I really feel for Terry. There was not much wrong with his original business plan. He just got hit with the global financial crisis and then what really was the nail in the coffin was the Government taking the knife to the public service. 2000 public servants have lost their jobs= lots of empty office space= less rent for Terry= poor cash flow= no money for the Nix. There is currently around 17% vacant office space in the city and its expected to head up to around 25%+.
People say the govenment should not be involved in private sport but the govt has found $100's of million for the RWC and $35 million for the Americas cup team and wrote out a cheque for $4 million to resurface AMI stadium coz the private owner neglected to insure the surface. The government is also offering tax free status to the NZRU and the RWC company for RWC business. The WCC is happy to say how great the nix has been for the financial viability of the stadium through match fees..
I'm not advocating a tax payer/ratepayer bailout because thats not how it should work but you do have to concede there are huge double standards in this country. There are several provincial RU's in NZ( Southland RU especially) who have been bankrolled into the millions by their local rate payers.