Let’s just say MCM started that project 3 years later and landed slap dab in the middle of the shitstorm housing market we have now. They would still be obligated to completed everything at Liberty Station. The park, the public spaces, the homes, the office buildings etc. They took on a ton of risk, placed $150+ million in completion bonds on the project.
The proof is in the pudding in my opinion. If you walk that project today it turned out amazingly well. Outside of the land, MCM received no government assistance to complete the project.
It is easy to throw stones when you have no idea what it takes to develop a project.
I was not involved in the residential developmet, or master development of Liberty Station but I know the amount of dollars that were spent all at risk by the company and I know what public improvements were made. Liberty Station did not win Base Redevelopment of the year because it turned out as a crappy useless project. It is well executed and enjoyed by the masses.