They call this action?

Fort Wayne is placing Hardball Capital on notice.

The city plans to send the developer a letter next month stating it is out of compliance with its contract to construct a $14.5 million condominium/retail development as part of Harrison Square.

[...]

Chairman Christopher Guerin said the commission is simply following the contract, something it has done since it was signed. While taking the legal step is prudent, he said he doesn’t believe any punitive action should be taken against Hardball.

“We need to work with our partner,” he said.

Partner? I thought they were a welfare child. If they are truly a partner, why not sit down with them and begin the discussions now? I’m not saying we should sue them, (yet). But why has the city been sitting on it’s hands all this time?

The agreement between the city and Hardball requires Hardball to invest $14.5 million into a condominium/retail project it dubbed The Harrison. The project was to be completed by June 1.

This letter should have been sent out months ago. As stated later in the article, “John Wernet, commission attorney, said he would expect the developer to respond to the commission by mid-June.” That’s after the date the project was to be completed.

Hardball touted the development initially as a 62-unit, $21 million complex, but cut plans to 30 condominiums when demand failed to meet expectations. The developer has since said apartments may be mixed with condominiums to help fill the building, but it has yet to begin construction.

The Courtyard by Marriott development [White Lodging] also has yet to finalize financing for construction. But Greg Leatherman, executive director of redevelopment for the city, said that is imminent and its developer said construction is expected to begin in June.

Site preparation work has begun for the hotel, which is part of a separate agreement with the city.

The site preparation work has nothing to do with White Lodging making any progress. We promised a construction-ready site, so the city is simply living up to it’s obligations. Funny, they’re the only ones that seem to be doing that. The following report came out today.

Chief AGC economist Ken Simonson: Construction outlook is grim

The nation is experiencing the longest and steepest recession since the end of World War II and the outlook for the commercial construction industry remains grim at least through 2010, a national economist said Tuesday.

It’s time to go to Plan B. Oh wait, we don’t have a Plan B. At this rate, any alternative plan won’t have much of a chance of being completed until next year.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 3:18 pm and is filed under City & County Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.