Latest News on the East Side Complex

[Marcus Bryant]

What would that bond money pay for?

If its the stadiums (which some will have to be paid for via public money) yes, the stadium will be public.

OK, you seem to be getting it.

HollyHills has stated many times that they will build everything sans the stadiums purely through the private sector.

All Connolly said was that a majority would be "private". It wouldn't be the first time a developer tried to pass off a revenue bond arrangement as being "private" financing since stadium revenues and not taxes would service the debt.

[TheWriter]

All Connolly said was that a majority would be "private". It wouldn't be the first time a developer tried to pass off a revenue bond arrangement as being "private" financing since stadium revenues and not taxes would service the debt.

Maybe if you lived in San Antonio and watched the news, you know, with thepress conference highlights and interviews after the press conference... you'd know that this happened:

Reporter: You're promising a lot. Do you actually see all this happening?

Dan Bailey: Yes. Without a doubt.

Reporter: If you don't get the public money you talked about, could you still build this project.

Dan Bailey: Concerning the stadiums, probably not. But private investments will be the method for the entire project excluding the stadiums.

[TheWriter]

The thing is, this thing (condos, hotels, golf resort, retail, etc) is getting built without the stadiums in mind, but once/if a team or a league commits to SA, the stadiums will be built.

Although I think the race track is being built no matter what.

[Marcus Bryant]

Maybe if you lived in San Antonio and watched the news, you know, with thepress conference highlights and interviews after the press conference... you'd know that this happened:

Reporter: You're promising a lot. Do you actually see all this happening?

Dan Bailey: Yes. Without a doubt.

Reporter: If you don't get the public money you talked about, could you still build this project.

Dan Bailey: Concerning the stadiums, probably not. But private investments will be the method for the entire project excluding the stadiums.

Yeah, I guess I didn't get to see the afternoon press conference at the office.

I fail to see how what you posted diverges from my observations.

[SequSpur]

Aren't there enough hotels downtown already? What would attract visitors away from downtown or LaCantera to let's say the Coca Cola Warehouse, Freeman Coliseum and Houston St. Warehouses?

Exactly. STFU.

[TheWriter]

Yeah, I guess I didn't get to see the afternoon press conference at the office.

I didn't see the press conference either, just news highlights.

Maybe if you lived in San Antonio, you'd have seen them as well.

[Marcus Bryant]

Perhaps I don't watch each news telecast with my in one hand and a remote in the other looking for the mere mention of the latest rumored development to get me to that happy place.

[TheWriter]

Perhaps I don't watch each news telecast with my in one hand and a remote in the other looking for the mere mention of the latest rumored development to get me to that happy place.

Neither do I, but whatevers your cup of tea.

By the way, by office, do you mean HEB photo lab?

I remember being in high school, sucked ass.

[SequSpur]

Aren't there enough hotels downtown already? What would attract visitors away from downtown or LaCantera to let's say the Coca Cola Warehouse, Freeman Coliseum and Houston St. Warehouses?

Exactly. STFU.

[TheWriter]

Was that directed towards me?

Seeing how those warehouses will be razed.

This:

[Marcus Bryant]

Neither do I, but whatevers your cup of tea.

By the way, by office, do you mean HEB photo lab?

Nope. More like Class A with a nice 4th floor window view.

I remember being in high school, sucked ass.

You mean last year?

[TheWriter]

Nope. More like Class A with a nice 4th floor window view.

Is that the PC BS uphanism HEB is making its employees describe the photo lab.

You mean last year?

Not, more like 4.

[Marcus Bryant]

Wow, 4. Still no degree. Living with your parents. But hey, the modem still works!

[TheTruth]

Perhaps I don't watch each news telecast with my in one hand and a remote in the other looking for the mere mention of the latest rumored development to get me to that happy place.

It seems to me you wait with your in one hand and the mouse in the other waiting for Writer to post something. I think that is what gets you to that happy place.

ing stalker.

[TheWriter]

Still no degree. Living with your parents. But hey, the modem still works!

No degree? Didn't know I needed one. I'm doing pretty damn well without one.

Living with my parents?

Again, thats another no. But then again, I'm just a broken record after saying that for the 11th time now.

But hey, you're a complete dumbass.

[TheWriter]

It seems to me you wait with your in one hand and the mouse in the other waiting for Writer to post something. I think that is what gets you to that happy place.

ing stalker.

Oh .

[TheWriter]

Grand vision for East Side

Web Posted: 11/23/2005 12:00 AM CST

Elizabeth Allen
Express-News Staff Writer

Developers who want to do a mammoth sports and entertainment complex centered around the SBC Center had their coming-out party Tuesday at the Red Berry Mansion.

The catered news conference announced a vision in its nascent stage, said HollyHills Chairman Dan Bailey. He said the announcement was made early because of recent media attention to HollyHills activities.

Bailey, along with Vice Chairwoman Marlene Bailey, CEO Joe Heitzler and EDAW design firm Principal Ken Ryan, sat before a green velvet curtain, surrounded by images of professional sports fields, a NASCAR track, shaded shopping venues and condominium towers on man-made lakes.

Phase I of the plan would include the NASCAR track, hotel, retail development, movie theaters, and colorful plants and landscape elements at major highway exits, Bailey said, and begin in about two years.

It would take in the city's Willow Springs Golf Course and the Red Berry Mansion, which owner Bill Tidwell has agreed to sell to HollyHills along with surrounding properties, many of which the Baileys have said they are in the process of buying.

Heitzler said it would be six months before they have estimates on the project's cost.

A single sports stadium can easily cost $500 million, so the whole plan, which developers say could take a decade to build out as population growth supports it, would likely run into the billions.

Reaction to the plan, which HollyHills has been privately shopping for months, was a mixture of admiration and skepticism.

Local commercial real estate broker Tom Rohde called it "the best real estate presentation I have ever seen." He also said, "I don't know where the money comes from."

District 2 City Councilwoman Sheila McNeil said she's excited about the developers' interest in investing in the long-neglected East Side but is cautious about the hurdles they face.

"This was an impressive press conference," McNeil said. "Maybe this can become a possibility."

With the panache that helped EDAW win a contract to redesign the grounds of Bexar County's arenas complex around the SBC Center, Ryan presented reporters and curious real estate professionals with a 3-D multimedia illustration of a 1,000-acre sports and entertainment complex that included water taxis, a signature bridge, hotel, resort and offices.

It's not all about developing multiple sports venues, Ryan said. "It's about creating great public spaces."

Mayor Phil Hardberger, who did not attend the news conference but had seen the plan Monday, said, "It's realistic if HollyHills has enough backing to get it done — these are major projects.

"I don't know enough about HollyHills to say whether they can do everything they're planning. Clearly, that's going to be their job — to get the funding."

Bailey said the project will require the efforts of the entire city and "all the people."

It's a plus that San Francisco-based EDAW is working with local firm Kell Muñoz Architects and others on the redesign of the county's property, Ryan said, and the company has included that factor in its concept for the long-neglected area from the beginning.

Ryan added that newly hired former Mayor Ed Garza would be taking the lead on the Bexar County work.

Kell Muñoz Chief Executive Officer Henry Muñoz said he wants to set up a firewall between the public project and the private one — at least for a while.

County Judge Nelson Wolff has said the county must focus first on its own site.

"I think it was very positive, what they're trying to do there," said Wolff, who did not attend the news conference but had seen versions of the plan. "There's still the unanswered question of, what do they expect the public sector to contribute."

Heitzler said he'll be meeting with venture capitalists to raise funds for the project and that should cover up to 80 percent of the costs.

"But we are looking for whatever support it takes," he said.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...de.df611e3.htm

[j-6]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s....17c15cb2.html

Buck Harvey: The latest building salesmen look like the others

Web Posted: 12/08/2005 12:00 AM CST

San Antonio Express-News

The 1-800 line doesn't work anymore. Neither does the local number, which is not surprising.

The area code for San Antonio then, as listed on the yellowing business card, was 512.

The card is from 1992, when a company called the South Texas Football Group thought it had a keen idea. What if these entrepreneurs collected $100 million from fans, then used the money to attract an NFL team to San Antonio?

Naturally, the group would retain a 9 percent "administration fee" no matter what happened.

The South Texas Football Group put together a showy news conference, along with slick literature and contracts for fans to sign. But the group went away, almost as quickly as it arrived, because these schemes gain momentum the way Body Solutions lost weight.

The latest looks no different.

That doesn't stop a California company called HollyHills Development from planning everything but an Alpine ski resort on the East Side. These developers think the SBC Center would look great next to a NASCAR track, golf resort, retail center, hotels, a movie theater complex, a rodeo village, a Major League Baseball park and an NFL stadium.

They say the funding would come from venture capitalists, because people will want to invest in an entertainment district. And the amount of public money that would be required? Oh, they aren't sure yet.

Such creativity might be required to build the Saints a new facility. An ESPN survey announced Wednesday named the Spurs the best professional sports franchise. And coming in last — led by an owner who also came in last among all other pro sports owners — were the Saints.

The price likely would make people gag, too. The proposed stadium to house the Washington Nationals, for example, was supposed to cost $400 million. By the summer the number jumped to $535 million. Now the total package is $700million.

Those venture capitalists had better start writing checks.

In private, most San Antonio officials laugh at the HollyHills stuff. But somehow this company keeps its name in the mix, and it did Tuesday. Then, with the Florida Marlins in town to look around, a HollyHills spokesman wanted to make it clear the company would do all it could.

In the news that day, the HollyHills CEO, Joe Heitzler, tried to get in again Wednesday. He released a statement saying his company was not involved with the Marlins' visit, as if such news is worth a release.

From Heitzler's statement: Although HollyHills has had "selective conversations with a number of Major League Baseball franchises over the past several months, we have curtailed those conversations due to the importance of focusing on the reality of securing an NFL franchise for San Antonio in the form of the New Orleans Saints."

Heitzler sounds awfully consumed. He's so focused on the NFL that even his "selective" talks with baseball franchises have to be put on hold. Chances are, Heitzler also has delayed selective talks with the rodeo-village people.

Red McCombs doesn't know anything about Heitzler or HollyHills.

Then again, McCombs knows everything. Similar people came to him in Minnesota announcing they, too, could provide a shiny stadium for McCombs' Vikings.

"I don't summarily dismiss them," McCombs said, "because maybe they can do something. Never assume they can't. But what I've found? They go down fast."

He's asked around about this group, too, and hears of nothing in place. Not even a local banking reference.

"Everything, from a football stadium to a race track to a baseball stadium, is a major, major project," McCombs said. "They would have more credibility if they had a way to do any one of them."

As for the credibility of HollyHills' owner, Dan Bailey: Not even the South Texas Football Group was led by someone who spent 31 months in prison for mail fraud involving real estate investments.

So they get their names mentioned, and a few people notice.

But if new stadiums are built, at least half the money would come from a familiar source.

Taxpayers living, now, in the 210 area code.

[CosmicCowboy]

In private, most San Antonio officials laugh at the HollyHills stuff.

Finally...someone prints what I have known for months.

[CosmicCowboy]

Where's Linus today? The Great Pumpkin Development Corp. needs his support!

[MannyIsGod]

bump

[exstatic]

Where's Linus today? The Great Pumpkin Development Corp. needs his support!

, man, that's harsh.

[CosmicCowboy]

Hmmm...Writer must be busy today...

[CosmicCowboy]

bump

[3rdCoast]

So....

It's been almost a year...

Any news on this?