Latest brainstorm from Greensboro Mayor Robbie Perkins –how about the city flip foreclosed properties?
City Council members and city staff spent two hours Thursday afternoon exploring ways to boost local economic development.
Don’t just think outside the box, they said, but throw the box away.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Robbie Perkins did just that.
Why, he wondered, couldn’t the city contact banks that have large parcels of foreclosed real estate they want to unload, buy the land at reduced costs and then sell it to companies that want to locate here?
“Banks have a lot of real estate for sale,” Perkins said. “The regulators are telling them to sell it and get it off their books. … Why shouldn’t we buy the land and offer it for sale?”
Assistant City Manager Andy Scott picked right up on the idea, floating —- you’re reading this right — a property tax increase to finance it.
This on the heels of a $24 million limited obligation bond for the Greensboro Coliseum, a first step toward a general obligation bond for a proposed downtown performing arts center and a council closed session pondering the purchase of the old downtown YWCA.
Semi related: Incoming City Attorney Mujeeb Shah-Khan says via Twitter he’s “excited” about coming to G’boro, adding he’s “looking forward to what’s next.”
He has no idea.
