America’s cities are taking a beating as construction slows down. The fees and taxes they place on real estate development are an important part of paying for the government. And being politicians they are doing all they can to not cut the bloat in the budgets, but to find a way to keep the Golden Goose alive.
Boston’s is in this situation as construction in the city has for all intents and purposes stopped. Now the city is looking to use 40 million dollars, not their money mind you but the federal governments, to loan to construction projects that are stuck.
What makes me think that if we revisit this situation in the future it will be a colossal waste of resources. Of course the Boston folks will say it is not their money they spent. And of course they had to do something…
All of these somethings being done by our politicians are getting very expensive and dangerous.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday said the city will provide $40 million in loans to stalled development projects, hoping to restart construction of billions of dollars worth of office towers and retail stores that have been delayed because of the credit shortage and soft economy.
The program, to be funded with federal grants, would fill gaps in financing for approved projects that have failed to move forward because they can’t get construction loans. The slowdown has cost the city thousands of construction jobs, Menino said, as well as millions of dollars in unrealized tax revenue.
The mayor said the city will target projects on which work could begin immediately, such as the $700 million redevelopment of the Filene’s block in Downtown Crossing. Construction on it was stopped last month because of a $50 million to $100 million financing shortage. via The Boston Globe.
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