Skip to content
McGrath & Spielberger PLLC
Client Reviews

1.800.481.2180

  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Blog
  • What We Do
    • Business & Contracts
      • Choosing a Business Lawyer for NC Corporations and Other Small Business
      • The Number One Problem for Small Limited Liability Companies
      • How To Dissolve a Corporation in North Carolina?
    • Limited Liability Company
      • Your New LLC – Part 1: The Basics
      • New LLC: Maintaining Limited Liability Protection
      • Your New LLC – Part 3: Federal, State and Local Registration, Licensing and Permitting
      • “Your New LLC” – Part 4: Transacting Business in Another State
      • “Your New LLC” – Part 5: Moving Your LLC to Another State
    • Mortgage & Foreclosure
      • Hearing Results
      • Mortgage Problems – Should You Trust Your Lender or Loan Servicer?
      • When to Hire an Attorney for Foreclosure and Mortgage Relief
      • Mortgage Loans: Recourse versus Non-Recourse and Foreclosure Related Deficiency Judgments
      • Negotiating with a Bank: Why do I have to Provide My Financials?
      • Can the HOA (Homeowners’ Association) Foreclose on my Home?
    • Real Estate Cases & Closings
      • Breach of NC Real Estate Purchase Contract – Buyer’s Damages in NorthCarolina
      • Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) – What is the Borrower Really Paying for?
    • Disputes & Lawsuits
      • Business Contracts: What Should Yours Say Regarding Recovering Attorneys’ Fees in Case of Dispute? (Part 1)
      • Business Contracts: What Should Yours Say Regarding Recovering Attorneys’ Fees in Case of Dispute? (Part 2)
      • Arbitration versus Mediation
      • Responding to a Lawsuit Complaint
    • Tax & IRS Matters
      • S-Corp Tax Election for LLC
      • Comparison of Subchapter K v. Subchapter S
      • Employment Tax Considerations in Starting a Business
      • Is your Worker an Independent Contractor? (The IRS Cares!)
    • Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning
      • Congrats, You’ve Inherited a Mess
      • When Should I Write a Will?
      • Top 5 Reasons to Change Your Will
    • Prenuptial Agreements
      • Recently Engaged? 5 Reasons Why You Should Consider A Prenup
    • Other Practice Areas
      • Indemnification in Contracts: What if Both Parties Are at Fault?
      • Indemnification in Contracts: Should You at Least Have to be Guilty as Charged?
      • Venue Clauses in Contracts – Beware Listing Only the County and State
    • Limited Scope Services
      • Arbitration Agreement: How to Get to Arbitration if A Lawsuit Was Filed First
      • Follow the Contract’s Arbitration Clause or File a Lawsuit?
      • Arbitration: setting the rules and identifying which arbitration organization will be used
  • Who We Are
    • Jason A. McGrath
    • James M. Spielberger
    • Kelly J. Brown
    • Kelly Frecker
    • Todd E. Gonyer
  • Where We Practice
  • Client Services
    • Helpful Resources
    • News & Updates
  • Consultations
  • Careers

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Jason McGrath Quoted in Story About NASCAR Hall of Fame Loans

City Lab, a division of The Atlantic, Jan 12, 2015 - Yet, as highlighted by a recent Charlotte Observer editorial, the project's ... Jason McGrath, a Charlotte attorney experienced in real-estate ... (full story linked and pasted below)

Investing in NASCAR: What Could Go Wrong?

SAM STURGIS  JAN 12, 2015
⬧
Charlotte's NASCAR Hall of Fame crashed hard. As the city preps for an $18 million debt-forgiveness vote, homeowners wonder where their bailouts are.

A beautiful disaster. (Flickr/Daniel Lobo)

We just rang in 2015, but the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, would love to see the calendar flipped back to 2005.

That was the year NASCAR cemented its position as one of the United States' most popular sports. Fortune magazine drooled over the racing juggernaut a decade ago, proudly declaring NASCAR "the fastest-growing, best-run sports business in America—with the emphasis on businesses."

But the financial viability of NASCAR has crashed in recent years amid plummeting race attendance and growing disinterest in car racing among Americans. And nothing symbolizes the sport's tragic decline more than its Hall of Fame, which broke ground with great expectations in 2007 and officially opened in 2010—and is now hemorrhaging money for the city of Charlotte.

Monday night, Charlotte's city council is expected to pass a loan-forgiveness deal that will eliminate nearly $18 million in debt the city owes on the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Opening the glitzy development cost the city $200 million, but the project was viewed as a crucial job creator for downtown Charlotte, undergoing noticeable revival. Today, to call the NASCAR Hall of Fame a financial disaster would be an understatement.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame, under construction in 2007, features a 278-seat theater, meeting halls, and a cafe. (Flickr/James Willamor)

Early projections had the city-owned Hall of Fame pulling in revenues of up to $1 million annually. Instead, according to Sporting News, the venue has lost over $5 million since opening. Attendance is abysmal. Developers expected at least 400,000 visitors annually, with the potential to attract up to 800,000. Over the past five years, however, only about 170,000 NASCAR fans have visited the venue each year, or 470 per day. One official representing the NASCAR Hall of Fame acknowledges some financial projections have not been met, but insists, "the Hall is doing well." Tom Murray, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which overseas large city-owned assets, says the NASCAR Hall of Fame will earn money or break even if the debt deal is agreed upon.


City officials are framing today's debt deal as a "restructuring" rather than a bailout. Yet, as highlighted by a recent Charlotte Observer editorial, the project's downfall can't really be spun:

It doesn’t camouflage that the Hall of Fame couldn't survive on its own. It doesn’t change the fact that the city, when it bid for the hall, miscalculated everything from attendance projections to the arc of NASCAR’s popularity.

The failure of the deal becomes even more clear as cities struggle to pull out of the Great Recession. Charlotte was spared the crippling housing crisis that hit cities like Detroit and Las Vegas. Still, North Carolina's largest metro was hit hard, according to the Brookings Institution. Single-family properties financed with a mortgage lost 23 percent of their value during the recession and, despite a marginal recovery, are still nowhere near pre-recession rates.

(Brookings)

Jason McGrath, a Charlotte attorney experienced in real-estate litigation, says the community's support for the debt-forgiveness deal is "mixed." Given how badly the venue has underdelivered, taxpayers naturally balk at wiping its financial slate clean so easily. However, McGrath says, residents know they are likely to benefit, at least indirectly, if the city's debt toward the project is written off. (McGrath chairs a civil service committee for the city, but spoke to CityLab from the perspective as an independent lawyer).


“Of course, the folks that are facing foreclosure and have not been able to get help are looking at this and likely thinking to themselves, 'Well, here we go again,' where it’s always the big fish that seem to get the big breaks," McGrath says.

Nearly 16,000 foreclosed properties in Charlotte are either for sale or auction, according to RealyTrac, an online housing database. Would the $18 million being written off for the NASCAR Hall of Fame have better served residential properties currently underwater?

⬧
at 6:24 AM
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Labels: 03, 06, Charlotte, charlotte city council, Collections, Credit, Debt, Jason A McGrath, Jason McGrath News / Media, Life and the Law, loan, NASCAR Hall of Fame
Newer Post Older Post Home
McGrath & Spielberger, PLLC

Tweets by JasonMcGrathLaw

Search

RECENT POSTS

  • Breach of NC Real Estate Purchase Contract - Buyer's Damages in NorthCarolina
  • Comparison of Subchapter K v. Subchapter S
  • Congrats, You’ve Inherited a Mess
  • S-Corp Tax Election for LLC
  • Jason McGrath Interviewed Regarding Internet Security for Law Firms andtheir Clients

ARCHIVES

Categories

01 02 03 04 05 06 08 09 710 form Announcements arbitration arbitration clause arbitration'contracts attending a hearing atticus finch attorney attorney fees Attorney Kelly Frecker bank of america Bankruptcy beneficiary Benefits Blogspot boa borrower breach of contract business business attorney business contracts business disputes business law Business Law & Contracts business law attorney Business Law Disputes business lawyer business owners business partners business tax buyer Cabarrus County Certificate of Existence Charlotte charlotte business journal charlotte city council Charlotte Fire Department charlotte mecklenburg police department charlotte observer CitiMortgage City of Charlotte Civil Rights civil service board claim and delivery Collections complaint construction law Consumer Defense consumer reviews consumers Continuing Series contract contract analysis contract law contracts corporate tax rate corporation court COVID-19 Credit creditor customer reviews customer satisfaction Customer Service cybercrime damages Debt debt forgiveness Deed in Lieu deed in lieu of foreclosure deed-in-lieu Deeds defendant deficiency judgments delinquent mortgage discovery Dispute dissolve Dissolve Corporation Employment employment law employment tax Estate Planning Estate Planning amp; Probate estates eviction federal court financial ratios financials florida Force Majeure foreclosure foreclosure hearing Foreclosure Hearing Results foreclosure prevention foreclosure sale foreclosures Foreclosures amp; Mortgage Loan Relief forming business fraud Freedom of Expression Freedom of Religion Freedom of Speech georgia Government hearing attendance hearing Result hoa HOA / Homeowners' Association homeowner homeowners homeowners' association income indemnification clause Inheritance intake form internal revenue code internet Internet & Technology interrogatories IRS James Spielberger Jason A McGrath Jason McGrath News / Media Jim M Spielberger jim spielberger judgment Judgments jurisdiction Kelly Brown Landlord and Tenant Landowners lawsuit lawsuits lawyer lawyers legal assistance leinholder petition lender Lenders & Mortgage Loan Servicers Lenders amp; Mortgage Loan Servicers Letter of Good Standing Life and the Law Life Planning limited liability limited liability company Litigation llc llm loan loan modification loan note loan note holder loan servicer loss mitigation lost note malpractice McGrath & Spielberger McGrath amp; Speilberger McGrath amp; Spielberger mcgrath and spielberger mediation member members mortgage mortgage dispute Mortgage Disputes mortgage insurance Mortgage lender mortgage loan mortgage loan debt mortgage loan debt income Mortgage Loan Loss Mitigation Applications Mortgage Loan Modification Mortgage Modification mortgage relief Mortgage Relief / Loss Mitigation Programs motions NASCAR Hall of Fame National Mortgage Settlement nc corporations NC Rules of Civil Procedure Necessary Knowledge negotiating negotiation newsletter non-recourse North Carolina north carolina law northa carolina oa Ohio online legal services online reviews operating agreement other-areas owner Partitions of Property partnership plaintiff PLLC PMI Power of Attorney practice of law Prenupital Agreements prenuptial agreement Private Lender private mortgage insurance Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) profits race raleigh Real Estate recourse registered agent Reviews Roundpoint Mortgage Rushmore Rushmore Loan Management Services s corp s corporation SCRA searching for business lawyer seller series Service Contracts settlement shelby short sale short sales single member llc small business Social Media south carolina start-up business starting a business state court state law subchapter K subchapter S summary judgement summons superior court tax tax attorney tax election Tax Issues Tax Law tax rates tax-irs-matters taxes Tech Tips Tennessee The Legal Profession to kill a mockingbird trusts UCC uniform borrower assistance form united states united states district court venue video virtual law Weddings Wells Fargo Will wills wills-trusts-estate-planning-law worker classification

Sitemap

  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • Where We Practice
  • Consultations
  • Blog

What We Do

  • Business & Contract Law
  • Limited Liability Company
  • Mortgage & Foreclosure
  • Real Estate Cases & Closings
  • Disputes & Lawsuits
  • Tax & IRS Matters
  • Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning
  • Prenuptial Agreements
  • Other Practice Areas

Location

map

Directions

Contact Us

6201 FAIRVIEW RD, STE 330
CHARLOTTE NC 28210

info@mcgrathspielberger.com

1.800.481.2180

google

The attorneys responsible for this website are Jason McGrath and Jim Spielberger. At least some of the content of this website may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions. For information about our website privacy policy and terms and conditions, please click here.

Attorney Website Design, Legal Search Engine Optimizations and Lawyer Online Advertising by Leads Online Marketing Services.