Ever get the feeling that the skids are greased and there is no turning back when it comes to Uptown? That things get decided behind closed doors and then sprung on the public?
This is a very complex plan that suddenly has a lot of support, not yet a sure thing, but not the wild idea that it certainly seems from afar.
There still remains the very large question of where Knights owner Don Beaver gets the $17 million he did not have a few months ago. Maybe Beaver’s former employee, Tim Newman, can shed some light on that from his current perch as the head of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
No matter what the insiders might think, a wholly privately-funded stadium is the necessary starting-point for this plan as far as Charlotte’s strapped taxpayers are concerned. Plus, the various land swaps that are the foundation of the scheme must accrue to the greater public interest first, including long-term positive revenue streams, and not just simply make for a nice deal for a developer.
And there is another seemingly attractive wrinkle in play:
In Second Ward, Mass Mutual would build an 11-acre development, including apartments, condominiums, offices and retail space. It would also feature a new, smaller CMS headquarters, coinciding with calls for decentralized school administration.
A smaller Ed Center? Charlotte has to build a baseball stadium to reform CMS? Well, whatever it takes. Maybe. But has anyone told CMS?
