This firehouse could be yours Vintage station among offerings Schenectady will sell at auction by lauren stanforth Staff writer Published 12:01 a.m., Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Schenectady will be auctioning off this old firehouse on Brandywine in Schenectady, N.Y. The image of the building was made April 29, 2011. (Skip Dickstein/ Times Union)
SCHENECTADY -- You can be the lucky owner of one of the city's vintage firehouses, complete with the guys' original wood lockers and holes in the floor for the poles (sorry, the two poles are no longer in place).
The city is once again getting into the property auction business after abandoning the practice the last four years in favor of selling tax liens on delinquent properties. But taking over such debts is no longer attractive for outside companies, so the city has again been acquiring buildings, some of which have been abandoned, in hopes of either tearing them down or finding suitable owners.
Schenectady is offering five homes, three commercial sites and the former Brandywine Avenue firehouse for sale this week. Prospective buyers must submit a bid and proposal for what they would do with the building by 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 11. Open houses will be held at the sites Saturday morning.
Some of the properties need major work, like a single-family home on Western Parkway where the minimum bid is $500. But other buildings are more readily usable, like a brick detached row house on Crane Street and the Brandywine firehouse, both of which were recently used as offices for the city Office of General Services. The starting bid on both properties is $2,000.....................>>>>................>>>>................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/This-firehouse-could-be-yours-1364420.php#ixzz1LNrECXPr
So, in other words, the companies they sold the liens to couldn't find anyone to buy them, so the no longer want them. They want the city to worry about selling it's own property.
Nobody is stupid enough to buy an eyesore for $2,000 and then pay a fortune to restore it and pay the high taxes on it.
Current assessment (as an eyesore) $186,180 and current taxes are $7,570. Fix it up, assessment goes up and your taxes will more than double. Good luck with that.
First mistake....when they closed that fire house, it should have either been sold or demolished immediately!!!
Again, the city continues to chase their tails while putting out fires that have been burning for years. They have been too busy giving out tax money and tax exemptions to the 'friends and family club'.
No one in their right mind would ever buy property in the city!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Nobody is stupid enough to buy an eyesore for $2,000 and then pay a fortune to restore it and pay the high taxes on it.
Calling all nonprofits! Maybe it could be rezoned for a governmental gin mill? Then Death Ray would be interested with taxpayer largess. They need to go back to $1 sales. BTW, what's the latest on the armory in the miracle Downtown?
It's a shame, because in a different location that could be a very desirable property. I don't know what orifice they pulled that assessment value out of though, because when it was a city fire house, it wasn't paying taxes, and it isn't exactly inhabitable in it's present state.
Rehabbing that building would be Ex-Pens-IVE! The shoddy work that has already been done, would have to be ripped out, because I mean who in their right mind builds a wall without moving the overhead light fixtures? The only way to go, would be to gut most of it to facilitate installation of modern HVAC, electrics, and plumbing, and then trying to incorporate some of the older architectural elements.
I wonder who sold the brass fire pole, and also wonder how the est of it hasn't been stripped.
Current assessment (as an eyesore) $186,180 and current taxes are $7,570. Fix it up, assessment goes up and your taxes will more than double. Good luck with that.
And the Gazetto editorial bored said that the former assessor did a really good job!-lol-You can't make it up.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Where are the hysterical preservationists? They should put their money where their mouth is.
Bet the fire dept employees will return to that fire house before anyone considers any offer. Remember what happened to the fancy old school building a few doors away.
Hey, DV, this would be a wonderful investment for you. YOU are the ONLY one who claims the city is in a renaissance which would mean an enormous return for you. You'll be only feet from the buses to take you to your beloved taxpayer paradise downtown. Put your money where your mouth is
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Logged
Calling all nonprofits! Maybe it could be rezoned for a governmental gin mill? Then Death Ray would be interested with taxpayer largess. They need to go back to $1 sales. BTW, what's the latest on the armory in the miracle Downtown?
And the Gazetto editorial bored said that the former assessor did a really good job!-lol-You can't make it up.
