Meet the fundraiser for RenSquare - the $55 million dollar man
There are a couple of angles to this story - I’ll start with the obvious one first -Per this article in the D&C it was announced that Thomas Bonadio of the Bonadio group has been retained to raise funds for the troubled RenSquare project. (quotes are from the D&C article)
Recall - that the combined College Campus, Bus Station, Art Center/Theatre and money pit (not exactly kidding about the money pit part) is currently $55 million dollars short. The $55 million dollars in needed to ensure the Theatre is built. The same Theatre that is projected to run an operating deficit of over $1million per year. There are not Public funds available, private funds are needed, without Private funds - Senator Schumer threatened to pull the public funds if the money isn’t raised and a plan is in place by Jan 31, 2009.
RenSquare is a $230 dollar project there are $175 million already secured leaving $55 million to close the gap.
Enter Bonadio - he is charge with raising $15 to 20 million dollars. Assuming those funds are raised - the rest comes from
… project planners are seeking $30 million from state government. Another $9.5 million may come from local funds that would be matched by the State University of New York.
Got that? We are $55 million short, some guy is raising $20 million with $35 million coming from Public funds. (including money from SUNY)
Um, We are in New York State right? The U.S. right? Who has spare money laying around - unless you are a bank or potentially a car maker - therre supposedly is no money.
But what prompted this post was this line from the D&C article.
As for the timeline to raise the money, Bonadio said he has three years, but he would like to raise the money sooner. Building the MCC campus and the bus terminal can begin as soon as the environmental approvals are in place, and not wait until theater fundraising is complete, Bonadio said.
He has a three year timeline. We need the money in place now and he has a three year time line.
So, the public is strapped for funds, Private money doesn’t have to be delivered for 3 years - something stinks here.
Explain again why this project needs to be forced through Now as opposed to being delayed or redesigned?
Related posts:
- RenSquare fundraising - the $63 million dollar gap.
- Ethics issues with RenSquare? Add it to the list of problems with RenSquare
- Who the Heck is Navitech and why are they worthy of a $224 million dollar contract
- $16 million dollar man: Cuomo amasses war chest
- The Road to RenSquare: Great background article on RenSquare
[...] when we only needed $55 million dollars for the Arts Center in RenSquare? That was so last year. Now it looks like we need up to $63 [...]