March 18, 200916 yr I am not up on this but does Sam Miller really have that much to do with the day to day running of the company? He has got to be a zillion years old. I thought it was one of the Ratners. [http://www.muckety.com/Forest-City-Enterprises-Inc/5012906.muckety Sam married Ruth Ratner(deceased).
March 18, 200916 yr Medical mart developer rejects Tower City site: 'non-starter' Posted by Joe Guillen/Plain Dealer Reporter March 18, 2009 12:22PM The Chicago-based developer of the proposed medical mart for downtown Cleveland has rejected a location behind Tower City for the project. (Related: See The Plain Dealer's full coverage at cleveland.com/medicalmart) Mark Falanga, senior vice president of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., said in letters to Cuyahoga County commissioners and Tower City owner Forest City Enterprises that a number of factors make the site a "non-starter." Falanga said the available land behind Tower City is too narrow to fit a marketable convention center, a structure that will be paired with a medical mart in a bid to boost the region's economy. Falanga also said cost estimates provided by Forest City officials for the project were not credible. MMPI and the commissioners are partnering on the project. Commissioners must make the final determination on where to build. Forest City executives have pressed MMPI and the commissioners to take another look at the land by Tower City once the partners said they favored building on Cleveland's downtown mall site -- the location of the city's current convention center. So there you have it. Let's get digging already. We can't lose this project, and MMPI doesn't want to play with Forest City. Discussion over.
March 18, 200916 yr Author Right on f*cking cue, way to go PD "editors" Fair questions about Cleveland's med mart deserve detailed answers: Plain Dealer editorial Posted by The editors March 18, 2009 04:24AM All evidence suggests that the Cuyahoga County commissioners and Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. are close to a final deal to build a medical mart and convention center in downtown Cleveland. (Related: Read The Plain Dealer's full reporting on this issue at cleveland.com/medicalmart)... http://blog.cleveland.com/pdopinion/2009/03/fair_questions_about_cleveland.html
March 18, 200916 yr Author Let me think off the top of my head how many opportunities FCE had to land the CC, but got greedy and stalled to extort a better deal. 1. There was the original plan to put housing on Scranton Peninsula and link it with the construction of the new CC. This would have been a no brainer. But FCE dropped the SP housing along the way 2. The snit with the county when the county decided not to go into the Higbee's building. FCE said if you are not going to put the offices in Higbees, well then they would not let the county have the privilege of building the CC at Tower City. These were both before MMPI got into the action. Had they not been greedy or petulant, odds are the construction of the CC would be there by now. Because they don't have their thumb on MMPI as much as they have on the PD and most elected officials in town they lost out. Screw them, screw the PD, and screw every politician who gets their marching orders from them.
March 18, 200916 yr Do we think the PD has meetings where they discuss how this is making them look? Their editiorial board is a joke. PS...Plain Dealer...we know you're reading this.
March 18, 200916 yr The responses on Cleveland.bomb are killing me. Even they can see how transparent and desperate FC is.
March 18, 200916 yr :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Where was the PD's call for "vigorous due diligence" when GCP was doing their thing...and that's just recent history. What about those joke CFA (or whatever they were called) meetings a few years back. Is this town and its daily newspaper caught in the twilight zone?
March 18, 200916 yr Do we think the PD has meetings where they discuss how this is making them look? The PeeDee is a dead man walking. The City has passed them by. They are like a crazy old aunt at a reunion. They have lost grasp on present reality and pine for the old days. We try to listen politely and become exasperated. At the funeral we will remember what they once were and miss that time.
March 18, 200916 yr Do we think the PD has meetings where they discuss how this is making them look? The PeeDee is a dead man walking. The City has passed them by. They are like a crazy old aunt at a reunion. They have lost grasp on present reality and pine for the old days. We try to listen politely and become exasperated. At the funeral we will remember what they once were and miss that time. I agree. I've agreed with you on several things this week. :| :? :)
March 18, 200916 yr Do we think the PD has meetings where they discuss how this is making them look? The PeeDee is a dead man walking. The City has passed them by. They are like a crazy old aunt at a reunion. They have lost grasp on present reality and pine for the old days. We try to listen politely and become exasperated. At the funeral we will remember what they once were and miss that time. I agree. I've agreed with you on several things this week. :| :? :) Maybe it was something you ate. Try the Pepto;) It works for me.
March 18, 200916 yr I keep looking at those rendings and asking myself, what is wrong. Why are the county buildings still there?
March 18, 200916 yr So the county could slap up a ten plus story parking garage on the site for revenue enhancement instead of a convention hotel?
March 19, 200916 yr I thought the eventual hotel was to go there. It's not in the renderings. Is that not part of the deal? The deal would sound better if they could tie in further development for a new HQ. Put it behind Tower City! No reason the county can't be vertical. And then they have connectivity.
March 19, 200916 yr I have heard a private developer has expressed interest in building a hotel + parking. Unattributable speculation by what I think are reputable people. I haven't had anything I would consider a bum steer. You might be talking a market demand situation,Yada Yada. It is not a part of the MMPI proposed development. I don't know if I would be crazy about losing the County Admin. Bldg but I would not miss the Annex. Hope springs eternal.
March 19, 200916 yr Cleveland: Medical Mart planners reject Tower City site Posted By: Updated: 3/18/2009 9:11:49 PM Posted: 3/18/2009 2:21:45 PM CLEVELAND -- MMPI, the Chicago firm seeking to build the Medical Mart/Convention Center project is reaffirming its commitment to the site on the malls and resoundingly rejecting Forest City's proposal behind Tower City. MMPI's MarK Falanga wrote Forest City and County Commissioners calling the Tower City site a non-starter citing sixteen specific issues including reconfiguring the Cuyahoga River, the site's size, inadequate meeting rooms, undesirable views, possible soil contamination and questions about Forest City's estimated costs. Commissioner Tim Hagan told Tom Beres the county is sticking with the site MMPI prefers and claimed Forest City is raising these issues to land the project and make money, not out of civic concern. Forest City's Mark LaRue argues the Tower City site is cheaper, has adqequate parking and would be closer to the first-rate facility promised to the community. Click to hear Tom Beres's interview with Hagan and LaRue. © 2009 WKYC-TV http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=109534&catid=3
March 19, 200916 yr Author So parking=connectivity. FCE must have habe been given Feagler's last bunch of articles to hone in on popular sentiment. Too bad for both of them it is not 1987.
March 19, 200916 yr I love me some Cleve, but this whole affair is starting to remind me a lot of the monorail episode of The Simpsons ... "A town with money is like a mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it and danged if he knows how to use it!"
March 19, 200916 yr I'm hoping we get an "official" statement from our elected leaders that a site was chosen, and soon.
March 19, 200916 yr 1)The County has to sign a agreement with MMPI. 2)The County has to reach agreement with City. 3)The County/MMPI has to come agreement with private property owners. 4) A go/no go decision is scheduled for August.
March 19, 200916 yr According to the WKYC ( link above) MMPI's Chris K telephoned while the reporter was in the office with Hagen wanting to know what the hell is going on in this town. video This is the kind of crap that has been killing this town for years.
March 19, 200916 yr I am no Hagen fan, but he is trying to portray this area as business friendly and progressive to a national audience and encourage investment. I think all of us realize that the atmosphere around here has to change or we are looking at the new Detroit.
March 19, 200916 yr This crap has to change! We look like a bunch of bumbling fools. Somebody needs to tell FCE to shut up and sit down. To be honest, I'm at a loss of words. Do any of you think this is actually going to happen?
March 19, 200916 yr Members say... “ When I compare what Forest City Enterprises pays for membership in the Greater Cleveland Partnership with the dues we pay to other trade organizations and business associations, I see greater value in the GCP. The GCP’s focus on improving our community, the impact it makes and the benefits my company receive all make our dues a wise investment. ” Charles A. Ratner GCP Board Member President & CEO, Forest City Enterprises, Inc. They are really pushing the GCP angle.
March 19, 200916 yr http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/merchandise_mart_developer_tel.html#more Merchandise Mart developer tells Forest City to get out of the way; says mall site is superior to Tower City Posted by Joe Guillen/Plain Dealer Reporter March 19, 2009 07:29AM CLEVELAND — The private developer who wants to build the medical mart complex said Wednesday it needs one thing from Forest City Enterprises -- and that is not land for the project. Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. rejected Forest City's offer to sell property behind Tower City, listing 17 reasons for the decision. Then MMPI asked the Cleveland-based firm to get out of the way and let the complex be built beneath downtown's historic mall. "The mall site is so clearly superior to the Tower City site," MMPI Senior Vice President Mark Falanga said in a phone interview. "Forest City's got to recognize this. They've got to allow the process to move forward and accept the reality."...
March 19, 200916 yr I can't wait to read FCE's written response about the view behind tower city. All they can do is pretend they don't own that wasteland and hope nobody checks.
March 19, 200916 yr Any other developer, in any other town, would have just shut up and moved on by now. I don't understand why FCE feels entitled to this project.
March 19, 200916 yr Author Cuyahoga County commissioners, Merchandise Mart have agreement in principle for medical mart project Posted by rrutti March 19, 2009 11:30AM Cuyahoga County commissioners this morning reached an agreement in principle on a development deal with Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. The document will set the terms of financing for the medical mart project. The agreement will give ownership of the new medical mart and convention center structures to Chicago-based MMPI, allow MMPI to run them and allocate money collected from a sales tax increase to the project... http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/cuyahoga_county_commissioners_4.html
March 19, 200916 yr Author Does anyone on the New York end of things have any contacts with local media out there? This episode could be an eye opening experience for the people of Brooklyn when FCE/Ratner does not get its way. It would rather kill one of the best things going on in its parent city, with help of the local paper, if it can not get the largest piece of the public money pie.
March 19, 200916 yr "MMPI officials stated again this week its preference for the mall site, despite continuing pressure from Forest City Enterprises to put the project on land the firm owns behind Tower City." This key sentence appears to be inaccurate. MMPI did not state a preference, they outright rejected the tower city site. They made clear that site selection is really no longer an issue. It's almost as if the PD doesn't read itself.
March 19, 200916 yr Does anyone on the New York end of things have any contacts with local media out there? This episode could be an eye opening experience for the people of Brooklyn when FCE/Ratner does not get its way. It would rather kill one of the best things going on in its parent city, with help of the local paper, if it can not get the largest piece of the public money pie http://nolandgrab.org http://nolandgrab.org
March 20, 200916 yr Forest City won't take no for answer on med mart Posted by Joe Guillen / Plain Dealer Reporter March 20, 2009 02:07AM Forest City Enterprises continued its pursuit of the medical mart project on Thursday, despite recent pleas from the project's Chicago developer to stand down. The company argued in favor of its Tower City property in a letter sent Thursday to Cuyahoga County commissioners and their private partner in the medical mart project, Merchandise Mart Properties Inc... http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/forest_city_wont_take_no_for_a.html
March 20, 200916 yr Cuyahoga County commissioners hash out final details on Medical Mart - again in secrecy Posted by Joe Guillen / Plain Dealer Reporter March 19, 2009 11:30AM Cuyahoga County commissioners are ready to give control of $425 million of the public's money to a private company that will build and operate the medical mart project in downtown Cleveland... http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/cuyahoga_county_commissioners_4.html
March 20, 200916 yr What the hell is wrong with these people?? They think they can force someone to buy their property weather they want to or not?? They are vampires sucking the life blood out of this city.. I will NEVER step foot in TC again. I am ready to call for protest picketing. Anyone interested?
March 20, 200916 yr By JAY MILLER 3:13 pm, March 18, 2009 The latest plan put forward by Forest City Enterprises Inc. to build a new convention center at Tower City Center was shot down once again by developer Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. of Chicago. Forest City has argued that a trade show complex behind Tower City could be built for significantly less than the cost of creating a convention center and medical merchandise mart on Cleveland’s Mall. MMPI disagrees. “The Forest City site is, in our opinion, a non-starter,” said MMPI senior vice president Mark Falanga in a letter to Forest City. “The site is too narrow to fit a marketable convention center.” In addition, Mr. Falanga in his letter said MMPI is concerned that the site is so narrow that it could butt up against or extend into the Cuyahoga River and create engineering risks that are “unquantifiable and are not factored into your construction estimates.” The letter was issued by MMPI in advance of a planned Thursday meeting with the Cuyahoga County commissioners. County administrator James McCafferty said Wednesday afternoon, March 18, that it was likely a completed development agreement with MMPI would be reviewed by the commissioners at that meeting. This latest rejection has broken the veneer of discretion in the relationship between MMPI, which is a subsidiary of Vornado Realty Trust of New York, and Forest City. Vornado and Forest City are two of the country’s largest, most sophisticated real estate development firms, and both have managed development of projects of considerably larger scope than this convention center and medical mart complex. At one point in his letter, Mr. Falanga questions Forest City’s estimate for electrical work, which he said is significantly below any other estimates MMPI has received. Given that, he wrote that Forest City’s estimate was “not credible.” Forest City's lament In response, Will Voegele, Forest City regional director of development, questioned MMPI’s objectivity during a telephone interview with Crain’s Cleveland Business. “We’re concerned these guys are not agnostic” about the site selection, Mr. Voegele said, referring to Mr. Falanga’s assertion in his letter to the company that MMPI just wants a complex that can be built within the county’s budget, regardless of location. “For some reason they are ignoring the facts and are ignoring what the experts are saying about our site,” Mr. Voegele said. However, Mr. Voegele could not say why MMPI would be against the Forest City site. For its part, Mr. Falanga said the latest Forest City plan, which was presented to MMPI on March 10 in Chicago and which was revised a few days later, was thoroughly reviewed by MMPI construction management and meeting planning executives and by its outside architect and several engineering and construction experts. It was after consultation with those consultants, Mr. Falanga wrote, that MMPI came to the conclusion that it could not “compel a contractor to accept the risks of building (at Tower City) for the cost indicated and we believe that the costs you have produced do not represent the full scope of the required construction.” http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20090318/FREE/903189953
March 20, 200916 yr Asher family, Rhode Island developer plan major Warehouse District project. http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2009/03/asher_family_rhode_island_deve.html This is exactly the sort of thing that can happen due the Mall Site selection.
March 20, 200916 yr Closing up shop if/when this sprouts from the Mall site? DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON YOUR WAY OUT! :x Absolutely disgusting!
March 20, 200916 yr Closing up shop if/when this sprouts from the Mall site? DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON YOUR WAY OUT! :x Absolutely disgusting! What are you referring to??
March 20, 200916 yr Closing up shop if/when this sprouts from the Mall site? DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON YOUR WAY OUT! :x Absolutely disgusting!
March 20, 200916 yr Closing up shop if/when this sprouts from the Mall site? DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON YOUR WAY OUT! :x Absolutely disgusting! What are you referring to?? I guess we will never know.
March 20, 200916 yr ^Some jerk on cleveland.bomb thinks I am you, using an alias Outside of Jerry, who here post on Cleveland.bomb? You can't reason with those idiots!
March 20, 200916 yr The same moron thinks I'm Tim Hagen, another one thinks I'm on the FCE take.:) I wish that check would hurry up and get here. A few beers and I am quite reasonable. You might even say easy.
March 20, 200916 yr Author MTS, I never posted before, but there seemed to be a coordinated effort to sway opinion towards the FCE site. First everyone complained that the Mall was DOOMED because there wasn't enough parking. A few people, including myself, pointed out that there are several municipally owned parking lots and garages right next to it. Then, all at the same time, many people said "don't build it underground, no one will see it." Again that argument was easily thwarted. Then, the FCE as public stewards against evil county commissioners was thier last argument. Yeah, but it was obvious that "talking points" memos went out to these people.
March 20, 200916 yr MTS, I never posted before, but there seemed to be a coordinated effort to sway opinion towards the FCE site. First everyone complained that the Mall was DOOMED because there wasn't enough parking. A few people, including myself, pointed out that there are several municipally owned parking lots and garages right next to it. Then, all at the same time, many people said "don't build it underground, no one will see it." Again that argument was easily thwarted. Then, the FCE as public stewards against evil county commissioners was thier last argument. Yeah, but it was obvious that "talking points" memos went out to these people. Bless your heart, honey
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