City Councilman Johnny Barnes said he likes what he sees so far in the project. Barnes said he was glad the project's concept hadn't changed since January, when Andersen made his last presentation.

"So many times we have dreamers, where they say their project will be one thing, then they come back later and it's a different project," Barnes said. "I am pleasantly surprised that (Andersen's project) is still going in the path that they first said. If you have someone like Frank Gehry involved in the project, it's hard to have the smoke and mirrors. It has to have some credibility to it, so I'm pleased to see it's going forward."

Since Andersen's announcement of Gehry's involvement with the project, which is projected to cost billions of dollars, some have expressed skepticism of Andersen's ability to finance such a large-scale endeavor. Andersen said no one has ever spoken their doubt to him face-to-face, but the 29-year-old real estate developer has heard the rumors all the same.

To him, the suggestion that the project could not happen because of financial reasons is ridiculous and unfounded.

"As far as the financing goes, I've had multiple offers on the property for the project," Andersen said. "I haven't gotten serious with anyone yet because I'm waiting until the project gets approved (by Lehi). I'm not going to open my financial statements to the world, but this property is likely worth, raw, 30 or 40 million dollars. I don't owe 10 cents on it.

"One of the reasons this (project) will happen and others won't is that I'm not looking for other people to sink their money into my dream. I put my own money into it."

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com