No wonder so much of Detroit is vacant. (Grant, Woodland: for sale, home)

[Retroit]

Entire city block in Detroit for sale

This guy is dreaming. $260,000 is way too high for 3 empty lots, a tiny old commercial building, and an old house. I'd say maybe a third of that ($87,000) would be more like it.

Kind of makes me wonder what the asking price is for other vacant lots. Maybe that explains why they sit vacant for so long.

...

[jonnynonos]

Funny but the funniest part is the sentence tht it is a part of town "...bursting at the seams."

He might mean "...falling apart at the seams."

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by Retroit

Entire city block in Detroit for sale

This guy is dreaming. $260,000 is way too high for 3 empty lots, a tiny old commercial building, and an old house. I'd say maybe a third of that ($87,000) would be more like it.

Kind of makes me wonder what the asking price is for other vacant lots. Maybe that explains why they sit vacant for so long.

...

I have to agree.

Hantz Farms brought 10 sq. mi. of land on the lower east side for ONLY $500,000.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by 313Weather

I have to agree.

Hantz Farms brought 10 sq. mi. of land on the lower east side for ONLY $500,000.

Yea, from the City of Detroit. As in, the city council members who have an inability to properly manage a city.

Maybe Chicago should adopt the same philosophy and sell all that vacant land on the south side for less than a dollar per square foot. All that matters is that it's not vacant anymore right? Some guy can come in a have his farms just like Hantz, regardless of the fact that he still has to pay sky high taxes (or else cheat the city out of revenue and have taxes lowered/changed), but that's not the important part. The important part is that the land is being used (albeit for something that makes no sense to have in the middle of a city).

I guess Detroit is special because it's actually a better option to build something ASAP rather than wait for something profitable to be built. Then again, I guess that's in part by city council's inability to properly maintain vacant lots. Or anything... for that matter.

250K is completely reasonable and the grass is already cut! That's a pretty sweet deal, imho.

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Yea, from the City of Detroit. As in, the city council members who have an inability to properly manage a city.

Maybe Chicago should adopt the same philosophy and sell all that vacant land on the south side for less than a dollar per square foot. All that matters is that it's not vacant anymore right? Some guy can come in a have his farms just like Hantz, regardless of the fact that he still has to pay sky high taxes (or else cheat the city out of revenue and have taxes lowered/changed), but that's not the important part. The important part is that the land is being used (albeit for something that makes no sense to have in the middle of a city).

I guess Detroit is special because it's actually a better option to build something ASAP rather than wait for something profitable to be built. Then again, I guess that's in part by city council's inability to properly maintain vacant lots. Or anything... for that matter.

250K is completely reasonable and the grass is already cut! That's a pretty sweet deal, imho.

The price should be determined based on the damand. If there is strong demand for property in the city, the price should be raised. If there is no/little demand the price should come down. The fact that land stays vacant for such a long time is an indication that it is overpriced.

I believe the city started a program about a year ago where they were selling empty lots to adjacent property owners for $500. I thought that was a great idea.

As for Hantz paying high taxes, is that really the case? High taxes for a tree farm? He is not going to have income for decades. Why should he have to pay high taxes?

Why doesn't a tree farm make sense? What does? Weeds growing into trees on unkempt vacant lots?

[scolls]

The city was selling lots to adjacent home owners for $300. In regards to Hantz Farms, no one else wanted the land. It's been sitting vacant for decades. Granted it isn't going anywhere, but the lots aren't worth more than $300 plus it gets a lot more lots on the tax rolls and Detroit is responsible to clean them up.

[Scott SW Ohio]

Originally Posted by 313Weather

I have to agree.

Hantz Farms brought 10 sq. mi. of land on the lower east side for ONLY $500,000.

Correct me if I am wrong but the land to be sold to Hantz Farms for $500,000 is 1,500 lots totaling something less than 200 acres, not 10 square miles.

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by Scott SW Ohio

Correct me if I am wrong but the land to be sold to Hantz Farms for $500,000 is 1,500 lots totaling something less than 200 acres, not 10 square miles.

Looks like it was 170 acres. Or 1,956 lots sold for $300 a piece for a total of $586,800.

Hantz Woodlands proposal divides Detroit on eve of controversial City Council vote | MLive.com

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by scolls

The city was selling lots to adjacent home owners for $300. In regards to Hantz Farms, no one else wanted the land. It's been sitting vacant for decades. Granted it isn't going anywhere, but the lots aren't worth more than $300 plus it gets a lot more lots on the tax rolls and Detroit is responsible to clean them up.

Looks like we were both wrong. $200 according to this article: Mayor announces $200 property sale in Detroit