1) Look for Ashley Development/PennCap to ink a deal for an office building in the NIZ. Soon. Benedict Arnold, I mean Lou Pektor, knows where his bread is buttered. 2) Sam Zell and The Tribune Companies will sell The Morning Call outright to a "shell" corporation backed by Reilly, Butz, Jaindl and Topper. Zell will make a tidy profit, but The MC will be worth more to a corporation that only owns that paper as all its state taxes will remain in the NIZ. Look for newspaper to hail the sale as a "return of ownership to people in the Lehigh Valley." Bill White will lead the cheers, and see absolutely nothing wrong with being Reilly's bag man;
3) Either PPL or Air Products (I'm guessing Air Products) will secure the naming rights to the arena. After a brief period of time, both PPL and Air Products will ink leases with Reilly, and move some of their billing operations to the NIZ;
4) Tax collecting businesses will slowly (and quietly - don't bet The MC will be watching) move into the NIZ. First year monies returned to the NIZ will be modest, then begin to grow rapidly in Years 2, 3 and 4. One example. Topper will begin to buy up other cigarette distributors. Small ones first;
5) Jaindl will make Twiggar and Dunn an offer they can't refuse for whatever ownership interest they have along the Riverfront. Twiggar will remain on the Bethlehem Planning Commission, of course;
6) By Year 3, Pawlowski will declare the NIZ a "huge success";
7) Reilly's "residential component" will be high end condos targeted at very high income PA residents who will all move their principal addresses to the NIZ even though they will never live there. The Reilly, Butz, Jaindl and Topper families will not pay a dime of state or local taxes for the next 30 years as their taxes will service the debt on their "new" principal residences.
8) Allentown's poor will remain poor and its crime outside of the NIZ will increase because police resources will be diverted to the arena.
35 comments:
Since we are speaking of predictions... why don't we look back to Dr. Steve Thode's prediction. The man that the anti-NIZ group put on the pedestal. Two months ago Dr. Thode predicted on his parting question that the arena and the NIZ would not happen. HE WAS DEAD WRONG!!
http://www.wfmz.com/news/Business-Matters-There-s-a-heck-of-a-big-hole-in-the-ground-Will-We-Build-an-Arena/-/121458/12572176/-/3t0gsez/-/index.html
Actually, you are dead wong. Dr. Thodes's parting words are as follows:
"Re-open the legislation. Look at the tough things about it, the things that need to be changed. Change those things. I don't think there's anyone who doesn't want to see Allentown get better. But we don't want to give Allentown a blank check to take billions of tax dollars away from the rest of the state."
It sounds to me as though the state legislature listened to Dr. Thode.
No you are wrong. Watch the video. At the 24:05 mark Tony Iannelli says "Just will quick, will it happen or not happen?" pointing to Dr. Thode. Dr. Thode responds "Not Happen". Those are his words. Dr. Thode and his followers are dead wrong.
Dr. Thode was referring to the NIZ n its EIT tax grab form, and he was correct about that, too. The law had to be changed, as he recommended in his parting comments. Why is that so hard to grasp?
No he was not!! He was referring to the whole project. Hence the context of the others responding. Especially Molovinsky saying "It is going to be painful" You can twist all you want O'Hare. The NIZ is happening, Dr. Thode was wrong. The Arena is happening, the forefront leader of the anti-NIZ was wrong.
Lets move onto your 8 point run down. Specifically to items that are not just general characterizations, like items #6.
But if you reread your predictions, you are predicting a successful NIZ. Lets move down the line.
Item #1. I presume you are referring to the proposed movie studio that would take over a brewery that has been abandoned for the past 50+ years. Yes what a terrible thing to bring a new industry to the area with 100's of new jobs to an area that has been abandoned for decades.
Item #2. There is nothing to say to this... it is such a far stretch it doesn't even deserve time to debate it. The whole MCALL/NIZ conspiracy theory is just not worth the energy to type about.
Item #3. So if a local company spends millions of dollars on Allentown that is a bad thing? I am sure since they announced Coca-Cola Park you have banned all Coke products? Right?
Item #4. Wow this item itself completely supports the NIZ model. I had to read it several times to make sure I got it right. The post predicts increased revenue as the project grows in years.
Item #5. Just want to make sure that a bidding war in free enterprise is now a bad thing? If your prediction is correct. Another local company that employees local citizens will be on the end of bidding war. The loser will also be a local company... sounds like a win/win to me.
Item #6. Too broad.
Item #7. Your prediction states that very high income PA residents wlll move their address' to downtown Allentown. Hence those tax dollars will pay for the arena. You thought is flawed when you say they won't pay taxes. The NIZ is not a KOZ. All participants pay taxes as they normally would, except in a NIZ the taxes that are collected are distributed differently.
Item #8. The poor will remain poor is such a pull at the heart stings argument. Since the beginning of civilization there has been poor and rich. Take a look at China and then complain that people are poor here. The poor in the US are much richer than the poor in the rest of the world. It is a perception issue. The whole idea of redevelopment is to raise the values of property so that the "poor" that own them will receive a higher value for them. That the poor will have jobs, access to an education, a life of reduced crime, etc...
Um, I quoted his parting comments, the ones you said showed hi claiming there would be no NIZ r arena. You are factually incorrect I can;t arue with someone who is unwilling to be logical.
I just hope the new tenants at the record-smashing Palace of Sport are not Phantom-like in paying their bills on time, as are the Philadelphia Union at taxpayer-funded PPL Park in Chester, PA.
"SOCCER DENYING IMPORVERISHED CITY SHOWS STADIUM RISK"
www.bloomberg.com
You might be right ... or wrong about #7. The lack of transparency makes it difficult to know.
"WITH LOSS OF GENERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, MANY IN LEHIGH VALLEY UNSURE OF NEXT STEP : End Of State's General Assistance Program Could Increase Homelessness, Say Locate Advocates For Needy"
07/01/2012 ... THE MORNING CALL
---------------------------------
Oh well. Those are the breaks of the game. At least the Phantoms will have a new, record-smashing Palace of Sport to call home.
This is all that matters to the courageous Chairman Pawlowski in the People's Democratic City With No Spending Limits.
The People's Hero will be Governor of Pennsylvania some day.
Hey look who showed up... Rolf the troll is here... once again adding nothing to the discussion other than non nonsensical rambling. Maybe why he doesn't allow comments on his blog. Or even better why O'Hare doesn't give him room on his side bar.
Instead of going into the usual tiresome anonymous personal attacks, discuss the issues. I assume you're getting paid for that, so do it.
"WHY THE ADIRONDACK PHANTOMS ARE BAD AND WHY IT'S OKAY TO CRITICIZE THE FLYERS FOR IT"
by Geoff Detweiler
www.broadstreethockey.com
03/26/2012
"During their time in Adirondack, the Phantoms have been terrible. Like, worst-team-in-the-AHL terrible."
-----------------------------
It's one thing to entice people to want to enjoy themselves outside at a lovely park even if the baseball team out on the field absolutely sucks (like the IronPigs did the very first year).
It's quite another to get people to battle both the inclement winter weather as well as inner city rush hour traffic just so they might sit inside of some kind of glorified barn (albeit record-smashing) and consistently gaze yonder on the league's worst.
Especially when they can just go to the comforts of their own home and watch the very same game a lot less expensively on local cable TV.
The Philadelphia Flyers will be needing to improve the quality of their AHL farm team ...
You're crazy O'Hare.
Sincerely,
Reading, PA
Pektor/Penn Cap is in bed with Williams from Cityline. Soon Williams will propose to tear down his building on Hamilton.
While I find some of these likely, and some unlikely, the #7 is not reflective of the legislation. There's no mechanism(at least in the original bill) to divert the income taxes of residents living in the zone to the NIZ.
Add this to your tinfoil hat conspiracy theories - PennCap is Sam Zell's money. Zell is the owner of the Morning Call. PennCap/Pektor were the biggest opponents of the NIZ, including propping up thode (funny how quiet thode got coming up on the movie studio announcement.) Maybe it was all an orchestrated attempt to devalue some of the NIZ property so Pektor & Zell could get in cheap. I wouldn't assume either is below playing whatever backdoor games they can to make a buck.
I don't think #8 is too far fetched.
A beautiful modern arena AND a modern performing arts facility downtown didn't change the fortunes of Reading. Yeah, Reading has two facilities. There has been some redevelopment of surrounding blocks, but it's been slow and heavily subsidized.
Recently, SMG has had a difficult time making the arena profitable. The football team has folded.
It's not like the City's budget woes went away because of the arena. The poverty and crime didn't go away either.
Revitalization? It's in the eye of the beholder.
And which block you happen to be standing on at the moment.
Jeff, I thought we talked already that you shouldn't drink and post at 2am. It really doesn't work and your paymasters will be displeased.
It's always a great day for hockey.
But some people will NEVER accept the outrageous spending (a record-smashing amount, bear in mind).
Or the dubious process (Senator Browne's wife's job thing will always be a sore thumb sticking out, for example).
Or how many personal attacks come flying in.
Still, put as much lip stick on this Big Government Palace of Sport Pig as you like and have a great time doing it, too.
BADGER BOB JOHNSON
This is horrible!...we need to stop this arena!...jobs are bad!
We need an NIZ for pawn shops and massage parlors!
Wow...posting in the 2 am - 3 am range....
... to say nothing of the ones I had to delete.
My property is now listed for sale.
I'm outta here.
Taxpayer exodus.
Why would Air Products move their billing operations to the NIZ?
Air Products owns their campus outright and it’s not like the billing business gets to keep the State and local taxes. They go into the NIZ fund. The same applies to PPL.
Remember when Ron Angle predicted that South Bethlehem was going to be overrun with prostitutes and crime if a casino opened?
Just sayin'
There are a variety of companionship options available in the casino, in the hotel, and the surrounding service area. Bethlehem's well kept police blotter (except for a rolled police cruiser) details an increase in crime around the casino. Just sayin'.
This is the one liking palumpas brown hole for many years before humpty dumpty fell in the hole?
All in all it has become pretty tedious to read the stream of blogs and articles on the NIZ and the dreaded hockey rink. Well with the likes of that administrative cock roach FDAA and all. He is a bit tiresome.
Eventually the little boys will have their toys and we will all be able to judge who was right and who was wrong. Too bad it will not occur until a ton of taxpayer money has been spent.
Who really cares anyway. The poor should, they are the true victims of this travesty of economic justice. No Allen will not come to your aid, he has switched camps.
We have a bunch of adulterous (on many fronts) childish clowns calling the shots who, at this point in time, just happen to have money and influence.
Does not mean the narcissistically deluded are right. But we will all pay to figure that out. Things will change more than they have and they will continue to.
One day the Morning Call will feature articles of our once prominent power brokers slaying their wives and then committing suicide simply due to being tired of shi**ing themselves and spending all that money on depends.
The future is already being written and it is not pretty. Perhaps a mission possible is really impossible after all.
Gratuitous of 4ths to all the movers and shakers in Allentown.
Bernie,
I am preparing a list of the candidates to vote for in november. I will NOT vote for any who supported the original NIZ. Please list the candidates who had the balls to voice objection to this beforehand. I can only remember Capozzolo. Altieri and Schlossburg both supported it?
danthemann
The only candidate to voice any objections was Joe Cap, as you correctly noted.
Zell will make nothing from a sale of the MC. He has been out of the picture for a long time.
However, the bankruptcy is about to close. The new owners will be banks and hedge funds (JP MorganChase, Oakmark, and others) that may very well do as you suggest.
http://blogs.reuters.com/jackshafer/2012/06/11/what-happens-to-tribune-after-bankruptcy/
Do you meen to say that the people doing the dealing are stooping to the level of vermin or even the parasites that live on the vermin. Damm thats part of the black plague that killed millions in midevil time?
HI,
I am just wondering when the land deal for the riverfront might be completed and we would hear more... The city was to have it done and completed by September... will this still be the case?
Thanks
L
Hi Again,
I understand that you believe Jaindl will make Twigger and Dunn a buy out offer and Jaindl Development will hold the Lehigh Waterfront wholly then... When do you think this will be completed? The Jaindl Waterfront web site shows construction beginning next summer basically (3rd qtr 2013) Do you think this is still the case? What of the companies still operating there?
Thanks,
L
I can't give you a timetable.
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