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We missed the roundup yesterday. Here’s what we’ve reported on this week.
- Owen Says Wayside Zoning Changes May Take Time
- Sports Commission Director Resigns
- U-of-L Researcher Shows New Link Between Dyslexia, Autism
- KSU Football Players Charged in Robbery
- Group Lists City’s Most Endangered Historic Places
- Kentucky Ends Fiscal Year With Balanced Budget
- Abramson Hopes ‘Mayor For Life’ Legacy is Positive
- Still No Naming Rights for Louisville Arena
Did you watch the All-Star game on TV on Tuesday? Did you notice the softball field next to the stadium? Well, that was originally supposed to be a giant, multi-purpose entertainment and business complex called Ballpark Village. It was to be developed by the Baltimore-based Cordish Company, which is also behind 4th Street Live and Center City (when it happens).
Cordish isn’t solely, or even chiefly, responsible for Ballpark Village’s perpetual delay. But, the company’s involvement in the project provides a good excuse to bring up this hours-old news item. Metro Council President David Tandy is asking for some answers from Cordish. Tandy wants Cordish to say how it spent $950,000 on renovations to a bowling alley in 4th Street Live.
He writes:
While I believe that Fourth Street Live has been a successful venture for our community it is important for the Cordish Company, and for that matter any other company or entity that receives public funds to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars are being used. There is serious public concern over the use of the $950,000 loan that funded the renovation of this recent project.
Development isn’t really something governments do themselves, so parternships with private entities are the norm. But this does raise questions of trust, and how much control governments should be willing to give up. How much control governments should have is an entirely different debate.
The Infrastructurist has a post on four cases where eliminating highways increased traffic flow. In Seoul, Portland and San Francisco (twice) highways were taken away and congestion didn’t become a problem. It ties into the Braess Paradox, seen in one form here:
The Braess Paradox says that adding extra capacity to a network in which selfish entities (drivers) choose their own routes can sometimes reduce the overall performance of that route. It’s complicated, but it’s often used as an argument against widening highways and expanding interstates.
The paradox did not happen in the four examples listed in the Infrastructurist post because highways weren’t expanded. This also cut down on induced demand, a phenomenon where people drive on new roads or visit new businesses because of their newness.
It’s easy to say that the 8664 plan for Louisville and the bridges project is a great way of avoiding a Braess Paradox. But the paradox is not a mathematical law, and while Portland and San Francisco have done just fine without giant interstates uglying up some parts of the city, the Infrastructurist warns:
All of the highway demolitions cited above are in densely packed urban areas where other highways and reliable and convenient public transportation options are available.
To make the post relevant to Louisville, we have to ask if the city has the population and infrastructure (side streets, alternate routes and public transportation) to support eliminating highways downtown. Even with the back-end ready, no one will really know how 8664 or the Ohio River Bridges project will change traffic. There are precedents for destroying a highway and improving traffic (not to mention freeing up a riverfront) and there’s a mathematical inkling that building more lanes won’t do any good. But are lawmakers willing to spend millions on a possibly unsuccessful system, or would it only fail if the supporting infrastructure is ignored?
Rick toured the new downtown arena site yesterday. Here’s a collection of photos from the trip, featuring Arena Authority Chair Jim Host, Mayor Jerry Abramson and Bill Hedge of M.A. Mortenson Company.
Local blogs and Twitter feeds are abuzz with pleas to vote for Louisville in Kiplinger’s Best Cities Poll.
Over at Page One, Jake says:
There’s no way we’re gonna let a city with a giant hole downtown beat us, is there?
He’s talking about current poll leader Lexington, but at first I thought it was a jab at my beloved hometown St. Louis. City officials are currently trying to find a sponsor for the Cordish Company’s proposed “Ballpark Village.” The picture to the left is how the project looked last year…and every year since the new stadium was built. As you can see, it is literally a hole downtown.
Here are some stories for your Monday morning:
Here are a couple stories produced by the WFPL news team this weekend. We’ll have a stack of news ready for you tomorrow morning. Topics include a new subpoena system for Jefferson County, a Museum Plaza update and the latest on the search for an education commissioner.
New Recycling Center Operational at E.P. ‘Tom’ Sawyer
Downtown Management District Launches Concert Series
Even if you heard our story on the controversy and our follow-ups (1, 2 and 3), you may still be wondering what’s happening with Center City.
The project’s developer, Baltimore-based Cordish, has made some concessions on how many jobs they will create, where some of those workers will come from and how much they will build, but they still haven’t signed anything holding them to their promise to invest between $200 and $450 million in the entertainment district.
Mayor Jerry Abramson says Cordish will undoubtedly spend at least $200 million. That’s the minimum investment the developer needs to make to receive tax increment financing (TIF) for the project. Without the TIF, the project would be much harder to pay for.
But it is true that Cordish could make their current contractual minimum investment – $24 million/200,000 square feet – and not go for the TIF. That’s not what Cordish says they will do, but it’s all they’re required to do. It’s what many Metro Council members are worried about. It’s why the vote was postponed until next week and it’s why there’s a workgroup looking at the deal now.
Cordish says other cities are waiting for similar projects, and if the council won’t approve the land purchase, that’s it for Center City. I talked to Council President Jim King and he said legal action is possible only if Cordish backs out once the city has purchased the land.
There’s also concern among council members about the economy. The minority caucus has referenced the indefinitely-stalled Museum Plaza as a reason to avoid leasing land for development in a shaky market. If the new downtown arena creates a development rush downtown, they don’t want a block of real estate leased to a company that isn’t doing anything with it.
The administration counters the caucus’ claim, saying this is the way other cities operate, and Center City is an essential part of a vibrant downtown.
So, essentially the Mayor is tired of waiting, the minority caucus is tired of subsidizing and Cordish says they’re almost tired of Louisville. In between, council members from both parties want Cordish to put their verbal promise of hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in writing.
The workgroup met Tuesday and was scheduled to give a report to the budget committee Wednesday, but the budget meeting has been cancelled.
