Walmart Supercenter At 111 Yale St.

[samagon]

did all $6 million get dispersed? I keep seeing that thrown around like it's a fact, but I can't seem to find any data anywhere to back that up? 

[Leonard]

They spent it all. 

[TGM]

I guess the real question is; will this thread last longer than the Yale street bridge?

[RedScare]

They spent it all. 

 

I cannot claim to be comfortable that this is in fact true.

[Leonard]

Ask the Mayor.  They spent it all and then some.  Even though they didn't do the detention or the traffic signal at Heights/Koehler. 

[s3mh]

Without the 380 agreement, Ainbinder would have had to do the improvements anyway.  Ainbinder would have passed the cost on to Walmart and the other tenants.  With the 380, Walmart and the tenants basically get free improvements as long as they front the money initially.  To say that Walmart comes out the same with or without the 380 is to deny economic reality.  But the real issue now is the fact that after all the promises about how the 380 would make sure that all the infrastructure upgrades would be at or above City standard, we get to the finish line with blatantly substandard infrastructure with another 250k sq ft of retail and 640 units of apartments on the way.  I wonder whether things would look different had the developer been forced to foot the bill for the infrastructure. 

[samagon]

They spent it all. 

 

You might as well be telling me that you're a French model (uhhhh, bonjour!!!).

 

It's not like I'm the only person who doesn't have access to the facts that you and S3MH seem to have, so please, educate us, show us where we can gain access to these facts to corroborate what you're saying.

Edited May 20, 2013 by samagon

[Leonard]

Email the Mayor.  Put Public Information Request in the subject and a short description and ask for what you want.  You may have to go and pick up documents and pay for the copies.  If it's just a few pages they might just email it to you. 

[kylejack]

Email the Mayor.  Put Public Information Request in the subject and a short description and ask for what you want.  You may have to go and pick up documents and pay for the copies.  If it's just a few pages they might just email it to you. 

 

How do you know if you haven't done this? Did you ask the Mayor and what did you get back?

[Leonard]

I've emailed the Mayor a lot.  For the expenditures, I'm pretty sure it was emailed to me.  It's just one page.  The City hasn't verified/approved it all yet. 

 

Edited to put in the word "hasn't".

Edited May 20, 2013 by Leonard

[s3mh]

I cannot claim to be comfortable that this is in fact true.

 

If they did not spend/incur all 6 mil, I will leave this board forever.  They did not do all they originally promised to do because it cost too much.

[RedScare]

Email the Mayor.  Put Public Information Request in the subject and a short description and ask for what you want.  You may have to go and pick up documents and pay for the copies.  If it's just a few pages they might just email it to you. 

 

No need to do all that. I am happy with what they did.

[kylejack]

No need to do all that. I am happy with what they did.

 

I'm quite sure he was responding to samagon's question about where to go for more information.

[Ross]

I think the improvemnets are great, especially since the developers would not have had to do them. The City got lots of great stuff without putting out any cash upfront.

[Leonard]

I don't get why everyone is so entranced with the not putting any cash up front thing.  You can say that about a lot of loans. You can go out to dinner tonight on a credit card - no cash up front!  No cash up front in and of itself doesn't make it a good deal. 

 

The City borrowed money from Ainbinder to pay for stuff that Ainbinder or Walmart would have been required to pay for.  The City is paying interest - the rate will be somewhere between 4.25% and 10% depending on when they pay it off. 

 

 

 

[Leonard]

And many of the improvements would have been required.  Walmart can't operate with out hooking up to sewer or water. 

[RedScare]

We've been through this. Most of the improvements were to infrastructure that is the city's responsibility. Why do you keep attempting to mislead? It only further ruins your already low credibility. Sure, Ainbinder sought some benefits for the loan he was giving, but it was pennies compared to the city infrastructure.

[SilverJK]

I've just finished my moat and other lines of defenses... any idea when the rollback army intends on moving their troops in to Invade the Heights?

[s3mh]

We've been through this. Most of the improvements were to infrastructure that is the city's responsibility. Why do you keep attempting to mislead? It only further ruins your already low credibility. Sure, Ainbinder sought some benefits for the loan he was giving, but it was pennies compared to the city infrastructure.

 

Go to the City and tell them that you want to develop a parcel of land and will need to widen the road, add a turn lane and put in turn signals.  The City will tell you that you have a choice:  wait 10 years until the request goes through the CIP process or pay for it yourself.  The "city's responsibility" is to put everyone who needs infrastructure work in a very, very long line.  At the very least, the 380 makes Ainbinder a supertaxpayer who gets to direct his tax funds to the projects he wants done.  I would love to have that power and get my street curbed and guttered so the emergency vehicles can actually get down the street and do not have to stop and honk their horn until someone comes out and moves their car.  At the very worst, the 380 is a gift to the developer who would have had to pay for the infrastructure out of pocket, like HEB did with the road work on Dunlavy for their new store in Montrose.  If you cannot understand that then you are a blah blah blah, credibility is blah blah blah--personal attacks are so lame. 

Edited May 24, 2013 by s3mh

[RedScare]

I wonder why no one filed a lawsuit to stop this tragedy?

[august948]

I wonder why no one filed a lawsuit to stop this tragedy?

Lack of basis?

[SilverJK]

Go to the City and tell them that you want to develop a parcel of land and will need to widen the road, add a turn lane and put in turn signals.  The City will tell you that you have a choice:  wait 10 years until the request goes through the CIP process or pay for it yourself.  The "city's responsibility" is to put everyone who needs infrastructure work in a very, very long line.  At the very least, the 380 makes Ainbinder a supertaxpayer who gets to direct his tax funds to the projects he wants done.  I would love to have that power and get my street curbed and guttered so the emergency vehicles can actually get down the street and do not have to stop and honk their horn until someone comes out and moves their car.  At the very worst, the 380 is a gift to the developer who would have had to pay for the infrastructure out of pocket, like HEB did with the road work on Dunlavy for their new store in Montrose.  If you cannot understand that then you are a blah blah blah, credibility is blah blah blah--personal attacks are so lame. 

 

So the city gets someone else to front the money to get work done now instead of waiting 10 years... got it!

[s3mh]

So the city gets someone else to front the money to get work done now instead of waiting 10 years... got it!

 

Or the City gets fleeced for 6 mil when it could have had the developer pay for the work out of its own pocket.

[Ross]

The developer did pay for the work out of its own pocket.

[RedScare]

The developer did pay for the work out of its own pocket.

 

[s3mh]

The developer did pay for the work out of its own pocket.

And will get every penny back with interest. Kind of odd how you left that little detail out.

[fwki]

As he should, same as if I loaned you money for an obligation, but you'd have to pay back in cash.  I imagine Airbanger gets paid back in reduced obligations (such as tax) since that's all the City borrowed from him, obligations.

Edited May 27, 2013 by fwki

[RedScare]

And will get every penny back with interest. Kind of odd how you left that little detail out.

 

This would be a terrible thing if they were Muslim.

[Ross]

And will get every penny back with interest. Kind of odd how you left that little detail out.

 

I was responding to the claim that the developer didn't have to front the money out of its own pocket. That claim was false on its face.

[samagon]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/22451826/2013/05/29/heights-residents-demand-answers-from-city-leaders

 

Shaking the nest will hopefully yield 2 things:

 

1. full disclosure on how much was spent, and where it went.

 

2. full disclosure means that all of it will be out there, and people who are making baseless accusations will either be able to back up their statements, or won't. 

 

The comments from RUDH person are funny. I agree that their organization was devastated, that's what happens when you have an organization that is devoted to one specific task and fails, but the Heights? Far from devastated.