Downtownguy, my theory is that Gallagher now writes in a generally promotional tone, and in exchange he gets a lot of exclusive scoops-- i.e. yesterday. Occasionally he breaks this mold with a more serious analytical piece.

Anyway, what question about public subsidies needs to be answered? Some of the papers said that this is all private money for this development. Well sure, but it counts towards the $200M investment that Olympia must make to enjoy the lavish subsidies that are already on the table. So I guess it all factors in to their plum situation. Crain's, I believe, estimated that this could cost $70 million, so the Illitches are almost halfway home in terms of what they NEED to do. Obviously, we should hope for more and the council should have insisted on more.

Here's a question that needs answering: how does the lovely Blenheim building factor in here? Will it be spared?