On Feb 9, 2005, at 7:36 AM, Victoria Heller wrote:
The StarTribune hasn't had a property tax increase. In fact its headquarters building taxable valuation has dropped.....despite the LRT station's arrival......
2001 $9.1 million 2002 $8.8 million 2003 $8.6 million 2004 $8.6 million
'Nuff said
LRT opened in June 2004; the $8.6 million figure is based on values established Jan. 2, 2004 — 6 months BEFORE light-rail opened, when the area was pretty ripped up for LRT construction. If anything, LRT would have the effect of depressing values listed above.
In the down part of a commercial real estate cycle, commercial property values throughout Downtown — which is stuffed with commercial property — will fall, too. If the neighborhood is less valuable, it makes sense that could affect the Strib. For context, overall commercial-industrial valuations in Minneapolis declined six-tenths of 1 percent in 2004 from 2003, according to the city assessor's office. Looks like the Strib HQ tracked that figure, indicating they were not singled out for special treatment.
Also of note — the Strib HQ's current $8.6 million value remains 13 percent above its 2000 value of $7.5 million. (The above numbers conveniently only show the drop from the market peak.)
The speculative insinuation that journalists with whom one disagrees are "on the take" is reckless enough. But the inference that the above "evidence" somehow proves the point lacks logic.
David Brauer Kingfield Editor, Skyway News and SW Journal
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