Signature Tower

[Plasticman]

Developers can't have it both ways and use the media at every turn for even the most trivial events and then take the quiet route relative to anything of substance.

Actually they can. Except for major, city shaking stories, the media generally responds to events that are spoon fed to them. My point being that the positive spin on this project has no doubt been nourished by pro-acitve submissions to the media by those close to the project itself. But the same developer can withhold information by not reporting when he chooses not to and the media isn't necessarily going to dig for a story or new information that they don't know exists. I do agree if the project goes on long enough with no news, then the media will begin to sniff around and ask questions.

But at this point, we just don't know enough and the developer isn't obligated to inform us until he chooses to.

[monsoon]

....... In other words, we can make assertions based upon the existing data but there is a lot of proceedings that are not being released. We don't really know if things are going well or not. The website isn't showing much change but that could just be their not updating it or not being willing to release new data at this time.

.....

Indeed. This is why I responded to the implications this building does not have to worry about market realities because it is being targeted to the the Rolls Royce crowd. There no evidence to support this notion, and as stated above, this bunch didn't get to where they are by making bad investments. I have yet to meet a person who is in the market for property, that isn't concerned about resale value no matter how much they were spending.

It's one thing to speculate given the known data and I don't think anyone denies that. It's quite another to insist this building is going to be built, no matter what, simply due to the fact that a certain developer has proposed it. It has been our experience here at this forum that information freely flows from a developer when a project is going well. Yesterday's posts about the building being made shorter which were then followed up by several requests to our staff to delete all that information including all subsequent conversations related to it, tells me that something unexpected is up. Or at least someone has an interest in wasting our time. Take from that what you want.

If a re-design of the tower is indeed taking place that can't bode well for the project in its present form. Does the current advertising actually state a height and/or number of floors?

[Dale]

It is my impression that redesigns affecting height are quite common and are not necessarily indicative of any kind of hardship. As an example, Miami's Met 3, scheduled to break ground next month, recently reduced height from 866' to 817' to conform to budget.

[monsoon]

Deletion of floors that were previously for sale and may have had reservations on them are not common at all. The deleted information said 5 floors were being removed from the project.

[Dale]

Deletion of floors that were previously for sale and may have had reservations on them are not common at all. The deleted information said 5 floors were being removed from the project.

Beg pardon, but I don't know that it's true that deletion of floors with reservations is not common.

[Plasticman]

Beg pardon, but I don't know that it's true that deletion of floors with reservations is not common.

And we don't know that it isn't an error on someone's part. Maybe the floors are not being deleted or maybe different ones are. Just maybe it could be that the referenced posts above were asked to be deleted because they contained just plain ole bad information.

Now is the time when a good Gaushell update would be appropriate.

[barakat]

^ Perhaps one of the formers who attended last week's meeting could shoot Tony an email and ask him. Why not get it first hand since he's so open to discussing the facts?

[it's just dave]

Don't everybody get all freaky about this. It has something to do with the maintenance levels. I didn't hear all T said about it, but it come up and didn't seem much like a big deal. I was still too busy sneaking donuts to listen too carefully. This is no biggie.

[bruceman]

I noticed that the interactive floorplan portion of the Signature Tower website is not functioning. Everything else on the site seems to work fine??? Maybe it's just my computer.

[Jeeper12]

Actually they can. Except for major, city shaking stories, the media generally responds to events that are spoon fed to them.

Ouch!! I wonder how Richard, William and Mr. Sysk feel about your perspective on them.

[Hankster]

Gentlemen, Tony Giarratana was extremely open about all phases of this project during our meeting with him on Saturday. He made no mention of the building being redesigned to lose floors. He did mention that there was a recent redesign in three places where the core is tied the the large outside building columns. This was precipitated when the construction company actually stated they could not build the project as designed. This may be about the time Duke32 stated that he heard construction costs were too high. The design team re-examined that area of the design and came up with a solution to the problem that not only allowed the building to be constructed, but also took 4 million dollars out of the construction costs and two weeks out of the project timeline.

Tony stated that final design drawings would be completed by April 15th. That's just a few days from now. Folks, I doubt very seriously that any floors are coming out of the building.

[Plasticman]

Ouch!! I wonder how Richard, William and Mr. Sysk feel about your perspective on them.

Obviously I wasn't trying to insult anyone but you've managed to misinterpret my comments. My perspective on the "media" is they follow stories such as the Signature Tower Project based on spoon fed information and even in that light, they often make mistakes. I've seen several links to TV stations up there and the reports get the floor count wrong, the height wrong, and even to this day show one of the older designs. Continuing in that light, the media (again meaning the local TV stations, some of the online news sources, etc.) aren't out just digging for every little snippit of the latest floor tile change on the 58th floor. They take the information as they receive it and would only go looking for it if they happen to think a story is there.

[Jeeper12]

Gentlemen, Tony Giarratana was extremely open about all phases of this project during our meeting with him on Saturday. He made no mention of the building being redesigned to lose floors...Folks, I doubt very seriously that any floors are coming out of the building.

Hankster, I get a kick out of your assertions sometimes but I don't always follow your logic. Duke32 was obviously just reading a brand new project team memo from Turner directing the team to price the removal of the 5 floors. You may ultimately be right that these floors don't get removed from the project but the cut is obviously under serious consideration by the developer otherwise Turner wouldn't be putting everyone through the paces.

[jcoop]

jeeper, I don't think hankster was trying to make a large assertion. I think he was more going along the lines of what dave said a few posts up that these may be maintenence levels and actually not be a huge change as far as the available condos are concerned....but I guess all I'm doing is making assertions now about other people's posts haha

again, it's all speculation since the posts have been removed and it's being kept quiet right now. I'm sure something will come out soon clearing up what floors are being removed, how it will affect the project and so on...

[Jeeper12]

Someone who recently visited the sales center told me that they were told that the date upon which the sales team would begin trying to convert reservations to sales contracts was being pushed back to the end of May. I'm curious whether this came up at the forum visit and how this effects all the reservations that expired on 3/31/07. Anybody know ?

[Hankster]

Someone who recently visited the sales center told me that they were told that the date upon which the sales team would begin trying to convert reservations to sales contracts was being pushed back to the end of May. I'm curious whether this came up at the forum visit and how this effects all the reservations that expired on 3/31/07. Anybody know ?

Tony mentioned that it would be delayed until around mid May. He mentioned that there were special regulations (paperwork that had to be filled out) from the Federal Government due to the construction period being longer than two years that caused the delay. I'm sure the contracts will be considered good until then, but he didn't say anything concerning that, and he wasn't asked.

[nashvol85]

The longer this delays, the shakier it sounds...

[Dale]

The longer this delays, the shakier it sounds...

I wouldn't rush to that conclusion. All of our larger projects u/c in downtown Orlando started at least a year after their originally announced timetables, some of them two years late. Yet, to my knowledge, the delays were not indicative of any real trouble.

Jeez, I can't believe I just offered comfort to a Vol.

[monsoon]

Tony mentioned that it would be delayed until around mid May. He mentioned that there were special regulations (paperwork that had to be filled out) from the Federal Government due to the construction period being longer than two years that caused the delay. I'm sure the contracts will be considered good until then, but he didn't say anything concerning that, and he wasn't asked.

I would be interested to know how and why the federal government would be involved in a local construction project.

[Plasticman]

Well, here is a very positive article from today.

http://wkrn.com/nashville/news/urban-livin...lodes/88720.htm

A quote:

The array of projects is astonishing. From loft conversions, to Giarratana's Signature Tower whose five million dollar penthouses will float 75 stories over Nashville and whose sales dollars just surpassed the Viridian and Encore combined.

[Skyscrapergeek]

I would be interested to know how and why the federal government would be involved in a local construction project.

The fed (HUD) is involved because there is a 36 month construction schedule and thus supersedes state regulations. This is why it has taken longer to develop contracts. ST is the first building of this kind in TN.

[Jeeper12]

The fed (HUD) is involved because there is a 36 month construction schedule and thus supersedes state regulations. This is why it has taken longer to develop contracts. ST is the first building of this kind in TN.

I think the big question is why Tony is only now realizing that this is an issue. His intended construction duration has been more than 24 months for over a year and a half now. Actually, I give him more credit than to have let something so basic trip him up. I think the fed issue is probably more of a red herring to allow him to buy a few more months to try and get his reservation count much higher before he starts converting. Ordinarily, a development of this magnitude lives or dies by it's grand opening. Given the apparent softness of that event he's smart to try and buy more time but I don't think it's going to make a difference.

[producer2]

He is not just realizing this and I am sure if you would pick up the phone and call him he will be glad to answer your question. Those of us who were at the meeting have tried to give as much info as we can but it seems skepticism abounds. The phone number is listed and you can report your findings back to us and if you think he is telling the truth or not.

[Jeeper12]

^ No need. I think we are going to hear a littany of excuses (all seemingly plausible) offered to explain why he hasn't achieved the important goals (equity, debt and hard contracts) necessary for him to get started. The initial two he seems to be offering are the fed issue and the fact that his buyer is so high-end/unusual that he will need much more time (than the last year and a half) to find them all. Keep your notepad handy because I think you're going to continue to see and hear more of the same.

[monsoon]

He is not just realizing this and I am sure if you would pick up the phone and call him he will be glad to answer your question. Those of us who were at the meeting have tried to give as much info as we can but it seems skepticism abounds. The phone number is listed and you can report your findings back to us and if you think he is telling the truth or not.

Well honestly, the things that have been stated that have to happen, long ago I might add, before this tower sees the light of day, have yet to be answered. This basically boils down to where is the $300M-$400M coming from to build the thing, and will there be enough sales to make a profit on this endeavor? If this is known when are the shovels hitting the ground?

My guess is this stuff is still being worked out and it's far from a done deal. But even if it was, I can't imagine that any developer would release the details of this to the general public or anyone else for that matter without requiring the signing of a disclosure agreements with legal counsel present to make sure any pending deals with partners and/or banks are not compromised. I do think it is great he would take the time to meet with a group from our forum. It is, after all good marketing which is the whole point.