Ahh, but wait before you finish your math... What regulations do they have to meet that the downtown office and Kenwood mansion don't have to meet? ADA compliance, health facility specifications, security, etc..
Look at the keyword "renovate". There are costs associated with renovating that the other properties may not have faced. Is the building historical? Does it have asbestos? Critters? I am willing to bet that they are renovating the halls, offices and other areas too. Does the square foot cost come down when figuring the common traffic ways, operational and other non-residential spaces of the building? Have you done a cost analysis that projects the savings to the City in having a treatment center that reduces future costs such as law enforcement, health care, etc.? For that matter there is the intangible cost of people being able to get treatment and support to lead better lives. This post borders on my most recent pet peeve. The mythology that "businesses" are a good model to base the operations of non-profit organizations on. The fact is that non-profit enterprises are much more regulated than your average business. The non-profit I work for gets financially reviewed by the IRS (form 990), the State Attorney General (Annual Charity Report), plus the Charities review council and any organizations we have received grants from (the University in this case). The fact is that my puny little non-profit that cleared $100,000 for the first time ever last year is more heavily regulated than Enron was. Megan Thomas West Seventh (Stadium Village during the week) -- "When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the world's great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality." Martin Luther King, Jr. Megan Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.iziziz.com > From: Lynne Lowder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2002 05:00:12 -0800 (PST) > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Mpls] Another example of waste > > Craig Miller wrote "The nonprofit model is proving to > be an unmitigated waste of extraordinary amounts of > precious revenues". > > Yes indeed. Plymouth Congregational Church Foundation > is collecting $5.4 million taxpayer dollars to buy and > renovate a building at 1920 LaSalle into supportive > housing for the mentally ill, chemically dependent and > HIV-positive. There will be 40 units in this facility > at 360 s.f. each. I've done the math and my > calculations show that each of those 360 s.f. rooms > are costing the taxpayers approxiamtly $313/s.f.!!! > Class A office space downtown might cost $125/s.f. A > mansion in Kenwood may cost about $250/s.f. And > Plymouth is building supportive housing for $313/sf. > This is almost $113,000 for each 360s.f. unit. > Plymouth had contributed about $119,000 of the $5.4 > million (the rest will come from us). And they will > end up owning a piece of property that will be worth > some $3,000,000. ....Non-profit??? > > Lynne Lowder > Stevens Square/Loring Heights > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Sports - sign up for Fantasy Baseball > http://sports.yahoo.com > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
