A while back, I registered as someone interested in developing land in Tempe that’s being considered for a new Arizona Coyotes stadium, because it was the easiest way to get a copy of the city’s request for proposals. This means that occasionally I get notices about the state of the RFP — but also apparently the “people who’ve expressed interest” list is public somewhere, because last week I got an email that went:
You are receiving this message because you registered for the project with the City of Tempe
I am writing to remind you of the alternative we offer should the City of Tempe and/or the Phoenix Coyotes decide against relocating to the old landfill site on Rio Salado.
We have in hand a letter of commitment from a professional sports franchise which is the basic qualification criteria. And we have the professional support of Cedric Ceballos, former Suns player.
If the Coyotes decline to relocate to the site, it is very possible the City will reopen the solicitation to all originally qualified registered parties. If that happens we would like to offer our partner participation along with our sports franchise.
If you originally had a desire to respond to the RFP but did not have a sports franchise, our ABA franchise will qualify you, should the City reopen the opportunity.
Please keep this in mind.
Thank you
Chris SpidleEnvisage Development, Llc.
480-799-2380
click-here-to-schedule-a-meeting-or-call-with-chris
Building Sustainably; Better, Faster, for Less
There are a lot of words there, plus for some reason Cedric Ceballos, but the core of the message from this self-proclaimed synergy-finder is: The Tempe RFP is to develop a “mixed-use Sports and Entertainment District that is home to a professional sports franchise,” but what if the Coyotes aren’t interested? Wouldn’t you like to partner with another professional sports franchise so that you can gain access to this land? Perhaps a franchise in a league that lets anyone with as little as $5,000 buy a team?
This, in retrospect, is exactly what you should expect to get if your city makes “build a sports something” as a condition of a development project: somebody offering the absolute minimum sportsyness necessary to get in under the bar. My only surprise is that nobody proposed it earlier — oh hey, here’s another email from Chris Spidle that arrived back in August, I wonder what that’s about:
We have the support of the National Jai-Alai Association to bring Jai-Alai to Phoenix metro (as you will see in the attached statement from the NJAA) and we propose a Jai-Alai facility at the Tempe site along with any other sports franchise that decides to call it home.
This is the best, and I can’t wait to get in on this dodge, so here’s my announcement: I have the support of the International Calvinball League (headquartered in Brooklyn, registration pending) to bring this exciting sport to the Phoenix area. If you are a developer who wants the rights to a plot of Tempe land in case the Coyotes turn it down, but isn’t sure how much sports is required of a “sports district,” allow me to be the fig leaf you need. Just write to calvinballintempeYES@fieldofschemes.com, and one of our customer service representatives will be happy to quote you a reasonable price.