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#81
Development & New Businesses / Re: Rumored Facebook AI center
Last post by patric - August 07, 2025, 09:56:06 AMThis sounds very familiar:
The Tucson city council voted unanimously Wednesday against bringing the massive and water-devouring Project Blue data center — tied to tech giant Amazon — into city limits.
After weeks of escalating public outrage over the lack of transparency around Project Blue, the council voted to end negotiations and remove the annexation and development agreement from the upcoming council meeting agenda — a move that effectively shuts down one of the largest development projects ever considered by the city.
"The way that data centers are being built is not sustainable. "
Beale and Pima County entered into a purchase and sale agreement for 290 acres of unincorporated land in June. The project developer was interested in having that land annexed into Tucson to access city water supplies.
Moving ahead, the city council will begin the process of creating local ordinances to keep large water users accountable and update zoning requirements to address the impacts of possible future data centers.
Council members also expressed concerns about how the process of Project Blue took place, echoing a conversation happening at the county level about the use of non-disclosure agreements spurred by concerns around the project.
Amid the data center debate, there were a flurry of questions over how TEP would meet the center's significant energy demand, and how to ensure the additional cost wouldn't fall on residential consumers. Earlier this year, the company asked for a 14% rate hike.
"There was no way in this situation to guarantee that if we did build this data center that some partial outbuild for the power supply to the data center wasn't going to be passed on to our ratepayers," Cunningham said. "We've got to work towards seeing that we've fixed that."'
https://azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/tucson-city-council-rejects-project-blue-amid-intense-community-pressure/
The Tucson city council voted unanimously Wednesday against bringing the massive and water-devouring Project Blue data center — tied to tech giant Amazon — into city limits.
After weeks of escalating public outrage over the lack of transparency around Project Blue, the council voted to end negotiations and remove the annexation and development agreement from the upcoming council meeting agenda — a move that effectively shuts down one of the largest development projects ever considered by the city.
"The way that data centers are being built is not sustainable. "
Beale and Pima County entered into a purchase and sale agreement for 290 acres of unincorporated land in June. The project developer was interested in having that land annexed into Tucson to access city water supplies.
Moving ahead, the city council will begin the process of creating local ordinances to keep large water users accountable and update zoning requirements to address the impacts of possible future data centers.
Council members also expressed concerns about how the process of Project Blue took place, echoing a conversation happening at the county level about the use of non-disclosure agreements spurred by concerns around the project.
Amid the data center debate, there were a flurry of questions over how TEP would meet the center's significant energy demand, and how to ensure the additional cost wouldn't fall on residential consumers. Earlier this year, the company asked for a 14% rate hike.
"There was no way in this situation to guarantee that if we did build this data center that some partial outbuild for the power supply to the data center wasn't going to be passed on to our ratepayers," Cunningham said. "We've got to work towards seeing that we've fixed that."'
https://azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/tucson-city-council-rejects-project-blue-amid-intense-community-pressure/
#82
Development & New Businesses / Re: Amazon
Last post by patric - August 07, 2025, 09:51:12 AMQuote from: DTowner on February 15, 2019, 11:30:40 AMIt is probably safe to say it is much worse to have won the Amazon HQ2 bidding war only to lose it, than to have never won at all!
Data center's fate should have been settled long ago
Maybe it's a small dose of payback for offering hope to every minor berg and hamlet from one coast to the other that they might land Amazon HQ2. Then they found out you put the investment not far from where you have houses already. Pima County sent you a full-grown live saguaro hoping to woo you here.
I'm sure the non-disclosure agreements didn't help keep people in the loop. Well, that's what you get if an economic development project is kept so hush-hush the decision makers don't know the details until too late in the game.
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/080625_tucson_data_blues_op/goodbye-blue-tucson-data-centers-fate-should-have-been-settled-long-ago/
#83
The Burbs / Re: New Oklahoma City Arena--B...
Last post by Laramie - August 01, 2025, 04:35:48 PMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ABFUVmwtw
The FULL Oklahoma City Thunder 2025 Champions Parade!{/B]
The FULL Oklahoma City Thunder 2025 Champions Parade!{/B]
#84
Development & New Businesses / Re: American Heartland Theme P...
Last post by dbacksfan 2.0 - August 01, 2025, 04:16:46 PMThat was not on my bingo card at all. There was a reference to the failed Tornado Tower project and it made me think of Oral and his 'I need the money or God is going to call me home'trying to raise money for City Of Faith prayer tower vigil escapade.
#85
The Burbs / Re: New Oklahoma City Arena--B...
Last post by Laramie - August 01, 2025, 03:27:15 PMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkWp9pnYqPM
OKC Thunder wins the 2025 NBA Finals - OKC Celebration at Scissortail Park | Shot on GoPro
#86
Other Tulsa Discussion / Re: Another Police Helicopter
Last post by whoatown - August 01, 2025, 02:45:13 PMQuote from: patric on July 20, 2025, 12:43:28 PMBecause a helicopter flying without ADS-B has already killed an airliner full of people, but we should really be afraid of a hobbyists drone? https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4762991-Homeland-Security-Committee-urges-requiring-Digital-Flight-Authorizationshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N4Xoa6RzTQ
The drone that the military helicopter collided with surveying Hill Country Texas floods was a Search and Rescue involved drone. That was one of the examples used in the Committee. Can't use that now.
#87
Development & New Businesses / Re: American Heartland Theme P...
Last post by BKDotCom - August 01, 2025, 08:04:44 AMQuote from: dbacksfan 2.0 on July 30, 2025, 11:27:47 AMWOW. Graduates of the ORU School of Fundrasing?
school of grifting
#88
Development & New Businesses / Re: American Heartland Theme P...
Last post by Red Arrow - July 30, 2025, 07:32:08 PMQuote from: dbacksfan 2.0 on July 30, 2025, 11:27:47 AMWOW. Graduates of the ORU School of Fundrasing?
Perhaps even with advanced degrees.
#89
Development & New Businesses / Re: American Heartland Theme P...
Last post by dbacksfan 2.0 - July 30, 2025, 11:27:47 AMQuote from: patric on July 27, 2025, 09:40:47 AM
The financial backer of the proposed $2 billion American Heartland theme park in Vinita has sued three individuals associated with the development, claiming the project failed after the three bilked him out of $60 million in part by sending encouraging texts and emails to him that purported to come from God.
Attorneys for Florida resident O. Gene Bicknell, 92, filed the lawsuit Friday in Tulsa federal court, naming Richard M. Silanskas Jr., Larry K. Wilhite and Stephen D. Hedrick as defendants.
"Silanskas and Wilhite executed a predatory conspiracy of psychological manipulation — convincing Gene, through fraud and impersonation, that God himself was commanding him both to finance the park's construction and to grant Silanskas and Wilhite two-third ownership over the completed venture, which was to be worth $2 billion," the lawsuit states.
Their efforts included sending Bicknell anonymous texts and emails that pretended to come from God and another religious figure.
"Silanskas and Wilhite made Gene believe that God Himself was commanding Gene to infuse ever more cash into the Project and to trust them completely with its management. For years, those electronic messages preyed upon Gene's devout Christian faith and admonished Gene to obey 'God's' will without doubts or second-guessing."
https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-courts/article_c8c6bacd-1cb5-4b8d-8ea4-f1fa2ff340e6.html
WOW. Graduates of the ORU School of Fundrasing?
#90
Development & New Businesses / Re: New Utica Square Construct...
Last post by dbacksfan 2.0 - July 30, 2025, 11:17:50 AMQuote from: patric on July 28, 2025, 06:01:19 PMTulsa restaurant and hospitality entrepreneur Elliot Nelson told the Tulsa World he would like to purchase Utica Square.
Nelson said he would like to see Utica Square improved with elements present at OAK, a nearly 1 million-square-foot area near Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City. It includes a hotel, apartments, retailers and restaurants, office space, and a newly opened RH (formerly Restoration Hardware), which looks more like a mansion than a store.
The Tulsa developer of that $250 million Oklahoma City project, Ryan McNeill, founder of Veritas Development, recently told the Tulsa World he wants to bring the same to Tulsa — possibly to transform Utica Square.
More: https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/business/article_7d53a7d4-214e-4688-993d-973fc96b6180.html
JMO Looked up OAK on Google Maps and Earth, and have to say "meh". It's a generic, non street facing, limited access, one from Penn and one from NW Expressway,upscale enclave. Did they pay the dozen or so homeowners fair market value for their homes or just use eminent domain?
At least it's more colorful than the Soviet/Eastern European apartment buildings but just as blah.