MaxB
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On the article Thurmond: Voters Partially Responsible for School Board Strife
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On the article DeKalb School Board Sues to Stop State Board Hearing
MaxB
2:16 pm on Tuesday, February 19, 2013
ReplyAll organized in a closed door meeting. I would like to know which board members voted to proceed down this road. Don't they have to vote in public? Can they continue to bankrupt our system to pay for outside legal? Shameless....
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On the article DeKalb Commission Hopes for Better Price on LaVista Property
MaxB
2:05 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
ReplyHere is my math that indicates a wildly inflated sales price for 33 townhomes approved and undeveloped. Sales price undeveloped of $1.9M + $1.3M to develop (circa $40k per lot on a difficult parcel)=3.2 million minimum developed cost. Would a builder/developer buy $100k condo pads in this market. My opinion is that there is no way. The only townhome land sales have been developed foreclosures and have been less than the cost of this raw land. What comps could they be using? How old and How far away as to justify paying the owner the equivalent of $100k per pad developed? I challenge anyone to identify a sale in the last year(or even 2 years) to justify a 1.9M undeveloped price or a builder to buy townhome pads for 100k . The county is the only party interested in this dirt. Max Baerman
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On the article DeKalb Commission Defers Controversial LaVista Land Purchase
MaxB
2:21 pm on Thursday, June 16, 2011
ReplyReid,
I would love to see these appraisals. Would an open records request get them shared or are they private as long as the deal is ongoing? Remember the Gwinnett land deals had appraisals too. My guess is that they had to go way back or way far away to appraise it that high.If someone could identify raw Lakeside area land(adjusted for a busy road) that sold in the last year with minimal frontage for 317k+ per acre, I would look more favorably on this purchase.Would love to hear from anyone that may know of acomparable sale.Being unaware of any similar sales, I look at the value by saying at what price can the property be built out at a reasonable profit in an uncertain time. In my real estate experience, if this land is developed for about $35k+ per pad(may be too low?) and townhomes built, there would be no proffit. This leads me to believe a smart buyer would not pay this much.
I don't think this land undeveloped, with this shape topography and drainage would get any action on the open market for $1.9M. Don't forget about the strip mall neighbor and cell tower.
There is misinformation going around the neighborhood group that this money will be spent on park maintenance in other parts of the county. If there is no plan B to spend this money and it will be lost if not used, it is a leadership failure in my opinion.
I respect your opinion, but rerpectfully disagree with this purchase at this price.
Max Baerman -
On the article DeKalb Commission Defers Controversial LaVista Land Purchase
MaxB
11:53 am on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
ReplyJust had my first look at the plat. Firstly, being adjacent to a cell tower and commercial1950's strip mall, much of this land is undesirable for expensive townhomes and therefore worth very little. Secondly, this place would cost a fortune to devevelop. This appraisal needs real scrutiny. Did they use 3 year old comps? or an Emory university purchase??
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On the article DeKalb Commission Defers Controversial LaVista Land Purchase
MaxB
11:36 am on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
ReplyOne would hope that the idea that prices will always go up has been disproven. Pulte is buying developed lots below this undeveloped price. This relationship and deal needs more scrutiny. I hope they will post the appraisals. I want to see where they found recent land comps to support this price.
Mr Rader. Please go look at Gwinnett parks. Dekalb can not afford to renovate and maintain what they have. Please shift the focus to taking care of what we have and away from buying flood plane and green space to become a private park for the neighbors. The park at Shallowford and Briarcliff is pathetic and emparassing. Let's make all parks like thew new Mason Mill and stop with "green space" land that is not for the greater county good.
MaxB
2:17 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013
I was at the meeting today. Mr Thurmond is clearly a calculated politician. He basically said nothing meaningful as far as future plans. Admittedly, most of his focus is on SACs and not on running the school district. He clearly does not know if he represents the board or the school district. Clearly he is speaking for the board at the state BOE meeting, but says he is representing the district. But to operate in this charged political environment and fix the house without burning it down, he may be what we need? Time will tell. Like it or not , he is ours fro the next year. On a positive note, you can feel Mr. Thurmond's tenacity. He is a competitor and cares about his reputation and legacy. The fact that he admits that he would not send his child to his local poor performing Dekalb school means he at least sees reality. My suggestion to him would be to stop talking about SACS accreditation as an accomplishment and realize it is a minimum standard. We want to hear about ethics reform or standards, transparency, financial reform and reform at the central office. If he and the board can put children first and accomplish 4 items, we will not have to worry about SACS. It is like they are teaching to the test in just looking at these few SACS items presented, but the test is substandard. Is SACS accreditation really a great achievement? No. It is not.