DEVELOPER Speaks Out

3/16/2007 2:31:40 P.M., in an email Eklectika writes:

Good Afternoon Maitland !

Thank you to everyone who is sharing their voice and making it known that we all must actively continue working towards securing OUR Town Center/Downtown Maitland.

Many of you suggested setting up a meeting with the developer, Bob Reese and he is ready, willing and able !

Makes plans NOW...for next Tuesday evening (see below in Bob Reese's note).

Ann Lanier
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3/16/2007 12:46:26 P.M., in an email Bob Reese writes:

Ann,

Thank you for including me in your e-mail notice.

I firmly believe that the momentum is with us and we should all get together next week at the mail package store Tuesday for an update and positive plan.

We must all be optimists and be positive about this inevitable change. If we are all not together on this we will end up with a half baked pie, compromised because of fear and hand wringing over what is inevitable. The fact is that our Town Center/Downtown is going to be developed properly by us. We are very different from the out of town developer that is only worried about profits. What typically happens when a developer politically cannot get enough density to make the numbers work is that “he or she” will cover the site with 4 and 5 story pentagon type buildings and cheapen the building materials to make the numbers work. That is something I will not do nor will I be party to that type of development that panders to fear.

I will fight for the most density that makes our Downtown a guaranteed success and a quality project (built for next 100 years) no matter how unpopular that may be with some residents. Doing the right thing for future generations may never be popular at the time. I was raised by the selfless generation of WWII and furthermore by great Florida Pioneers before him (Brossier’s and Reese’s). This is my legacy project. This is your legacy project.

Downtown developments are extremely complex projects to underwrite. I know personally because I have been underwriting them my entire professional life. I have underwritten well over $2 Billion in LBO’s, IRB’s and corporate REIT deals. I also taught senior credit classes for NCNB and wrote my own cases at the age of 25. I was promoted to Vice President in Corporate in a Real Estate Banking Group by the time I was 27. I was hand picked by Chairman Hugh McCall before I graduated and my only other counter part Tim Laney is now the President of B of A in Florida.

My resume’ has been questioned by Bob Brown and Ron Swiger (therefore) I will stack myself against anyone in the United States in an open one on one debate on how these projects are structured, programmed, closed and constructed.

I promise the citizens of Maitland that I will do everything possible to see that THIS deal finally is financed and built. I will fight for it like nothing the citizens have ever seen before in the history of Maitland.

Thank you again.

Robert B. Reese, Jr.
Brossier Company
222 W. Comstock Ave., Suite 115
Winter Park, FL 32789