CMP Parcel 1 Negotiation is Tomorrow, May 9

From Rick's Blog http://ricksblog.biz/becks-cmp-negotiation-tomorrow/

Quote :

Parcel one will be on the table tomorrow morning during a Community Maritime Park Associates negotiation meeting. The meeting will consist of representatives from the city and the CMPA sitting down with the Beck Property Company to discuss the possibility of a three-story, 18,000-square foot project at the park.

Beck approached the CMPA last month about building a multi-use project on parcel one. The property company’s offices would be on the second floor, while retail would be located on the first, and residential units on the third. The development would provide onsite parking.

Negotiating the Beck deal on behalf of the CMPA, is Chairman Collier Merrill; the Pensacola City Council selected Councilman Andy Terhaar; Mayor Ashton Hayward chose Chief of Economic Opportunity and Sustainability Clark Merritt, who originally directed Justin Beck to the Community Maritime Park.

The negotiation, which is open to the public, begins at 9 a.m. tomorrow at Pensacola City Hall.

Isn't Merrill responsible for the near empty condo/shops adjacent to the old auditorium site at the south end of Palafox?

He may have been involved, but the front man was Ray Russenberger, I believe.

http://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Ray_Russenberger

Thank. Yes, Ray. Senior moment on my part.

You know...it is most interesting how everything Pensacola does is embroiled in bickering, stagnancy, cronyism and borderline criminal activity. Gulf Shores just announced this resurrection of a bankrupt development from the sale of the property, to bringing on board a major restaurant ...on a canal, no less, not nearly as beautiful as the bay....and then breaking ground in SIXTY days.

Pensacola is so dysfunctional it's ludicrous.

Big chain restaurant, housing, marina, shops, pedestrian amenities:

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/baldwin_county/new-housing-coming-to-gulf-shores?ref=scroller&categoryId=30378&status=true

My rich brother-in-law and sister-in-law lived next to Russenberger at Port Royal.

The brother-in-law hates Russenberger's guts. Maybe it was because he had more money and was so ostentatious, I dunno.

Well, today is the 9th. I haven't seen any reports about a deal for parcel 1, but after the brouhaha about the handling of the YMCA, I'll bet the CMPA will bend over backward to land a deal.

From the PNJ
Becks agree to pay higher park lease fee
$3M building at Community Maritime Park clears critical hurdle

Beck Property Company’s plans to construct a $3 million mixed-use building on a Community Maritime Park parcel took a big step forward Thursday when the developers agreed to a higher annual lease fee.

In a special property lease negotiation session with the CMPA, Justin Beck, and his father, Gregg Beck, said they were willing to up the annual lease payment from their original offer of $39,000 per year to $46,222.

That offer is contingent on approval of a 55-year lease that would fix the annual lease fee for the 0.75-acre parcel at $46,222 for the first 10 years, and a fixed annual maintenance fee of $3,900, also for 10 years.

The higher lease fees were pushed hard by Pensacola City Councilman Andy Terhaar, who said he was concerned the Becks’ original offer of $39,000 per year would not get approved by City Council.

“I want this project to happen,” Terhaar said. “But my thinking on the lease rate is what I can get through council.”

Terhaar said the Becks’ proposed $39,000 annual lease fee probably would not get enough yes votes from council members.

In arguing for the original $39,000 annual lease fee, Justin Beck said the CMP parcel had a number of unknown costs attached to preparing the site for construction and getting the necessary environmental permits.

“There have been no soil tests on that site,” Justin Beck said. “We don’t know anything about the foundation. It’s a mystery what’s down there.”

Beck also said that after preliminary discussions with contractors and engineers, the building will have to rest on support pilings sunk 85 feet or more into the ground.

Beck said those costs could end up being “extraordinarily expensive” and push the 18,000-square-foot building’s cost far higher than the estimated $3 million.

After further discussion, the Becks upped their original offer to $44,000, at which point Terhaar asked, “Does $46,000 work for you?”

When the Becks hesitated over that figure, CMPA board Chairman Collier Merrill called a short recess, adding, “I’d like to see this happen. This building is exactly what we’re looking for, but we’re also trying to protect the taxpayers’ money.”

After the recess the Becks OK’d the $46,222 annual lease fee.

The amended lease now goes to the city’s legal department for review before being sent to the CMPA full board for approval, and then on to the council for its approval.

“Hopefully, we will try to get this on a fast track,” Merrill said.

If they're gonna build buildings all over the park, this one seems to set a good example. Retail shops for the general public, with offices and residences on upper floors. Public access to the grounds is part of the deal. -Eric

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From the PNJ

An auditing committee for the Community Maritime Park’s governing board informally approved a proposed lease with Beck Property Co. for a $3 million mixed-use building and recommended only minor changes.

The lease has been in the works since mid April, when Justin Beck, the company’s president, approached the Community Maritime Park Associates board’s audit and operations committee with his proposal for a three-story, 18,000 square foot building that will house his company’s offices as well as retail and residential space.

The 11-member audit and operations committee did not have a quorum, so it’s 4-0 straw vote recommending approval of the lease is informal.

Fred Gunther, a CMPA board member who sits on the committee, recused himself from the vote, citing his involvement last month representing a developer who made a competing offer on the same parcel of land at the park.

Among the changes requested, the committee members agreed that the lease should have language requiring Beck to put up a $125,000 letter of credit. In essence, that letter would guarantee the CMPA board $125,000 in the event that the lease was signed but Beck Property Co. were to back out of construing the building.

Under the current terms of the lease, Beck would pay the city $46,222 in annual rent.

The full CMPA board will take up the issue at its 1:30 meeting Wednesday in City Hall, 222 W. Main St.