posted by Mike Madison at 2:21 PM /
The following note appeared in my In box this afternoon, sent by a neighbor who did not disclose how the copy was acquired. The original email appears to have been sent originally yesterday afternoon to George Darakos, with Allegheny County. I have no reason to doubt its authenticity:
Statement from Zamagias Properties regarding cancellation of the August 16, 2006 Meeting
In the interests of not wasting the time of any member of the committee, Zamagias Properties has requested that we postpone the TIF Meeting scheduled for next week. In addition we are requesting a temporary suspension of the TIF plan review and meeting process. The development as currently proposed is not economically feasible and thus additional time is needed to develop and analyze options to improve the economics. We have meetings scheduled next week to re-evaluate the projects design and phasing to that end.
In addition, we had anticipated the need for an extension from the Parking Authority due to delays in the physical and financing aspects of the development process and have obtained their approval for an extension to December 31, 2006.
We will keep you apprised of our progress and appreciate your consideration in this matter.
Michael D. Heins
CFO
Zamagias Properties
1 Comments:
Zamagias has been thinking about this project for more than 18 months. They have been the chosen developer for more than 12 months. Next week they will finally get their heads together to “develop and analyze options to improve the economics” of the project.
Of course this will be after the MTL Commission is asked on Monday (8/14) to consent to an unjustified 3-month extension.
Couldn’t they have spent some time thinking about it this week, so the Commission would have something to work with?
Did Zamagias not know that since June, because of the proscribed process of the TIF Act, it has been impossible to meet the contractual September 1 deadline for Tax increment Financing?
There is only one explanation for this unwarranted delay – either:
A) Zamagias knows exactly what it is doing,
or
B) Zamagias has no idea what it is doing.
Both are wrong answers at this point!
It is time to move on and get a qualified developer.
But wait – this is what the Parking Authority (who is selling the land for development) did to start this project – it did officially “qualify” Zamagias Properties.
Please note: The fact that the Zamagias project manager is a sitting member and 1st Vice Chair of the Parking Authority Board – had no bearing on their decision.
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