Sunday, February 2, 2014

Lake Worth Casino hundreds of thousands in red



First of all, let us remember when we read this article by Eliot Kleinberg, that the building that was there was actually torn down. It was not "all but demolished"; there was no "core" left to the building. Click title for link to article.

Remember Commissioner McVoy's constant reassurances that the business plan contained three scenarios and that the city was solidly on its way to making money on the building/project even with the most pessimistic scenario. That even included paying back the $6 million of utility money that was "borrowed" from the city and would easily be paid back. We must also remember that Johnny Longboats was ready to have a two-story restaurant. But if the city went with that proposal, it would lose out on an opportunity for a first class restaurant on the second floor. We were told by McVoy that there would be tenants clamoring for the space and its "killer views."

Well, that space with killer views is now killing the revenue projections. No restaurants are falling all over themselves to secure the space. The inconvenience of the parking area in relation to the placement of the building - since we were all about "saving the building" and couldn't look at a central location for it. That would be blasphemous! And the pool was left out of the mix entirely.

So, now we have a building that is hemorrhaging $400,000 a year. And let's not forget about the defense of the Greater Bay lawsuit which cost the city $800,000 over a series of years that no one seemed to care was being spent. And then we have the Greater Bay settlement which required the City to write a check for $1.6 million to settle.

This has all been said here before in this blog. But it apparently needs to be said again.