Quote:Only other criticism...an amphitheatre? Do we really need one in the Shipyards? I guess if we can attract high profile performers it will be great, but I'd hate for that part of the Shipyards to be a fancier and more expensive Landing.

 

They're looking to create green space that has dual functionality, so an amphitheater makes sense in accomplishing this.

 

Quote:I'm assuming it will be owned by Khan enterprises. The city may own a portion of it since they currently own the actual land and will have to come out of pocket to clean up the area as well.

Khan may treat this in the same manner that they did with the Landing.  The city owns the property underneath the landing.  Tony Sleiman owns the Landing itself.  As long as Khan is underwriting the costs of cleaning up the area, and developing the property, that's a partnership that everyone could live with. 

 

Quote:I do believe that the Landing is still being redesigned as well..!

It is.  The only difference is that the Landing is trying to get taxpayer dollars to pay for the renovations.  When it's done, if it actually comes to fruition, what we know as the Landing currently will change dramatically as Sleiman's focus is on adding more housing and eliminating much of the wasted space.  It'll be something similar to what we've seen crop up in areas like Tapestry Park where you've got a mix of retail on the ground floor, apartments, condos, and hotels above. 

 

Quote:It's not in the city's interest to expand the Skyway to the stadium. If the Skyway was extended from the King St. parking garage to the stadium, that would open up hundreds of cheap parking spaces that the city can't overcharge fans for like the ones in Tailgate City. If there's a cheaper, easier option, people are going to take advantage of it. I know that in the past the city government has spent money on projects only to lose money in the long run, but I don't think they will do that in this case.

 

 

Quote:I don't think the city is moving a jail that was fairly recently built to suit the whims of a owner of a football team. They might but I haven't heard anything from the city saying they would be up to the idea. FBC is also going to fight tooth and nail to prevent a large number of new night clubs from being built (the fact that they are sitting on more than 30 liquor licenses helps their cause). If we get anything more than new practice fields I'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

The Jail and Police Memorial Building were built 30+ years ago when there wasn't any sort of vision around better utilization of that real estate.  If the potential to create significant tax revenue by converting that land to something that generates revenue for the city, and a case can be made that it would, the idea of getting the jail and JSO HQ off of prime real estate and moving them somewhere that makes more sense becomes appealing to the city.  It's not something I'd expect to see happen in the next 5 years, but long term?  Absolutely.  No hotel or other major operation is going to have even remote interest in building something directly across the street from a jail. 

 

FBC doesn't have a leg to stand on.  Their influence over anything has been severely diminished over the past 7 or 8 years. 

 

The maritime museum is already on the books.  Khan has a hotel chain, and at least one major restaurant/entertainment brand that's expressed interest.

 

They may not get everything they're aiming for, but I would expect to see them secure a good bit of this over the long haul. 

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