So much for Charlotte as a potential Florida Marlins relocation site: “We’re not ready” for a third major-league sport, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory told the Charlotte Observer yesterday. “If [the Marlins] see the same numbers we have, you question why they’re interested. I want to make sure we’re not being played.” Gosh, who would do a thing like that?
One comment on “Charlotte mayor: No Fish for us”
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I think Mayor McCrory means played AGAIN.
AP 3/7/06:”CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – NASCAR’s first Hall of Fame will be built in downtown Charlotte, within miles of the garages and sprawling mansions that make the region an epicenter of the sport.
The selection of Charlotte for the site of the $107.5 million hall ended a yearlong race featuring four other cities.
The hall is to be owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by its convention and visitors bureau under a contract with NASCAR that runs into 2038. In return, the city is to pay unspecified royalties to NASCAR, plus between 5 and 10 percent of various revenue streams. Royalty payments will be deferred if the hall doesn’t make a profit.
The deal also gives NASCAR a six-month option to commit to building a 300,000-square-foot office building as part of the Hall of Fame development, under a 99-year lease that would cost NASCAR $1 a year. The project also is to include a new $43 million ballroom for the adjacent Charlotte Convention Center.”
The Hall of Fame will be built with a 2% tax increase on hotel rooms in the county. That office tower throw in for $1/year?
SI.com 3/9/06: “…a late addition to the deal gave NASCAR the right to develop a 300,000-square-foot office tower as part of the Hall of Fame. With NASCAR paying just $1 annually to lease the land under the tower, and with the downtown Charlotte real estate market currently booming, that could be hugely lucrative. Space in the nearby One Wachovia Center building leases now for $26 per square foot – at that rate, space in the projected NASCAR tower would be worth nearly $8 million annually.”
Nope, wouldn’t want to get played.