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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Owners of downtown Rowe building seeking federal loan to keep project on track
by Joe Lawlor | The Flint Journal
Monday December 22, 2008, 10:32 AM
FLINT, Michigan -- Owners of the future Rowe Inc. building in downtown are asking for a lifeline from the federal government to keep the project from stalling.
The project to renovate several South Saginaw Street structures into one office building suffered a major setback when a wall collapsed in August 2007. And the cost of the project ballooned from $13 million to $20 million.
The developer is asking for a $3.3 million loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Without it or some other funding source, the project would be in jeopardy, said Phil Shaltz, a partner for Uptown Developments, which owns the building that will house Rowe.
"It's critical that we get this funding," Shaltz said.
Shaltz said the HUD loan would be for 20 years, and likely would be at a lower interest rate than could be found on the market. He said securing financing in the private market is difficult due to the weak economy.
"It's hard to get money for a car loan right now, never mind something like this," Shaltz said.
The Flint City Council this week voted to allow Uptown to apply for the loan.
"I didn't want to see this project fail," said Councilman Scott Kincaid.
Shaltz said with that hurdle cleared, Uptown has a "pretty good chance" to secure funding.
Once the building is completed next spring or summer, about 110 Rowe employees would move in and Rowe would pay rent to Uptown. Eight loft apartments also are being constructed.
The loan also needs the approval of Mayor Don Williamson, who said he is "100 percent" in favor of it.
"Look at what Uptown has done for this city," Williamson said. "They are a first-class operation. I'm with them all the way."
Earlier this year, Williamson had expressed opposition to tax breaks for Uptown, but he ultimately reversed course and approved the incentives.
John Matonich, president and chief executive officer of Rowe, said the company believes the new financing plan "makes sense."
"Hindsight being crystal clear, many folks would have advocated building a new building rather than renovation," Matonich said. "But once it's done, it will be a beautiful new building in downtown."
If all goes well, employees would move into their new downtown offices about two years after they were originally scheduled to move in. The company moved from Mundy Township to the Genesee Business Center in Flint last year as a temporary location while waiting for the new building to be completed.
Matonich said despite the cost overruns the lease with Uptown remains the same. He declined to reveal how much Rowe would pay Uptown to lease the building.
Plans to revitalize downtown are ongoing despite the downturn in the economy. Downtown has recently seen the completion of the new Wade Trim and Community Foundation of Greater Flint buildings. Berridge Place apartments, the former Berridge Hotel, has also been renovated, and Shaltz said he expects two new downtown restaurants will be announced in January.
"We're still seeing some pretty good momentum downtown," Shaltz said.
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:26 pm |
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back again
F L I N T O I D
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7 million buck "loan" because a 100 year old wall collapsed???
you gotta be kidding me. i'm sure the structural architech had
insurance right....boy oh boy, sounds like a used car salesman
complete with a plaid sportscoat. 
council should have approved a request for a "loan" to beautify
the properties in the city to sell........flint politics  |
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Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:02 pm |
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strattonsigns
F L I N T O I D
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| ahhh the bailout finally gets to Flint......should the management of these companies that fail be kind enough to divulge their compensation package? Insurance should have covered this loss...not a Federal loan...Did Anyone ask if there was insurance on the project and if the insurance company paid for the loss? |
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Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:14 pm |
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munnbreslin
F L I N T O I D
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| I emailed Scott Whipple at Uptown when I read this and he said that funding is secured from multiple sources. Nothing to worry about. If you want to know the real stories contact the people themselves. |
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Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:08 am |
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JustinZ
F L I N T O I D
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weird that uptown would need funding, I mean shouldn't they have tons of revenue from all those buildings they were damn-near given?
while it will for sure be better when it's done -because anything is better than a half finished project in the heart of downtown- this will just be another standing monument of the half-assed planning and bigger-then-they're-ready-for ideas that have plagued the downtown scene since it first started to crumble.....but the new college kids won't know theses stories,and neither will the next wave of "urban pioneers" who come to stake a claim...so the cycle will continue.
and that thought alone helps me realize why most people who try to pay attention, or participate in any legitimate way in downtown either end up jaded, bankrupt, or just move on.
as you may be able to tell, I lean more towards the jaded side... |
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Tue Dec 23, 2008 3:38 am |
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strattonsigns
F L I N T O I D
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| Now now Justin why would you feel jaded about the leadership in Flint? |
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Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:41 pm |
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back again
F L I N T O I D
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| barnum & baily investments. |
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Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:41 pm |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Well, all I can say is we need this development to move forward, lets all hope it does for Downtown Flint's sake..
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:55 am |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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| Why is it necessary for the Flint City Council and Flint Mayor to approve their
application to HUD
for this loan? What is it they're not telling us? |
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Thu Dec 25, 2008 9:30 am |
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back again
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every project, engineer, architect and contractor is insured. this is an
obvious attempt at grabbing free pork which is meant to benefit the
american public, NOT rich businesspeople. it stinks to high heaven.i agree with ryan that the project needs completion, but damn, i'd rather my
tax money be used effectively and fairly as intended.  |
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Thu Dec 25, 2008 1:22 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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Excellent Points there Mr. Back Again.
First off there was an engineer that told them before the project began 'Not to attempt to tie into the walls for structural support.' 'The old bricks in the walls could not be trusted to support the weight of the new structure.' Seems funny after the wall came down they are now rebuilding it the way they were told from the begining. Hmmm, Now, Just like back again mentioned. The project should have been insured? Should we hold a fund raiser and help them?
As to why the City Council had to vote on the loan. It is because of where the money is coming from. They want to use money that comes to Flint in the form od a HUD Grant for low income families to build and update homes. 108 or 109 funding. I'm not an expert. I just remmember from the meeting Carolyn not wanting to vote to give money to already weathly developers from money slated to help the poor. I felt she made some really good common sense. I also wondered what happended to the insurance money that they sould have had on the developement when the Walls came down.
I tend to think they were taking a gamble that the walls might not come down. however, in retrospect. I am thinking they were hoping it would. That way they could plead and beg for more monies from sources they wouldn't normally get it. But the last is just my opinion. |
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Thu Dec 25, 2008 6:21 pm |
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back again
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| i'll just be damned....what is dayne saying about this travesty of justice? |
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Thu Dec 25, 2008 9:20 pm |
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