<DIV>So realistically, just what would it cost to buy back the Town Center from Jemal?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Paul</DIV> <DIV>49th Avenue and Sheridan<BR><BR><B><I>marc stauffer <marc.stauffer@verizon.net></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Dear Bruce,<BR><BR>You make good points.<BR><BR>I submit that unless "we" control it it doesn't make any difference <BR>what "we" want or what kind of plan "we" have put together. The <BR>power to make any difference is held by the property owners. If "we" <BR>regain control, then "we" sure as hell will have to figure out right <BR>quick what "we" want to do with the asset (and the financial <BR>burden). I agree let's get started. How about "we" set up a <BR>Riverdale Park Realty Investment Trust? A quick calculation: if each <BR>adult resident of town (out of some 6,500 odd residents, the census <BR>says that 28% are under the age of
18, leaving approx. 4,680 <BR>potential investors) were to invest $1,500 in a fund to "Buy Back Our <BR>Town", it would give a sum of $7 million to use to reclaim sites that <BR>we want. That is about $4 a day for an individual to designate to <BR>the fund over the course of a year. Or, if you split the donation <BR>time into a 3 yr period that ends up being $500 / year or about <BR>$1.40 /day to invest in the revitalization of our Town. This has <BR>been done before, its not a completely chuckle-headed notion. Look <BR>at the example of Rosedale in DC were the local community got <BR>together and bought an old estate in order to be able to control what <BR>was going to happen with it. There are other precedents for when <BR>townspeople have gotten completely fed up, they pooled their <BR>resources and took control. It's complicated and messy, but there <BR>are others to learn from and the current state of Town Center is <BR>pretty messy
anyway.<BR><BR>Best,<BR><BR>Marc<BR><BR>Marc Stauffer<BR>4913 Ravenswood Rd.</BLOCKQUOTE>