Morning Headlines: “No City Has Come Into a Windfall From Selling Buildings”
Photo by Laura Kicey
The city — and in particular City Council President Darrell Clarke — is hoping that by selling the empty school buildings, they’ll make $50 million that can be reinvested into schools that still have children in them. But`that may be overly optimistic, the Daily News’ Solomon Leach reports. “A Pew Charitable Trusts report released in February shows that school districts across the country have struggled to dispose of empty buildings. The co-author of that report, Emily Dowdall, senior associate for Pew’s Philadelphia research initiative, told Leach: “No city has come into a windfall from selling buildings. It’s hard to predict just how much money they can fetch and in what time frame.”
The Pew report cites several challenges that Philadelphia faces as compared to 11 other cities — some the same, some different. The neighborhoods often don’t have strong real estate value; the prices for the buildings, which are extraordinarily large, are well beneath the imagined value; and in the case of Philadelphia, the buildings are just too old.
Those who believe this is going to work: Curtis Jones Jr., Jannie Blackwell, Clarke. Those who differently: Mayor Nutter; Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor for economic development; the Pew.
Other morning headlines…
• Stupid government shutdown could have impact on homebuyers, says the AP.
• Oh, and some local results of stupid government shutdown: “Philly’s National Parks Are Definitely, Maybe Shutting Down Tomorrow,” according to Philly Mag.
• It’s really happening: “The old Armory building constructed in 1886 that has for years lived on South Broad Street in a state a blight is making way for rental apartments,” Naked Philly tells us.
• Like to do your civic duty? You could have a bike share station on your property. Let the city know by Oct. 7, says Greg Meckstroth at Philadelphia Real Estate Blog.
