Following an E-FORUM tradition and commitment, the following is a response from Eddie Orton to the story originally carried by “Richmond Confidential” about the Ford Building Visitor Center Lease.

Regarding Orton’s statements about veracity, I have the following comments:

·         I did not write the Richmond Confidential story. If Orton has issues with it, he should contact the  author, Ryan Phillips.

·         The National Park Service and the City of Richmond had requested and always expected Orton to comply with his agreement and both designate and reserve a space for the Visitor Center in the Craneway, but the National Park Service had no need to actually enter into a lease until funding for the Visitor Center internal improvements became available a couple of years ago. Meanwhile, Orton continued to have full use of the entire Craneway, including renting it for events at $10,000 a day and pocketing all the receipts. Just because the National Park Service did not insist on a lease four years ago for an empty space they were not ready to use did not obviate Orton’s legal obligation to reserve and ultimately provide the space. The National park Service negotiator did not “quit.” National Park Service leases, like all typical federal leases, are handled by the General Services Administration (GSA). In this case, the GSA, recognizing special circumstances, ultimately bowed out and allowed the National Park Service to handle its own lease, which is now the plan, with the City of Richmond assisting. If the Visitor Center location is moved to the Oil House, the building shell should be delivered in the same condition as was expected of the Craneway, which Orton has refused to do.

·         Orton is correct that there is no specific requirement to deliver a “cold shell,” but the agreement does state that Orton will provide “shell space” that will be “located in the Building upon its rehabilitation and redevelopment,” rent free excluding only “normal NNN expenses and tenant improvements.” This clearly implies at least a cold shell. It would be a unimaginative stretch to conclude that the agreement anticipated Orton would rehabilitate and seismically upgrade 75% of the Craneway and deliver the remaining 25% to the National Park Service unpainted, with broken windows, a leaking roof, no floor and an unsafe structure, telling them, “Here, you are on your own.” This just doesn’t make any sense, and it undermines Orton’s credibility for everything else on this subject.

·         While Orton and BCDC are continuing to debate and negotiate a resolution to the Bay Trail access issue, he is clearly in violation of his BCDC permit and is sustaining fines of up to $1,000 daily for these violations. It is not BCDC’s obligation to accommodate Orton; it is his responsibility to comply with his permit.

·         Orton is correct that many parties have worked on the Visitor Center Lease for many months, but they are all frustrated that Orton has not moved forward to honor his legal commitments, and that delay has caused the National Park Service to lose millions of dollars in funds appropriated to construct the project.

·         As Orton requests, I freely admit that I sit on the board of directors of Rosie the Riveter Trust, the non-profit partner of the National Park Service for Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park. The Trust is principally a fund-raising organization to support the Park and has no contractual or legal interest in the Ford Building or the Visitor Center. It is in my role as a City Council member that I am doing everything I can to bring the Visitor Center to fruition. The Visitor Center will attract both visitors and media attention to Richmond and will generate business for local shops, hotels and restaurants – bringing tax revenue to Richmond and enhancing our image. It might be an overstatement to say I am blinded by my focus on Rosie, but I admit that I am deeply committed.

All Orton has to do to put this to bed is simply honor the legally binding commitment he made when he purchased the Ford Building from the City of Richmond, leased the Craneway (the City still owns the Craneway) and accepted a BCDC permit.

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From: Eddie Orton [mailto:eorton@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 10:44 AM
To: Butt, Tom; news@richmondconfidential.org
Subject: FW: TOM BUTT E-FORUM: City, developer in disagreement over alleged violations at Historic Ford Plant

Your publication of the Randy Riddle letter and the subsequent repeated coverage requires correction.

You claim that Orton Development Inc. (ODI) failed to promptly enter into a lease with the National Park Service (NPS) for the Rosie the Riveter National Visitor’s Center. You neglect to mention that it took NPS/GSA over four years just to appoint a negotiator. By comparison, it took ODI 3 years to build out the 500,000 square foot project. That negotiator has since quit.

The Riddle letter claims that ODI promised to deliver a “cold shell” in writing. This is a flat out lie, and you know it to be. The letter includes other misrepresentations too numerous to describe here. ODI is living up to all of our legal requirements.

As to the BCDC situation, all parties agree we can improve on the current design. All parties understand that there is a bona fide, difficult, but very important clash between public access on one hand and public safety on the other. Everyone is working towards balancing these considerations in coming up with the best design. Compared to the normal speed of the government decision-making, this group of officials is moving lickety-split.

The parties involved include NPS, several departments of the City of Richmond, BCDC, and ODI. The staffs of each of these organizations have worked incessantly for the last year in repeated meetings and spent a tremendous amount of unflagging effort, design, and yes, emotion; and we’re closing in on a result. BCDC has worked tirelessly to maximize availability; NPS has worked very hard to come up with the most impactful design; Redevelopment and City Planning have committed many hours to the zoning review and redevelopment issues; Police, Fire and City Planning have worked diligently to make the destination safe yet enticing. The message of the Riddle letter is the opposite, and diminishes the work of all the people involved.

Tom, please be honest with your readership as to whether you were the person who instigated the Randy Riddle letter.  Admit that since you sit on the Rosie Board, and are nearly blinded by your single-issue focus on Rosie.   When you misreport the facts, you create unfounded doubt and mistrust. You can better be a part of this success by joining a large team executing a significant project for the city of Richmond and the region, rather than an outside commentator fabricating facts and a non-existent story.