Oregon Live article This is 1/3 of the total cost, and there was already uncertainty about how to raise the funds when the gap was supposedly $15 million. Doesn't look too good for Portland right now.
this is NOT correct. the funding gap is 15 million, the other 11 million they are talking about is the 11.8 or so that paulson agreed to finance by private measures (ie his own pocket or outside sources). this article is just trying to stir the pot, there is no new information from this. everything they say has already been known since the 3-2 vote last month. portland is fine, the money will be found somehow.
very well, I'll defer to the locals who have been following this. I've got to stop reading fieldofschemes.com This post es presentado por Pepsi Mundo
Not only that, the $31 million in bonds are also at risk. In this market, it's not a given that they could be sold. The whole Portland thing is pretty shaky right now. Hopefully this isn't another Cleveland.
Here is an article that talks about the timeline: http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=123801683114688900
Couple things to keep in mind: - The article is not referencing any new information - situation is as it was after vote. - The article was incorrect about the size of the gap - it is $10-15m - Everybody knew the bonds needed to be sold, nothing new here - The same paper published the "Portland Bid on Hold" 1 day before the announcement Just to summarize, there is work to be done, everybody knows that, but the Portland bid is no further away from reality today than it was on March 20th, the day Garber announced the expansion decision in Portland.
Here's a quote from City council member in this very same article regarding the timeline. "“We’re going to do it,” said Leonard."
I have photos from the press conference (during MLS Cup 2003 week) announcing that MLS would be expanding to Cleveland in 2005. You'd have to ask Paul Garofolo, who was still a league VIP as late as the BMO Field opener in 2007, how far he and Wolstein got.
Yeah that's a nice article and gives a lot of background on Randy, which is why I believe that when he says someting is going to happen, it will actually happen.
There were a couple of articles referencing eachother and the same speculation. I consider those pretty much the same source. I hope two articles referencing eachother wasn't the other source you would think would add new validity to this? But yes, there are other sources like the article that quotes Sam Adams saying these questions are typical for a project at this stage and Randy Leonard saying it will get done. Then there's the off-the record conversations that MLStoPDX folks have with Paulson and Council members as well. You're right though, those additional sources are important because they help Portland MLS fans sleep well at night knowing that the issue isn't any near as dire as some BigSoccer posters would like to portray it as.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/oldtown/2009/03/pesky_thing_money.html I think Larry Norton's knee is jerking. Is he a conservative blogger, Portlanders? I can't tell for sure, but he sounds like one. Another article: http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/03...bligated-to-fill-the-15-million-funding-hole/ And an interesting comment: Is this true? Anyone closer to the ground care to clarify? I was under the impression that Paulson guaranteed to pay back the bonds, and that was a big reason why the deal was such a good one for the city.
Yea Paulson did guaranteed to pay back the bonds from what i heard and i was following what was going on in portland.
Not Paulson did not guarantee to pay back the bonds, BUT HE DID guarantee to pay back the bonds if the funding measures put in place to pay back the bonds didn't work out. He said the bond payments are guaranteed whether 1 person or 20,000 shows up to the matches. Those are his exact words.
Ah, okay. I think I understand. Technically the commenter is correct, because there is no legal language in any of the agreements yet that says he will back the bonds. But Paulson has given his personal guarantee that he will back the bonds if the city doesn't come through. Is this correct, Marquis?
Merritt Paulson is adamant that he will not fund the $15 million gap. Randy Leonard seems confident that the city will figure something out. Dan Saltzman says the city isn't responsible, and he is the swing vote. The zero-coupon bonds are going to be a hard sell in this market. There will be another vote on April 15th to approve the pre-development agreement. Anybody have an idea how that will go?
Haven't you read the most recent articles in the O? Paul, you need to do better research because you don't really demonstrate much of an understanding of the situation.
Can you post links to said articles? If it's the same articles that have already been posted to this thread, then I think I summed things up alright. Feel free to add any additional information that I missed. Thanks.