Monday, July 24, 2006

Gentrify the Park East Corridor!

As hard as it is to say for the second time in a week, Bill Christofferson is right - this time about the competing proposals for Park East development.

One argumnet that I find odd is that the area "needs" a gas station. If that were so, there is all sorts of land in the surrounding area that some enterprising individual could have turned into a gas station. Hasn't happened.

The other is Supervisor Peggy West's observation that no one in Milwaukee County can afford a $450,000 condo. The Reddess and I were looking at condos in (downtown) Milwaukee County yesterday. Apparently quite a few people can afford that and more. $450,000 seemed to be on the lower end of what we saw.

Of course, it is possible that the downtown condo market is overbuilt. (My guess is that it is for apartment-style condos but is not for townhouses.) But I'm thinking that real estate professionals are a better judge of that than county supervisors whose reputation for financial acumen is somewhat less than stellar.

3 comments:

David Casper said...

Rick, I'm going to disagree with you on this one.

First off, a gas station is desperately needed in this area.

Secondly, as someone who works in the mortgage industry, I'll assert that the real estate boom is dead. The additon of residential properties in this area is without demand. The area is overdeveloped as it is. Mortgages will soon become difficult to come by.

Or, see what I have to say here: http://latermeask.blogspot.com/2006/07/math-doesnt-always-add-up.html

Dad29 said...

As to a "gas station:"

Casper's complaint is that the existing station is high-priced--look at the price of land downtown. That has to be recovered somehow.

No different from gas stations next to Interstates; the cost of land (and property taxes) drives up the retail price.

JesusIsJustAlrightWithMe said...

There's a gas station on Humboldt and North, like 5 blocks away. And another couple off North a few blocks farther.