The raze permit application notice is posted on the front window of Giant. If all goes according to Roadside's schedule, we hope to close our HUD loan in the late summer and then immediately close and raze Giant.
Key words in the above paragraph are "hope" and "HUD". The construction loan is being financed by a very large HUD loan. The application is multi-layered and our application was filed over a year ago. We continue to wait for our next step from HUD which is the Invitation to File a Firm Commitment. HUD has been swamped as they have been the lender of last resort in the financial meltdown. However, we have been told that ours is coming since September and as you may remember hearing at our groundbreaking event from Ron Simms, Deputy Secretary of HUD, HUD is underwriting CityMarket for $104 million. We are grateful for Congresswoman Norton's letter in February to HUD Secretary Donovan reminding them of the importance of our schedule and the need to close the loan by August.
When we get our invitation to file a firm commitment, we are ready to respond immediately with our Firm Commitment Application that the O Street Team has been working on. Also during this period, we have been actively pursuing all of the permits necessary to start construction, including the raze permit application that is on the Giant front window. From conversations with HUD Baltimore officials, we are optimistic that HUD will close our loan this summer and the dirt will at last begin to fly.
