Med Mart: Too Big to Fail?

Posted Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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With a price tag over $425 million in public money, some are saying the med mart project is just too big to fail. Revised plans that exclude the city's Public Auditorium have cast doubts on the developer's ability to deliver on promises. Meanwhile, county leaders are addressing new criticism of the project and trying to calm the concerns of officials at City Hall. Tuesday morning at 9, join us for a forum on the future of the Cuyahoga County's Convention Center and Med Mart.

Guests

Councilman Joe Cimperman Ward 13, City of Cleveland
Steven Litt architecture critic, The Plain Dealer
TBD

Please follow our community discussion rules when composing your comments.

Gary C. Noland 10:20 AM 11/17/09

Sounds kind of like the “monorail” episode of the Simpsons

Ryan 10:27 AM 11/17/09

How would a revised Med Mart plan impact the lakefront plan? Would plans for a new Amtrak station intersect with the Mall C plan? Could a new station and the Med Mart coexist?

Debra 10:42 AM 11/17/09

It seems once again Cleveland has been sold a fantasy. We were told how great this would be and how ready to go it was.... obviously not.

I also wonder if this change has been impacted by the recent Casino bill. It can’t believe two large developers would not be speaking.

Mark W. Schumann 6:30 PM 11/17/09

Same as I said on the show. There was actually more evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq than there is now for fifty medical conventions a year in Cleveland.

A bank wouldn’t lend you even a thousandth of that $425MM sum with the kind of due diligence MMPI and their boosters have done.

For Dan’s guests:

I will give you $60 for each medical convention held at the new facility in the first year it’s open, minus $1000. If that’s a negative number, you owe me. You break even if this makes even one third of the projections, and you clear 2:1 if the fifty conventions happen.

Do we have a deal? If not, why not? Joe, you said we have to take risks. Money where your mouth is.