All-time clip-n-save quote from Charlotte Center City Partners czar Michael Smith. The topic is Uptown baseball, a shell game that is falling apart as the market vetoes all speculative real estate deals, making it impossible for Charlotte Knights owner Don Beaver to get financing for a new stadium even though Smith and Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority jefe Tim Newman did a masterful job of tap-dancing a $35m. public subsidy by the county, the city, and CMS past the public.
Smith desperately wants to blame attorney and rival developer Jerry Reese for the snafu, making it seem like this sensible plan is being held up by a single fanatic. Check out the fantasy Smith spins out for WBTV:
“I’m disappointed that we’ve got one individual.. one subversive that’s holding back the progress of our community. Particularly at a time when we’re ready to take some steps ahead. And we’re so close,” says Michael Smith, president of Charlotte Center City Partners which first brokered the deal.
What a load, even coming from a stuffed shirt like Smith. You are no where near close because Beaver cannot secure funding. Beaver cannot secure funding for the same reason he had to go the public subsidy route to begin with, ie, he cannot afford a AAA franchise. Smith and Newman, Beaver’s former employee, have done their best to obscure this fact, but it still stands.
Reese is far from alone is opposing this boondoggle even if his name is alone on the lawsuits. Charlotte needs more subversives and fewer submissives.
Bonus Observation: If county commissioner Dan Ramirez really, really does not know if the Uptown baseball deal is a good idea, asking city and county staff for input is exactly the wrong approach to get an answer. He should be directing questions to Beaver and his staff to find out the maximum cash flow they can generate given recent trends.
