but it ballooned to around $7 million 

48 minutes ago, TIm said:

Honestly would be a top notch location for a super high end hotel.

They haven’t announced a hotel operator/ flag yet? Interesting with construction commencing you would think they would have already put that out. I’m not sure Ive seem many situations involving high profile expensive builds where construction has started on a hotel with no announced brand. I assume it’s coming very soon.

Edited July 31, 20231 yr by 646empire

13 minutes ago, 646empire said:

They haven’t announced a hotel operator/ flag yet? Interesting with construction commencing you would think they would have already put that out. I’m not sure Ive seem many situations involving high profile expensive builds where construction has started on a hotel with no announced brand. I assume it’s coming very soon.

I would have sworn I saw it will be another hotel like The Junto, since Rockbridge is involved with the building. From what I’ve seen that hotel is gorgeous, so if they can do something along those lines, it would be a great location for it.  

 

Few more from Merchant Building site

 

 

 

 

Drove by the North Market today. There were several construction workers on hand doing what appears to continued drilling. 

Edited September 15, 20231 yr by KyleofColumbus

6 hours ago, KyleofColumbus said:

Drove by the North Market today. There were several construction workers on hand doing what appears to continued drilling. 

Soil stabilization/retention is what it looks like to me. The very beginnings of a foundation.

18 hours ago, columbus17 said:

Soil stabilization/retention is what it looks like to me. The very beginnings of a foundation.

Or they are drilling piles

 

Few quick ones from North Market

 

 

 

 

Well well well, what do we have here....

 

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=595698570&row=51

 

October 5th yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

October 5th yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I wouldn't expect to see a tower crane on October 5th. Those dates are often wildly inaccurate. 

Not sure if anyone has any insight, but will there be more than one tower crane?