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“I’ve called everyone to discuss a strategy that could get our Eastern Corridor project started up again,” I said, looking around the table.
Somber faces stared back at me. Even Noah, Corey, and Caleb looked serious at the prospect of discussing the project.
“There are several properties in the area that still haven’t been sold yet,” I said. “Looking deeper into them, I realized they were all old apartment buildings. Most of them seem residential but a number of them are running businesses there.”
A few heads around the table nodded.
“Have we tried persuading these residents into selling their flats? And were the proposed amounts at par with the cost of property here?” I questioned.
“One of our team members did that,” said Mr. Raymond, an elderly man who worked in close connection with Corey and Caleb. “The residents have refused even when we offered them rates that are higher than the market price.”
“What if we give them apartments in the new buildings that we build?” I asked around. “Until the construction is completed, we’ll house them in a different location, but in the end, they’ll go back to living in the same area as before.”
“They’d benefit from having brand-new apartments to live in as well,” said Noah.
Hope swelled inside me. If he agreed to the plan, we could proceed right away.
“However...” Noah continued in a grim tone. “The residents have refused to sell.”
A young guy, close to my age, spoke up. “I went to speak to these residents personally,” he said. “While most refused outright, a few people said they didn’t want to get on the wrong of Civella family.”
“Why is the Civella family involved at all?” I asked, looking around at everyone. “Crime rates are low in the area. It doesn’t even seem like it’s under a criminal network.”
“That’s another reason we fell into this trap,” Noah said through clenched teeth. “There was absolutely no way to foresee this problem.”
I sat down on my chair, feeling deflated.
There was no point in showing everyone the presentation I spent the whole morning on. The calculations and projected profit rates were all useless until the residents agreed to sell their properties.
“What’s the local administration’s take on it?” I asked after a while.
“They’ve gone cold,” said Noah. “The mayor has been too busy to be able to make time for us. I think he’s rethinking his decision of redeveloping the area.”
“Has anyone come with an idea that could make this work?” I asked, looking around at the managers around the table. “It doesn’t matter how farfetched it might sound. We just need a way to break into this project.”
Silence fell over the table.
People glanced at each other but no one seemed to have any idea on how to handle this mess of a project.
Noah, Corey, and Caleb stayed quiet, hanging their heads so I wasn’t even be able to catch their gazes. It seemed like Noah wasn’t the only one feeling guilty over the unseen problems that had cropped up.
“We’ll eventually have to step back,” said a middle-aged lady who I knew as Kelly Schnyder. She worked in the project management team. “Once the time in the contract lapses, we’ll have nothing. There’s also a risk of having to pay for breaking the contract clauses.”
“What?”
“It won’t just be money that we’ll lose,” said the young man from before. “We’ll lose our reputation too. This project is going to cost us everything.”
I glanced over at Noah. His gaze was still fixed firmly on the table but his hands were balled up into tight fists.
The stakes were higher than I could’ve anticipated. It was one thing to lose money but losing reputation in this industry was worse.
I can’t let that happen, I thought desperately.
“What about the Civella family?” I asked. “Who’s been in touch with them?”
No one spoke up.
“Who would dare to go to them?” asked Mrs. Keating, a senior manager. “It’s best to keep our distance from those dangerous men.”
