Answers for Hellooo Monona

Hellooo Monona is at again with more questions. OK, they are reasonable questions about the Garden Circle purchase and I answer them below, but what continues to puzzle me is why she doesn't get these answers herself and then publish them in her column. In the newspaper. To inform her readers. Just a thought. It's a passing strange newspaper column that only asks questions and relies on its readers to provide the answers.

Anyway, here goes. Hellooo Monona Question #1 How much will demolition of the Garden Circle buildings cost? Administrative costs are estimated at $550,000 and the bulk of that is demolition.

#2 Was the demolition cost included in the $6.43 million the city borrowed? No, that was a short-term note that only included the purchase price and a little interest.

#3 If the demolition cost is not included, then how will it be paid? The council approved a 5-year note (with a lower interest rate) to pay off the short-term note that we approved in December, and to cover administrative costs (including demolition) and capitalized interest.

#4 Will there be holding costs and if so how will that be paid? The capitalized interest represents out holding costs.

#5 Will the city sell the property for a gain or break even? My crystal ball doesn't work that well, but we do have some things going in our favor - one, we paid below assessed value and two, we have unified the ownership so that the property is more attractive for redevelopment. There is also the addition by subtraction angle - we got rid of a bad influence on the neighborhood. That being said, I do not expect this transaction to be a big direct financial plus for the city, like say Pier 37 or Frostwoods Commons, but I do think this project will have at least as big of a positive impact on the city as either of those projects.

By the way, the borrowing we authorized this week also included refinancing a long-outstanding pension liability, again at a significantly lower interest rate resulting in big savings to the taxpayers.