Muda69 Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2024/04/25/republican-governor-candidate-brad-chambers-missed-deadline-to-pay-indianapolis/73430337007/ Quote This article is reported in collaboration between Mirror Indy and IndyStar. On the campaign trail for governor, former Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers talks about his experience as a business leader who can grow Indiana’s economy. After all, he is the founder and CEO of Buckingham Companies, which boasts of managing more than $3 billion in real estate with hundreds of employees across nine states. But back home in Indianapolis, Chambers’ real estate company did not follow through on its end of a landmark agreement made with the city — missing a deadline to pay back the city not just once, but twice. It stems from a deal struck during the administration of former Republican Mayor Greg Ballard. In 2011, the city agreed to issue nearly $100 million in bonds and then immediately loan the $86 million in proceeds to Chambers’ company to create CityWay on the southeast side of downtown. Now that it’s built, the first phase of the $156 million development contains a high-end hotel known as the Alexander, where guests are treated to art collections, and luxury apartments that can cost as much as $3,700 per month. To get here, Chambers’ company counted on Marion County taxpayers to bear the risk of the investment thanks to what experts say is an unusually generous deal. In addition to using $31 million in state and local taxes to pay for nearly half of the project’s debt payments so far, records show, the developer also received a long leash from the city: It had 10 years to obtain private financing to repay the remaining debt to the city. That deadline, though, was in 2021. Chambers’ company failed to meet it, leading the administration of Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett and the City-County Council to come up with a new plan. They extended the deadline to December 2023. New reporting by Mirror Indy and IndyStar reveals that the second deadline also came and went without Chambers’ company meeting the terms. As a result, Chambers’ company still owes the city of Indianapolis about $69 million. That’s according to documents obtained by Mirror Indy and IndyStar in public records requests. Meanwhile, campaign finance records show that Chambers has cut at least $9.6 million in checks to his campaign on his largely self-financed run for governor in the competitive Republican primary. .... Interesting that this story comes out less than 2 weeks before the May 7th Primary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 Interesting indeed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts