The restaurant's owners' said in a release that they are sad to leave Kingston Springs and that the decision was a hard one. "However, we have decided as a family that Franklin would be a wonderful fit for our innovative concepts and great food," they said.

Both Atcher and Gibson have been hired back as freelancers by their old firm. They get about half as much work as they used to. Unemployment covers the off weeks. They say they've gotten so used to their on-again, off-again jobs. It's become "what they do."

Another insider says: "Nobody's said it publicly of course, but it looks like Omni came in here with such a good deal in Nashville just to screw with Reed. The fact that Rowling owns it is going to stick in Colin Reed's craw. At the end of the day, Reed's just going to have to eat it."

Taylor said the companies have asked Mesa to extend their development agreements for three years. DMB also has asked Mesa for permission to create two "community facilities districts" that would issue bonds to help finance construction. If the Mesa City Council agrees to the extension, groundbreaking would now be no later than Dec. 31, 2014, with construction to wrap up by Dec. 31, 2017. "The world is just in a place that none of us anticipated (when the project was announced)," Taylor said.

The last few months have brought nary a peep from the company’s Nashville and New York rivals in the medical mart derby. That’s worth noting because many insiders believe the health care market can and will support only one medical mart in the nation, so whichever city first achieves a critical mass of tenants — whatever that might be — could get a big boost to its chances of success. After creating a big splash a year ago by announcing deals with 11 tenants — and publicly naming those prospective tenants — New York’s medical mart developers have largely been silent, leading the informed observer to suspect the project is barely clinging to life. Nashville’s developers appear to be making greater progress than New York, having announced two tenants so far this year, but they haven’t publicized a new tenant since April. Thus, it’s fair to wonder whether Nashville’s sales team has hit a brick wall in its attempt to lure prospective tenants to sign letters of intent. Cole Daugherty, a spokesman for the Nashville Medical Trade Center, said it’s important to draw a distinction between leases — which Nashville has inked with both of its announced tenants — and letters of intent — which are far less binding, if binding at all. “You build a successful trade center with long-term leases from recognized companies, not with the smoke and mirrors of anonymous letters,” Daugherty said. “We are working with a list of top companies on leases for permanent space.”

“It’s questionable how much growth you’re going to get,” said James S. Corl, managing director for distressed real estate investments at Siguler Guff & Co., a New York-based private- equity firm. “Yes, there is value in real estate but you’ve got to be very picky. If you pay up for existing leases, it’s very hard to manage your way out of that situation.”