Riverfront Real Estate

The Mayor of Toledo, Carlton S. Finkbeiner, has once again put on his real estate broker uniform. It is not a well-fitting oufit, nor is it particularly flattering to the mayor, but it does seem to cause a noticable drop in intelligence when worn. For those of you who seem confused about why the mayor would be wearing ... well, anything but a mayor suit. It seems as though there is a piece of property that the city owns in South Toledo that the Mayor would like to sell. This parcel is 1.7 acres right on River Road, and the city has been offered $165,000 for it. Unfortunately, there appear to be a couple of problems with any potential sale.
 

• The parcel is considered to be a park by the local neighborhood, and is cared for by the department of parks.
• Sale for residential use would require rezoning of the property, which would in turn require the approval of city council, something that does not appear to be forthcoming.
• The city would be required to spend approximately $135,000 to bring the land up to code for residential use, leaving only a net profit of $30,000 for the sale.
• This piece of property provides the only local access to the Maumee river in the area.

Mayor, I have to tell you in the spirit of hope that the new Administration brings that I hope you will give up this idea, it simply isn't going to fly. (It didn't fly when attempted in 1999 either, by the way.)

But listen Mayor, as long as you have you broker suit on and a mind to sell riverfront property, how about The Docks. The last time that I heard, the city had an offer on the table for over $3 million from both Tom Cousino, owner of the Navy Bistro there and Main Street Ventures, who owns Legal Seafood at the other end of the property. A sale at this amount would net the city over $500,000 and retire over $2 million in city debt at a time when the city is looking at a $20 million budget shortfall. In these tougher economic times, I don't know if either of those offers remains on the table, but I think under the circumstances (and before you hang the ugly jacket back up), I would find out.