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Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Dying Malls Increasingly Rely On Taxpayer Handouts For Survival

America's dying malls have been a frequent topic of discussion of late as these relics of the 80's have been forced to convert once valuable high-end retail square footage into grocery stores, libraries and doctor offices just to keep the lights on. Here's just a small sampling of the recent carnage:

A Third Of All Shopping Malls Are Projected To Close As 'Space Available' Signs Go Up All Over America

Failing Malls Turn Empty Parking Lots Into Carnivals To Generate Cash

But, as Bloomberg points out today, one other funding source is increasingly emerging as a key financial sponsor in the efforts of commercial REITs to re-purpose their failing assets: taxpayers.

In Brookfield, Wisconsin, for example, the city is using tax-increment financing (TIF), a common tool for municipalities to subsidize development by putting property taxes from new projects into a fund that pays for building cost, to help rebuild the Brookfield Square Mall. Meanwhile, as if that weren't enough, the city has also agreed to pay for remediation costs related an old Sears auto repair shop and to build a new convention center and hotel where the Sears once stood.

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4 comments:

  1. In the voice of Captain James T. Kirk - "Let Them DIE!!!!!!"

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  2. And Sports stadiums/ NASCAR tracks, and yes even the Shorebirds rely on taxpayer handouts to keep up the stadium. So, what's the big deal? I'd rather go to the Mall and walk, than watch football (your tax dollars built M & T bank stadium for the Ravens), so fine with me tax payers keep up the Malls.

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  3. Shut them all down.
    We need a new National Pass time besides shopping.
    It's all Chinese Crap that ends up in our landfils.
    How about a movement to ship all this garbage back there when we are done with it.
    Maybe not. They would just burn it as fuel.

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  4. If they were built to be repaired like the old made in USA stuff was it would create repair business, parts business, shipping, etc. And reduce landfill usage. I still have my grandmother's mixer, blender and coffee pot from the early sixties! (Made in USA)

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