Phoenix Situation: JUST THE MEDIA LINKS - NO DISCUSSION THREAD

[Donwood]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...t-challenge-on-sale-of-Coyotes-118686209.html

Published 15 minutes ago

 

[RAgIn]

Olsen: There’s an ‘anti-Goldwater campaign’

Anyone have a subscription?

Goldwater Institute President & CEO Darcy Olsen said that, contrary to what Grant Woods said in yesterday’s report, she continues to work with Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer to resolve his purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes.

http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011/03/25/olsen-theres-an-anti-goldwater-campaign/

 

[RAgIn]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...t-challenge-on-sale-of-Coyotes-118686209.html

Published 15 minutes ago

After working with Matthew Hulsizer over the past 48 hours to try and get a better understanding of his deal with the City of Glendale, the Goldwater Institute still believes the lease to be illegal and will challenge it in court if a sale of the Phoenix Coyotes ever closes.

Well that about settles it then.

Talks between Hulsizer and Goldwater broke off on Friday. The NHL reportedly has a buyer for the bonds Glendale needs to sell to front Hulsizer the money for the purchase but those buyers are demanding a high interest rate due to the threat of a lawsuit.

I wonder if the talks will continue at a later date. Getting late.

 

[Donwood]

http://www.kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/201103/hn_phxcoyotes

Phoenix Interview with Andrew Zimbalist, professor of economics at Smith College, about the challenges that Glendale may face if the coyotes move out of the state.

 

[AllByDesign]

Bob Irving from CJOB(Winnipeg Radio) stated on the radio 90 minutes ago that Lsen was quoted in saying "The idea of the city issuing bonds for a private enterprise is illegal, but Matthew HUlsizer's latest efforts are considered a step in the right direction"

I didn't notice if he had said it was a report from Olsen directly, as I was listening on the drive home from work... while I was also texting/updating my Facebook account at the same time.

 

[RAgIn]

Goldwater institute, Coyotes buyer in stalemate

Olsen said Friday that Hulsizer, a Chicago businessman, sent new material concerning his recent offer to guarantee the suburban city of Glendale, Ariz., would receive $75-million (all currency U.S.) by the end of the 30-year lease for Jobing.com Arena. Hulsizer is to get $100-million from Glendale in the sale of the bonds to help buy the team from the NHL, and in return Glendale is to receive revenue to cover the bond payments from parking, arena rent and other fees.

Hulsizer’s numbers were “slightly more fleshed out,” Olsen said Friday, but he did not offer to increase his guarantee.

“There is an effort here, a recognition taxpayers are at risk, clearly [Hulsizer] recognizes that but it’s not corrected [in the guarantee],” Olsen said. “The constitutional violation, which is a separate issue, is still there.”

Shoalts is back in the game. It looks like we are indeed back at square one. Stalemate remains. Team in official limbo. U-Haul trucks being fuelled up, awaiting for confirmation, waiting and waiting. Nothing imminent.

More:

Olsen said that is not true. But after the city threatened to sue Goldwater for opposing the bond deal, Olsen said the Institute felt any future meetings would have to be public or in the presence of journalists.

“Only Matt Hulsizer was willing to do that,” Olsen said of the public-meeting proposal. “We never got a reply from the city. They keep saying we won’t meet. That’s not true. We just won’t meet in a back room.”

More he said, she said. Lame.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...te-coyotes-buyer-in-stalemate/article1957800/

 

[RAgIn]

Week begins with promise, ends without resolution in Coyotes deal

Friday morning, Goldwater attorney Clint Bolick said Hulsizer talked with Goldwater President Darcy Olsen to get to the “bottom line†of what the watchdog group needed to ease its concerns.

Olsen told him Goldwater hoped to have a complete analysis done by Tuesday, Bolick said.

Bolick said Hulsizer pressed for immediate answers and threatened to pull out of the deal. Bolick said the Chicago businessman later backed off that statement.

Hulsizer’s camp say the deal is still on. They confirmed Hulsizer and Olsen spoke, but said there was no talk of walking away.

Seems like Hulsizer is trying to pull out all the stops with the hope of saving his deal. Either the deal is legal or illegal. There are so many loose ends which the GWI has opened up, I just can't see how both sides are going to find a middle ground. The fact sheet is what it is, but both camps are world's apart. IMO, Hulsizer just needs to open up his wallet a little wider and maybe call up his favorite bank and ask to make a loan. I guess were still weeks away from finding a resolution.

It's also funny how it's now the GWI and Hulsizer negotioating this deal. Where's the COG? Still on Spring Break?

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/westsideinsider/123424

 

[MAROONSRoad]

Yankee Stadium parking garages in financial hot water as spots sit empty even on game

A cautionary tale on parking bonds:

Less than a week before Opening Day, angry bondholders have forced the nearly bankrupt operator of the Yankee Stadium garages to give up some control - and maybe even level some garages.

Parking revenues are so dismal for Bronx Parking Development Company the firm has had to dip into its debt reserves for the second time in a year just to pay the interest on the $237 million it owes in tax-exempt bonds.

On top of that, the firm - a nonprofit the Bloomberg administration selected and the state subsidized to operate the stadium garages - owes the city $17 million in back rent and taxes for the 21 acres of public land it uses.

Ever since it opened under BPDC management two years ago, the 9,000-space parking system has operated at barely 60% capacity, even on game days. Meanwhile, its operating expenses have run twice what was expected.

"The public will never see a dime of rent and taxes from this project as it now exists," said one official close to the garage company.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...as_spots_sit_empty_even_on.html#ixzz1HgO3Et1D

GHOST

 

[MAROONSRoad]

More on Yankee parking bonds:

The operator of parking garages at the new Yankee Stadium, whose revenue is running 40 percent below projections, will make its April 1 debt payment, according to Nuveen Asset Management, which holds about half of the bonds.

Bronx Parking Development Co., a subsidiary of a non-profit development agency, will make the payment through a combination of operating revenue and a draw on its debt-service reserve fund, John Miller, Nuveen’s chief investment officer, said in an e-mail. According to Bronx Parking’s 2011 budget, it owes $6.9 million on April 1. The reserve fund will decline by a $5.5 million draw, according to the budget.

Bronx Parking issued $237.6 million of municipal bonds in 2007 through New York City’s Industrial Development Agency to build three parking garages and renovate two others at the 50,287-seat stadium, home of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. The stadium, which opened in 2009, was built across the street from the original ballpark.

The garages and parking lots managed by the non-profit have generated 39 percent less revenue in the first nine months of 2010 than projected, according to financial statements.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...to-make-april-1-debt-payment-nuveen-says.html

This is exactly the type of risk that Goldwater is attempting to protect the taxpayers from in Glendale.

GHOST

 

[AtomBlaster]

Here Glendale is struggling to save the coyotes yet ignoring another possible solution to their money woes with Jobbing. Maybe this isn't a potential solution either. Just a thought.

Time running out on Glendale USA Basketball deal

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/25/20110325glendale-usa-basketball-deal.html


Interesting in the article where they talk about using the vacant city owned Parking areas around Westgate.

 

[Turkpbr*]

COG Council don't seem well schooled in risk management. What else are they on the hook for?

Main Street around the ballpark was critical because Glendale counted on tax revenues from the complex to help pay off $200 million it borrowed to build the baseball stadium.

"The White Sox aren't happy. The Dodgers aren't happy" about the vacant land surrounding the ballpark, {Jerry}Colangelo {former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks} said.

Indeed, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf told the Chicago Tribune last week that Main Street was one of the attractions for building the Glendale stadium.

"By now, in our third year, we were supposed to be looking at restaurants and retail and a hotel and condominiums. And the guys who were going to do that went broke. So we're sort of sitting out here by ourselves," Reinsdorf said.

Before the bottom of the economy really fell off, this looked like a sure thing. No wonder Scott Coles committed suicide. Rightpath, Mortgages Ltd., Danny Handon and HB Equities really did a number on this bit. It's probably why Glendale agreed to an 80/20 sales tax split with Phoenix on the baseball site.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/04/20/daily44.html

http://www.azcentral.com/news/artic...glendale-main-street-complex-foreclosure.html

 

[RAgIn]

Tempest in an Arizona teapotHulsizer's not out, but neither is lawsuit

Nothing entirely new, but who knew a Winnipeg Disc Jockey would break THE news. Well, he was wrong. Expect that to be theme next week. April Fool's anyone? That should be a whirlwind day. Can't wait.

Late Friday afternoon -- going on the basis of rumours flying around on Twitter -- a Winnipeg DJ reported on air that Matthew Hulsizer had ended his bid to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes.

Not so it turns out as Hulsizer continues to work to try and buy the Coyotes and has not told the City of Glendale or the NHL that he is finished.

Hulsizer has been working with the Goldwater Institute to try and make them better understand his version of the arrangement with Glendale. At the end of the day, Goldwater told the would-be Coyotes purchaser that his latest wrinkle to the deal was a step in the right direction but they still view it to be illegal and will challenge it in court.

Geez. Why doesn't he go to council first and get it ammended and approved? First step, no?

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/tempest-in-an-arizona-teapot-118700794.html

 

[RAgIn]

Nowicki: McCain intensifies Goldwater criticism

Strong words from McCain:

McCain, R-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic Friday that the high-stakes deal is on the verge of collapsing because of what he characterized as "basically blackmailing by the Goldwater Institute."

"It's not their role to decide whether the Coyotes should stay in (the Phoenix area) or not," McCain said of the Phoenix-based, libertarian-leaning watchdog group. "No one elected them."

And so the political b.s. is finally intensifying. Not sure what can come of this, but could you imagine the GWI beating the COG, the NHL, Hulsizer and McCain in the PR game and utlimately killing the deal? It's looking like a real possibility. David vs Goliath at it's best.

One Goldwater Institute official questioned McCain's stance, given his long crusade against government waste.

"It's disappointing that someone who has made such a career fighting pork in Washington, D.C., is so willing to support the city of Glendale shoveling $100 million into a Chicago businessman's pocket," said Clint Bolick, the institute's litigation director. "We think it's a bit inconsistent. If he wants the Coyotes to stay, he certainly could consider putting together a group that would buy it on terms that are more favorable to the taxpayers of Glendale."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarep...i-mccain-intensifies-goldwater-criticism.html

 

[RAgIn]

Is a deal to sell the Phoenix Coyotes right for Glendale?

ABC News is now covering the deal. Pros and Cons:

Bolick perspective:

Last week, Hulsizer proposed to change the deal by guaranteeing that the City would receive at least $75 million in revenues over the next 30 years. But remember, between bond repayment and arena management fees, the City is on tap for at least $350 million, which renders Hulsizer’s promise not much of a guarantee.

What’s more, the “revenues” he’s promising are not just parking revenues but from arena rental fees and other sources, which are revenues that presumably are committed to repaying the $180 million the City borrowed to build the arena. Indeed, $75 million over 30 years amounts to only $2.5 million per year. Even without the Coyotes, the arena would produce such negligible revenues without breaking a sweat. So the guarantee is meaningless.

Woods:

The Goldwater Institute has threatened to sue, and usually this would be something that would be battled out in the courts and ultimately, as I said, I think the City and the hockey team would prevail.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local...o-sell-the-phoenix-coyotes-right-for-glendale

 

[RAgIn]

Resnik and McCain interview:

Coyotes talk starts at approx 5 minute mark.

He doesn't like pork barrel spending at a local level, but it is what it is (paraphrasing). He makes it sound like the deal will not go through though. IMO.

http://link.brightcove.com/services...uJXcSHmq&bclid=65043824001&bctid=856424488001

 

[BrianSTC]

Scottsdale mayor thankful that Glendale won bidding war for Coyotes a decade ago. His take on the situation:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarep.../2011/03/27/20110327lane28-coyotes-buyer.html

The reality of this risk is not fair to a community that already has put so much of its credit on the line for this single private franchise. Glendale taxpayers originally shelled out $180 million for the facility. The potential buyer, Matthew Hulsizer, has a great opportunity to rescue the Coyotes and respect the existing taxpayers' investment commitment.

...

The Arizona Republic has estimated that Glendale will still be on the hook for up to $362 million with interest. This includes the hundreds of millions of dollars that the taxpayers have already invested to build the stadium and its surrounding infrastructure. This is not something that the taxpayers in any city can afford in the current economic environment.

 

[ICdave]

Everything you did or didn’t want to know about those involved in the Coyotes drama.

Since it appears no news is happening in the past couple of days, put together a comprehensive list of those involved in the Coyotes drama.

Feel free to let me know if I've made any mistakes or left anyone important off the list.

 

[blues10]

Some comments by Bill Daly.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/2011/03/30/17812726.html

 

[Donwood]

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2011/03/30/glendale-has-buyers-for-half-of.html

Buyers for half the bonds?

 

[davemac1313]

http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/2011/03/30/17815326.html

 

[RAgIn]

Giving fellow mayor a clearer perspective

Well, Scruggs has responded Mayor Lane's opinion piece. Didn't see this one coming.

I compared Mayor Lane's commentary on Glendale's business to questions I have had about Scottsdale's years-long efforts to retain a private business that holds one event a year, auctioning luxury cars to wealthy buyers.

Relying just on what I read in the newspapers, I could conclude Scottsdale may incur $70 million to $80 million in bond debt to be paid with its recently-increased hotel bed taxes. It would do that because the business owner has discussed the possibility of moving that business out of Scottsdale. That sure sounds to me like Scottsdale is being held hostage. But that is just what I read in the newspapers.

Mayor Lane's opinion piece was absolutely wrong for other serious reasons. Arizona's economy continues to be depressed. Recent events have Arizona in a downward spiral. The NHL Coyotes are a business, an employer, a contributor to the success of many other businesses, a tourism advantage, a part of Arizona's sports-market franchise position. Arizona needs the Coyotes to remain here.

Very odd article.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2011/03/30/20110330scruggs-coyotes.html

 

[RAgIn]

A wild Coyotes train ride

Only Gary Bettman and his closest allies know for sure when we’ll reach the deadline to save hockey in Phoenix. Is it early April? Mid-April? May or June? Or could the answer be “all of the above”?

Maybe it depends on when the Coyotes have played their final home game. That’s always been my line of thinking. That, if the deal with Matt Hulsizer withers and dies here in the Arizona desert, we aren’t going to hear it until the need to keep the mirage alive is eliminated.

Daly’s response to a request for an update doesn’t exactly satisfy the curious mind.

“As long as we are continuing to work, it suggests that we continue to believe it’s possible we will be able to get something done,” the deputy commish said in an email.

It’s funny how that innocuous statement — with pliable words like “suggests,” “continue to believe” and “possible” — was interpreted by the small but vocal Coyotes faithful in Twitterdom, who suggested the deal was well on its way to completion.

If Daly was trying to rally up the Coyotes faithful, I think it's safe to say he didn't win many new fans. Well, not the informed crowd.

Sunnucks has been riding this story for a while, and he’s hit as many targets as he’s missed, which on this lurching locomotive is saying something.

What isn’t clear is when that $50 million total was reached, and whether or not there’s been any movement recently.

Have the bonds been stalled at $50 million for weeks, with somebody only choosing to leak that news now? Or are investors slowly shedding their fear of Goldwater’s unmasked marauders, willing once again to do what they do: measure investment risk, and go for the reward.

That's the question. We'll likely never know that answer.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/columnists/paul_friesen/2011/03/30/17816551.html

 

[BrianSTC]

More on Yankee parking bonds:

The operator of parking garages at the new Yankee Stadium, whose revenue is running 40 percent below projections, will make its April 1 debt payment, according to Nuveen Asset Management, which holds about half of the bonds.

Bronx Parking Development Co., a subsidiary of a non-profit development agency, will make the payment through a combination of operating revenue and a draw on its debt-service reserve fund, John Miller, Nuveen’s chief investment officer, said in an e-mail. According to Bronx Parking’s 2011 budget, it owes $6.9 million on April 1. The reserve fund will decline by a $5.5 million draw, according to the budget.

Bronx Parking issued $237.6 million of municipal bonds in 2007 through New York City’s Industrial Development Agency to build three parking garages and renovate two others at the 50,287-seat stadium, home of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. The stadium, which opened in 2009, was built across the street from the original ballpark.

The garages and parking lots managed by the non-profit have generated 39 percent less revenue in the first nine months of 2010 than projected, according to financial statements.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...veen-says.html

This is exactly the type of risk that Goldwater is attempting to protect the taxpayers from in Glendale.

GHOST

Looks like Carrie Ann Sitron agrees with you...

http://goldwaterinstitute.org/article/5890

 

[cbcwpg]

Goldwater not budging on Coyotes deal

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...r-not-budging-on-coyotes-deal/article1965283/

Matthew Hulsizer was waiting for further analysis from the Goldwater Institute of his proposed deal to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and hoping the public watchdog might finally have a kind word for him.

Another look at the deal came Thursday afternoon from a Goldwater lawyer and undoubtedly Hulsizer is feeling chagrined.

Carrie Ann Sitren wrote a report for Goldwater that once again said the municipal bond deal to provide Hulsizer with $100-million (all currency U.S.) to help buy the Coyotes from the NHL for $170-million and cover this season’s losses of $40-million, is a bad one for the taxpayers of the suburban city of Glendale.

 

[Fugu]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/...10331glendale-sports-woes-fiesta-coyotes.html

G&M article above took it's direction from this:

Sporting woes sack Glendale
by Rebekah L. Sanders - Mar. 31, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Glendale is staring down the barrel of a potential National Football League lockout at University of Phoenix Stadium, the possible loss of the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena, funding gaps at the city's spring-training ballpark and nearly-dead plans for a USA Basketball facility.
Now, Fiesta Bowl misdeeds threaten the organization's membership in the Bowl Championship Series, which allows it to host a top-tier college-football game in Glendale annually and a national-championship game every four years.
The sobering situation contrasts starkly with Glendale's swagger for most of the past decade as it catapulted down the road to sports mecca. City leaders intended to exploit sports and entertainment for national recognition and economic development.