Harrison Square Capitulation
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 6/9/08 @ 11:10 pm - Filed Under City Council, Featured
Tomorrow evening there will be a public hearing during city council to discuss the proposed tax abatement for the Courtyard by Marriott hotel - the linchpin of the Harrison Square project. I started off writing this post about why the city council should reject the abatement but I’ve changed my mind midstream.
There’s too much in motion at this point for the city to risk hampering the hotel and thus damaging the entire project. I’ve never believed in the merits of this project and I think the hotel will be a disaster BUT we’re simply too far along to pull the plug without concrete evidence of its failure. To sabotage the project at this point makes no sense - as the old saying goes we’re already a little bit pregnant and you can’t get just a little bit pregnant.
I still find the idea that a Courtyard by Marriott, a baseball stadium and few shops and condos will somehow change the economic fortune of this city completely laughable. But I’ve capitulated and at this point the best option seems to be to let this all play out and hope for the best…
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12 Responses to “Harrison Square Capitulation”
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Your next investigation should be into who’s paying for the site work. If they’re planning on a basement under the hotel (and I believe they are) they’re going to to be surprised at what they find under the old parking lot at the Belmont location. To my knowledge no site testing was done there. Brace yourselves for another cost overrun. Also consider this. Rather than punch a hole through the second floor of the Embassy in the historic facade and walk people all the way around to the other crosswalk why not simply tunnel under Jefferson and deliver them right to the main concourse of the Grand Wayne Center? Dig and let the clean-up begin (at taxpayer expense, of course).
I’ve been wondering about this all along. If Council could “kill” the deal with such a vote, what good is a legally executed contract between the City and Courtyards by Marriott? Were promises made to Courtyards guaranteeing the abatements would be provided? If so, why weren’t these voted on at the time? An election has come and gone. Certainly it would be within the right of any new councilmember to vote it down, particularly if they campaigned against the project.
That being said, I expect the new councilmembers will probably agree with your logic. A promise made is a promise kept. “Sabotage” for lack of a better word could have developers thinking twice about agreeing to the terms offered. Then again, perhaps that’s not a bad thing after all.
Since the purpose of this project is to change downtown Fort Wayne, why not do away with the overhead crosswalk completely? It will destroy a historical landmark and divert pedestrians from the streets. Downtown Fort Wayne lacks pedestrians on the city sidewalks so if the dynamics are to change, planners should do everything possible to keep the the people on the street. An overhead crosswalk would do just the opposite.
Tunneling under the street instead of using a skywalk was considered, but it wouldn’t be able to go low enough into the ground because of water that exists under the ground in the downtown area.
Also, tunnelling would require the moving of the storm and septic sewers, water lines, etc.
VERY costly!
This is exactly what the early promoters of this scheme were hoping for: wear the average guy down from trying to fight this boondoggle. With so many nuances in the process, what average guy can keep up with this?
I am the daughter of the ‘average guy’ who has been fighting this boondoggle all along. I have been proud of his tenaciousness but sure wish someone had listened to him before the big hole was created.
Again, was there any site work done on the parking lot at Belmont? Just my educated guess, but no.
Spaulding–There’s a basement in the Embassy and to my knowledge water has never been a problem.
Knuth–Show us an actual report that details the sewer, water , utility locations on the Belmont parking lot in relation to the Grand Wayne Center and let us know where it was published. I think you’ll find there isn’t one.
Gordon & Boedeker–The average guy can’t keep up with all of this. Keep reading all the local political blogs and voice your opinions. I won’t name them all but Jeff, Dan, Mitch, Jennifer and even Mike seem to have most of the best covered.
[...] due to the previous negotiations and council approvals - a similar feeling I had and shared in my Harrison Square Capitulation [...]
Some well shielded bodies will walk away from
this with huge paychecks that are not dependant
on success. In a few years there will be created a new tax to save downtown by hiring a new slew of consultants to “enhance” the “gobblygook-ism” of the empty, deserted white elephant. We will call it the “Boondogle to consultants” tax.
Now, on to Omni.
Littlefish
Littlefish,
I would love to say you are wrong but you are so right. Once all the fast cash is gone the hotel company will go barkrupt, the condo project will never be completed as promised, and taxpayers will be picking up the pieces.
“To sabotage the project at this point makes no sense - as the old saying goes we’re already a little bit pregnant and you can’t get just a little bit pregnant.”
Jeff, I support a city’s right to choose. A mistake was made, there is no need to carry that mistake to full term.