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Originally Posted by JamieDavid Exchange
Why are all the "naysayers" over the grant to lure residential growth around the Downtown so up in arms about? This is not a new idea. Regina is offering a five year tax break to their residents who chose to move to their new iconic development by Fortress.
Does a five year tax break sound better than a one lump sum? A five year tax break here would be on average $17,000-$19,000 per unit. Much better than a onetime payment of $10,000, IMO. Plus, the city of Winnipeg will be collecting property tax over those five years from those who collected the $10,000! Sounds like a great offer to ALL the citizens of this city. $2.1 million up front for roughly $4 million in revenue after five years.
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The main reason for the opposition is that the incentive is basically a handout to the developers so that they don't have to reduce their prices on the new condos. Why not let the market dictate the price and the developers take the loss instead of subsidizing them with public funds? The developers operate a business like any other and if their units are not selling that is on them for not bringing the public the units they desire and can afford. If they made mistakes in their market analysis that is the developers problem in my opinion.
Also with regards to the parking availability, it sounds like Streetside and Sunstone themselves were the ones that pulled out of the James Avenue Parkade, so it would be pretty disingenuous of them to blame the City for not providing parking.