HVS says Milwaukee, er, I mean, Nashville, is Unique

Jameson Questions Music City Center Feasibility Study

Joey Garrison

The legitimacy of a feasibility report used to justify bankrolling a proposed $585 million convention center was called into question from a Metro Council skeptic Monday night during a question-and-answer session leading up to next week’s final vote on the project.

Councilman Mike Jameson, a frequent critic of Music City Center, pointed out that language used by HVS Consulting –– a firm hired by Metro to predict the market potential for a new convention center in Nashville –– forecasts the same “rosy picture” for other cities that have paid for the group’s services, despite HVS’ claim that Nashville is positioned economically different than other municipalities.

Reading aloud from one report after another, Jameson showed that analyses (sic) HVS conducted for the cities of Sante Fe, N.M; Milwaukee, Wis.; Columbus, Ohio and Omaha, Neb. held the same claims –– word-for-word –– that a dependence on local event business “provides a partial buffer against economic cycles and continued concerns with air travel.” He went on to single out a study commissioned for Sante Fe in which HVS appeared to accidentally provide information addressed to Milwaukee.

“In that instance you weren’t just cutting and pasting, and changing the city’s name,” Jameson said. “You cut and pasted, and kept the wrong city.

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