Charlotte Knights AAA Ballpark in Third Ward

[monsoon]

The court case was never about the Knights. The court case contended that it was a violation of state law for the city and county to have made this property available, without any kind of competitive bidding or plans, to just one private individual/business. Most of it has been thrown out, but at least one of the arguments seems to be valid enough for the judge to let the case continue. Though I was against this project, so some will say I am biased, I think there is a point to be made and Reese has the right to have his case heard regardless of the financial state of the Knights.

[CharlotteDave]

I don't think the stadium is dead. All of the key players still act like they're confident it will eventually happen. Hugh Mccall was talking very confidently about it in a recent Observer article. You can also look at the fact the Knights are unwilling to make a long term commitment to stay in Ft. Mill.

[Spartan]

^And that York County is talking about not renewing their lease at the stadium. I'm assuming that they will, but they have been shopping around for new uses for the current stadium.

[HopHead]

^Yea, the way I look at it is that the Knights basically have 2 choices after this season (based on what York County is pursuing): 1) sign a long term lease to remain in Fort Mill or 2) move to a new stadium whether it's in uptown or elsewhere. I would imagine they *might* be able to do one more 1-year lease at the Castle while a new stadium is being built but that's probably it. I don't blame York County at all either. They want to move forward one way or the other and they have every right to do that. I just hope that the Knights are looking at other locations b/c Reese has been pretty firm that he won't back off with his lawsuits over the 3rd ward site.

[monsoon]

Sigh.... This has nothing to with Reese at this point. The Knights can't get financing, and the county has pulled the funding for the improvements, so it's dead. I know the uptown interests continue to tout this plan but IMO, it's to do the switcheroo thing and get even more public money thrown at the project since the Knights can't even pay for the stadium they promised. If Hugh McColl wants baseball, why doesn't he take his fortune to build it?

That bait and switch plan would have probably worked, just as it did with the doubling of the price of the Nascar museum, except the minor problem of the economy going into free fall. I think there is still a mass denial of it. It's hard to for politicians to justify paying for baseball when they are laying off hundreds of teachers and talking about increasing taxes just to meet ends meet. I suspect there might be more attempts to get the government to pay more of the bills, and I predict there will be a lot of outrage when if and when it happens.

[HopHead]

Actually, Reese is one of the reasons its not moving forward b/c he's still fighting battles in court over this land swap: Uptown Land Swap. While yes, the county has pulled the funding for the road improvements that were supposed to be a part of the deal it's not the only thing holding this up. That's why I think the Knights just need to look for a new site near uptown for a stadium, if that's where they still want to be, b/c too many things are going against that 3rd ward site at this point.

[monsoon]

^Maybe you can get the guy who wrote that news article, an opinion since it cites no evidence, to come here and argue for you. Sure it's being parroted by the local media that Reese is the cause of this. Nothing new about this.

[tozmervo]

First, what evidence do you have that the article is an opinion? A lack of footnotes? Except for a couple of connotative words, its reads factually to me.

Second, why would Reese still be in court with this thing spending a great deal of his own money if the stadium was dead because of a infrastructure pullout?

[monsoon]

^I explained that above. Maybe you didn't read it.

[uptownliving]

I'm not sure where the rumors of Mecklenburg backing out of the Infrastructure Deal for the Kinghts Stadium in 3rd Ward are coming from...but the fact is...that infrastructure deal is still active and valid. The deal is that the Knights would pay for the infrastructure up front and then Mecklenburg would reimburse them through tax credits.

Edited April 11, 2009 by uptownliving

[monsoon]

I'm not sure where the rumors of Mecklenburg backing out of the Infrastructure Deal for the Kinghts Stadium in 3rd Ward are coming from....

Let's see...

• .

[*]From Knights general manager, Dan Rajkowski....

[uptownliving]

Let's see...

• .
  
• The county has suspended all capital projects that have not already started, including the money for this infrastructure project, is now gone.
  

This is all stuff that has already been discussed here and documented. I think if there is a rumor, it's that there might be a valid plan to keep it going.

This infrastructure agreement with the Knights is still valid. It doesn't matter that the county has suspended capital projects because the infrastructure around the proposed stadium is not a County project....it is a Knights project....they are the ones fronting the money for the infrastructure...not Mecklenburg County.

Seems to me you are confusing the 3rd Ward Park...which is a County project ...with the Knights baseball stadium which is not funded by the County.

[DMann]

Let's see, Monsoon, if'n you are going to attribute a quote to a county commissioner, perhaps you can identify Bill James instead of pretending that it is a statement from all the commissioners.

[monsoon]

Let's see, Monsoon, if'n you are going to attribute a quote to a county commissioner, perhaps you can identify Bill James instead of pretending that it is a statement from all the commissioners.

No pretense. I meant to put his name in there but accidentally deleted it when doing the tags in that post. Note that it isn't plural. Why don't you actually address what is posted instead of wasting your effort on trying to discredit the the person making the post. I assume you don't really have anything relevant to add to this topic otherwise.

Oh well, I waste my time as usual. If you guys want to believe it will be built that is your business. I posted why I think otherwise and have backed up everything that I have said.

[Windsurfer]

I guess Reese has suffered a setback in his lawsuit re the land swap. Looks like his suits were thrown out: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/707470.html

[uptownliving]

Yep...add that to the long 2 year list of court cases that Reese has lost. Every case he has filed against the local government regarding the baseball deal has bene thrown out or denied. He hasn't won anything....and yet he continues. How many times does Reese have to be told "No" before he gets it?

[kickazzz2000]

Yep...add that to the long 2 year list of court cases that Reese has lost. Every case he has filed against the local government regarding the baseball deal has bene thrown out or denied. He hasn't won anything....and yet he continues. How many times does Reese have to be told "No" before he gets it?

lol maybe he is just filing case after case waiting for charlotte to grow into major league status....

[HopHead]

I hope that the Knights have been wise and started looking at alternative sites to the 3rd Ward location. I'm pretty much of the opinion now that Reese won't stop throwing away his money and wasting the court's time.

Edited May 6, 2009 by dbull75

[monsoon]

I hope that the Knights have been wise ......

They have said they don't have the financing to build the stadium. Hence this deal is dead regardless of Reese.

[HopHead]

They have said they don't have the financing to build the stadium. Hence this deal is dead regardless of Reese.

A new stadium is not dead... The Knights themselves have said they will wait until the fall to address the ballpark. Hence, it's alive... Why else would Reese continue to appeal?

[monsoon]

....Why else would Reese continue to appeal?

Explained above.

[tiblerbrit]

It's sad that someone like Reese can't use his talents to help needy people in the city by doing some meaningful pro-bono work. In the grand scheme of things this isn't a very important issue to spend so much time and money on. One lawsuit maybe, but not indefinitely.

[HopHead]

In the latest round, Jerry Reese has gone down again in his lawsuits... This was related to a deal between Spectrum properties and land in 2nd ward. He's apparently going to appeal this decision too. He also has a 6th lawsuit in Wake County. What's amazing to me is that the guy is 0-5 in his lawsuits but he just keeps chugging along. At some point he has to throw in the towel (one would think). In other ballpark related news the Knights plan to renegotiation their loan offer that expired in January at the end of the season... So, my guess is that we won't hear anything from the Knights until at least September unless they look at another site (which I think would be the best bet at this point).

[Eastman]

In the latest round, Jerry Reese has gone down again in his lawsuits... This was related to a deal between Spectrum properties and land in 2nd ward. He's apparently going to appeal this decision too. He also has a 6th lawsuit in Wake County. What's amazing to me is that the guy is 0-5 in his lawsuits but he just keeps chugging along. At some point he has to throw in the towel (one would think). In other ballpark related news the Knights plan to renegotiation their loan offer that expired in January at the end of the season... So, my guess is that we won't hear anything from the Knights until at least September unless they look at another site (which I think would be the best bet at this point).

He is a lawyer, so I guess this cost him very little, but is there not something on the books that says "Ok Reese, this is it, your last appeal." I mean this could go on forever, could it not? Also I believe it was over the weekend A lady wrote an editorial with the same idea as Monsoon had on putting the park on the Eastland site. Not my first choice, Im just say'in if you want to help all sectors of the city.........

[monsoon]

He is a lawyer, so I guess this cost him very little, but is there not something on the books that says "Ok Reese, this is it, your last appeal." I mean this could go on forever, could it not? ...

It can go on as long at the court system agrees to listen to an appeal. A higher court will accept an appeal when they feel the case in lower court was not handled properly or the decision was not in line with the laws or constitution. Ultimately he has the right, under our Constitution, to take it to the Supreme Ct. However it is unlikely it would ever get that far as it become ever increasingly difficult to convince the higher courts that your case has any merit.

If you take a case to court and lose but a higher court decides that maybe your case does have merit, would you not want to have them hear it? I think it is unreasonable to think that most would not do this.

.......So, my guess is that we won't hear anything from the Knights until at least September unless they look at another site (which I think would be the best bet at this point).

What in, they don't have any money to build a new stadium, do you not believe? Have they made a different statement on the matter. The actual quote from the general manager on this is posted above. The county has also walked away from it's part of this project. It says it will not fund any capital project that has already not started for the next 16 months. They have also taken the money that was alloted to this project and moved it elsewhere. This was also posted above.