NY Magazine Cover Story is about Land Rent Grabbing; Accidental Skyline; Time to buy in Detroit?; Class updates at the HGS
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Scott Baker
Jul 15, 2014, 11:29:07 PM7/15/14
to Common Ground NYC, Andy Mazzone, Billy Fitzgerald, Alanna Hartzok, Ted Gwartney, Jeffery J. Smith, Marcial Cordon
Hello Common Groundlings (and
friends)!
This is going to be a longer commentary than usual. A lot has happened since I last wrote.
Some of you may have already seen this explosive cover story in NY Magazine: Stash Pad
Some of you may have already seen this explosive cover story in NY Magazine: Stash Pad
If not, I urge you to
read it online. It is real investigative reporting, documenting NYC's slice of the $1.5 money laundering schemes that, thanks to a specific Real Estate loophole, passes into some of the most expensive Real Estate in the city. Because of tax abatements, many of these absentee owners are paying a fraction of the property tax most middle class owners pay, as little as $1,500 for a $95
million penthouse!
I don't normally venture into commentary on NYC Real Estate cycles in these updates, but with a 30% price appreciation, and even more at the very high end, and with signs of a sales slowdown even at the toniest addresses, like One57 (1 west 57 street), the market is looking very toppy. The article says One57 must collect $5,000/square foot just to break even, and the building is still half empty, though nearly completed. Some commentators think apartments are selling for double and even triple their real worth in a more balanced market (For those who haven't been to Central Park lately, One57 stands out like a narrow shiny finger in midtown Manhattan. I'll leave it to your imagination as to which finger... It is hard to imagine just how tall this building is if you haven't seen it, but it promises to be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, 100' taller than the Empire State Building).
I left the following comment, one of 12 so far, to the article's online version:
I don't normally venture into commentary on NYC Real Estate cycles in these updates, but with a 30% price appreciation, and even more at the very high end, and with signs of a sales slowdown even at the toniest addresses, like One57 (1 west 57 street), the market is looking very toppy. The article says One57 must collect $5,000/square foot just to break even, and the building is still half empty, though nearly completed. Some commentators think apartments are selling for double and even triple their real worth in a more balanced market (For those who haven't been to Central Park lately, One57 stands out like a narrow shiny finger in midtown Manhattan. I'll leave it to your imagination as to which finger... It is hard to imagine just how tall this building is if you haven't seen it, but it promises to be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, 100' taller than the Empire State Building).
I left the following comment, one of 12 so far, to the article's online version:
I reported on One57, covered in this article too - where there is a
94% property tax discount - when I gave a presentation "Case Studies in
NYC Property Development" twice to the Henry George School this year: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Fairness-Sustainability--by-Scott-Baker-Community_Fairness_GROWTH-DEVELOPMENT_Georgism-140210-926.html
In
fact, the high price of One57's apartments is a direct result of
ultra-low property taxes, a subsidy that every other New Yorker, most of
far more modest means, is paying for. People ought to be as outraged
as those in my classes were, when they heard of the 10s of billions in
publicly created Land Rent going into private hands, who did nothing to
deserve it, except curry favors with campaign contributions (I covered
that too). If
we collected the land rent, we could also untax wages and sales,
helping the middle class. The vanishing of the middle class is also a
direct result of these policies (I covered that too). This has been
known since the time of Henry George. Perhaps if George had one one of
his two attempts to become Mayor of New York City, everyone would also
know this today.
New York's Municipal Art Society says theses are "Accidental Skylines" and has an online app to chart Floor-Area Ratios all over the city.
ACTION STEPS: You
might want to comment too and/or bring this
article to your local legislator, along with a demand for fair Land Value Taxation to end the giveaways to billionaires. I contacted my State Senator, Liz Kreuger, about this and other related articles in the Daily News and Propublica and will receive an answer by the end of the week.
Oh, and if you were planning to buy low priced property in Detroit, you may already be too late. High money investors have been snapping up depressed property by the acre: The Post-Post-Apocalyptic Detroit. "There are opportunities with vacant land,” said one of several land speculators. Gee, wonder how that happens....
Oh, and if you were planning to buy low priced property in Detroit, you may already be too late. High money investors have been snapping up depressed property by the acre: The Post-Post-Apocalyptic Detroit. "There are opportunities with vacant land,” said one of several land speculators. Gee, wonder how that happens....
Overseas in China, they may not have caught on to the idea of capturing the Land Value to pay for cities, but they do understand the value of
cities, and plan to urbanize 70% of their population by 2030, which ought to bring a 15% improvement in per capita income: Enablers and drivers for future superlarge 500 million person Metacities
A reminder, if one is still
needed, that even in today's virtual world, being in an actual dense high value environment creates value. Now, if that value was captured....
I'll be reprising my presentation on Case Studies in NYC Property Development that I gave twice this year at the HGS this Friday at 6:30. Because the school is still under repair, it will be held in the small 5th floor meeting room, so it won't be open to people not already enrolled in the Social Problems class, though if one or two of you wanted to attend, I could ask
Even if you can't make it, you can still view the (updated) presentation on slideshare.net here (slides only):
http://www.slideshare.net/ScottOnTheSpot/case-studies-in-new-york-city-property-development-28203125
or here (slides and notes):
http://www.slideshare.net/ScottOnTheSpot/case-studies-in-new-york-city-property-development
So far, in 8 months, some 2,000 people viewed each version (though there's probably a large overlap) and/or downloaded them.
The live presentation was recorded in February and can be viewed here, where the links will also take you to the newest versions of the slideshows:
OpEdNews Article: Fairness, Sustainability, & Growth are not contradictions! (Video)
And finally, CGNYC founding member Lindy Davies has some thoughts on how to fix Camden, New Jersey's grinding poverty: http://workandwealth.com/camden-blues/
Chapter Update:
Our chapter has 19 members right now, with a possible renewal pending to bring it back to 20 members. We received our annual dues rebate check in the amount of $228, which brings our total account up to $1,311.21. Please let me or Rita know of your ideas for
worthy projects with this money. Until next time, Happy Landings...
Scott Baker - President: Common Ground - NYC; NY State
Coordinator, Public Banking
Institute; Opednews Blogger/Senior Editor; Huffington Post Blogger; Author
Video Appearances & Slideshows here:
http://newthinking.blogspot.com/
Petitions:
-- Commemorate President Lincoln's Assassination with 1 Billion Debt-Free Lincoln $5 Bills
-- Replace Property Tax with Ground Rent in New York State
-- Assess NYC buildings using comparative properties
-- California Dreaming: Set up a State Bank with abundant CAFR funds
-- Complete the East Side Manhattan Greenway from 38-61 Streets and save bikers, help the environment, and clear up traffic
-- Tax Vacant & Unused Land to Return its value to the Community
-- Close New York State's budget Gap with money from its own agencies by setting up a State Bank
-- Defend the Clean Air Act
-- Produce debt-free United States Notes
-- Reclassify the FED's account, from private to public
Video Appearances & Slideshows here:
http://newthinking.blogspot.com/
Petitions:
-- Commemorate President Lincoln's Assassination with 1 Billion Debt-Free Lincoln $5 Bills
-- Replace Property Tax with Ground Rent in New York State
-- Assess NYC buildings using comparative properties
-- California Dreaming: Set up a State Bank with abundant CAFR funds
-- Complete the East Side Manhattan Greenway from 38-61 Streets and save bikers, help the environment, and clear up traffic
-- Tax Vacant & Unused Land to Return its value to the Community
-- Close New York State's budget Gap with money from its own agencies by setting up a State Bank
-- Defend the Clean Air Act
-- Produce debt-free United States Notes
-- Reclassify the FED's account, from private to public
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