Actually, it makes absolutely no sense when a building that was purchased for $3,400,000 + $1,200,000 in renovations is sold 4 years later for $1,500,000 and in Shorewood.

There is no indication that this property was under any financial duress and no records of any foreclosure proceedings online. Additionally, this property was owned by a partnership. Partnerships change and one of the original partners died a few years ago. Was it possible that the surviving family members cashed out and someone got a hell of a discount?

Whatever the new partners purchase price was, no matter how big their stake, would be the only thing that shows up on sales info. w/ no indication of % of ownership.

SO MY QUESTION IS...Does Dan Katz own the entire property outright/100% or is he a partner and the Village of Shorewood is just going along becuase let's face it. Dan stuck it to Harley's one time and having a tax liability go from $79,000 to $39,000 can be one hell of an incentive to keep from rocking the boat.

Why would Dan Katz not raise the rent on a space that had ~$400,000 invested in it just 5 years ago and Harley's initial lease was for at least 5 years...Is it time for a renewal and they can't afford to stay w/ a rental increase. That would be kick in the A** for the powers that be who poured taxpayer monies into this building/space all in the name of saving Harley's.

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Dan Katz already has the decision makers where he wants them and does what he wants.

Adam-

Do you need validation from the Journal Sentinel writing about a subject in order to follow up and paraphrase and post links?

That building is worth more than 1.5 million from what I can tell... It's leased in the ground level and great occupancy in the apartments. It may have been "sold on paper" for 1.5 million to reduce the real estate taxes, but there's something fishy about this deal. And no, it's not a Shorewood sewer back up!

What happens if an under the table deal results in a $1,000,000 dollar home on Lake Drive "selling" for $300,000?? You wouldn't be able to get away all of the sudden having a new assessment for $300,000 and only paying taxes on that just because of this "recent sales" amount would you?? Nope .

Not to mention, Katz knows he has the village by the coconuts... If he sticks it to Harley's and raises their rent (causing them to move again), the village would be up the creek after dumping so much money into them moving in the first place.

Let the market work on it's own without artificially pumping it up with taxpayer $$$$ ...

No sense is right. Though it seems a bit funny that the powers that be in Shorewood seem to be just going along with things.

BTW, a 218 unit apartment complex on Wilson just sold for $16,100,00 and these may have been in foreclosure since the owner has been forced to liquidate all assets via court order. So, an apartment complex, under possible duress, sells for ~$74,000 per unit and yet Dan Katz buys a 44 unit building (w/ no indications of foreclosure) w/ 1st floor commercial for $34,000 per unit not including commercial/retail space. Oh, that's right..$1,200,000 was just pumped into this property in renovations, yet that wasn't taken into account and any homeowner doing any sort of remodel will be sure to see a very nice adjustment on their property assessment.

Does Dan Katz have an invisible seat at the Village Trustees roundtable?

Forgot the link from above.

"Shorewood Apartments sell for $16.1 million"

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/185896171.html

Harley's has become "too big to fail" for Shorewood and Katz knows it. Look what happened to the "never had a chance bookstore" and the taxpayer $$$$ lost there.. The village can't afford another big taxpayer dollar failure ...

If you 2 are so passionate about these village issues, why don't you do something about it instead of posting incessantly in every article having anything to do with Shorewood anything. AbFab, we get it, you've done a minimal amount of research, as you post the same thing every time, stop wasting your time on here and go to the Village and take action, or stop whining.

No one is whining, but the truth is hard for some..

Tell it to the Journal reporter Tom D. Someone needs to expose these tricks and wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Yes, taxpayer money!!

Thank you to Patch for referencing the Journal's article and addressing it on here as well. These things need to be made public to keep everyone honest and accountable.

From the article above, per Guy Johnson:

"Just north over East Capitol Drive, the Lighthorse 4041 and Ravenna developments have sprung up on North Oakland Avenue, with the help of public monies. But those include guarantees on assessed values, Village President Guy Johnson told Daykin."

Exactly what is the "Guarantee on Assessed Values? How does it work? Who is guaranteeing what?

Props to Ian (and AbFab) for nailing it down very simply. Mike; the beauty of this situation as it stands is that no one needs to "do something about it". We only need to be patient and observe, as Mr. Katz squeezes the village and Harley's simultaneously. The resulting free market corrections will make more than a few people very uncomfortable.