I'm not sure if anyone saw the front page of the Times Union, but I noticed the name from this site. I purchased the paper to see what everyone was talking about as far as this Mr Kuhn guy. Sounds like this guy pulled what I call "a flop". In a way I sorta wish the guy was successful (in Jax). While reading the article I kept saying to myself "damn why did he have to fail in Jacksonville?" and "Why is he so arrogant?" some of his quotes reminded me of Ted DiBiase...except this guy was serious!!! For some reason I feel some of the city head honchos wanted Mr. Kuhn to fail due to his arrogance. I understand the market is hurting right now, but damn. I mean we learned in school do one project at a time. This guy was just buying property left and right and not finishing nothing. What is that??
I understand where youre coming from , Cooly. But consider this...
Why would anyone ON PURPOSE , go into debt like that, just to ruin his name.. I mean , when he was described in a previous article , as the Donald Trump of these parts, I thought .. he lives the life of an endless-millionaire. No one would deliberately sink themselves, only to ruin their credit and their good name. Kuhn had some success stories as well down in Orlando , prior to this mess happening. I agree with you that it sucks that it happened here in Jacksonville. One of the things I appreciate about him was an attempt on restoring , in fact getting restoration at least partly underway on some significant , few-remaining downtown Historic Structures. At least the attempt was executed. In most cases over decades, Developers have come in and razed these structures. I think Kuhns downfall might have been a two-fold problem , one being ,as we all know , the Economy and Real Estate market, and the other , might have been taking on more than he could get done, particularly in the softening market. I belive this could indeed happen to any developer.
My gut feeling about Mr Kuhn is, to some extent at least, he will bounce back. This is a major set back and he will have some losses.
I never have met Mr Kuhn in person, but im sure he is educated in what he does. His attitude , could be in light of the circumstances he is in now. Anyone suffering major economic losses like this is going to have a changed attitude. I dont think he INTENTIONALLY bought all this property and underwent all these projects , intending to lose it all.
respectfully submitted
Saw something similar in the oil boom of the 1980's in Central and Western Oklahoma. I knew two guys in Mustang (suburban OKC) that were "oil millionaires" both did it with development, realestate and such in the small towns where the drill rigs suddenly burst to life. When the boom fell apart, both lost it all, one went bankrupt, and both went from have-everything... to have-nots. Yet their names were not smeared, they were still treated with respect. The bankrupt one kept teaching a mens adult Sunday School class, they both kept working right on through. Well today, both are worth well over a few million each! Realestate, development and oil again!
Moral of my story, stand by our man. Don't abandon the ship and keep offering support, plans and incentives to the man. Anyone who has paid his dues, filed all his papers and fought his way to the top of this type of business, might falter, but he will bounce right back as soon as the air clears... believe me, he'll remember who and where his friends were...Orlando? or JACKSONVILLE! He's already proven he has the vision, the finances are just the details. Jacksonville needs men of vision.
Ocklawaha
Amen , Ock!
Trump went bankrupt also. Back in 1990, he went under owing about 2 billion. His creditors took most everything. However, by the late 90's, he was back. I think Kuhn will be back, in about 5-10 years or so.
Thank you Ock. I needed that perspective.
Trump did not file for bankruptcy. One of his holding companies filed a Chapter 11 Reorganization Bankruptcy if my memory is correct but he absolutely never filed one personally. He certainly went through a tough time during the last real estate downturn in the early 1990s though and has said as much. It is actually an inspiring story of how he pulled himself out of it.