Really Sad News: Rhett Wolfe Passed Away

A link to his obituary is here, and there is a piece in The State, as well. I knew Rhett professionally and personally. He was a wonderful man who will be greatly missed.

Rest in peace.

Deal for the Palmetto Compress Warehouse?

Maybe.

It looks like the City of Columbia is pretty close to a deal on selling the old warehouse.

I was against the City buying the real estate, and I still am. However, if the deal goes through, it's a good outcome.

Doesn't mean I'm wrong, though. Just because something works out doesn't mean that the process was correct.

Property Tax Issue Headed to SC Supreme Court

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. 

Basically, (as I understand it) it's a dispute between a property owner and the tax assessor over what the value of the real estate is.

I'll be most interested to see if the Supreme Court issues a narrow ruling that would allow this case to be distinguished, or if they issue a ruling that would have widespread ramifications for property owners throughout the state that believe their property taxes are not being correctly calculated.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Six Bids Received on Palmetto Compress Building

The City of Columbia has announced that a total of six bids were received from various entities interested in developing the Palmetto Compress Building. The exact nature of the bids will remain secret until City of Columbia's Review Board has had time to analyze them all. I've already expressed my thoughts on this matter, but now that the City has gone ahead and bought the building, I'm in the awkward position of hoping for success in a venture I would never have begun.

Hopefully, some of the bids will be viable, and not put the City in a position to lose money. We'll see... Keep in mind, the City of Columbia purchased the building for $5.6 million. Selling the building for a little less wouldn't be a terrible outcome if the development turns out wonderfully. The worst case scenario would be the City of Columbia selling the building at a loss to a developer who ultimately is unsuccessful.

I just have a little trouble believing that this is all going to come out roses, because the private owners tried (in vain) to sell this building for years. Maybe they wanted too much money. Maybe they didn't. Maybe the City isn't as interested in turning a profit as the previous owners.

NAI Avant Moving to the Vista

In contrast to the City of Columbia buying the Compress Warehouse, a private company has decided to buy the Dupre Building in the vista and move their offices in there.

The Dupre Building - Future Home of NAI Avant

See, this is how things are supposed to work. Private companies buy buildings. They'll pay property taxes, open up retail on the first floor which will generate jobs, commerce, and more taxes. This is good for the local economy and the vista. I look forward to seeing what ends up on the first floor.

Rusty DePass on the Compress Warehouse Deal

Rusty DePass nicely sums up the City's decision to purchase the Compress Warehouse:

In voting to spend $5,650,000 to purchase a dilapidated warehouse where a developer had proposed to build student housing, the Columbia City Council completely caved in to “preservationists” who talk the talk but want the rest of us to walk the plank to pay for their very expensive hobby.

Read the whole thing. I'm all for the preservationists buying the warehouse. Then they can actually own this historic, run-down cotton warehouse that they love so much.

Oh, the preservationists don't actually want to use their own money to buy it? Why is that, exactly?

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/04/26/2741970/depass-another-bad-deal-courtesy.html#storylink=cpy

Richland County Still Unable To Sell Curtiss-Wright Hangar

Almost two years ago, Richland County bought an old aircraft hangar of intense historical significance to aviation in South Carolina, thinking it could be sold to a private developer. That's not going so well.

But I'm sure that the same thing couldn't happen to to the City of Columbia with the Compress Warehouse, right?