Thanks for the thoughtful post. I attempted to have a healthy and respectful discussion over on Ft. Wayne news regarding what could be learned from this project. I even gave a response to Dan’s direct inquiry to me. Unfortunately, he seem more interested in getting the last word and chose to moderate out my last post. The fact is, there are probably some things to be learned here, but requires a mature discussion, and not insulting discourse. Your post here is a start. Now I remember why I stopped posting on AWB.

-mab

I’ve been second only to John Kalb in my opposition to this “public-private partnership”. But I sense that the same people who pushed this through are now willing to see it fail miserably rather than offend their new friends from Atlanta by demanding that they do what they promised us they would do. Instead, it seems that we are being conditioned by City officials and a complicit media to think that construction of the retail/condo project is somehow conditioned upon the project being profitable for Barry Real Estate. “Gee, those guys pushed it really hard and got a new website. It’s not their fault it won’t work so…”

Failure for Fort Wayne and Harrison Square is NOT a new retail/condo development with beautiful, upscale retail space and 60 new, luxury condominiums- almost all of which is unleased/unsold. That might be a failure for Barry Real Estate (although I doubt their loss will be as great as the appreciation in the price of their baseball team from the new stadium and zero rent, fully transferrable 30 year lease. Eventually, Barry will take its loss and the new project will be filled at rates that reflect market realities. It may take a year or two post-construction but Fort Wayne will have the project it purchased- which may prove to be a catalyst for future growth.

Failure for Fort Wayne and Harrison Square IS failing to insist that Barry build exactly what they promised to build and what they have been paid to build. Allowing them out of their deal because “they worked real hard but just couldn’t make it profitable,” or, worse yet, letting them downscale it to something that is profitable to them (more fast food restaurants and gas stations sound good?) but not part of the agreed vision for Harrison Square IS failure. The agreement with White Lodging for the budget hotel is also contingent upon performance as agreed under the stadium agreement and the condo/retail agreement. Let Barry off the hook on its promises and our already reluctant hotel developer can walk away as well.

Those that care about this project, including those that fought it as a boondoggle, need to put less emphasis on new websites and more pressure on the City to demand that they build their part of this project. Newspaper articles thaty suggest a start point based upon pre-construction sales are intentionally misleading and those who genuinely want this project (or don’t want to see it become more of a failure) need to put the emphasis on the agreed start date, which was in time for completion by June 2009, regardless of how many advance sales, regardless of how much Barry will make or lose, and regardless of what interest rate Barry has to pay for a construction loan.

The problems of Barry real Estate are not the problems of Fort Wayne, unless we choose to make them our problems and to suffer their losses as our own. This was NEVER a profitable project, as proven by the 7 to 10 million in subsidies (state tax credits, donated land, site prep, tax abatements, streetscape improvements and street widening) provided as part of a $21 million project. Barry gambled that with that level of subsidy they could build something that when completed would be worth at least the hard costs that they are obligated to put into the project.

Instead of demanding that Barry either perform or back out (at which point we can renegotiate their stadium lease terms), we cry a river for their problems and give them more handouts. A free 3-way liquor license not required by the contract? That’s a $50 to $80 grand perk that went right to the bottom line value of their baseball team. Perhaps the Redevelopment Commission could have used this one-time liquor license opportunity as an incentive for potential developrs of the Superior Street property instead of giving it away to guys from Atlanta who already cut a very favorable deal and have failed to start any of the work they agreed to do.

Last “we” heard it was 12 units sold, maybe you’ve heard differently? I’m a supporter of the project and I was ready to ante up my money until I heard the pricing. IMO, that’s where this project missed the boat. The reason all the young professionals aren’t jumping on this despite this being what we want is because we don’t have $150,000 to spend on a 700 sq.ft. living space. The ammenities/pricing pushes this from the young professionals (many of whom are probably still renters) to the middle-aged professionals who already have a home that needs to be sold in an uncertain economic climate.

The other mis-step to the project has been getting information about the condos out to the people. I signed up for information on the Wizards site and again on the initial Harrison Square site, but since I was only saying I wanted information and never checked the box for “interested in purchasing” I haven’t received a single piece of information in my inbox. Now, I could have made an appointment to go down to CBRE/Sturges, but I just haven’t had the time to do that. I suspect I’m not the only person in with a busy schedule.

All that being said, should I give up and hope for the worst? Heck no. I’m glad they are at least figuring out that if they are going to price it at that level, they better find a way to get into peoples consciousness a little better. I’m happy they are increasing their marketing efforts, and it sounds like they are going about it the right way (although, I admit I am by no means a marketing expert). But I have to believe that getting into MLS listings will go a long way in increasing visibility of these units. Now, if they could compromise on these being full luxury with solid surface counters, etc., etc., maybe they can bring the price down to something young professionals can truly afford!