I warned SF city councilors before approving TIF #17 that the TIF was unneeded since Costco already intended on buying the land whether it was contaminated or not. Councilor Jamison said this at yesterday’s informational meeting;
“. . . read in the SF Business Journal the Costco property sold for $4 million . . . caught my attention TIF #17 that we passed . . . the TIF was for 30 acres, and 15 acres was sold to Costco, anyway, the point is, we provided a $4.9 million TIF for that project, he (Developer, Dunham Companies) paid $2.1 million for the land, sold half of it for $4 million, that means he owns the other half he is going to put the apartment complex on . . . nothing . . . I suppose . . . he made out like a bandit.â€(sic)
Essentially, the developer is getting $8.9 million for a $1 million dollar investment. WOW! It would be like getting a property tax break that was 4x the value of your home. Of course, Diamond Jim defended the TIF saying it was needed to develop the land and sell. What a load of crap. Dunham made out better then a bandit, that was highway robbery of the highest order.
Jamison suggested that in the future that the council gets told what the property ‘may’ be sold for before awarding a TIF, he also suggested there be a mechanism to revoke a TIF if this kind of boondoggle happens in the future. I saw this hoodwink a mile away.