City Government
Land Value Disparity In City Deal
September 16, 2008 
As a follow up on the post below about Boise City’s land manipulations, the GUARDIAN will attempt to run a play-by-play as we learn more under this post.
–The land at 950 Citation off Gowen Rd. is valued by the County Assesor at only $232,600, but the city is acquiring it for $415,000. We can see no “public purpose” for the city to own the parcel on the north side of Gowen which is bounded by other private land.
–We checked with a CPA and confirmed that if a private party trades property valued at more than he or she receives, they can indeed claim a tax deduction for a “charitable donation.”
–Boise City has previously traded three other parcels in the 25th and Fairview area to the docs, again skirting the open bid law.
WEDNESDAY 9/17/08 UPDATE
Boise Cynic offers some insight in comments below which prompts us to consider this project in the context of the overall financial news in the world today. Banks are failing at a record rate, insurance companies are bankrupt, corporations are cutting jobs, natural disasters are a daily event, and GOVERNMENT BAILS OUT EVERYONE! In Boise they pay with land while the Feds just print more dollars.
Where the hell does the money come from? Truth is, there is no more money–we just go deeper
and deeper into debt, either as a nation or individuals. Some people and businesses should be allowed to fail. That translates into smaller houses, more efficient cars, lower wages, fewer airlines, etc.etc. In short, less GROWTH.
Unfortunately, GROWTH has become synonymous with living beyond one’s means. Diddling cost estimates or appraisals doesn’t create more value.
Boise Councilors Tuesday approved the deal explained in the previous post without a word of debate. It was buried in the “consent agenda,” a batch of items approved in mass.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Sep 16, 2008, 12:29 pm
I am totally confused by this set of transactions. First of all, I thought a group of doctors had purchased land at 27th and Fairview, where Thriftway Lumber used to be, to build a private hospital, and I wondered why there has been no construction going on. One of your other readers knows about this and I hope he/she will advise.
Someone at city hall needs to come forward and explain the need for this convoluted set of transactions. It sure smells fishy to me.
Sep 16, 2008, 4:37 pm
No construction due to hesitation by the financial backers AND the docs at this time. They will wait for a better financial situation.
The problem surfaces when it is realized that there is no guarantee that the space will be a hospital. These folks can do anything with it they want. The city wet itself trying to accomodate them based solely on what they “intend” to do. It is yet another example of the city rushing into something before the full impact is known. At some point, we have to realize that they are no longer guilty of being ill-informed, and they have entered the arena of being stupid!
Sep 17, 2008, 6:24 am
I believe, gulp, Cyclops is right that the Riverside Medical Center LLC aka Surgical Hospital LLC has not been able to find financing. In other words, they don’t have a big enough down payment to satisfy paranoid bankers.
This whole thing has been a very weird story, and I wish our local news media had the backbone to investigate it in depth.
I followed the permitting process and it seemed to me it didn’t go very smoothly at all. It also seemed like the whole thing may have been a dog and pony show to force some kind of change at St Als. Indeed, just the other day it was reported St Als CEO Sandra Bruce has announced her resignation.
One thing that’s good is the entire city block between 25th and 27th, south of Fairview and north of the Connector will come under the ownership of one entity.
This is exactly what the urban planners, HDR, recommended in the 30th Street Specific Area Plan. Recombining all the small cut-up properties in the Fairview/Main Corridor is necessary for urban renewal in the ridiculously under utilized area.
I would like to add that I went to the ground breaking for the Riverside Medical Center and did not see one City Councilor or the Mayor. You’d think they would have been at the ground breaking for a multi million dollar project just blocks from City Hall.
Sep 17, 2008, 9:16 am
So, if I am reading this correctly (With The Pit still collecting trash on 8th, which was the result of the city not getting sufficient financial guarantees from the developer.) the city has once again entered into a major land deal without getting any financial guarantees from the developer doctors.
Shall we just cut to the chase and call it Pit 2?
Sep 17, 2008, 1:00 pm
I’ve heard that growth is necessary in a capitalist economy. I forget exactly why that is, but I suppose if I do some research I might find an answer.
But what I really can’t understand is how a “liberal” president managed to balance the budget and a “conservative” one has taken us down the road of debt to the point of economic meltdown.
I mean, aren’t the “liberals” supposed to be the big spenders?
Sep 18, 2008, 8:31 am
The necessity of growth is an urban myth created maintained by chambers of commerce and the like.
They will tell you that if you don’t grow, you will die. They neglect to point out that the faster you grow, the sooner you exhaust your resources, and the sooner you, again, die.
The trick is to live well by living within your means, both individually and as a society. Unfortunately, humans are a greedy bunch. Moderation has never been glamorous.
Sep 18, 2008, 10:16 am
(Dear) Dear Razzbar,
That comment was brilliant. Thank you.
Sep 18, 2008, 1:27 pm
they’re still weeding through enviro issues. those things tend to hold up financial support\committments until the light at the end of the tunnel appears.