Managers change buyer incentives for land auction
Published Thursday, October 15, 2009
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — Saturday’s auction of undeveloped home sites will be run a little different from past auctions, according to public land managers with the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
The outcry auction, scheduled for Saturday morning, continues the borough’s process of transferring pieces of Fairbanks’ vast holdings of public land to the tax rolls. This auction, however, changes incentives for buyers, said Paul Costello, a land manager at the borough.
The auction will focus partly on 20 home sites at Harding Lake, a popular weekend spot southeast of town, and another seven at the largely undeveloped Silver Lake farther down the highway.
Buyers will be eligible for a rebate of one-tenth the purchase price if they build a home and connect to power lines in five years, according to a brochure distributed for the auction. Costello said development incentives have differed for past auctions.
The borough received the land as part of a 112,000-acre entitlement from the state. Saturday’s auction is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Borough Assembly’s downtown chambers.
Community Discussion
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Silver Lake? Lots of information in FDNM articles.
chenastreamer
Try this link for more info....
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.c...
chenastreamer
Here is a link to a prior DNM story on this "auction".
The commenters had some Silver Lake info.
http://newsminer.com/news/2009/oct/04/fa...
A rebate of 1/10 the price [of the land], how much is GVEA going to charge? When Haystack got electric, I think it was an up front cost of $5,000, some of it to be "rebated" over a number of years or something like that. But pretty expensive, a check for $5,000 up front!
1/10 in exchange for borough taxes that would amount to what % of the buying price. Just a fast way to get people to pay more borough property taxes faster.
sisu
Get your facts straight before you comment.
This is the worst land on earth and should never be sold.Just ask the poor folk who live there.(near)
Let's see, rural borough land assessment [price] inflated 25% to 45% over the last 3-4 years by borough assessor,
minus a 10% rebate IF you build a [code?] residence
plus cost of transporting materials to site
plus commuting costs [if you're actually going to live there]
plus annual property tax on the inflated assessment
plus monthly add-on chg to cover the expense of getting the electric
AND you will probably not be receiving any borough services in return for you property tax
Oh yeah, that sounds like a really good deal!!
Pearl and Mackie are right on the money. The Borough will at best break even on this particular sale if they get their over-inflated sales prices(second tier lots right on the lake road sell for less money). Over the last twenty five years, the Borough has lost a half million dollars on Salchaket Heights and that is what they'll admit to. They are spending $200,000 up front on providing electricity before the sale, something they'd never do for a private developer. The Borough will also finance the sale with only 10% down, something else they would never do for a private developer. The soils are beyond terrible and any owner can only clear 12,000 s.f. of their two acre lot. Owners would also be required to obtain stormwater and wetlands permits as required. This development is government at its worst. Potential buyers beware!
tomfoolery; if I'm mistaken, how about correcting me? What did GVEA charge to hook up in the Haystack Subdivision? My neighbor who built a cabin out there for resale told me he had to pay $5,000 up front to get electric hooked up! Perhaps he lied, I don't know!
sisu-
Call GV and ask, you will probably get the answer you want.
From what I saw the bid price was to be something like 90% of the assessed value....
I was going to drive and see the sites last weekend...but it really doesn't seem like much value for an auction if you start at 90%....
To many strings attached. The borough could give the land away and the return on any investment on the property may show up with the great grand children. Not a good idea for the borough to invest in a powerline. Good idea to put more non-taxable borough property in the hands of taxpayers. But here?
Anyone ever watch the movie "The Money Pit"?
I agree; FNSB shouldn't be into developing property other than to have certified surveys on record and any construction restrictions listed, not putting in power lines.
Salchaket Heights will NOT provide you with a lake view, as most of the lots are on the east slope of Peregrine Ridge; we were down at Silver Lake a couple weeks ago; power isn't too far from the lots there, so it won't bleed anyone out putting in power for themselves.
'Non-taxable' property? Umm...guys, private property is taxed all the way out to the old Richardson Roadhouse before going up Tenderfoot Hill.
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