>>I saw quite a few oceanfront ones shut down and boarded up.
Yep. Lots of 4000+ sq foot stuccoed boxes standing empty on the plains of Colorado too.
No trees. No children's toys. No signs of life. Just wind and empty promises made by developers who've long since cashed their checks and skedaddled with their sub-prime/creatively financed loot.
Somebody is paying taxes on all those empty buildings -- and I expect that would be whoever is holding the securitized a$$paper.
For example:
Empty or not... it's still evidently a Cash Cow for the Tax Collector...
Table Use Code 2010 Market Value 2010 Assessed Value Land OFFICES 872071 252900 Imp OFFICE 7184817 2083600
"http://land.elpasoco.com/ScheduleDisplay.aspx?schd=6412402005
Who's paying those taxes? Whoever the suckers were that ended up underwritting this mess, that's who:
"3. Purchase, Sale and Delivery of Offered Securities . On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters, and the Underwriters agree, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of $24.35 per share, the respective numbers of shares of Firm Securities set forth opposite their names in Schedule I hereto."
"http://idc.api.edgar-online.com/efx_dll/edgarpro.dll?FetchFilingConvPDF1?SessionID=Eb1WWMSd7DlZ0fS&ID=6531324"