The Flywheel/Trask Development Team, pulled together by Mandalay Baseball earlier this spring, had proposed to assume responsibility for the loan. But council wasn't buying into it because it put too much financial burden on the city.

And now the team has backed out. Raiford Trask III, co-developer of the team, said the group decided to back off after it was clear the issue would show up on the November ballot.

So Groucho's now into bilking minor league cities for baseball teams, eh? Tough break, guy. At least Raiford Trask can go back home to his dowager wife, Margaret Dumont.

(All of this is good news for Lynchburg keeping the Hillcats beyond 2013.)

No one is being bilked. The $50,000.00 a day represents liquidated damages for a failure to deliver the product on time, and is a very standard provision in the RE industry. Normally, the owner would then pass that risk on to the GC which is bidding for the job, and it will make sure that the GC dedicates enough staff and effort to getting the job done on time. Don't forget, there is some magic to a mid-March date; the team kind of needs the facility by then, and other arrangements become very difficult if the date is not met.

Normally, the owner would then pass that risk on to the GC which is bidding for the job, and it will make sure that the GC dedicates enough staff and effort to getting the job done on time.

I'm involved as a sub-sub-sub-sub-contractor on a few medium size construction projects. I have good confidence that a couple of them are being run with adequate oversight. But one can only charitably be described as a huge clusterf@ck (think of those defensive plays best enjoyed with Yakety Sax playing). I think the city is hoping to protect themselves against the latter. I find it curious that the tenant is the party proposing the lease agreement, usually it's the landlord who draws up the lease on his own favorable terms.

I can see why they would balk at anyone wearing fake glasses with a big nose and bushy eyebrows who just wants to Sing While You Work.

No one is being bilked. The $50,000.00 a day represents liquidated damages for a failure to deliver the product on time, and is a very standard provision in the RE industry. Normally, the owner would then pass that risk on to the GC which is bidding for the job, and it will make sure that the GC dedicates enough staff and effort to getting the job done on time. Don't forget, there is some magic to a mid-March date; the team kind of needs the facility by then, and other arrangements become very difficult if the date is not met.

Balderdash.

This has no relationship to any legitimate real estate contract or deal. The team is getting a free stadium built at taxpayer expense ($400k per year rent, but the team gets the first $350k of naming rights income a year, and splits the remainder).

It's like your kid telling you, "hey, I'm 21 now, in order for me to continue living rent free at your home, I will require my own private en-suite bathroom with a massage shower, and a large screen TV with surround sound in my room. Sign this contract if you agree, and note that if you do not have the necessary improvements completed before summer break you will be obligated to pay me liquidated damages in the form of my own private suite at the W Hotel until you complete construction to my satisfaction".

When the Atlanta Braves come to town asking for a new publicly-funded stadium, it's probably best to walk away.

http://www.sabernomics.com/sabernomics/index.php/2008/01/breaking-down-the-gwinnett-braves-stadium-deal/

The numbers thrown around in the article above estimated that the G-Braves would need to average over 5,700 fans per game for the County to see any revenue. Four years later, they've come close only once (they're inaugural season) and have been near the bottom of the International League in attendance every year. Unless you were one of the Gwinnett county board members rumored to have real estate interests tied to the stadium, this deal looks like a loser.