No Joke. Couldn't believe somebody returned my first call from the other day ...
I can summarize the conversation as follows
-The Contract is imminent. They expect it to be returned, signed, by either today, or tomorrow.
-The Contract is for a 'simple Purchase Agreement' of the land
-The Contract is with Ainbinder
-Walmart has not entered into any tax discussion with CoH yet
-Generally, Walmart does not do this until they have some time of purchase agreement in place, although it is part of the normal process for them.
-They want to talk to the community
-They will talk to the community when it is facilitated by Ainbinder
-They plan to do more through Ainbinder, because they will not have street space on Yale
-They're understanding is that it will be behind other development structures which will be on Yale st directly.
-They other development structures will be Ainbinder's
-It is proposed to be a Walmart branded Supercenter
-It will be considerably 'smaller' than their other Supercenter's; only about 150K square feet. Most suburban Supercenters are 200K+ Sq. Ft.
-It will be of a newer concept design for their Supercenters, so probably something similar to this ...
-Ainbinder is the lead on all of this
MY CONCLUSIONS -
-Ainbinder information leaked early; they are not happy with Public reaction
-Ainbinder has been quiet, because they are trying to get the deal done really quickly ...
-This will cost taxpayers more down the road ... big projects & contracts getting rushed = irresponsibility + you getting screwed ... but who cares about the taxpayers anyway, right?
-Walmart was highest bidder
-It was Ainbinder all the time, and Ainbinder is performing/benefitting from any tax negotiations to have ready for their contract with Walmart
-Ainbinder wants to make it aesthetically pleasing, but most likely does not care whether the community accepts it or not ... they can make the most $$ with Walmart, so community be damned ...
-If they cared to make a difference, City Council + Ainbinder would say something of substance ... but alas, no ...
I actually checked Ainbinder's website today and was not very surprised to see that 99% of their previous developments are the same basic suburban plot typical of a big box store surrounded by a concrete jungle parking lot.
ReplyDeleteAs a WE resident, I share disappointment in the treatment of the citizens of the neighborhood directly being affected by this development (not the Heights).
I think Ainbinder believes that it was more an inconvenience to them to have to meet with the communities and pay lip service than anything. I am pro-capitalism, and I want to make money. It would be better served for Ainbinder to say to the community 'Walmart bid the most', rather than 'we care about what the community thinks'. Clearly they did/do not.
ReplyDeleteThe cartoon is below juvenile.
ReplyDelete