--- Victoria Heller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Andy Driscoll writes: > > "Rental units are a gold mine for landlords, once cash flow out strips > the initial investment, and that is always within six months of > purchase, if not immediately." > > Vicky Heller comments: > > Brookfield Development, The Radisson Hotel needed a $20 million, > Riverside Plaza is so broke ... that it can't pay Minneapolis the land > rent it owes, Seven Corners Apartments needed $20 million, Stone > Arch without $30 million, Target Stores couldn't afford to build its > own store without $63+ million, Ratner and Wolfenson stuck > Minneapolis with the Target Center before they went bellyup. The > new owner is so broke, he doesn't pay any property taxes at all, etc.
Strange, my little duplex is doing pretty well. Granted, I'm not covering the mortgage yet, but I live in one of the units. My costs minus my rent is significantly less than I'd be paying to rent a similar unit. All this and I'm providing a 2 bedroom apartment at an affordable housing rate of $650/month. I'm happy to learn that I am apparently a better business person than those places that Vicky listed. Of course, it is true that I'm paying homesteaded property taxes. I'm not sure how it would look if I was paying a commercial rate. I've been telling everyone I know that rents and can come up with some cash that they ought to do the same thing - buy a duplex and rent half of it. It's been great so far. What this suggests to me is that the poster who discussed getting small landlords to the table on the affordable housing issue may be seriously onto something. Even if the city doesn't want to start writing me checks, it'd be nice if they stopped giving my tax money to my competitors. Hmm... If only large businesses get the city's ear, maybe those of us who are small should combine to form a larger organization. (I'm not personally needing it as my tennants are great and I'm doing OK financially, but if it would get the city to stop giving money to big developers, I'd be happy.) On a different topic, I went to the como zoo and conservatory this weekend. I feel bad for the animals in such small habitats, but I was really struck by the fact that it was so clean and appeared well cared for and maintained. A punk friend of mine who went with and has a generally "don't give a shit about anything" attitude said that he didn't feel right smoking there because it was so nice and actually refrained from smoking until he was at the little smokers outpost outside the conservatory. The other members of the group agreed, but it wasn't as suprising coming from them. All four of the people I went to the zoo with commented that it sucked that Minneapolis couldn't have a place like this because it would be run down, covered in graffiti and have trash and "40s" all over the place. I found that rather depressing. I also found it depressing that I couldn't find a compelling argument to say that they were wrong. It also struck me that many things there had a "paid for by such and such corporation" and other private funding. I know about Norm's mess funding companies downtown, but it appears that in some parts of St. Paul, private businesses give money to the city rather than taking it from them. What's up with that? Thoughts? (Oh, also, on the way there, I was introduced to a cheese/sandwich shop called Nelson's. Holy cow! Is there any place like that in Minneapolis, esp. NE?) - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
