Property tax reform

[Rocket]

I wonder what the new tax laws will do to investors willingness to buy up dilapidated eye-sores? Then only to pay to ball them down, fence them and forever pay property taxe on them?

I mean, someone has to own, mow and fence these pieces of property. If not investors, then it falls on the City, and the City gets to eat those expenses in addition to losing the tax revenue.

Currently this field we're talking about is probably generating $240,000 a year in tax revenue. And it's not costing the City anything to maintain and secure.

If that tax number gets raised to $500k or $800k a year, will that turn off investors to Detroit?

Will anyone be willing to buy up pieces of land with plans to do some big project? Because sometimes things change and the project doesn't happen. Perhaps the deals to acquire the adjacent pieces of land that you need falls through? Or you can't get the permits you need. Or the City doesn't give you approval? Or the bank financing doesn't happen. Or the economy collapses like 2008 or 2020, and everything stops.

I'm guessing the owners of that land on the river probably IS available to buy if someone really wanted it. It's unlikely the current owners have some big attachment to it.

They bought it for what? $3.3 mil? Then paid another $2.5 million in taxes over the years, plus whatever fencing, security, liability insurance etc cost them. They might sell it for $10 - $12 million if someone made them the offer.

The fact that it hasn't happened yet may be a sign that the economics aren't right yet to build what the City would want there.