In a letter addressing the proposal, David Allman, president ofRegentPartners, wrote that city Finance Department suggestionswould, instead,"significantly increase the financial exposure forRegent Partners."The plan submitted by the city called for adecrease in the amount ofcity-backed bonds to fund the project.

The Power & Light Districtis a $620-million redevelopmentproject that has been delayed for morethan two years.A scaled-downversion of the redevelopment plan is now being considered. RegentPartners wants toconvert the Power & Light Building intoapartments, construct an AMCEntertainment office building and bringa House of Blues nightclub intothe old Empire Room. The late StanDurwood, president of AMCEntertainment, was the original backer ofthe Power & Light Districtrenovation.

In its proposal, Regent Partners asked for two sets of bonds,one for$36 million to be city-backed and a junior set of $7 millionworth of bonds. It isbetween the developer and the Tax IncrementFinancing Commission to setan appropriate amount on the bonds. Ifthe blend increases costs to thedeveloper, the company may withdrawwithout penalty.Allman wrote: "To reiterate, given the considerableamounts of moneythat are now at risk and even greater amounts ofprivate debt and equitythat will be committed by Regent, we are notin a position to increaseour financial exposure."