Friday, March 29, 2013

Time to put a stake in Old Capitol Green

House passed HB #1049, a bond bill. Check out this corporate welfare for some guys who have nothing but a bunch of pipe dreams and fancy talk:

(Line 2305): SECTION 5. Section 1, Chapter 348, Laws of 2009, is amended 2305 as follows:

2316 development located in Jackson, Mississippi, bordered on the north
2317 by Pearl Street, on the west by State Street, on the east by
2318 Jefferson Street and on the south by Court Street.
2319 (e) "State" means the State of Mississippi.
2320 (2) (a) (i) There is created in the State Treasury a
2321 special fund to be known as the "Old Capitol Green Loan Fund."
2322 The fund shall be maintained by the State Treasurer as a special
2323 fund, separate and apart from the State General Fund. Unexpended
2324 amounts remaining in the special fund at the end of a fiscal year
2325 shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest
2326 earned or investment earnings on amounts in the special fund shall
2328 special fund may not be used or expended for any purpose except as
2329 provided in this subsection.
2330(ii) Money deposited into the special fund shall
2331 be disbursed, in the discretion of the Mississippi Development
2332 Authority, to provide loans to the county for improvements to
2333 infrastructure related to the Old Capitol Green Project and for
2334 construction of publicly owned facilities in the Old Capitol Green
2335 Project.
(b) The county may apply to the Mississippi Development
2337 Authority for a loan under this section. The proceeds of the loan
2338 shall be utilized by the county for the purposes provided for in
2339 paragraph (a)(ii) of this subsection.
2340(c) (i) The Mississippi Development Authority may
2341 require county participation or funding from other sources.
2342(ii) The rate of interest on loans made under this
2343 section shall be at the true interest cost on the most recent
2344 issue of twenty-year state general obligation bonds occurring
2345 prior to the date such loan is made.
2346 (d) If the county receives a loan under this section,
2347 the county shall pledge for repayment of the loan any part of the
2348 homestead exemption annual tax loss reimbursement to which it may
2349 be entitled under Section 27-33-77, and any revenue generated by
2350 county owned property or facilities located in the Old Capitol
2351 Green Project. The loan agreement shall provide for (i) monthly
2353 payments, as set forth in the loan agreement. The loan agreement 2354 shall provide for the repayment of all funds received within not 2355 more than twenty (20) years from the date of issuance. 2356 (e) Loan payments of the county shall be deposited into
2357 the bond sinking fund created in subsection (4) of this section.
2358 (f) If the loan payments of the county appear to be in
2359 arrears, the State Auditor, upon request of the Mississippi
2360 Development Authority, shall audit the receipts and expenditures
2361 of the county, and if he finds that the county is in arrears in 2362 such payments, he shall immediately notify the Executive Director
2363 of the Department of Finance and Administration who shall withhold
2364 all future payments to the county of homestead exemption
2365 reimbursements under Section 27-33-77 until such time as the
2366 county is again current in its loan payments as. certified by the
2367 Mississippi Development Authority......

Link to bill

Word on the street is Full Spectrum is downtown pushing this bill. Uh-huh.

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only thing propping up downtown Jackson is taxpayers. The track record of failure there makes the area toxic risk to the private sector. Hopefully Reeves can see through this garbage.

Anonymous said...

I think this bill is removing the authorization for old bonds. As I heard it explained, it removes bonds from the books for projects that are never going to happen.

Anonymous said...

309 apartments. All leased with waiting lists.

Iron Horse Grill. Opening in 7 months.

New Supreme Court Building. $89mm.

Newly announced Capitol Lofts. 31 apartments across from King Edward.

Westin Hotel. Final negotiations for a Convention Center Hotel.

You keep on, I will keep on.

Anonymous said...

Yes, @2:12. And Jim Jones got a lot of people to drink Kool-Aid in Guyana and that Heaven's Gate crowd thought a spaceship was trailing that comet. There are plenty of fools out there. Your examples are better than mine, though.

Anonymous said...

2 way of Capitol Street $12mm

McCoy Federal Building $125mm

Eastland Flats 51 apartments. $12mm

New Federal Building $120mm

University Place 76 new apartments at JSU ALL leased $150mm project

Did I mention 309 apartments downtown all leased with waiting lists?

This is fun. Give me more.

Anonymous said...

You're less convincing with the projects that are government funded. Still, one or two more posts from you and I'll be convinced to quit my job and start selling bridges.

Anonymous said...

Electric 308

Plaza Building

Dickey's Lofts

Foundry Lofts

King Edward

Standard Life Flats

Pinnacle Building

$250mm

Please keep on. This is fun.

Anonymous said...

Keep reading to line 2427. It removes the authorization to issue bonds for this project.

Anonymous said...

value of your home in 2020

value of mine in 2020

the fun disappeared, didnt it? douche.

Anonymous said...

Telling that the Board of the Downtown Jackson Partners pays Allen $167,565 (2011 Form 990) to spend his days commenting on Jackson Jambalaya.

C'mon Leland. This is ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

They pay that red-faced, hot head that much money? Sheesh! He was smart to stop taking school pictures.

Anonymous said...

Thanks 5:42.

Miss. History Museum $40mm

National Civil Rights Museum $40mm

Old Capitol Museum $25mm

Bring it on. This is fun.

Anonymous said...

Is that ALL he makes??....Sheet O'Neill laps him damn near 3 times.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait for the haymaker announcement next week. Lil pissant at 4:08 is gonna shit his pants.

Proud downtowner said...

309 apartments downtown. All leased. Waiting lists.

Another Proud downtown ear said...

7:08. Tom Ramsey just announced his new DT Restaurant..should open in a few weeks.

2:42 is a BUTT said...

Yawn AH

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm. Looks like our side....the good guys....are getting after it. Hey haters!

Anonymous said...

Tom Ramsey is opening a new restaurant - who has he fooled into investing into this one? Wonder how long it will take the investor to bail out of the deal.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ben - your list(s) would be a lot more impressive if they didn't involve government funding. Lets see:

Iron Horse Grill - New Market Tax Credits

New Supreme Court Building - State Government

2 way of Capitol Street - state & federal (tax) dollars

McCoy Federal Building - federal (tax) dollars

New Federal Building - federal (tax) dollars

University Place - State (tax) dollars

Miss. History Museum - State (tax) dollars

Civil Rights Museum - State (tax) dollars

Old Capitol Museum - State (tax) dollars -- question: how far back are you going to go?

Westin Hotel - done deal? We'll see

Too bad the state isn't going to shore up the real estate market any more by making location decisions for its functions by moving DOR downtown.

BTW - you left off the state funding into the Telecom Center and the Archives Bldg (you're going back to the OC Museum) and also, let's don't forget the State tax dollars poured into Farrish Street. But guess you don't want to brag about that expenditure of tax dollars!

Anonymous said...

This is sooooo damn FUNNY ROTFLMFAO. I AM not BA but LOVE THE ATTENTION as I dine at BRAVO..Keep dreamin lonely. Keep dreamin. I will be back. Bring it on!!!!?

Anonymous said...

309 apartments downtown. All leased with waiting lists. Eat that.

Anonymous said...

Key words are "apartments" and "leased". As has been pointed out numerous times on this blog, until someone is willing to BUY rather than LEASE downtown, where's the long term potential? Put "For Sale" signs on those dwellings rather than "For Lease" and there will be no waitlists.

Anonymous said...

9:07. Big, big announcement next week. Gonna give 7:37 the hives. Can't wait.

Anonymous said...

Hey 9:24 we are here....a lot of us...to continue to battle your bigoted ass. To know a redneck is to love one haha.

Anonymous said...

Print this fish. All over the country new market tax credits require leases, not ownership. For Gods sake get knowledgeable. That is why the apartments will be leased for 7 years. I love country people.

Anonymous said...

I have a simple question. If all of those projects listed were/are such great ideas, why do they have to go to the government trough for money? I mean, wouldn't Leland, Watkins, et al want to invest their own monies and reap profits? Or is it because they want to socialize the risk and privatize the profits by buying a politician/lobbyist? Seriously, They build a building no one in private business wants and a parking garage, then try to have a fake study have a state agency move there to cover their arse. Really good businessmen or just buying the right people. When did it become hiding behind other peoples money? Oh, thats right, 309 appts is on the way in a moment to dispute this.

Anonymous said...

See page 7 A. 330 soon.

Anonymous said...

Question from a non engaged person. Why is a seven year lease (even though required) better than ownership? I would think not. Can the seven year lease holder sub let? What holds them after the seven? Just asking.

Anonymous said...

8:16 what are you talking about? You expect credibility and you don't even know who owns the building. It is being sold by a group of mainly New York investors, but the owners are spread all over the country. Had the LMC been selected as the favored lease arrangement, the building would have been bought by Hertz, then leased to the state. What arse is being protected? Watkins and Speed had no dog in this hunt. They didn't "build this building". Good Lord fella!

Anonymous said...

10:06. After 7 years the apartments can be sold or converted to condos, but the owner MUST lease them for seven years to qualify for New Markets Tax Credits. The thinking is a young person starting out cannot afford a $200 k condo, but after seven years of leasing it, he may the can. The owner has the right to convert. It is not automatic.

Anonymous said...

Why would Leland run full page ads in the C-L if he didn't have a dog in the hunt?

Anonymous said...

There were no full page ads run, Mr Know it all.

Anonymous said...

And it is Mr. Speed to you, Sparky.

Anonymous said...

9:24 here. Page 7 A today. More investment in our downtown by out of staters.

Anonymous said...

2:34 Thank God for rich, gullible chumps from out-of-state; wealthy locals who know the whole situation (such as myself) invest our money way far away from downtown Jackson.

Anonymous said...

Eat your heart out 3:43. Eat your HEART out. That is the best you can come up with?

Anonymous said...

This is what you people did with your Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon? One set of fools argues Jackson is fixed while another set argues it's irreparable. Meanwhile, the rest of us are halfway through a weekend. You can do this on Monday. Get some (real) lives, people.

Anonymous said...

Getting the goat of the hauled ass, white flight racists is more fun than a hole in one. They have conniption fits with any success their Capital has, and hearing them get pissy is funnier than hell.

Anonymous said...

@ 4:50

You are here too. Pot calling the kettle black.

Anonymous said...

5:01 partly correct. 4:50 is one of those people that try to ridicule you away. Kinda like liberals on New England college campuses. They can't argue straight up cause they look silly and they know it. Their answer is to attempt to silence their adversaries. Hasn't worked here.

Anonymous said...

4:56, as someone who lives and works in downtown Jackson, I would like to ask you to please stop race baiting. That is not a good look for those who want to continue to help Jackson grow, and it is distracting from any pertinent issue. I know plenty of minorities who live in the suburbs who are just as pessimistic about the city of Jackson as any person that posts on here.

The sarcastic prick who commented at 4:50 is correct in pointing out that the truth lies in the middle of what the two sides on here have been saying, Jackson is neither irreperable nor is it completely fixed. Downtown is not anywhere near perfect, but it certainly is improving as a place to live and it has great potential to improve further. That is no thanks to some of the people that live in the surrounding areas who zealously paint a negative picture of the place, either because they have an economic interest in businesses choosing their area over Jackson or because they are small-minded enough to think that Madison County could continue to prosper if it were to become a suburb of nothing. To their chagrin, areas of Jackson like downtown, Belhaven, and Fondren will continue to grow and better itself.

Anonymous said...

This is a strange, strange thread.

I drive downtown multiple times a week. I get off 55 at Pearl and make my way to Mill over Mitchell and many points in between. I don't hate any of it, but I'm wondering if I live in a different city than what these people are talking about.

Anonymous said...

Damn 7:41 YOU ARE GOOD.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Full Spectrum the same group that came begging for money for some pie in the sky robotic driven parking garage for phase 1 without so much as a finacial statement or blueprints to submit?

Frankly, as a tax payer, I'm glad that went over like a lead balloon.

Anonymous said...

No new restaurant is going to survive downtown unless it makes it on the lunch crowd from a nearby bank or federal building.

Nor will 'loft apartments' survive without a short list of twenty six year olds pretending they're in New York City standing on the Pearl River bridge hoping to see the Staten Island Ferry. Would love to see some of these posters who CLAIM to 'live and work' in downtown Jackson state where it is they actually work.

PS: Ben's list of state and federally subsidized 'tenants' is laughable.

Anonymous said...

7:30. Are you trying to claim that I was lying about living and working downtown? My response: lol. This is just another example of small minded people who argue points about which they know nothing.

No one is trying to compare Jackson to NYC. Get real. There have been enough apartments to move in recently, with another to be built on Capitol street announced yesterday in the clarionledger, so that no new restaurant has to depend on the "lunch crowd." However, even if your incorrect statement was accurate there is certainly a big enough lunch crowd for that in itself to make opening up down there worth it.

Anonymous said...

Hey "Good Lord Fella",
Have you answered the simple question:
If all these apts, buildings, etc are such a great idea, why do you need to suck the gubment teet and not just get a loan? I mean it can't fail if what you are saying is true, and I bet the good investors like Watkins and Speed will be glad to pay you tomorrow for 2 hamburgers for 1 today!! It is just that good!

Anonymous said...

8:51 the answer is the same one used by thriving, large cities all over the country. Tax credits were invented to restore the vitality of core cities. If you look around the country in general and the south in specific, you see the strategy works. Yes government money is involved, just like it was at Dogwood and the Renaissance or the Township projects. You really need to spiff up on your knowledge regarding TIF, NMTC, Historic Tax Credits and the like. We are just late in the game.

Even the new "WholeFoods" and the "Nissan" expansion will be engaged in some sort of government program. If you don't like this, call your local and national legislators and petition for a moratorium or a change in the laws.

Meanwhile you are looking totally silly with your blanket comments.

Anonymous said...

Most large scale development depends on public funding at least in part. Downtown is not unique in this. Developments in the suburbs do this as well... Yes, even the successful ones. The best example I can think of off the top of my head is Renaissance Mall. The planned Outlets of Mississippi is another example. The fact that government funds re involved means nothing.

Anonymous said...

"pretending they're in New York City standing on the Pearl River bridge hoping to see the Staten Island Ferry. "

Brilliant! It describes the delusional downtown boosters to a T!

Anonymous said...

To the two that posted at 12:45 and a 7:30. I would like to call your attention to the post at 6:56 yesterday. It describes you to a T, even if your not an Ivy League liberal.

Anonymous said...

*you're... Sorry about the typo

Anonymous said...

Typos are irrelevant. Delusions aren't.

Sparky 2 U said...

Word on the skreet is Ben has gotten his riverboat ferry cap'ns license and cap with gold braid. Look for him hanging over the bridge waving at jon boats.



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