Being a complete bastard, frequent commenter concerned republican piqued my interest in the business dealings of Afshin Ghazi, developer of the $200m. EpiCenter project and recent recipient of an accelerated subsidy from the city of Charlotte.
Whew. This is a busy man.
I quickly stumbled upon lawsuit filed by a Norfolk shopping center in May 2006 against Ghazi and other partners in a failed restaurant venture. Macarthur Shopping Center initially sought $1.3m. in back rent. In February 2007 Ghazi responded to the suit with a filing arguing that the shopping center knew since Dec. 2000 that the restaurant had stopped making payments and should’ve acted sooner to fix the problem. That and the center failed to adequately market the property.
According to court records, the shopping center then bumped its demands to include legals fees, pushing the amount it sought from Ghazi to $3.2m. The parties spent the rest of 2007 haggling over expert witnesses. But by February of this year the case was settled for an undisclosed sum and the case was officially terminated just last month.
During this time frame Mecklenburg County property records indicate that multiple transactions were undertaken involving Ghazi-connected entities one result being the property listed as the address for much of his business activities — 5625 Fairview Rd. — shifted back and forth between Ghazi and a Ghazi-registered entity know as Little House on the Prairie LLC.
In September of last year the Ghazi Co. NC LLC morphed into Pacific Ave. II LLC, a minority owner in EpiCenter, not to be confused with the majority owner, Pacific Ave. LLC., Afshin Ghazi manager. The Ghazi Co. NC should not be confused with the separate Ghazi Co. LLC, which was formed in December 2005 and state records show still does business out of 5625 Fairview Rd. Head spinning yet?
Anyway, in April Ghazi inked a deal with CVS to put a drug store in the EpiCenter, presumably the kind of retail that Center City Partners wants Uptown. A month ago the Pacifics sent a memo to creditors at Regions Bank, which provided $62m. in financing in May 2005 which had grown to $88m. by July 2007, bumping the amount of the principal provided for the project to $90m.
Interestingly, the current air rights dispute that is part of the issue in the $70m. lawsuit filed by EpiCenter’s condo developer against Ghazi may have its origins in Ghazi’s easement agreements with the city of Charlotte dating to 2005. The city was so eager to redevelop the old convention center site that had become an eyesore and money sink that it granted Ghazi a new easement for the EpiCenter project. Those agreements merit a closer study by some legal eagle.
Right now I would like to know if Tom Flynn, the city’s economic development guru, knew about Ghazi’s various legal wheelings and dealings when Ghazi requested last month that the city re-write the 2004 agreement which committed the city to pay Ghazi $2.2m. for EpiCenter infrastructure. Originally the money was only supposed to go to Ghazi upon completion of the project. The new agreement advanced $550,000 of that amount now even though EpiCenter is not finished.
Specifically, did Ghazi tell Flynn — or anyone with the city — that relations with condo developer Flaherty & Collins were at an impasse? Did the city know about Ghazi’s potential liability in the Norfolk suit?
Commercial real estate development is fast-paced, topsy-turvy work. Ghazi is clearly cut out for the job and seems fairly successful at it. He slyly winks at the craziness of it all by naming his partnerships after Monopoly board properties.
Do Charlotte taxpayers really need to be rolling the dice alongside him?
