Heard a big Tourney was now coming to Silverlakes for the Winter for GA.
Bell Bank Park Venue
- Thread starter Club Soccer
- Start date
Including the winter showcase scheduled for the last week of November / first week of December?
Legacy Park may be reaching end of its rope
Last week, an attorney for Legacy Cares canceled a federal bankrupcy court auction that had been set for Oct. 5 to sell the 320-acre Legacy Park in southeast Mesa, telling
Pretty much game over if it converts to a Chapter 7. I wonder what a liquidation of this kind of thing looks like, given that there have been real property improvements. Seems like an opportunity for the landowner to come in with a super low bid and take over the operations...
Yes, including the winter showcase. Our team just got the email notifying us of the move from Bell Bank to Silverlakes..
Phoenix Soccer Dad
BRONZE
Elite 64 playoffs are at Legacy the 1st two weekends in November ... perhaps too late to move those. Curious if the facility will be open then.
GA just posted an official update explaining the situation + how they've addressed.
girlsacademyleague.com
| Girls Academy League
girlsacademyleague.com
If the land owner tries to buy the assets I can guarantee it will end up in the courts because of the bonds that were used...Legacy Park may be reaching end of its rope
Last week, an attorney for Legacy Cares canceled a federal bankrupcy court auction that had been set for Oct. 5 to sell the 320-acre Legacy Park in southeast Mesa, tellingwww.themesatribune.com
Pretty much game over if it converts to a Chapter 7. I wonder what a liquidation of this kind of thing looks like, given that there have been real property improvements. Seems like an opportunity for the landowner to come in with a super low bid and take over the operations...
"Formerly known as Bell Bank Park, the sports park in Mesa is in deep financial trouble. That authority, created by former Gov. Doug Ducey, issued $282 million in bonds. Most of those, because they came from a government authority, were exempt from taxation."
soccermom74
BRONZE
Yes.
Those bondholders are sh!t out of luck no matter what at this point. Most of that $282MM was spent improving real property that Legacy never owned and can't be liquidated, unless they're going to pull turf from the ground and sell it by the yard. If it goes to liquidation, they'll be lucky to recoup a small fraction.
If Pacific Proving (the land owner) comes in with a bid even remotely close to liquidation value, the BK judge will approve it in a heartbeat just to get off the clown car.
Here's more detail...
Default threatens owners’ hold on Bell Bank Park
The organization that built the $280 million, 320-acre youth and amateur sports complex known as Bell Bank Park in southeast Mesa is in default of its loan that covered the
Here's info about the land owner...
"Legacy Cares doesn’t own the land, but leases it from Pacific Proving LLC, a joint venture between William Levine and Arturo Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels"
The reason this will go to court is because BKs of $282 million in municipal bonds always goes to court. But also because the funding doesn't make sense. Why did AZ governor Doug Ducey get involved + assist in providing municipal bonds? I'm sure he'll say that it was done to foster economic development. But if you take a step back municipal bonds vs traditional Corp bonds sure seems like a way to fund something risky but make it seem safe. If Bell Bank was funded through traditional Corp bonds it would have been considered a risky investment + would have needed to provide higher returns to compensate.
The reason Pacific Proving buying the Legacy cares physical assets at BK is an issue is because if this happened it would 100% smell like privatizing profits and socializing debt. Or more specifically scamming municipal bonds holders to build physical assets on your property + buying it back for pennies on the dollar in BK.
Here's another fun article...
Talking Stick seeks end of Legacy sponsorship
Last February, No. 3 professional pickleball player Federico Staksrud took the gold medal in the Carvana Arizona Grand Slam pickleball tournament at Mesa’s Legacy Park, at the time still known
You know it's bad when Gaming (aka Casino) sponsors want out of their sponsorship contracts because they don't want to be associated with crime...
“For obvious reasons, gaming enterprises never want to be associated with fraud and financial irregularity of any kind,” the filing states.
Salt River Gaming Enterprise also argues that it expected its sponsorship “would give it visibility and marketing opportunities to the projected 4.5 to 5 million visitors that were supposed to be visiting the park each year.
whatithink
GOLD
Some interesting numbers in the links
- A (similar) 400 acre park in Indiana appraised at $85M
- 7.5% interest rates on bonds, so $280M in bonds is $21M annually
- Sponsorships of $462K monthly being 20% of revenue, so $27.7M in annual revenue
Here's more detail...
Default threatens owners’ hold on Bell Bank Park
The organization that built the $280 million, 320-acre youth and amateur sports complex known as Bell Bank Park in southeast Mesa is in default of its loan that covered the
Here's info about the land owner...
"Legacy Cares doesn’t own the land, but leases it from Pacific Proving LLC, a joint venture between William Levine and Arturo Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels"
The reason this will go to court is because BKs of $282 million in municipal bonds always goes to court. But also because the funding doesn't make sense. Why did AZ governor Doug Ducey get involved + assist in providing municipal bonds? I'm sure he'll say that it was done to foster economic development. But if you take a step back municipal bonds vs traditional Corp bonds sure seems like a way to fund something risky but make it seem safe. If Bell Bank was funded through traditional Corp bonds it would have been considered a risky investment + would have needed to provide higher returns to compensate.
The reason Pacific Proving buying the Legacy cares physical assets at BK is an issue is because if this happened it would 100% smell like privatizing profits and socializing debt. Or more specifically scamming municipal bonds holders to build physical assets on your property + buying it back for pennies on the dollar in BK.
I have no doubt that the bondholders will shotgun sue everyone remotely involved in the issuance. At the top of the list will be the underwriter/trustee. I also have little doubt that the leadership of Legacy Cares are all going to have a rough few years ahead of them.
I take it back. After reading the lease, Pacific has no reason to bid. The lease terminates six months after Legacy went into BK (11/1/2023 is coming up awful quick - and that's likely why no one has submitted a qualified bid) and all of the improvements revert to Pacific. They're going to own just about everything anyway. They may get sued, but unless someone can prove they wantonly/knowingly sabotaged Legacy, it'll be a nuisance to Pacific relative to the larger value at play. It's likely they find a third party operator and reopen to monetize the asset and they agree to give the BK estate a cut to head that off, who knows.
Here's another link with much more info on how the crazy risky municipal bonds were setup by legacy cares. Surprise surprise they were run through a non profit.
Sadly, the brazen use of non-profits to benefit for profit entities isn't unique.
An interesting tidbit from the WSJ article is that the bonds had been trading for 10% of their initial value. As I recall, there was a clause in the lease that allowed for Pacific to purchase the outstanding bonds for whatever Bloomberg Valuation Services had them pegged at as of the date of default. No idea if that made it into the actual bond docs or how enforceable it may be, but it makes for an "interesting" situation, at least from this distance.
whatithink
GOLD
Its hard to figure out where the problem came from, but I'm not sure its the non profit angle
"The man behind that plan was Randy Miller, a local businessman who had previously dabbled in running a pool-maintenance business."
"Miller first started trying to raise money for a sports park years ago. In 2010, a Scottsdale woman sued him and others after giving them money for a proposed park. She said Miller misled her about how much money had already been committed. A Maricopa County court ruled in her favor and ordered Miller and the others to pay her almost $96,000."
"Miller and his son Chad formed the Legacy Cares nonprofit .."
"Miller and son Chad stepped down from Legacy Cares, the nonprofit that owns the park and borrowed the investor money, shortly after they started it. That cleared the way for Legacy Cares in 2020 to hire the Millers’ for-profit company, Legacy Sports USA, to operate the park.
That didn’t last. Legacy Cares fired Legacy Sports USA this year, around the same time that Legacy Cares declared bankruptcy. Legacy Cares then hired another company, Elite Sports Group, to operate the park. That company is run by Randy’s other son, Brett Miller."
Yes 1000% agree that Randy Miller is likely a scammer. However in this case he's more of a patsy / fall guy that was happy just getting a big check for a couple of years.Its hard to figure out where the problem came from, but I'm not sure its the non profit angle
"The man behind that plan was Randy Miller, a local businessman who had previously dabbled in running a pool-maintenance business."
"Miller first started trying to raise money for a sports park years ago. In 2010, a Scottsdale woman sued him and others after giving them money for a proposed park. She said Miller misled her about how much money had already been committed. A Maricopa County court ruled in her favor and ordered Miller and the others to pay her almost $96,000."
"Miller and his son Chad formed the Legacy Cares nonprofit .."
"Miller and son Chad stepped down from Legacy Cares, the nonprofit that owns the park and borrowed the investor money, shortly after they started it. That cleared the way for Legacy Cares in 2020 to hire the Millers’ for-profit company, Legacy Sports USA, to operate the park.
That didn’t last. Legacy Cares fired Legacy Sports USA this year, around the same time that Legacy Cares declared bankruptcy. Legacy Cares then hired another company, Elite Sports Group, to operate the park. That company is run by Randy’s other son, Brett Miller."
Here's how the Risky Municipal Bond game works...
"The sports park’s financial troubles highlight a risky corner of the $4 trillion municipal-bond market, enabled by local government entities known as conduit issuers. That is a space where private-sector businesses, typically nonprofits, borrow tax-free to build malls, medical centers and charter schools.
They get the money from conduits, which sell bonds and then immediately turn over the proceeds to the nonprofits. Unlike a city or town that issues muni bonds, the conduit bears no responsibility for repaying the debt. It does generally collect a fee along the way."
Here's the company that enabled the whole thing + who's likely close with Pacific Proving...
"Legacy Cares asked Azida to issue bonds to build the park. Azida said yes.
In fact, it always said that. A state audit that reviewed Azida’s work through June 2022 found that Azida hadn’t rejected a single conduit bond project. After the audit, officials overseeing Azida said they would work to help clarify the criteria for approving such projects.
Azida currently has more than $1 billion in bonds in default, the most of any conduit, according to Municipal Market Analytics.
Dirk Swift, executive director of Azida, said the group is proud of bringing “scores of worthy projects to fruition.” Its conduit bonds “have built affordable housing for low income families and seniors, schools and commercial developments—all with no cost to Arizona taxpayers,” he said. "
The SEC appears to be watching this one + was mentioned at the end of the article...
"An investor in the business of youth sports who isn’t affiliated with Legacy Park, said he contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission with concerns about the project last year. Legacy Cares and Legacy Sports USA each said the SEC has told them to preserve documents."
whatithink
GOLD
I agree on the $ front, but in their defense it was a 40 year lease with options for 2 addl 5 year terms
That's what I was thinking. Like renting a house and paying to put a Tropical Paradise with a pool and then leave after a couple years. If someone offered me a killer 40-year lease, I still would not buy the owner a nice pool or repair his horrible driveway.
