Jordan has the Talking Points for White People requested for Deena Hayes.

Here's the rub: this is a math problem, not a racial issue.

Last time I checked, Randall Kaplan and George House were white. I'm a lot more interested in finding out how much cash they can pull out of this deal than I am in their skin tone.

Anybody who begrudges Alston and Hayes their economic interest in the hotel project on the basis of race is an asshole.

Objecting to Alston and Hayes playing the race card to obscure their economic interests in the project, and to Alston using his political muscle to advance a project for which he gets paid, is fair game.

Everyone understands that Quaintance and Weaver have an economic interest in this debate. Pointing that out is not racist, either, but it doesn't undermine their request for transparency.

As I've said before, I'd love to see a great new downtown hotel. Show me the numbers that justify this project, and I'm a cheerleader.

Black ownership? Great.

From my upcoming column: "[The issue of] economic justice for all people  is very real, and one that became a major concern of Martin Luther King, Jr., as basic civil rights became law."

But: "Unfounded charges of racism are not just unfair, they give cover to racists and people who want to pretend for political reasons that race is no longer a factor in American life."

Comments

[Sedge]

Couldn't have articulated my own views on this subject any better- thanks Ed!

[Sedge]

Total assessed value of Empire Room property and parking garage behind is about $3.7 million. Keep in mind that a broker gets paid their commission based on a percentage of the selling price. So normally the buyer's broker would balk at $12.5 million because it is 4x the assessed value of this property, not to mention the state of our economy right now. But, when nobody really has their own money invested and is playing with federal bond money, who cares if the price is high? Obviously not Skip Alston because he gets a bigger cut.

[Mick]

I know nothing of commercial real estate. But I do know the assessed values have zero relation to market value.

[DeSean Alston]

Good article.

[Tim]

WFMY is already building the case for needing the hotel. There is an article on the website talking about the tourism dollars and attracting 200,000 people the first years. Then the article mention people staying in hotels.

[Tim]

btw the article was making a refernce to the Civil Rights Museum

[Abner Doon]

Unfortunately, the proposed hotel will miss the intitial influx of visitors to downtown Greensboro.

btw, a large portion of the expected visitors are to arrive on school buses from local educational systems.

Not that there is conflict of interest between a school board member serving on the board of the museum and cash flow.

[Tim]

actually there are national bus tours from across the country that will come to the Civil Rights Museum. I think people are going to underestimate the museum's impact. Some of those bus tours have already through even though the museum was still under construction.

[Sedge]

Market values are very close to assessed values for commercial properties right now. So say you are generous and place the assessed value at $4.5 million for that entire corner, add $2 million for empire room business, and another $2 mil above assessed value and you're at $8.5- still $4 mil less than supposed $12.5 they'll be paid.

[Mick]

Perhaps some are and some are not. Tax assessment is mass appraisal and has nothing to do with true market value even when recent much less when years old and after what we have been through and what is till going on. Lenders dont give a hoot what your tax value is.

That 3.7 could be off in either direction by enormous dollar amounts.

[Sedge]

Actually, this information is based specifically on market values in downtown Greensboro for commercial properties in the past 6 months to a year, and they are not far off from assessed values, or at least market value is not 3x more than assessed value right now. But the point about the value of the property is just one issue among many that make this deal questionable - Ed's post above does a pretty darn good job of describing many people's concerns and interests, including my own.

[Sedge]

What's interesting about Alston's response to Mike Weaver is the fact that Alston and Skip Moore of Weaver Foundation are registered agents for Museum Landlord, LLC which just purchased the ICRCM/old Woolworth building from somebody - would that be Skip Alston and Earl Jones whose nonprofit bought it in 1995 for $700k and sold it to this group for $13 million only 3 months ago? Obviously they have worked together to make the Civil Rights Museum a reality, so why the threats and such over this public records request?

[Spag]

"Unfounded charges of racism are not just unfair, they give cover to racists and people who want to pretend for political reasons that race is no longer a factor in American life."

So I take it you are now willing to admit that you were wrong to a large degree and that David Wray was unfairly tarred by Mitch Johnson and others, right Ed?

[Ed Cone]

I published a newspaper column in 2007 saying that Wray is not a racist, and that he "deserves to have that part of the record made clear," so an admission now would be a bit anti-climactic.

[Spag]

Not quite Ed- I don't recall you ever taking it to those who falsely accused him. That seems to be the premise of your quote.