Excellent post Vicky! I hope these issues are investigated and reported upon in the public press- before elections. Issues like these only serve to document the continuing need for dramatic changes within the city bureaucracy. There is need for more transparency and competition in these markets, and now is the time to make the change. Let developers bid in well publicized auctions open to all. Trade the public inventory of lands for cash received from market rate sales financed by the private sector. Much of this land has been on the city books for decades.
Michael Hohmann Linden Hills > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of > Victoria Heller > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 12:37 PM > To: Mpls Forum > Subject: [Mpls] Land Values and two important StarTribune links > snip > The land under the Target Center cannot possibly be worth $95.00 per foot > if the "market value" of riverfront land (Guthrie) is $6.79. > > An example of a "lie" is the MCDA telling the public that $6.79 is a "fair > market value" for riverfront land, knowing perfectly well they had just > paid $50.00 per foot for Target land. That was an outright lie - does > anyone care? Why would Steve Cramer say such a thing? > > Another example: Two years ago, the MCDA tried to sell the land under > Riverside Plaza to George Sherman for $6.00 per foot (and forgive $1.4 > million of delinquent land rent.) The same year, an appraiser for the > MCDA valued my adjacent land at $18 per foot. Go figure! > > My message is that land values are arbitrary, make no sense, and are > unfair - especially for commercial and apartment properties. An > enterprising journalist would take a look at recent condemnation > awards and > compare how much the City PAYS for land with how much the City GETS for > land. (A few months ago, the MCDA offered to sell the West Bank Community > Development Corporation more than 100 parcels at $1 each.) Remember, each > time the City takes a loss - it comes out of your hide. > > Not only is the City the easiest BANK to get money from, but it > is also the > ONLY BROKER available for investment real estate. Who protects > the rest of > us when the government IS THE BIGGEST BULLY ON THE BLOCK? snip > Here are the other two Minneapolis Issues links: > > Neal St. Anthony on the office space glut (yesterday's Strib) > -falling rents lead to lower property values > http://www.startribune.com/stories/1069/3351077.html > > Rochelle Olson's article (today's Strib) about Court decision > calling City acts"arbitrary and capricious." > http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3353480.html > > > Vicky Heller > North Oaks and Cedar-Riverside > snip _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
