Knowledge is scary
Sam Crutsinger
there's some back mojo going on. Today I learned that the reason why Yahoo
is moving out of Deep Ellum isn't because of crime and the decline of the
neighborhood, but because their rent got hiked!
Gypsy Tea Room got their rent hiked. I think I remember Trees getting their
rent hiked. What other businesses have been run off because of rent hikes?
There's a whole lot of rent hiking for a neighborhood who's looking at a
massive number of vacancies. Is it just me or are Westdale and crew
purposefully clearing out the neighborhood and destroying the ability of
Deep Ellum to be a functional entertainment district?
And seeing as how Barry Annino is the head of the Deep Ellum Foundation and
also one of the top dogs at Westdale... Well something is severely rotten.
The PID money that's supposed to help the neighborhood is being controlled
by someone who is working for a company who's actions are preparing the
neighborhood for the wrecking ball!
Do we have any private investigators in the neighborhood? I've got a nasty
feeling that there's criminal negligence going down here. Are there any laws
that say that the owners can't purposefully turn the area into a ghetto?
Oh, and tomorrow is supposed to be the day they drop the other shoe on the
tunnel. =( I can't express how pissed off I am that DART is doing that. They
can spend $1.5 million on an art installation to replace the tunnel, but
they can't spend the money to rebuild the bridge strong enough to support
having a damn train going on top of it? Give me $1,500,000 and I'll bet I
could rebuild that damn bridge to make it strong enough to hold up 10
trains!
There's bullshit happening around here and I bet that making the public
aware of the facts will be the only way to keep Deep Ellum from getting
taken in a seriously bad direction. I mean, hey, if the plans are good for
the neighborhood, then the neighborhood should know about them. It's only if
the plans are going to piss off everybody that they would want to keep it a
secret.
That or they're trying to destroy the neighborhood to do a land grab once
the property is worthless. We need more information.
--
Sam Crutsinger
Media Kingpin / CTO
Confidence Bay
http://www.confidencebay.com/
Edit in confidence... Anywhere.
Sam Crutsinger
> The more I learn about Deep Ellum politics, the more I'm positive that
> there's some back mojo going on.
I just got this sent to me:
> Sam -
> Here is Dallas' latest vision - a pdf from the City Council.
> Looks like homogenized milk.
> Deep Ellum will become another branch out of Dallas proper, similar to Uptown
> - shops and residences,
> restaurants with bars - populated with good citizens enjoying the good city.
> Deep Ellum will be dead (gone).
> James
>
> Also - check below.....this from a friend.
>
> Does the 'hood know about the 7-acre development Westdale has planned for it?
>
> Westdale Asset Management provides a variety of property management services
> for multi-family residential communities. Offerings include maintenance,
> accounting, and asset management services. The company oversees some 160
> apartment communities (more than 30,000 individual apartments) in about 10
> states; most are located in Texas. Additionally, it owns and manages some
> 330,000 sq. ft. of retail space in Texas. ***The company plans to develop a
> 7-acre mixed-use property in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas.*** It also
> provides construction and renovation management services for investment firms.
> President Joseph Beard founded Westdale Asset Management in 1991 as a
> subsidiary of Westdale, a Canadian construction company.
>
> Contact Information
>
> Address:
> 3300 Commerce St.
> Dallas, TX 75226
> Phone:214-515-7000
> Fax:214-887-0998
>
> Financial Highlights
> Fiscal Year End:December
> Revenue (2005):36.30 M
> Employees (2005):950
>
> Key People
> € President: Joseph G. Beard
> € COO: Evan J. Griffiths
> € *** CFO: Kenneth W. (Ken) Carlson ***
I see that Ken Carlson is, or was, the treasurer for the Deep Ellum
Foundation. I think I remember hearing that the treasurer quit. Not sure if
it was him.
So the president and the treasurer were both Westdale lackeys?
Who else?
And that PID money... That money is supposed to pay for improving Deep
Ellum. Is there any account of what that money has been spent on improvement
wise? Hell, my street isn't even PAVED! I have no street lights at all that
I haven't installed myself. The sidewalks are buckling all over the 'hood. I
mean aside from some new hideous barrel sign things for putting up posters
for radio morning show advertising, what's "improved."
Where's the money? It's being controlled by people who are trying to
bulldoze and redevelop SEVEN @#$% ACERS of the neighborhood! WTF?
Pawn Gallery
Here is what I suspect happened with the Gypsy Tea Room. Westdale owns
the property The Door is in and it is slated to get bulldozed and
(supposedly) replaced with a Beautique Hotel. But more importantly,
that current building is in ill-repair and some major cash would have
to be laid down if The Door stayed. Soo... (follow me here) Westdale
went to Whit at the Tea Room and strongarmed him for more rent.
Knowing that they had Hustle Robbs ...er Russell Hobbs from The Door
lined up in case the Gypsy people would pay up. So they go strong at
the Gypsy, they fold their hand and The Door was their backup all
along. My pappy always told me to follow the dollar and that is what
the dollar leads me to believe.
My business is just down the way from that space and having kids
hopped up on Jesus Juice™ is far more frightening to me than any
drunken ass that ever stumbled out of the Gypsy.
R. Whitney Meyers, Jr.
think not. But I also really do believe they would rather have Gypsy
there than not, at least until recently (but that's another story not
relevant to this thread). Gypsy failed because David Cunniff's lawyer
couldn't get him to agree to the settlement we offered in 2005. So we
went into bankruptcy protection because our insurance company (who we
paid an annual premium of $35,000 and would not defend the lawsuit or
admit any liability) and that started the death rattle for Deep Ellum,
The EC, Trees, Green Room, Gypsy, and every one else caught in this
negative media whirlpool. Sure Westdale wanted more rent, just like
every one else raising their rents in Deep Ellum, but I believe that
was a business decision not a pernicious conspiracy, but I could be
wrong. I have been alot lately.
Whit
--
R, Whitney Meyers, Jr., Esq.
WhitM...@gmail.com
214 607-3607