Jones' development will have over 800,000 square feet of retail and commercial space once it is completedGETTY IMAGES
Construction was completed last year on the first phase of JERRY JONES' Blue Star Land in Prosper, Texas, and now Blue Star has "broken ground on the second phase of the project." The first phase, dubbed the Gates of Prosper shopping center, encompassed 550,000 square feet of retail. The second phase will add 250,000 square feet of "retail and commercial." Blue Star GM JOE HICKMAN said, "We will be 50% leased on the second phase before the summer is over." Jones started buying land for the Gates of Prosper developments in the early '90s, when much of the area was "still farm land." The project is "projected to eventually total" almost $1B in value (DALLASNEWS.com, 4/19).
HOT WATER: When Heat C HASSAN WHITESIDE wired $2.75M to MICHAEL AVENATTI in January '17, he "intended most of the money to go to his former girlfriend, ALEXIS GARDNER." Gardner had "hired him just a few weeks before to negotiate a settlement of a potential lawsuit against Whiteside." Avenatti "quickly struck" a $3M deal, and the $2.75M was Whiteside’s "first payment." Prosecutors say Avenatti was "entitled to take just over $1 million in legal fees, leaving the rest for Gardner." Instead, they allege Avenatti "hid Whiteside’s payment from her and immediately took $2.5 million to buy a share of a private jet" (L.A. TIMES, 4/22).
GETTING BETTER: Colts Owner JIM IRSAY added to his "pricey collection of music memorabilia" with the piano JOHN LENNON used to compose songs for the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. The piano was up for auction at GottaHaveRockandRoll.com. The minimum required bid for the piano was $575,000 and the site "estimated it would sell" for between $800,000-1.2M. A source "would not confirm" how much Irsay paid (INDYSTAR.com, 4/21).
NAMES: Former NBA Kings co-Owner GAVIN MALOOF “teamed up with two friends to re-brand" a tech management company now called STAXOS. Maloof is “using his vast network of contacts to ‘open doors’ and ‘monetize the software’ in his frontline efforts (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 4/19)....Former NFLer MATT BIRK is starting up Unity High School, the first Catholic high school in the Burnsville, Minn., area, which is “set to open this fall” (TWINCITIES.com, 4/20)....Indians 1B CARLOS SANTANA on Friday was one of 84 people who took the “oath to become a U.S. citizen” in Cleveland (CLEVELAND.com, 4/19)....Yankees Senior VP/Stadium Operations DOUG BEHAR, United Nations Assistant Secretary General SATYA TRIPATHI, Yankees manager AARON BOONE and environmental scientist ALLEN HERSHKOWITZ were honored on the field at Yankee Stadium yesterday to honor the team’s commitment to responsible environmental stewardship (THE DAILY)....WWE wrestler BRAUN STROWMAN threw out the first pitch for Dodgers-Brewers yesterday. Strowman “took part in a wrestling event” in Madison on Saturday night before going to “catch his favorite baseball team in action” (JSONLINE.com, 4/21)....DR. BILL SUTTON is making his final lecture at USF tomorrow morning. The lecture at 9:30am ET will be live streamed via this link (THE DAILY).
