Gahan taking notes as "Landmarks Commission denies petition to grant historic status to Water Company building."

Louisville's money-fluffing greaseball Ed Glasscock is one of the single most unctuous fucks I've ever encountered on the local scene.

Another purely "negative" report on Thursday's Bridges Unauthority meeting.

From yesterday's Landmarks Commission meeting (link below):

Speaking against the petition was local attorney Ed Glasscock, who said the current building “is simply out of place at this site, and to force it to remain in the middle of the Omni Hotel development is indefensible.” Glasscock said such a move would “waste a golden opportunity to substantially advance our city,” adding the hotel would create jobs, “attract upscale tourists to our bourbon capital,” and add a “top-level grocery.”

Glasscock added that “it’s unfortunate that a few citizens feel that they can dictate what Louisville’s downtown should be.”

Quoting a comment at IL: "That was intended as irony, right?"

More to the point:

Responding to the criticism of her petition, (Martina) Kunnecke condemned the Fischer administration — and those preceding it — for abandoning preservation and the needs of downtown residents, and only serving the interests of high-end tourists.

“Unfortunately, we have been held captive by not one, but two administrations that don’t necessarily speak the truth on (historic preservation) matters, or at least their actions bely their words,” said Kunnecke. “Our agenda is to stop placating backroom deals. Our agenda is to really honor our history and our heritage, and help our community recognize that we go beyond bourbon. We have fabulous history in this community, and we keep tearing down every vestige of it.”

Just remember: Jeff Gahan venerates ... adores ... idolizes Greg Fischer. Did you really think Gahan is clever enough to conjure his demolition-first template from thin air?

If so, Jeff has some corporate welfare -laced Reaganomics to sell you.

Landmarks Commission denies petition to grant historic status to Water Company building, paving way for full demolition of Omni Hotel block, by Joe Sonka (Insider Louisville)

By a vote of 6 to 3 on Thursday, the Metro Historic Landmarks and Preservation Districts Commission rejected a petition to designate the 105-year old former headquarters of the Louisville Water Company as a local historic landmark, widely seen as the last potential roadblock to a full demolition of the downtown block where the proposed $289 million Omni Hotel project would stand.

The petition with over 200 signatures was filed at the last minute in September by Martina Kunnecke of the group Neighborhood Planning and Preservation, to the chagrin of officials in Mayor Greg Fischer’s administration, who say they plan to dismantle and store the facade of the Colonial Revival-style building. Preservationists had wanted at least the facade of the building incorporated into the Omni project, but the developers rejected that idea, noting that Omni’s contract with the city required that all structures on the block be cleared.

Greg Fischer announces major brewery deal for Louisville and is praised as visionary by Jeff Gahan.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has announced a multi-billion dollar agreement with AB-InBev to build its new Goose Island brewery in downtown Louisville.

The marquee project, to be financed with TIF bonds other than those already exhausted by the Yum Center's perpetual drain, includes luxury apartments, state of the art wi-fi, dorm fridges and a rooftop bocce ball complex.

"What's good for the Goose is good for the gander," crowed Fischer. "The ripple effect of this deal puts Louisville on the international brewing map by partnering with the acknowledged world leader in brewing portfolio diversification."

Fischer's thirst-quenching plan provides AB-InBev with brand exclusivity within a one-mile radius of the building site, which must be cleared of all superfluous historic structures before the zoning review is completed.

Existing independent Louisville breweries within this mile radius will be compelled to sell their  equipment, labels and assets to Goose Island, which as Fischer noted in the press conference, "Just makes it easier for those wonderful  guys, so they can they can get up and running and putting some of that wonderful world-class beer into barrels, because that's so Kentuckian of them."

"You can really start to feel the enormous transformation that's a going on in our downtown and how it's so good for entertainment and business in the state in so many different areas," Fischer said. as he cradled an ice-cold Shock Top.

---

Yes, the preceding is satire. Just be aware that if the same standards Fischer applies to "economic development" matters like the Omni Hotel were to guide his decisions on local beer, then you would not be reading this story by Sara Havens in Insider Louisville.

Mayor introduces Lou’s Brew, boasts about the city’s bicycle initiative and plans a party

In Louisville as well as New Albany, "Municipal and mega-business moguls fornicate first and get acquainted later."

Even before Greg Fischer's Omni sellout, NAC had been tracking the Louisville mayor's ongoing deterioration.

Irv still nutzoid, and Gilderbloom's research wasted on New Albany -- and Greg Fischer, for that matter.

A visual Fischer goes full Gahan on the ad hoc demolition of historic properties.

Jeff Gahan texts Greg Fischer: "OMG, the CJ called, LOL."

Jeff Gahan and local Democrats tout purely Orwellian "preservation by demolition" theories filched from Greg Fischer.

The higher ranking the New Albany "Democrat," the loftier his or her admiration for Fischer and Walt Disney. While we can dismiss the Disney fetish as simple bad taste, their are serious implications for Fischer emulations, such as the "tinkle down" corporate welfare encapsulation of the Coyle site apartment project.

Some of Fischer's allies are moving toward the exits. Expect the same in New Albany.

The anti-climactic Omni orgy, by Steve Shaw (LEO Weekly)

... Welcome to the Bonobo Republic of Louisville, where municipal and mega-business moguls fornicate first and get acquainted later. By all appearances, Mayor Fischer gave Omni carte blanche to do whatever they wanted despite a public investment of $139 million, nearly half of the project’s price tag.

A visual Fischer goes full Gahan on the ad hoc demolition of historic properties.

Dear Louisville

Been there, done that. Jeff Gahan personally inspected the historic tavern building at 922 Culbertson, then rejected subsequent evidence that didn't jibe with his "professional" opinion as a former salesman of veneer products. The building came down. Palms were greased. Coffey got his rocks off, and now the site is being monetized for campaign finance.

Signed ... the Hood

PS -- If anyone sees our council person, can you let us know? 

---

Tonight is the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, when Greg Fischer and Jeff Gahan will take the stage to trade yarns about those dumbass preservationists. You see, Gahan wanna Omni, too, and why not learn from the best?

We discussed it last October.

ON THE AVENUES: Now on tap at the ghost of Haughey’s Place: The politics of pure spite.

... With the mayor having conceded moments after the demolition that a mysterious, secret infill “plan” was in place all along, and with the very existence of this unrevealed plan neatly explaining the city’s ongoing reluctance to clearly explicate the building’s presumed decay – again, other than to insist that the same “public safety” concerns currently unenforced on hazardous one-way streets pressingly applied to this one, lone building sans any semblance of due diligence – it is obvious that Sekula made the error of fatally intruding into what was, in effect, a finished deal, one done dirt cheap in timeless and enduring New Albany civic fashion.

Regime. Change. Now.

Metro didn’t require engineering report before demolition of buildings at Omni site, by Stephen George (Insider Louisville)

By declaring the buildings an immediate safety risk, Metro avoided a lengthy public approval process that includes a one-week notice of intent to demolish, public review and input, and an additional mandatory review for any building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, such as the Morrissey Garage. That process applies to all private developers working on historic sites or structures.

Mayor Greg Fischer told IL on Wednesday he is comfortable with the conclusions drawn about the buildings, which stood on the site of the biggest economic development project in downtown Louisville’s history. He said he visited and personally examined the buildings and was concerned they could collapse, threatening public safety.

“I understood the importance of that decision. I went in those buildings myself, and I saw the state of disrepair they were in as well,” he said. “I saw that also there was a homeless camp inside there. What I did not want to see is those buildings collapse with people inside them, people being killed.

“So unfortunately these buildings couldn’t be saved, and that’s why they needed to come down,” he continued. “As I said, I checked it out myself as well, and I understand a verbal engineering report told us that’s what had to happen.”

Gahan casts covetous eyes toward Fischer's Omni deal, summoning Maalox the Younger to incentivize SOMETHING intrinsically non-local.

When Daniel Borsch posted a link to the C-J's story about the Omni Hotel project, he added this comment.

I was under the impression that the $150,000,000.00 renovation of the convention center was going to generate millions in revenue for the city thanks to all the huge conventions that are going to flock to town. If that is the case, why do we need to subsidize a luxury hotel to the tune of another $139,000,000.00 (48% of the project cost) to make it financially feasible practically next door? And we wonder why we can't pave our streets and are broke.

There ensued a substantive discussion.

JeffG: It's a great time to be a corporate player in Louisville under a mayor as fully committed to trickle-down economic theory as Reagan ever was-- the same guy who thinks $10 an hour is too much for labor thinks this is fantastic.

MarkC: Guess it's just me, but if I financed 48% of a for-profit business, I would want something approaching 48% of the profit or my money back plus interest. I never claimed to be good at this business thingy.

JeffG: Aww, Mark. You take all the fun out of public-private partnerships-- public expense, private reward. You'd make a lousy lobbyist.

Given that New Albany's mayor (a) prefers backroom deals out of public view, (b) maintains an economic development director eager to incentivize the sort of entities that usually don't need it, and (c) photobombs Greg Fischer whenever possible ... well, there may be something to learn from the Omni giveaway.

Unprecedented Omni deal would restrict Metro in future projects, by Stephen George (Insider Louisville)

The deal Mayor Greg Fischer announced this week to bring a 30-story, 600-room Omni hotel tower downtown would add a new skyscraper to the city skyline for the first time since 1993, help attract tourism and other economic activity to downtown Louisville, and provide welcome relief for a Central Business District increasingly desperate for hotel rooms.

It also would impose unprecedented limits on Metro’s ability to make certain large-scale economic development deals in the coming years while requiring the city to work on Omni’s behalf in ways it has not done before for a private entity. And if the city’s financing scheme for the project’s public costs were to fail, taxpayers would be left footing the bill ...

You see, there's this pesky non-compete clause ...

 ... However, for the first time, this deal also limits the city in future development projects that are similar to Omni. Under its agreement with Omni, Metro government would be barred from participating in any other projects in excess of 400 rooms and within a 1-mile radius of the Omni’s footprint unless the incentives it provides are worth less than $10 million — a pittance to the high-profile deals that have come to define parts of downtown.

In effect, with Omni’s projected open date in 2018, the provision would prevent Metro from subsidizing any new hotel development in the heart of the city — or in support of an expanded convention center — for the next 10 years ...

 ... the provision has irked some local developers, whom IL granted anonymity to speak freely because of the sensitive nature of their business. They told IL the non-compete clause would needlessly prevent future opportunities without offering city government any real benefit. 

The crux of it:

They also worry Metro is focusing its economic development efforts on big projects like Omni to the exclusion of locally driven, smaller-scaled investments that could better prioritize livability and quality of life downtown. And without the ability to help finance new downtown hotels near an expanded convention center, they said Metro might find itself bereft at key points down the line.

To repeat, in bigger letters:

(fill in name of city) focusing its economic development efforts on big projects ... to the exclusion of locally driven, smaller-scaled investments that could better prioritize livability and quality of life downtown.

That's my point. Not only that, but from the perspective of Jeff "922 Culbertson" Gahan's demolition fetish, the Omni deal also provides Fischer with the opportunity to level historic structures.

Envy. It's contagious.