Montgomery County officials said they expect to sign a deal with Live Nation by Dec. 31 despite growing opposition from some residents who have urged Executive Ike Leggett to consider a less expensive proposal to fill the vacant J.C. Penney building on Colesville Road.
Members of the East Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board sent Leggett a letter last week saying they are concerned by a lack of transparency in the process by which Beverly Hills-based Live Nation, which operates Fillmore and House of Blues music venues, was chosen. The county did not issue a request for proposals (RFPs), nor was it required to, Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield has said.
“We would like to have a better understanding why one entity is chosen over another,” board chairwoman Deborah Spielberg said in the letter.
Leggett’s office earlier this month rejected a pitch made by 9:30 Club owner Seth Hurwitz that could have saved county taxpayers millions of dollars in local and state subsidies. The county and state have offered $4 million each to Live Nation to renovate and operate the 29,000-square-foot space. Hurwitz, of Bethesda, said he would need only $6 million.
“It looks like what happened, the county went out and sought one vendor without allowing everyone to participate,” board member Philip Olivetti said.
Olivetti said the county should have issued RFPs because it is dealing with taxpayer money.
“There’s a lot of concern that a company that large is taking that money and why,” Olivetti said of Live Nation.
Olivetti also criticized Hurwitz for waiting until November to offer his own proposal. The non-binding agreement between the county and Live Nation was announced Sept. 27. Lacefield has said that considering Hurwitz’s offer this late in the game would damage the county’s credibility. He also defended the Live Nation deal, saying it was “more transparent than any one in the county’s history.”
