a:1:{s:15:"field_blog_body";a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:5:"value";s:2504:"<p>Just like flowers need rain and sunshine, <a href="http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100921/NEWS03/9210325/Millions-in-incentives-sought-to-transform-old-Lansing-City-Market-site">property developers need other peoples' money</a>:</p>
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<p>The vacant spot where the old City Market once stood could be a construction site next year.<br />
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<p>Developer Pat Gillespie is seeking nearly $4.1 million in state and local tax incentives for his proposed $23.1 million mixed-use Marketplace project.<br />
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<p>The site is eligible for financial incentives under the state's brownfield program because it contains environmental contamination.</p>
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<p>Oh, that darned organic fruit! The juice leaked into the cement and caused an agricultural disaster. I've always been suspicious of the &quot;organic&quot; industry, and my fears have been proved to be well-founded.</p>
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<p>&quot;The project is not feasible without the incentives,&quot; Gillespie said.</p>
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<p>If it's not feasible, and you can't make a profit, then don't do it. This isn't rocket science. Why should I pay you for a private enterprise that will not benefit me?</p>
<p>But why wait? Just because <a href="http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100921/NEWS03/9210316/0/NEWS03">homebuilder's confidence is at an 18-month low</a>, and neither Michigan nor the U.S. as a whole has a competent economic recovery strategy, surely that's no reason the developer can't try to bilk the taxpayers out of more money.</p>
<p>The developers at Eyde aren't going to rest until they've gotten <a href="http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109180318">their share of corporate welfare</a>, either:</p>
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<p>The East Lansing Developer in August announced the project did not receive a $2 million federal brownfield grant - a key part of a proposed financing package of roughly $21 million in tax breaks, grants and a government-backed loan.</p>
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<p>But don't worry, they've still got their hand out, reaching for our pockets:</p>
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<p>But Eyde hopes it'll have better luck in a second round of grants awarded next spring in order to start construction by summer 2011, said Mark Clouse, chief financial officer and general counsel for Eyde.</p>
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<p>Will we ever return to a time when people risked their own money in the hopes of succeeding? Of course not.</p>";s:6:"format";s:1:"2";}}}