PRESS RELEASE OF BOCA GRANDE CAPITAL, LLC (“BGC”)
AND RIPON RENEW, INC. (“RR”) REGARDING
DOWNTOWN RIPON REVITALIZATION PROJECTS
Since 2007, Boca Grande Capital, LLC and Ripon Renew, Inc. have invested more than $7.5 million of their collective financial resources in capital investment and heavily subsidized operating losses for the buildings and businesses they have acquired, renovated, and operate in downtown Ripon. Both this sizeable financial investment, and the deep and personally held commitment of the Ripon Renew and BGC principals to an economically sound future for downtown Ripon, have clearly evidenced the dedication of these organizations and their leaders to the fulfillment of the vision for a revitalized and vibrant downtown.
During and throughout the past 24 months, in the most difficult and challenging economic circumstances that have confronted this region and country in more than 75 years,
BGC and RR leadership have met with dozens of potential joint venturers, partners, public and private capital sources, wealthy individual investors, and other developers and potential investors, all in the aggressive pursuit of the relationships and resources required to complete the renewal of downtown Ripon. For an extended period, as economic, investment, and lending conditions everywhere worsened with each succeeding month, these pursuits were frustrated by a universal climate of negativity. Within the past few months, however, this climate has begun slowly to change, offering promise and hope in each of the four following areas:
1.
Ripon Hotel . BGC and RR executives have narrowed potential hotel development partners to three (3) highly qualified and capable hotel developer/operators, each with substantial capital resources and with continuous records of success in the construction and operation of hotels throughout the Midwest. The parties have discussed and negotiated appropriate legal structures, the location, design and amenities to be provided in the 54-room hotel complex, and the provision of all financial capital needed to complete the development.
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When these negotiations are finalized in coming weeks, the RR/partner hotel proposal will be presented to and discussed in detail with representatives of the City of Ripon, and mutually agreeable modifications to the agreement governing final hotel development and its accompanying timeline will be agreed to between RR and the City.
2.
The Midwest Center for Wellness, Nutrition and Longevity TM .
Located adjacent to the Ripon Hotel will be The Midwest Center for Wellness, Nutrition and
Longevity TM (the “ Center ”), which will be a destination facility dedicated to delivering (and educating others to deliver) wellness, nutrition, and longevity principles and benefits to individuals from throughout the Midwest of all ages and physical conditions. RR and BGC have been aggressively engaged in the pursuit of dedicated and appropriate partners in each of the following health industry niches: healthcare system, health insurance company, nutrition product development and marketing company, and wellness programs and education development and implementation entity. The group of potential partners has been narrowed to no more than two in each of these health industry niches, and detailed and specific discussions regarding financial and operational commitments by each of these potential partners have been underway for many weeks. It is anticipated that the Center will be constructed and opened on a timetable that overlaps with that for the construction and opening of the Hotel. As with the
Hotel, when negotiations are finalized with the appropriate partner investors, the details of the design, operation and financing of the Center will be shared and discussed with City of Ripon representatives, and mutually acceptable changes to the development agreement will be negotiated and agreed to.
3.
Republican Presidents Museum and Free Enterprise Institute
Conference Center . Following presentations and discussions with the leadership of the
National Republican Party, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, several major national corporations,
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and a carefully selected and highly prioritized list of major national Republican Party individual donors, an aggressive campaign was recently launched to raise the funds needed to construct and endow the National Republican Presidents Museum and the Free Enterprise Institute Conference
Center. It is anticipated that the National Republican Presidents Museum will memorialize and chronicle, through the use of highly interactive technology and integrated source documents and video from throughout the United States, the history and remarkable contributions of our country’s nineteen (19) Republican presidents. In addition, the Free Enterprise Institute will recount, through various written and video resources, the impact and role that the principles of individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise have had in the development of the most successful country and most innovative economy ever created in the history of mankind.
The Presidents Museum and Free Enterprise Conference Center will be designed and marketed as a “must see” experience for every high school, college and/or graduate student, and every teacher, business executive, potential entrepreneur and/or Republican Party member living anywhere in the United States. As progress is made toward finalizing the details of these projects, specific proposed designs and timetables will be shared with City representatives, and mutually acceptable changes relating thereto will be agreed to by the City and RR/BGC to the downtown renovation development agreement.
4.
Additional Downtown Projects . BGC and RR leadership has aggressively and diligently pursued all private and public sources of capital for the additional downtown Ripon renovation and is in detailed discussions and negotiations with potential users and capital sources for two significant Watson Street Projects, with the goal of initiating construction no later than Spring, 2013.
RR and BGC each remains highly committed and motivated to complete fully the
“Ripon Renew” vision outlined in the development agreement (as it may subsequently be
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modified by mutual agreement of the City of Ripon and RR/BGC representatives). We appreciate the directness and candor we have received from Ripon’s Mayor and City Council leadership, and have sought to return such parity by working closely and cooperatively with them to complete the vision we all share for the future of Ripon. We will not rest until that full vision becomes reality.
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