HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-05-20 Public Comment - D. Losoff - Letter in support of the Etha_Armory projectFrom:David Loseff
To:Agenda
Cc:Cory Lawrence
Subject:Public comment letter in support of the Etha/Armory project
Date:Sunday, April 5, 2020 10:50:58 AM
Dear Mayor and City Commissioners,
The following is my public comment letter in support of approving the appeal request made bythe Etha/Armory Hotel (and opposition to the opposition raised by the 5West group) being
made by myself personally as well as on behalf of my properties and businesses at the Baxterwhich neighbors the Etha/Armory project.
First, the City Commission of Bozeman placed a high priority on attracting a quality
downtown hotel back in around 2010 and provided the Etha/Armory project with significantinducements to undertake the buildout. The developer spent many years and at tremendous
expense and effort and has brought this project to near completion in a high quality way. TheEtha/Armory project is not only bringing a highly valued Kimpton hotel project to our
downtown Bozeman, it also cleaned up the former bankrupt vacant Armory which previouslywas an abandoned eyesore via a very cool innovative redevelopment which also preserved the
key design elements of a historically valuable Fred Willson building. Kudos to Cory and hisfamily.
To the extent that the Etha/Armory Hotel project was needed and desired for downtown
Bozeman back in 2010, it is even more greatly needed today as all of our downtownbusinesses will need to recover from the shutdown. Therefore, I encourage you to approve the
reuqested appeal by the Etha/Armory and allow this project to proceed forward without anyadded delays or obstruction and get opened as soon as possible for the benefit of all downtown
businesses.
Second, I hope that you oppose the objections raised by the 5West group. The commentsmade by a 5West board member in the paper today about being concerned about noise and
other problems caused by the hotel were silly and disengenuous. Plans for the Etha/Armoryproject were all well known and the adjacent Element Hotel was already developed before the
5West building was even conceived. The opposition arguments raised is akin to a person whomoves to a place next to an airport and then starts complaining about the plane traffic. As an
aside, from an aesthetic standpoint, I consider the Etha/Armory redevelopment project to bevisually lovely and a positive addition to our downtown in contrast with the design of 5West
which looks like a generic suburban box. I hope that you disregard the 5West objections asbeing baseless and merely reflect the efforts of a competitive and non-neighborly developer
looking for ways to obstruct and/or add costs to the much needed Etha/Armory project.
Finally, to the extent that the City Commission rejects the request being made by theEtha/Armory developer, I believe that it would open the city up to substantial liability
exposures for acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner in obstructing the Etha/Armoryproject leading to significant delay damages and lost profit claims. Such a claim, which I
think would be extremely valid, would also create problems for the city with its insurancecarrier. The city has been unsuccessful in facing other such significant claims in past years
and I don't believe that it should open itself up to further liability exposure in thisinstance.......especially for a project in which it proactively gave inducements to attract in the
first instance.
Commonsense would dictate that you should approve the Etha/Armory request and as theowner of the neighboring Baxter property and its various businesses, I would strongly
encourage you to do so.
Sincerely,David Loseff
Baxter Main, LLC