Posted on 03/04/2011 8:01:52 AM PST by george76
A scathing federal audit blasts Denver's Stapleton airport redevelopment deal, saying that the Federal Aviation Administration gave up $71 million in revenue by selling off land at the old Stapleton International Airport at less than half its value.
The audit was performed by an inspector general of the Department of Transportation and released to the public on Thursday. The audit says the FAA failed to properly oversee Denver city officials as they sold off parcels after Denver International Airport replaced Stapleton in 1995.
(Excerpt) Read more at kdvr.com ...
Anyone who believes the bureaucrats in any agency will maximize value for the taxpayer is living in fantasyland.
Cui bono? Follow the money.
So who all(politicians and their friendly donors) made a ton of money in the building of the new airport in a terribly inconvenient location followed by the subsequent grab of practically free former airport land
Notice that there were current appraisals ~ at that time.
I don't have access to this report but if anyone used a property assessment for commercial property in that area that's been made 3 or 4 years ago, that wouldn't be true now.
The real estate markets crashed, and old funky stuff near an old funky airport probably didn't hold its value during the Obama Recession.
Former Mayor Pena tipped off his realestate buds about the location of the then proposed new DIA airport in Adams County, resulting in fortunes being made on insider land speculation, so this doesn’t surprise me one bit.
http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/CO/Airfields_CO_Denver_NE.htm Great shots of Stapleton airport as various buildings are removed. Remember, when folks bought any of the land there they also bought an obligation TO TEAR DOWN THE STUFF and clear it away. Demisement was probably a fortune in this place. And someone thinks they LOST $71 million? Bizarro world thought patterns Fur Shur.
Wasn’t Clinton crony Henry Cisneros neck deep in scandals having to do with Denver’s airport?
There are limited sites. As early as 1969 it was commonly understood at the old Post Office Department (My Word, the POD?!) that the ONLY way they would get a new or usable airport in Denver would be somewhere around the Rocky Mountain Arsenal area, or through some serious city scape removal and relocation.
So when did this Mayor let the cat out of the bag? ~ Gotta' be before 1969. Remember, POD, and then the USPS had an interest in where to build their AMF (Air Mail Facility) because Denver, even then, was a major mail transfer hub.
Former Mayor Pena tipped off his realestate buds about the location of the then proposed new DIA airport
“Cui bono? Follow the money.”
True. Who bought the land? Who in the bureaucracy set the price? Who approved the sale? Looks like the reporter only did part of the job. Not surprising in this era of light journalism.
Other federal agencies had difficulty dumping property at the time they shut down the old airport. Hotels also had severe dificulties getting rid of stuff.
Why did the IG imagine all was sweetness and light?
LOL, IF they want to damn or sue “Stapleton” airport, or the people involved in this travesty, they are delusional. If they are talking the Stapleton development area, nobody is to blame. Can’t happen with Democrats.
Denver is a Democrat enclave. I have not learned of one item that would make a Democrat guilty of anything.
Silly rabbit.
I don’t mind waiting for justice but don’t ask me to hold my breath.
THe photo essay on the old Denver Stapleton Airport was interesting...especially the part about Hanger 61. THey were going to try to structurally repair it so that they could find a tenant. As of this year, my son’s church just bought the property and they are fixing it up as their new church home. THey have been meeting in a nearby school for several years and the old Hanger 61 is going to be a unique and beautiful church building.
The model was the redevelopment of old Lowry Air Force Base, but Lowry was much, much smaller and bordered good neighborhoods.
Stapleton was bordered by deteriorating neighborhoods on three sides and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal to the north. So, the developer needed not just to buy property, but create a shopping, commercial and residential area that would itself create the property values that would attract middle class families. And, as you pointed out, old buildings had to be demolished in many cases.
I really, really doubt a bunch of government auditors would understand the complexities and challenges of that deal.
USPS has that problem with mere government auditors all the time.
Government, unlike private sector folks, carries buildings and land at book value “forever” until it’s sold. If you had a building burn down it gets dicey because there are these guys who want you to ‘splain why the building was sold so cheap.
My experience has been that anytime the politicians get the opportunity to sell off the people’s assets - their cronies get the deal, they get the kickback, and the people get the short end of the shaft. The Russian oligarchs perfected that modus operendi.
When government privatizes our stuff the winners are the cronies, and the average people are the stuckees, but never the cronies
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