<div>I firmly believe that, at this time, Whole Foods is committed to opening their planned store in Riverdale Park.</div><div><br></div><div>I've spent a lot of time across a negotiating table from their lead attorney on the project, Chip Reed, and have found him to be very careful and precise in what he says. He has stated on numerous occasions that they have a "lease" with Whole Foods, not a "Letter of Intent" as suggested by Mr. Currie. So long as the Cafritz team keeps their side of the lease (building the store according to the terms of the lease) I believe that Whole Foods will come. My reading of the Hyattsville CDC's recent market study suggests that this site presents a very good opportunity for Whole Foods; discussions I've had with Stuart Eisenberg about that study indicate the same.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Ms. Avery started this discussion because Mr. Reed used the term "a grocery store" instead of "Whole Foods" in the presentation, implying that he knows that the occupant will not be Whole Foods. I'm as certain as I can be, based on my interactions with him, that if that were true he would not have said what I quoted in my first letter, that the developer was under significant time pressure from "Whole Foods."</div>
<div><br></div><div>It's still possible, of course, that the project will be killed by the actions (or delays) of the District Council.</div><div><br></div><div>Alan</div><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_quote">
On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 10:16 AM, Chris Currie <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:crcurrie@gmail.com" target="_blank">crcurrie@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Beware the 'bait and switch.'<div><br></div><div>Too soon to tell, but one thing's for certain: Once the rezoning is approved, the strength of Cafritz's and Whole Foods' negotiating positions with respect to each other changes dramatically. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Up 'til this time, Cafritz has been almost completely dependent on Whole Foods' participation in the development proposal. I wouldn't be surprised if the latter was offered a $1/year lease; certainly, some kind of sweetheart deal would have been necessary to lure Whole Foods so far away from its standard marketing demographic criteria. </div>
<div><br></div><div>With the property rezoned, Cafritz doesn't need Whole Foods and might find another tenant willing to pay more to anchor its commercial component. A Letter of Intent (as I'm presuming is the nature of whatever agreement the two parties have at this point) is never iron-clad.</div>
<div><br></div><div>If we hear from Cafritz in the days ahead, particularly after final approval of the development plan, that Whole Foods' "demands" have increased or become more unreasonable, we should definitely take it with a grain of salt. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Chris Currie</div><div>Hyattsville<br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span>Message: 3</span><br><span>Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 08:27:56 -0700 (PDT)</span><br><span>From: Melissa Avery <</span><a href="mailto:m.avery@rocketmail.com" target="_blank">m.avery@rocketmail.com</a><span>></span><br>
<span>To: "</span><a href="mailto:towntalk@riverdale-park.org" target="_blank">towntalk@riverdale-park.org</a><span>" <</span><a href="mailto:towntalk@riverdale-park.org" target="_blank">towntalk@riverdale-park.org</a><span>></span><div>
<br>
<span>Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] What grocery store?</span><br></div><span>Message-ID:</span><br><span> <</span><a href="mailto:1334417276.62493.YahooMailNeo@web162106.mail.bf1.yahoo.com" target="_blank">1334417276.62493.YahooMailNeo@web162106.mail.bf1.yahoo.com</a><span>></span><br>
<span>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"</span><br><br><span>So, Whole Foods has not?officially?announced?</span><span>their?withdrawal?from the project</span><br>
<span>From what I understand Whole Foods originally?put conditions on whether or not they would continue with the?development.</span><br><span>I guess the truth will come out in the cross examination?process in front of the county council.?</span><br>
<span>Melissa</span><br></div></div>
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