Month: February 2008

From beginning to end, it lasted only three hours, but
Wednesday’s joint session of the city council and county commission had the feel
of a marathon, and, by the end of it entrepreneur Greg Ericson had advanced his
proposal for a theme park in The Pyramid a considerable distance indeed.

If nothing else, he had extracted a concession from Robert
Lipscomb, the city’s point man on Pyramid use, that “we’ve got two good
deals,” and there was movement in Ericson’s direction on both the commission
and the council. Speaking for himself, councilman Bill Boyd said afterward he
was tilting away from a deal with the previously favored Bass Pro Shop and
toward the Ericson proposal. “And I would guess others on the council might feel
that way,” Boyd said.

Though his son, councilman Shea Flinn, seemed to be arguing
for wait-and-see on Ericson’s finances, commissioner George Flinn was more
optimistic. Having heard an offer from the entrepreneur to begin $8 million
payments on a monthly basis and to supply appropriate letters of credit from
financial sources, the senior Flinn said flatly, “If you’re financially viable,
it’s a slam dunk.”

Seconds later, councilman Harold Collins agreed. Likening
Ericson to a suitor come “courting,” Collins had this to say concerning the
requested financial assurances: “Where’s the ring? And then we’ll marry.”

All of that was a dramatic turnaround for the man who had
been seeking just such an audience and just such a resolution as those he got
Monday. And, for their part, both the council and the commission had been
wondering, as the younger Flinn put it Wednesday, “Where’s the money?”

After making a Power-Point presentation and answering
questions from members of both legislative bodies, Ericson had been persuasive
enough about both his financial wherewithal and the viability of his Pyramid
Resorts proposal to win the aforesaid acknowledgment of parity from
Lipscomb, however grudging. And, though no vote was
taken on Wednesday, it seemed clear that those council and commission members
who were present would henceforth hold both Ericson’s proposal and that from
Bass Pro Shop to the same standard.

Both are now on the same starting line, or, as Commissioner
Mike Ritz put, capable of being compared to each other “apple to apple,”
allowing the two legislative bodies to “choose the project we like best” so long
as they could show equivalent financials.
And, if that outcome favored Pyramid Resorts, it was because Ericson and his
associate
Nikki Anthony seemed to convince their questioners that they might indeed show
them the money.

“There Are No Rules.”

The meeting had gotten underway in the 4th-floor
meeting room in the county office building with commissioner James Harvey
presiding and with commissioner Sidney Chism first expressing concerns about an “agenda” favoring Ericson’s proposal, and then seeking to
postpone the meeting. {Chism has been widely considered an exponent of the Bass Pro proposal, though he insists he is neutral — and skeptical of both sides.}

Chism asked if he could invoke the commission’s Rule 33,
which permits any member of the commission to postpone consideration of an item
for two weeks.

“There are no rules,” responded county commission
parliamentarian Brian Kuhn, who noted it was a joint council-commission meeting
and one, moreover, that was expected to propose no resolutions for immediate
action.

The answer did double duty – first, as a response to Chism, and, secondly, as a
description of the general muddle that now adheres to the status of The Pyramid,
Memphis’ most famous unemployed landmark.

Before the meeting, most members of either the commission
or the council would say, when polled privately, that they favored neither
Ericson’s theme park, the financing of which had been unclear, nor Bass Pro,
which presumably has enough financial endowment but is widely suspected, via a
series of letters-of-intent, followed by an ambiguous “development agreement,” of
stringing the city and county along

The next question that needed answering was asked by
councilman Shea Flinn, who wanted to know if Ericson intended to sketch out
plans for Mud Island or restrict himself to a proposal for the currently unused
Pyramid property. “Mud Island is off the table,” Ericson said firmly, thereby
reversing a previous position that limiting his project’s design would be a
“deal killer.”

Ericson went on to narrate his Power-Point presentation,
involving a plan to use “all 40 million cubic feet” of The Pyramid’s interior
and to install features like waterfalls, thrill sides, and an observation deck
while constructing an adjacent shopping plaza and hotel. Ericson cited the financial
wherewithal of several partner enterprises – Prosperity International, Essex
Investments, and BRC Imagination Arts.

“The most important thing is, we’re ready to start right
now,” Ericson said.

Harvey, asked about reports of declining attendance at
theme parks nationally. Ericson cited a report showing the contrary – that
attendance at theme parks had picked up during the previous two years and
several of them were contemplating expansion.

Chism then weighed in. “With the economy the way it is
now,” he said, “there is no way we can project with any certainty.” Ericson said
he agreed, but argued that local residents would respond to a depressed economy
by cutting back on travel and exploring the diversions (like, presumably,
Pyramid Resorts) that were close at hand.

At that point, Harvey came to the rescue. If Ericson made
the project “a world-class environment” and managed to “relieve the county of
debt, this commission doesn’t care if you make the money or not.”

Ericson demonstrated his flexibility by presenting an argument opposite to (or
perhaps complementary of) his previous one. Only 5 percent of intended
clientele reside within the Memphis market, he said, “We intend to advertise as
far as Chicago.” In fact, everywhere within a 500-mile radius.

Ericson proved adept at taking jabs at his rival. Asked
about one obscure-sounding proviso in his plan, he responded, “We actually took
that language directly from the Bass Pro document.” At another point, he
stressed a distinction between the various Bass approaches and the working document he came in with. “This is
not a letter of intent,” he said, “This is an agreement.”

And, lest anyone missed the point of that, he presented a
timeline starting with the point, some 80 months ago, that local government
signed its compact with the NBA Grizzlies and continuing through several
enumerated “letters of intent”from Bass Pro, followed by that company’s “missed
deadlines.”

One other point of distinction: Since Ericson’s group would
buy the building, not rent it a la Bass Pro, there would be the added difference
of property tax revenues for the city and county.

More Q and A from the two local legislative bodies
followed, with Harvey having taken his leave and Wyatt Bunker presiding in his
absence.

Would Ericson object to a proviso excluding casino use?
“No, they’re illegal in the state of Tennessee,” the entrepreneur answered.

What would his development period be? “Approximately three
years.”

“Two Good Deals”

After further back-and-forth, commissioner Steve Mulroy,
who has been an Ericson backer all along, argued that the city and county:
should give the Pyramid Resorts project a go-ahead. He added, “I don’t think
Bass Pro are into us. Even now, we’re in limboland while they’re doing
‘feasibility studies.’ Every month hundreds of thousands in debt service. Let’s get
on with it.”

That led in turn to a general agreement that both Pyramid
Resorts and Bass Pro would be given the opportunity to put their money down,
demonstrate their lines of credit and other signs of viability, and get their
projects started. It was that last concept and apparent concern about loopholes
in Bass Pro’s “development agreement” that led to the formal recognition of
parity – one that Lipscomb, who was spotted in the audience and was asked to
speak, assented to.

“We’ve got two good deals,” said the city official, who
said he had favored the Bass Pro Shop proposal because he had confidence in the
chain’s corporate underpinning. As for Ericson’s Pyramid Resorts, “I haven’t been
able to verify the financials. I’m not trying to disprove it. I’m trying to,
what, prove it.”

Lipscomb, citing Ericson’s need to demonstrate an ability
to handle unanticipated developmental expenses and operating costs, made it
clear he hadn’t backed off his regard for Bass Pro Shop. But he had conceded an
essential equality of treatment that Ericson and his associates can count on
henceforth.

And, as commissioner Joyce Avery noted, “I haven’t yet been
able to meet an official of Bass Pro Shop.” The same could not be said for Greg
Ericson. He was very much there on Wednesday and insisted he would be on hand
for any future requests for information. “Just tell us X and we’ll get you X,”
he said at one point.