BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The hulking giant on Asylum Street known as "The XL Center" has a future - in what form that will be, remains to be seen. The just started special legislative session saw a proposal presented to capital fund the building for two more years. That process will start The XL Center's road to salvation, or to perdition, beginning with the Finance committee. CRDA Executive Director, Mike Freimuth, is more hopeful and optimistic than he was eight or nine months ago. ‘We have had two extremes, people who want an XL with all the bells and whistles, and those who want to line up the bulldozers on Asylum Street. There is a middle ground, so to speak, here. I think the close-the-building option if you can call it that, is a non-starter. People recognize all the housing work underway in-and-around the XL Center and future development plans in Hartford that are starting or in the developing phase would be harmed adversely by that move. We can’t go backward and just give up." The just started legislative special session Freimuth feels might yield some positive results based on his talks with Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) that a way forward is beginning. “We believe there is a package of $20 million in each of the next two years that is the concept right now. Have we seen the paperwork or have an ironclad agreement on this? No. However, I remain hopeful something will come out of this process to advance this, the reboot of the XL forward,” remarked Freimuth. A long-time legislative source thinks the amount can be satisfied. “The number is more digestible than when they came before Finance several years ago. So it’s a good bet it will pass. However, nothing is in stone when it comes to large outlays, that is subject to some serious negotiating because fiscally things are still very tight.” The other aspect of his optimism is some early discussions with private equity capital about some future investment arrangement with the XL Center after their initial foray fell flat with only one applicant, Oak Street Capital Realty of Chicago last summer. That offer was ultimately and formally rejected. “We learned a lot from that process, and some of our initial discussions have given us some fresh perspective to try to make a proposal more along the lines of a business deal than a government deal. We have gotten a lot of questions on revenue streams, projections, price points, points of sale, and we have developed some good financial analysis to present, but we have some other work to do, particularly with UCONN returning to the Big East from the AAC conference and how that will impact future revenue,” Freimuth commented. One of those new approaches is a new 13 page RFP for yet another market study? On the surface, one’s eyes roll, yet another study? There have been nine studies, budget proposals, and analysis done, since 2014. As the current phrase of the day, how many bites of the apple do you get? The RFP was released officially on Monday, and questions of the RFP are to be submitted no later than August 5th, by 3:00 pm. Responses will be provided by August 7th, and final packets are to be returned by August 19th. Then, the RFP process will be closed. Freimuth acknowledges the skeptics he has on this. “It seems like more of the same, however, what we're doing now is trying to reaffirm some original data. Add new pieces to the equation particularly UCONN’s conference switch and see how that shapes potential proposal-based. This line of inquiry came out of our preliminary talks with private investors and hopefully may make a renewed proposal process more palatable. "We have to prioritize things in making this attractive to present and fill in the cracks, that we have to make this saleable to the private capital community,” Freimuth said. Fill in the cracks may have been a Freudian slip, but the irony can’t be missed. Despite all this work, the question arises to ask if the needle has moved in the legislature toward approving the project? “I think that will be determined over this (special) session. I don’t have an answer to it at this point. I don’t have a crystal ball. "I think when we get this RFP process completed, we can start in the fall with the private investment portion and will hopefully have the legislative component to tie in at that point. We have done a lot of financial analysis that the revenue generated by the building both directly in taxes to the city and state, plus the business revenue to restaurants and hotels would be greater than the necessary public subsidy that is going to be required to move this project forward,” said Freimuth. While it seems some exegesis is developing in this six-and-a-half-plus year seemingly Quixotic effort, there have been many points of optimism and nadir’s it seems decisions are coming. Will there be a half-a-pie to eat or a whole that can keep the XL Center sustained and viable? Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Connecticut state budget process has come and gone. The State Bond Commission met recently, but there was no word on the XL Center emerging over the past six-to-seven weeks as its future continues to dangle in the wind. It looks like the fate of the XL Center will possibly be taken up in the expected upcoming special session, but there are no guarantees to be handed out, so the project sits in the bullpen warming up. “Any special session is being driven by the tolls discussion and once the parameters are decided on that subject, they will move forward on it,” said CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth. Freimuth is not in a position to confirm a specific date? “We have no date or timetable right now. It’s either at this point.” When asked if the session is called if it's expected that the Finance committee will take up the measure, Freimuth said, "I have spoken with Tom Ritter (D-Hartford) and that is the plan at this point.” Asking about the final price tag being between the original $20-$30 million that was floated about, Freimuth responded saying, “We have no specific figure or price tag to the proposal and it will be debated within the Finance committee, and we also haven’t had a capital budget discussion either. Again, that will likely be in the special session as well." Other parts of the state haven't exactly been jumping for joy over this proposal. When asked if the needle has moved forward in other parts of the state to support the XL Center package, Freimuth replied, “It’s a tug-of-war still when discussing any budgetary matters, but until its formally brought before the committee we haven’t had any of those discussions. Maybe the Big East change might help some folks who were reluctant on the project’s merits, but they now might be more inclined. I just don’t know.” At least there's been some good summertime news as UCONN announced basketball both the men and women’s programs - as well as everything but football and hockey - are returning to the Big East Conference. That move might be a boon for the XL Center. “On the surface, it looks like with the switch back we're gonna get more familiar opponents and hopefully an uptick in the crowd than we have had with some AAC schools. Those are simply assumptions. That’s very hard to predict. At this point, we hope there will be more electricity and excitement, and of course, we're responsible for Rentschler and with football that is very open-ended at this point.” The XL Center has continued to lose money. The Wolf Pack, not only didn't on the ice, they didn't off of it either. The team lost $100K alone and advertising, especially for the Wolf Pack, was very minimal. “We saw a lot of teams not do well (at the XL Center). We had some under-performing events, concerts and shows it was a tough year no question. When you look at advertising, it’s a Catch-22 issue. The discretionary spending has remained flat and unchanged. The budget is the same (at $600K) so that is factor in the allocations of resources." The all-important per cap of concessions, however, did go very well. “We tend to have more kids at the UCONN games than say at a Wolf Pack game, but that has been a pretty good a steady revenue stream and the NCAA tournament helped, it went very well." If there is no special session that means the XL Center issue won’t be heard till the legislature reconvenes in September and likely not until the late fall. Read the full article

Nobody Knows What The Future Holds For The XL Center  BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Despite a change in Governor and a friendlier legislature, the future of the XL Center remains as nebulous as it was five years ago. The new Governor, Ned Lamont, presented his first state budget and it contained zero dollars for the now 44-year-old building. Nobody would take that as a healthy sign. “It wasn’t very good to see, but we weren’t alone in being in the budget. Our operational budget (for the CRDA) remains the same, but for the building, there is a lot more negotiating to be done,” CRDA Executive Director, Mike Freimuth, said. By his own admission, Freimuth has been “dodging bullets” outside of the XL's continuing crisis which is approaching its sixth year with the issues surrounding the Dillon Stadium project, issues at Rentschler Field, and the housing portfolio they handle for the city of Hartford. The legislative session looms large and in the next two weeks, the CRDA has three reports coming due to seek both the Governor's and legislature's approval for the new redesigned lower bowl strategy. “The most critical of the three is the cost analysis on the lower bowl strategy,” Freimuth said of the Plan B after the CRDA realized their initial plan for a $250 million re-boot was never going anywhere. "We think we have come in with a $15 million proposal that cuts down the construction costs, but allows us to modernize and use the full scope of the XL Center to make it a viable sports and entertainment venue in Hartford and the region in the 21st century as best as we can under the present budget constraints that affect every part of state government.” There is a new feature being considered to help with costs. They are clearly hoping to avoid the only other financing option which would be going with Oak Street Realty’s proposal that answered the RFP to purchase the building but contains more caveats and exceptions that would make more of a financial burden that already exists. The new idea being floated is the use of available discretionary funding that has yet to be allocated, that can be used in other parts of the 48 % of the state budget left with 52% spoken for in mandated spending. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Plenty of questions have been asked. There's been lots of communication between the CRDA and Oak Street Realty LLC of Chicago and the CRDA is now mulling over this lone bid to see if a marriage can be made to save the XL Center. No final decision is expected until October. “The jury is still out,” CRDA Executive Director Mike Freimuth said. “We have quite a bit of info to sort through. There are quite a few pieces to digest. The most important factor, however, is the money portion. Oak Street wants us to pay back their capital investment of $250 million at 7.5% interest and we think we can get the $250 million at 3.5% or 4% (from the state). That's some serious dollars there. Of course, the legislature has been reluctant to commit to this project. "We also have to look at the numbers. Are we paying more in interest than the principal involved, and we're talking again significant dollars here; because at the end of the day, what is the value to the building, and we need a long-term solution and I’ve been saying this for five years." Clearly, the other elephant in the room is the eminent domain situation. That remains in a holding pattern as it's being held in abeyance, but there are conversations still on-going between the CRDA & Northland Corporation.  How friendly or constructive they are? Freimuth is keeping his comments reserved. “We're still in discussions with Northland. A lot of it right now has to do with operational issues in the atrium and we are expecting literally any day now their latest appraisal on the atrium. We have been far apart for some time other than that I don’t want to comment much further.” As the clock continues ticking, decisions on a number of issues need to be made, starting first with the bid. “I’m thinking by October we'll have reached a decision on Oak Street’s proposal, and as far as Northland, we have been at this for over two years. The jury is still out on that too.” The new fall sports season will commence next commence and there will be one noticeable difference at the XL Center - it's going to be brighter inside. “We have taken all the old lights out, and very shortly we'll be installing the LED lighting and there will be a noticeable difference in the arena and hopefully in our monthly electric bills,“ Freimuth said with a laugh. “One elevator has been repaired and another is being worked on. We have started preliminary work toward getting a new chiller system and that is going to require significant pre-planning. Bob Saint, our construction manager, and his team are working to find a spot, and make sure we are up to code and lay the literal groundwork on the project likely to be done next summer.” Read the full article

Bone dry Riesling "Zero" von Freimuth aus Geisenheim. Stahlige Frucht ohne nervige Säure. Top! #Riesling #VDP #Freimuth