Quote Originally Posted by Urbanized View Post
I mean...finance is definitely a real thing. And we have no idea how many investors they already have. Bicknell (apparently the main investor) just received a documented tax return windfall of $63 million, and that was money that was initially taken from him - wrongly, according to the courts - as part of a transaction wherein he sold 800 Pizza Huts that he owned. Meaning the sale number was surely many multiples of that original tax withholding. The most recent pre-sale era revenue numbers I could find for NPC (his holding company) was half a billion in annual sales. I'm sure when he sold his shares what he ended up clearing was in the multiple hundreds of millions.

He also owns radio stations and other businesses, and Mansion Entertainment looks to be huge and growing in the fields of live entertainment, film and TV production, animation and others. They are the main sponsor for the 2024 Rose Parade. People like this know how to gain project financing.

And THG Creative just announced a partnership with American Heartland. Click on that link and you will find that they are a pretty massive player in the attractions industry.

Last but not least, Cathy O'Connor (former CEO for Oklahoma City's Alliance for Economic Development) just announced on social media that her consulting firm is working on this project, meaning that most likely they will be pursuing a dedicated TIF for the development's footprint and likely also any state incentives that make sense. All of this tells me that this is a pretty serious project, and far from a simple "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks" call for investors. I think it's real, and I think these people know what they are doing when it comes to financing a project like this.
I agree. I think they still have a lot of moving parts to put together, but good businesses don't hire people like Cathy O'Connor on a whim. Her consulting firm is pretty pricey.

And if climate change keeps happening and Florida and California end up underwater, Oklahoma might just be the new Florida!