We dang near fell out of our chair during the wee hours this morning, upon reading Ace Reporter Schwebke's front page headline Standard-Examiner story, "Wal-Mart land still in flux." The major story line is also concisely set forth in the article subtitle,"Purchases haven't been completed, so Ogden supercenter not a done deal," although we do hope our gentle readers will read on. We'll start off this morning's discussion by incorporating a few of the key story paragraphs:
OGDEN — Problems with the sale of one parcel of land could jeopardize plans for a Wal-Mart Supercenter in downtown Ogden.In truth, it's apparently not merely one parcel of land dangling loose for the Supercenter project. According to this morning's story, there remain at least three other parcels which remain "unassembled" by Leshem. Ace Reporter Schwebke provides even more red-meat information about this:
Brent Cox, owner of Grating Systems Inc. at 192 W. 20th St., said California developer Gadi Leshem had an agreement to buy the 4-acre parcel where his business sits for $1.1 million by Feb. 13. However, Leshem failed to meet the deadline, so the land is again up for sale, Cox said. “I’ll pretty much sell it to anyone who is an honest person who is willing to pay me a fair price,” said Cox, who keeps a wine glass and an unopened bottle of champagne in his office that he planned to use to celebrate Leshem’s purchase of his property. If Cox can’t sell his land, the entire Wal-Mart project will be in jeopardy, said Dave Harmer, the city’s community and economic development director. “We are trying to see what we can work out (to sell the property)” he said. “If we can’t, then it (the Wal-Mart project) won’t happen.”
According to records on file with the Weber County Assessor’s Office, Leshem also has not yet acquired several other business properties needed for the Wal-Mart project, including Boyce Equipment, 226 W. 20th St.; Praxair, 1903 Wall Ave.; and Northern Exposure, 1847 Wall Ave. Mark Boyce, owner of Boyce Equipment, said Leshem’s option to purchase his property expires Friday. “I have to be optimistic about it,” said Boyce, who is hopeful Leshem will follow through on the purchase. Boyce Equipment is currently building a 16,000-square-foot facility on American Way in Ogden that will open in September. Eddie Davis, division general manager for Praxair, said the company is in negotiations with Leshem but hasn’t entered into a contract to sell him its property. “We are exploring all the possibilities of what works for him and what works for us,” he said. Representatives for Northern Exposure could not be reached for comment about whether Leshem has a contract to buy that property.Interestingly, would-be developer Leshem's spokesman attributes at least part of the delay to an incomplete environmental impact report for the Cox property, whereas jilted seller Cox says Leshem completed his environmental assessment of the property last year. "Soil problems," of course, have been Boss Godfrey's "cover story," -- at least up until now.
As per normal with all Boss Godfrey grand projects and schemes, this one has more plot twists than a dime novel, and is already laden with plenty of accusations and typical Godfrey administration counter-denial and spin. The reported facts are simply too strange and elaborate to be summarized and digested on the Weber County Forum front page. You'll thus have to read the whole Std-Ex story to get the full impact.
Weber County Forum Tips O' the Hat all around this morning: First to Ace Reporter Schwebke for digging in, getting all the facts and producing this morning's fine reportorial gem. Secondly we thank the Standard-Examiner, for placing this story on the front page (where it belongs.) Last but not least, special thanks to gentle reader Fly on the Wall, who first broke the essence of this story as a tip in an earlier WCF article comments section.
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