Ruby Sinreich's blog

Ann Arbor is not Chapel Hill (duh)

I took some photos today but they are truly horrible. Wlil post later. Some of my biggest impressions so far:

  1. The empty Pfizer campus, and the Chamber director talking about nearby businesses that are about to go under from losing the business from 2,000 employees & 1,000 contractors that used to work there. Are you listening Carolina North folks?
  2. There are lots of tall buildings (5 - 10 - 15 feet stories) and most of them look really nice and seem to work well. Some of them don't though. I talked with some folks tonight about how Chapel Hill lacks the regulatory tools to analyze tall buildings. How do we know how tall is "too tall", what are factors that make it work or make it fail? One local suggested that I meet a woman from their downtown commission, but I'm really more interested in the perspective of a City Council or Planning Board type.

Inter-city prep

Last week I was at Mayor Chilton's office in Carrboro talking about how to make the most of the Inter-City Visit to Ann Arbor (which my fingers keep misspelling "Ann Arrboro"). He suggested checking out some local blogs and we started Googling away. I only found one (Arbor Update) that seemed like OP, but there are definitely some interesting sites, although several haven't been updated since this summer.

Chancellor puts investment into blind trust

I'm not even sure if this is a story, but it seemed interesting to me. It seems that UNC's new chancellor Holden Thorp was a partner with an RTP-based venture capital business that supports biotech start-ups.  The chancellor had planned to continue his role there, but his brother Clay Thorp (who went to UNC with me) is the general partner there and felt it would be best to cut official ties.

Thorp is no longer a venture partner at Durham’s Hatteras Venture Partners, says his brother, Hatteras general partner Clay Thorp. And Holden Thorp’s equity stake in Hatteras has been put into a blind trust.

Clay Thorp says the decision was made as Holden Thorp took over the top spot at UNC on July 1.

“We decided mutually that it was best for him to have no formal role,” Clay Thorp says, “and to avoid any confusion.”

Holden and Clay Thorp still have informal discussions about science and business, Clay Thorp says. But that’s as far as Holden Thorp’s relationship with Hatteras goes.

Courtyard owner's mouth writing checks his bank can't cash

I hope none of you were surprised to hear about this development. (If so, it's because you apparently didn't read my recent rant about "the problem with downtown." Hint: It has something to do with negligent landlords.)

The bank filed a request late last month for a foreclosure hearing in Orange County Superior Court, saying Spencer C. Young Investments wasn't making payments on $2.63 million it had borrowed in 2005 to buy the property.

[...] 

In June, a collection agency sued Young, saying he had defaulted on a $15,000 credit line from Citibank. Earlier, Wright Co. Electrical and Maintenance Services sued Young in Orange County small claims court, claiming almost $3,000 in unpaid services there and at a shopping center he owns in Durham.

This summer, Raleigh-based Benjamin Construction Inc. sued Young for more than $550,000, saying he did not pay for construction of Baba Ghannouj, a Middle Eastern restaurant, and various general improvements to the property.

OPTV asks: do you scroll all the way down?

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