Comments on: Real Estate Bust in a Microcosm

By: onparkstreet

onparkstreet — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:30:21 +0000

This has happened in my inner ring suburb – there are all these empty storefronts because the village bought property, kicked out the tenants, and sold it (or subsidized-sold it, you know what I mean, I never understand the math) to developers and now they sit empty.

It’s depressing. I miss the stores they kicked out because, somehow, they weren’t fancy enough and the village couldn’t imagine getting back enough in taxes from them, or something.

By: Carl from Chicago

Carl from Chicago — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:49:35 +0000

Maybe we should pool our $ and come up with some sort of outdoor drinking place. The view from Rock Bottom on Grand Avenue is great up on the 3rd floor roof but the music is tinny and in your face, the beer is $21 / pitcher (not a typo), and I don’t know if you can get food up there.

Sigh I miss Melvin B’s too…

By: ElamBend

ElamBend — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:49:13 +0000

Some developers just get too far ahead of themselves. They never should have kicked out the commercial tenants until they knew they were a ‘go’ or close to a ‘go.’ You can see another example on Skokie road, just north of Dundee where there is now a big water-filled hole and mounds of dirt where a nice copse of tress once stood. The developer started doing ground work before he had full entitlements and now the deal is busted.

I miss Melvin B’s also.

By: Shannon Love

Shannon Love — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:22:39 +0000

Yeah, its creepy alright.

After the old bust in 83-84 Texas entered a deep economic depression that didn’t really clear to 89-90. During that time we had “ghost malls” i.e. strip malls with empty store after empty store. In some cases, the spaces didn’t even have fronts or interior wall, just pillars holding up the roof and the back wall. It was disturbing to drive down a business district and see strip malls with 60%-100% of the stores empty.

Of course, under the heading of silver linings, the experience of that time permanently altered Texas political culture. We’ve never gone back to the kind of profligate spending that occurred during the boom that preceded that bust. That is probably why Texas is the only large state not facing a significant budget short fall right now.