[East Beltline Developments]

i just heard from someone that D&W is almost finished being built, and that Changs is slated for construction sometime in the near future. is this true or is smoke being blown up my @$$ as usual

True, D&W is almost finished. But other than that Benner has no one else signed on to the project. No PF Changs, No walgreens, no Kohls, no bed bath and beyond, no crate and barrel, nothing. Keep in mind D&W has nothing to do with Benner. They bought that lot them selves and did it all on their own.

[East Beltline Developments]

The Village of Orchard Hills developers are different, and built a pretty nice lifestyle center in the suburbs of Detroit. Last I heard though, they were selling off some of the property. Anybody know anything about this project? They used to keep their website, http://www.thevooh.com/ updated frequently but there hasn't been an update in over a year.

Joe

Right now Village of Orchard hills is a "dead project" Infeld (BDR) is trying to sell off some property. If the project does happen (3-5yrs from now) it will be about 200,000 sqft instead of the 400,000+ sqft they where planning on.

[East Beltline Developments]

It's purely a negotiating tactic. He's just building his case for potential failure down the road. He knows the city wants (and is requiring) the project to be finished in a timely manner. When it doesn't get finished in a timely manner, he can point to his driveway denial as evidence that the city was to blame for it.

I'd like to call PFChang's and see how much of their business relies on Walgreen's spinoff traffic. (I can hear the guffaws now).

Benner is going to run into more trouble with the PF Chang's site. Their site plan shows the building facing the Beltline. and not in towards the village. He has sold this thing as a lifestyle center but now as he moves forward he is going to develop this like all his other properties on Alpine: a strip mall. The city has already voiced their displeasure about this to benner, but i think he is going to bring the plan forward to the commission anyways.

[East Beltline Developments]

So what's the latest with Orchard Hills? It's been pretty quiet thus far...

on hold, at least for now. They are trying to sell off some land to create some cash flow. It will never be the 400,000 sqft it was first going to be maybe 200,000 sqft if it ever gets off the ground.

[East Beltline Developments]

Nope, there's new equipment there. I watched some of it arrive. There's also a new Lamar construction trailer sitting by the house on Knapp that wasn't there before. There were also about 30 cars there the other day.

Benner, Lamar, and Spartan closed on the deal late last night and early this morning.

[East Beltline Developments]

I was going to say the same thing. Someone seems a bit close to this project. I've certainly given Benner a lot of grief on here, but I don't want to see them fail.

I never said i wanted him to fail. I want this project to happen, i think it would be great for west mi. forgive me for not believing the guy when he says he has financing, even if it is "creative financing," given the economic conditions we are in right now.

[East Beltline Developments]

Going from memory...the applicant had been charged with showing "substantial progress" by Sept. That's described in some previous BZA minutes (at home on my table, and I am DT)...included curb & gutter, cache basin, other site improvements. Running out of time; that was mid-June.

Last week at the meeting, the applicant was singing the economy blues. They have managed to do some creative financing; the Spartan store will be covering the costs of its own improvements. My fellow BZA members would like to avoid granting another extension. The previous one preceded my tenure (three meetings so far) on the panel.

HTH

with this guy having one of the worst reputations in town i would not believe a word he says. Yes both D&W, and PF Chang are ready, but benner has no money to complete the project. Yes they are trying to come up with "creative financing" but he has not been successful in that venture so far. He is still working at it. Will he be successful? Its anyone's guess.

[East Beltline Developments]

Lamar Construction trailer on site now. I wonder if the PF Chang is going in during the first phase?

I know PF Chang has always wanted that site, as do a lot of people, but from what i heard Benner only has spartan stores signed on to the project, and he is out of money, and can't get access to his bank money. Spartan is getting ready to walk if things don't change soon.