Quote:
|
“We told them two years ago the challenge with this site … The business case only makes sense if you can fully build it out at very high density. An arena sucks up a huge (piece) of land, leaving a lot less to pay back a CRL (community revitalization levy).”
|
This is what the Flames need to address. They can't just say 'well, the City is going to have to develop this land anyway, so we're not asking to do anything special.' They most certainly
are asking the City to do something special. They're asking the city to raise a $250 million levy far sooner than the City intended to, and putting a sports complex in the space will mean less return (or a much longer return period) on that levy. The Flames have to provide some kind of incentive or compensation to the City for accepting a much less attractive West Village plan, in timing and the return on investment, than the City's own studies recommended.