Forest City will build condos with or without slots license

[bill from turtle creek]

So says the Trib today. Given this fact, and given that a LOT of the supposed advantage of the Forest City proposal comes from the yearly collection of real estate taxes, this announcement might help the Capri group. If they are going to build the condos without the slots license anyhow, why not let them do it AND have the Capri group go ahead with their development? Sounds like hitting two birds with one stone, and would make nearly everybody happy.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune ... 25209.html

[netwolf]

That would seem to take away from their proposal, so why announce it now? Did someone find out and was going to leak it anyway? Is there more to the story somehow? It seems very odd they would undercut themselves like that.

[Vanbiesbrouck]

I'm sure they don't mind this getting out. Now, they're the nice folks that want to develop Pittsburgh, regardless of whether or not you are pro-slots. They're building apartments for us! Yay!

[dboss]

I totally don't understand why anyone from FC would discuss this. Why not just say, 'Yes that is a very attractive part of our casino package and if we don't receive the slots license that portion of the package could be an option down the line.'

This explains why their revenue projections didn't include this part of the proposal. So, based on this shouldn't IoC's entire proposal generate more revenue than FC's??? That is definitely something IoC should explore. Basically because of this their proposal has gone from a $1 Billion proposal to $462 Million because all they are really building is a casino. I really feel like I am missing something here, because I can't find ANY positive's in this information being out there, only NEGATIVE's.

Another point that I like is how FC is totally contradicting themselves based on this statement, "The impact on Carson Street is going to be very little, because naturally this is a regional draw," McGurk said.' Weren't they touting this as a resort style casino where people all over america would come because of Harrah's customer base? I wonder if this guy McGurk will be looking for a job on Monday.

[bill from turtle creek]

Even a "regional" draw will arrive via automobiles, so that makes no sense at all. In fact, nothing makes sense about FC saying any of this stuff today, now that I've thought about it. However, they are such a slick operation that I am of the opinion that everything they do is with a purpose in mind.

What that is will come out eventually.

[Vanbiesbrouck]

There's really no reason they should care that this is out there. People that just gloss over the article see that they're building apartments and are happy about it.

If the license board actually does their job correctly, IOC benefits the city most anyway. It seems that getting the license awarded fairly is going to be trouble enough, let alone the board caring about what gets done by those who lose the license. Besides, who is to say that these apartments actually get built if they lose the license? They look good by saying that they'd like to develop the city anyway.

If Station Square does get it, how long do you think it takes for these apartments to become hotels once the slots turn into table gaming?

[bill from turtle creek]

Truthfully, we're all so damned paranoid about this whole process, and so suspicious, that every single word and event gets analyzed and overanalyzed and digested and ruminated and etc etc etc.

I sincerely hope that this thing gets settled in the short term. If Onorato's plan B (or as Stan said, Plan P) allows at least the assurance that there will be a positive resolution of some sort, we will all breathe easier. And the sales of Tums and Maalox around here will drop considerably.

[td_ice]

That would seem to take away from their proposal, so why announce it now? Did someone find out and was going to leak it anyway? Is there more to the story somehow? It seems very odd they would undercut themselves like that.

On KDKA John Steigerwald mentioned this exact thing. That if FC is going to build condos ANYWAY, that this would seem to lessen the impact of their proposal.

(Which seems to be to be very weak in comparsion to the IOC proposal. If the FC plan of that "wonderful" $25 million donation to the Historical Society, and the $1million to Franco each year to dole out, is so strong, then why don't they trumpet that.)