David Markel came to this class to answer questions about NRP, TIF, CDCs and West Bank history. Most of the answers are his.

Q: By not participating in NRP (as Cedar-Riverside first opted), could a n'hood get those funds another way?

A: No.

Q: Where did he use to live?

A: 1822 1/2 South 7th Street.

Q: How can CDCs cause displacement?

A: With leasehold co-ops, people who want to own homes can't, so they're forced to move to a different neighborhood where they can own.

Q: Does the city cut CDCs breaks? If so why, as they're taking property off the open market. Don't they lose tax revenue?

Q: How can you tell which housing on the West Bank is owned by the CDC?

A: There's a blue dot next to the house number. -A

Q: Do we understand TIF yet? And what does it have to do with NRP?

A: With tax-increment financing, the developer promises urban renewal only if they can get TIF, otherwise they won't develop. So figure the present value of a block is $500,000 (a frozen value). After it's developed it's worth more, say $3 million. It's then taxed at the higher rate (new value), but the difference between the new value and old value goes to pay off the bonds used to build it. In this example tax on the original $500,000 would go to the usual stuff, like schools. However, TIF can hurt schools and other city services, because if an area is developed, more people are likely to move there. If these people use the schools or the publicly subsidized medical services, there's no new tax $ going in to pay for them. This doesn't affect schools anymore because about 15 years ago they changed it so education is funded by state general $s, not propery taxes. If there's lots of TIF all over the city, it's a big problem because we need to get tax money from other sources. NRP pooled 4-5 TIF lucrative TIF districts.

Other info brought up to look into:

Q: Riverside Plaza: According to Markel, Sherman was brought in to partner with Brustad (Brighton Development) because he didn't have management experience. HUD sold to city for $15 million in '88, then flipped to partners for $17 million. Brighton got it appraised at $30 million. Then redev't syndication with $27.5 million HUD mortgage gave contractors $10.5 million, including $3.5 to Sherman, of which $250,000 went to the CDC as a dev'pers fee. I was placed in the Mpls Foundation's "Unicorn Fund" for investment in the n'hood, but disappeared. Fact checking?

Q: Does Bill Messenger still own the main interest in the Riverside Cafe building (now Acadia Cafe)?

Q: In what kind of structural shape is Riverside Plaza? There are lots of rumors about this.

Q: How could NRP $ slated for housing go into Riverside Plaza? Would that help people there?

Unrelated questions:

Q: Should we be looking into Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)?