RandR
Registered User
- May 15, 2011
- 1,911
- 425
Here's your answer.I'd also like to add that all those who claim he is in extreme financial trouble, have yet to explain how the NCC, in their due diligence investigations into the Lebreton bidding process, did not discover these alleged financial problems, and ended up awarding his group the rights to the development.
I suspect if there was any indication that his group would not have the financial backing, and the ability to carry the project forward as claimed in the bidding process, that the NCC would not have awarded his group the rights to develop.
Basically, the Rendezvous proposal was picked because the proposal itself was superior to DevCore's. As described in that article, even the superior "financial viability" of the Rendezvous proposal had nothing to do with how deep the combined pockets of the entire Rendezvous group were compared to those backing the DevCore bid. At the public hearings I spoke to Mark Kristmanson and remember asking him, amongst other things, how, given the history of how the Senators came into being, the NCC would be able to ensure that they weren't going to turn over their land to a bidder that ultimately may not be able to fund what they've promised. The short answer is that it is in the current phase of negotiations where, among other matters, financing of the deal is being fleshed out.
All 3 levels of government have expressed opposition to any kind of public funding for the Lebreton redevelopment, and there's reason to believe that Melynk himself has nowhere near enough of his own money to fund more than a minority stake. My guess is that Melynk's stake will be quite a small percentage, and the only way the project comes to life with a new arena as the anchor is if his partners in the Rendezvous bid or other investors provide the lion's share of the funding. And it makes sense to me that one of the conditions for them to do so is if they can assume at least a partial stake in the ownership of at least the arena, and thus potentially also the team itself.