City of Toledo City Council Office One Government Center, Suite 2140 Toledo. OH 43604 “Ce To: Mayor Bell, Deputy Mayor Herwat, Deputy Mayor Crothers Date: April 15, 2011 From: — Joe McNamara, Mike Craig Re: Sale of Marina District to Dashing Pacific Group, Ltd. Dear Mayor Bell: Your exceptional accomplishment of attracting foreign investment in Toledo is to be commended. ‘The sale of the docks and the proposed sale of the Marina District are a testament to your Administration's hard work as well as how wonderful a place Toledo truly is to live, work and invest. We appreciate the effort that went in to the proposal to sell the Marina District. We also understand its importance to economic development and the future of Toledo, It is a decision that cannot be taken lightly. It was our hope that the sale of the Docks would give the community time to get to know Mr. Hung and Ms. Xiaohona better before a proposed sale of the Marina District to the Dashing Pacific Group would be presented to Council ‘The proposed sale of the Marina District is very different from the Docks for several reasons. First of all, the Docks is a developed property. Despite who the owner is, because of existing contracts, it will continue to exist as a place for restaurants in the immediate future. On the other hand, the Marina District is a 69-acre blank canvas. It is an entire neighborhood of riverfront property. “The Marina District has the potential to become a unique and defining asset of the City of Toledo —limited only by the imagination and resources of the developers. ‘We understand that Dashing Pacific is reassessing their position on the Marina District. We believe that this hesitance could have resulted from a cultural misunderstanding. The tone of the discussion that occurred at Agenda Review on April 12" could have been avoided had members of Council had more information. We think that because of this pivotal point in Toledo’s history, that so many members of Council are wary. We appreciate the fact that there are significant differences in Chinese and American business etiquette, While respecting the cultural differences, we think that your Administration needs to foster an understanding of these differences with the Dashing Pacific Group and Toledo City Council, and then articulate those differences to the community. In Chinese culture, “face” is a very important part of business etiquette to be observed and respected. Mayors in China have a significantly different role than Mayors in the United States. In Toledo, we are governed by two separate but equal branches of government, The sale of the Marina District will be ‘consummated only with the approval of the Administration and the Council.To that end, we think Council members should be afforded the opportunity to develop the relationships with the investors that you have developed. In the last proposal to develop the Marina District, the developer frequently met with members of Council to address their concems. As the body of elected officials ultimately responsible for approving or disapproving the Marina District deal, each member deserves the opportunity to mect with the investors in order to make an informed decision, The Marina District represents more than a single real estate transaction and warrants public scruti Along the same lines, we think it would helpful if the local media had more access to the investors and their backgrounds. While it is true that most development deals in the United States do not always undergo this type of scrutiny, the fact remains that significant public dollars were invested in the Marina District to remediate it. Even taking into consideration the current situation with Dashing Pacific, the Marina District has always been under public scrutiny and will continue in this manner no matter who ultimately develops the property. Finally, we think your Administration needs to facilitate a meeting between the investors and the Northwestern Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council. Regardless of the result of Council’s vote on the restrictive covenant, the concerns of the Building Trades will not dissipate after the vote. If Dashing Pacific and the Building Trades were able to reach an understanding, the chance for the developments success greatly increases, Again, we understand that there are cultural differences, but cultural respect is a two-way street. In Toledo, we value the contributions of labor and the right of workers to eam a fair wage, We believe the Chinese investors will see the value of developing such a partnership with the Building Trades in the same manner that the developers of the Casino did. In conclusion, we think that this deal can be salvaged by building relationships between the investors, the Council, and the Toledo community. We are happy to assist you in next steps, and will continue to work with the Administration to move the community forward. Sincerely We Franz Joc Vow rom Mike Craig Joe McNamara co: ‘Members of Toledo City Council John Schlagheck Scott Prephan Gerald Dendinger Julie Gibbons