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Granby Tower

brikkman

By brikkman
in Norfolk

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Chesapeake Pirate Hamlet

Chesapeake Pirate

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Its been a while since anyone wrote something up here. My granddad Just signed a contract with Granby Tower last week, So its looks like there still signing. Its been about 3 weeks since any movement was at the Granby Tower site. Just glad to see something today. Couple cranes moving stuff, bulldozer digging stuff, trucks loading stuff to the lot. NOW JUST COME ON! BUILD IT ALREADY.. Time will tell..... But everyone patience is running thin. So I hope sometime in Feb they will announce something.

I thought this was only a doom and gloom thread?

Just signed a Granby Tower contract last week??

How can that be???

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kjice2 Unincorporated Area

kjice2

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I thought this was only a doom and gloom thread?

Just signed a Granby Tower contract last week??

How can that be???

This project maybe was alittle gloomy but never is doomed until It is offical said! My grandfather moved from NYC, and has now signed a contract with the Granby Tower, he was in the talks with them for like 3 months now.

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ace707 Hamlet

ace707

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It's people like your grandfather that are helping Marathon keep the lender they are talking to to consider supporting the project. I'm glad your family is willing to go for this. I'm just waiting in the wings to find out the fate of the project and until then I'm mostly mum. Glad that you grandfather is helping this project keep its legs. Who knows, chances are there are a few more in secret negotiations for a unit and hopefully they don't fall through and we we'll have a shiny new tower in downtown.

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Chesapeake Pirate Hamlet

Chesapeake Pirate

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It's people like your grandfather that are helping Marathon keep the lender they are talking to to consider supporting the project. I'm glad your family is willing to go for this. I'm just waiting in the wings to find out the fate of the project and until then I'm mostly mum. Glad that you grandfather is helping this project keep its legs. Who knows, chances are there are a few more in secret negotiations for a unit and hopefully they don't fall through and we we'll have a shiny new tower in downtown.

As bad as the new home market and new condo market is right now, it is not completely dead and people will persevere through this down cycle and at some point the market will come back.

People all have to live somewhere and it is only natural, as history has shown, that there are always some people on the lookout for something new and better.

As you infer, none of us know what will happen. But, until someone writes a Granby Tower obituary and publishes it in the Pilot, I remain hopeful.

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Telmnstr Burg

Telmnstr

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I heard a coworker say today that friends/relatives just bought two places (prob across the line in NC tho). It's crazy that stuff is still moving.

The somewhat predictions from the people that were right about when the market would peak and start it's decline has the start of the increase of the next cycle out at 2012 or farther.

Still looking at massive losses. I watched "Enron - Smartest guys in the room" again last night from the household fileserver of doom and gloom. For some reason, I get the idea that many of the banks are going down like enron. They sorta mentioned mark to market in the enron movie, but the banks and investment groups were marking to model.. aka computer simulation. That sort of left out things, like the market not increasing.

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spiker3 Hamlet

spiker3

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Its been a while since anyone wrote something up here. My granddad Just signed a contract with Granby Tower last week, So its looks like there still signing. Its been about 3 weeks since any movement was at the Granby Tower site. Just glad to see something today. Couple cranes moving stuff, bulldozer digging stuff, trucks loading stuff to the lot. NOW JUST COME ON! BUILD IT ALREADY.. Time will tell..... But everyone patience is running thin. So I hope sometime in Feb they will announce something.

I'm surprised no one mentioned this earlier. Which cranes are left on the site? Was this via the webcam or witnessed live? There's little reason at this point to believe anything besides packing up is happening at the site, with the weather, increasingly depressing market and economy. With almost $4 million in leins stacked against his company, no one is going to be working for Marathon until some money starts flowing, and when that happens you'll be sure to have an announcement (of course whether or not anyone believes it at this point is up in the air) Congrads to your grandfather, but i'd be curious to know why he decided to with Granby Tower, when there are plenty of competitors in far more stable situations that have financing guaranteed in place, rather than question marks hanging over their heads for the duration of this project (even if contruction resumes, we'll be holding our breath to see if it makes it 100% through) Franklin, Rotunda, Westin, anywhere in Freemason, there's plenty of availability in the market, so why GT? (at this point it's a fair question) As far as still signing goes, i'm not surprised, Gaddams has held on this long; unless whatever bottom barrel lender he's (still) struggling to get money from turns him down, he's going to keep signing any contracts he can get, which by now are sure to be few and far in between.

What you call doom and gloom i call reality. A beautiful project with enormous potential on the precipice of failure, because one man has too much ego to step aside or ask for help to get this project built. Because regardless of the market, Armada Hoffler would have had this project near completion by now. Instead, we're left with a -$4 million hole in the ground. Aggravation doesn't begin to describe it. vtfan said earlier we might someday look at Belmont and think what might have been...everyday anyone of us pass Brambleton/Granby, we've already been thinking it for some time. It's bout time for Gaddams to poop or get off the pot.

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kjice2 Unincorporated Area

kjice2

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I'm surprised no one mentioned this earlier. Which cranes are left on the site? Was this via the webcam or witnessed live? There's little reason at this point to believe anything besides packing up is happening at the site, with the weather, increasingly depressing market and economy. With almost $4 million in leins stacked against his company, no one is going to be working for Marathon until some money starts flowing, and when that happens you'll be sure to have an announcement (of course whether or not anyone believes it at this point is up in the air) Congrads to your grandfather, but i'd be curious to know why he decided to with Granby Tower, when there are plenty of competitors in far more stable situations that have financing guaranteed in place, rather than question marks hanging over their heads for the duration of this project (even if contruction resumes, we'll be holding our breath to see if it makes it 100% through) Franklin, Rotunda, Westin, anywhere in Freemason, there's plenty of availability in the market, so why GT? (at this point it's a fair question) As far as still signing goes, i'm not surprised, Gaddams has held on this long; unless whatever bottom barrel lender he's (still) struggling to get money from turns him down, he's going to keep signing any contracts he can get, which by now are sure to be few and far in between.

What you call doom and gloom i call reality. A beautiful project with enormous potential on the precipice of failure, because one man has too much ego to step aside or ask for help to get this project built. Because regardless of the market, Armada Hoffler would have had this project near completion by now. Instead, we're left with a -$4 million hole in the ground. Aggravation doesn't begin to describe it. vtfan said earlier we might someday look at Belmont and think what might have been...everyday anyone of us pass Brambleton/Granby, we've already been thinking it for some time. It's bout time for Gaddams to poop or get off the pot.

I go to Tcc, downtown, so all this crane action and truck UNLOADING was witnessed. But Honestly I do not know what is really going on. Who knows, till they tell us. But I agree with you, I really dont know my grandfather choose the Granby Tower. He just moved from NYC, and he said the Main thing that caught his eye is that, this is the only grandest building that he has ever seen, all the amenties and what not. He told me, he did not choose The Westin because its smack in the mid of No where. Meaning that Vabeach towncenter is New and developing, with no History. While Norfolk is already matured and closes thing to Manhattan (all in his words). So he has a condo on one of the higher floors, (forgot which one he said). I also mention to him, that why would he choose a building that is having major issues. He said he believe it would get build, because Norfolk would not allow something so grand slip away. Which I agree. I honestly think that some one, will help Gaddams with this project. Local people will help the Granby Tower Move Up. (thats only my assumption) To me the Biggest question is... Why are there people working on this site, if it was Financial Issues? I think there is under the table stuff going on. Either the city is doing something, or Private Investors. Who knows, Norfolk is a very SECRETIVE city.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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I had my suspicions about this so I rode by the site today and alas my suspicions were confirmed. Sorry kjice, but they are still taking equipment away from the site. When I went by they were loading that white crane onto a flatbed truck. There are now only 2 pieces of heavy equipment left on the site.

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Telmnstr Burg

Telmnstr

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Are you suggesting a move like Improv Anywhere (or is it Improv everywhere) would do? Lots of people show up wearing hardhats and flannel w/ lunchboxes or hardhats with dilbert shirts w/ clipboards and make it look busy for a morning? Slip a hint to the paper that activity is kicking off?

Perhaps not as brilliant as 72 people in best buy with khaki pants and blue collard shirts (check youtube).

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Chesapeake Pirate Hamlet

Chesapeake Pirate

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I will have confidence once they actually name and interview the lenders. If financing is actually secured, then there is no more need for confidentiality. Until this occurs i'm not gonna get my hopes up again.

I'm getting my hopes up from medium to high again because of the decision to add development partners in support of what Marathon has done to date, and because the mayor is speaking optimistically about the lending.

It's not a perfect situation, but it looks a lot better than it has been looking.

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spiker3 Hamlet

spiker3

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I'm getting my hopes up from medium to high again because of the decision to add development partners in support of what Marathon has done to date, and because the mayor is speaking optimistically about the lending.

It's not a perfect situation, but it looks a lot better than it has been looking.

I agree, i've been saying all along that the day Gadams drops this charade of doing this himself when he's obviously shown he's incapable and brings on deeper pockets to get it done, the chances shoot up. And sure enough, he could not find financing, despite his repeated claims to the contrary for 8 months (May - present) Thankfully it appears that some real development firms are going to attach themselves to this project and get the job done. vdogg is right, there's no need for confidentiality, especially if the deal is 'done'. I really wish we'd hear something not from Fraim, Burfoot or Gadams, because in regards to this project i wouldn't give you a nickel for their jaded and skewed observations towards this project. But hopefully we're getting back on track with the downgrading of Gadams/Marathon's role in this project. Combined with the fact that any lender would make Gadams pay the nearly $3 million in leins out of his pocket/profit for his stupidity (launching construction without financing) and with his reduced equity in this project, Gadams looks to be getting his long deserved just-desserts for this fiasco and Norfolk looks to be getting Granby Tower. I have far more faith in this project than i did yesterday.

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spiker3 Hamlet

spiker3

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So, given the history of Granby Tower and the state of the housing market in HR, what would attract an investment company to Granby Tower? Is this to be like the William Fuller deal with LTD?

A guaranteed check of $22 million on top of the already signed contracts/deposits would be a good start. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they signed for a 30 - 50% portion of this project given Gadams shaky financial history. It's probably what a financial institution would want in order to continue this project. Comparisons of Gadams to William Fuller are insulting to William Fuller, so it would be nothing like that situation. Whereas RLJ basically screwed the city of Norfolk and FulCo over, Gadams screwed over his prospective residents, the city and his three or four previous financiers.

Additionally, the housing market in HR is not 'that' bad, in comparison to Miami, San Fran, etc. Granted, homes/condos $350K+ are not moving as fast as they previously were, some are still moving. And if this project did get shored up with a development company, by the time this project gets going and finished (2011) the market should have stabilized to clear the excess inventory. Regardless, having an investment company makes it a win-win, Gadams loses out, we get Granby Tower.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Just passed by the site. Looks like they're dismantling/unbolting the last piece of tower crane. You know, it's awfully hard for me to take the city's recent comments at face value when equipment is still being removed from the site. Just once I would like the reality on the ground to match the rhetoric. If any deal has actually been made, and that's a big if, it appears that construction is still very far off. This is exactly why I remained so skeptical even after the recent spate of supposedly good news about this project. Lets just hope i'm wrong about this.

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Telmnstr Burg

Telmnstr

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Well someone doesn't have to worry about getting the telcos to move their trunks now! In the future there will hopefully be another tall building. But it could be 10+ years before the recent boom is worked out of the system.

In the mean time... perhaps a downtown Norfolk location of Jungle Golf or something. That would be cool.

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1966Mustang Crossroads

1966Mustang

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Here's some pics from March 5, 2008. The crane base is gone... The porta-potty kicked over in a storm... It doesn't look like anyone is manning the sumps... I think I saw a gator... I second the Jungle Golf.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10338575@N04/2312400361/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10338575@N04/2312400357/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10338575@N04/2312400351/

I thought it kinda funny that it took 4 guys 2 days to remove the nuts holding down the tower to the pad (16 maybe) and get it slinged up to the crane and onto the flatbed to haul it out...

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