Park Point

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
t’s almost like there’s a difference between residential and commercial real estate

And we’ve come full circle
As far as I’m aware everything she bought was residential, and therefore would need to stay residential and be subject to residential codes. And until any of those change, just for her, there’s nothing to get worked up about. Even if she fulfills every stereotype of a disconnected egomaniacal married into billionaire status Real Housewife.

I agree with your general statement, but didn’t she state she envisioned “beautifying” the neighborhood with amenities like coffee shops, sport courts, etc. in the WSJ article? That type of development would require rezoning and those rezoning discussions, at least on a preliminary level, almost always take place prior to land acquisition.

glenn57 wrote:

Thumper. . Me buying land to build is a whole nother ballgame then me buying up 20 places, paying double what there worth and tearing them down.

The only difference is that you only needed a smaller piece of land to build your house. She and other rich people often want a lot bigger house and don’t want neighbors close to them. As far as paying double their worth. She can so she did.
Until she does something illegal I simply don’t know why people think she owes anyone a explanation of her plans. Like others have said, If she planed to use the residential land for commercial use she would need to get approval.

I was just wonder when the squatters are gonna show up and demand money to leave.

mike mulhern wrote:

I was just wonder when the squatters are gonna show up and demand money to leave.

One thing Duluth does well is to keep most of the riff raff on Superior street or above that. The tourists aren’t supposed to see any of that.

The real estate taxes on non-homesteaded property would be a boon to Duluth.

I like how little San Fran has treated the whole situation. Just like the whole state is swayed by what happens in the metro. What happened in St. Louis county is swayed by what Duluth wants.

2 things noted, I think the city being so public about it didn’t help, and her telling the city what she wanted to do would hurt her buying what she wanted to buy. Just like any person owning a house. We should be able to sell it to whom ever and for what ever the agreed upon price. I guess laws are there for people in St. Louis county to build a certain size house with the lot size they have. I am assuming Duluth is close to the same thing.

Just like the county changing the septic system laws which would make everyone septic non compliant and would have to be replaced if they needed a permit for anything or sell. Word on the street is what came from some officials in Duluth as they have grandfathered in some systems and want them out.

We all have a different opinion and some times little San Fran goes off their rocker for no reason.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
Thumper. . Me buying land to build is a whole nother ballgame then me buying up 20 places, paying double what there worth and tearing them down.

The only difference is that you only needed a smaller piece of land to build your house. She and other rich people often want a lot bigger house and don’t want neighbors close to them. As far as paying double their worth. She can so she did.
Until she does something illegal I simply don’t know why people think she owes anyone a explanation of her plans. Like others have said, If she planed to use the residential land for commercial use she would need to get approval.

Been interesting sitting back and watching this unfold.  The first time I read the report and the mayor bitching about her not responding to HIS letter almost demanding to know her intentions, I laughed.   I would have done the same thing she did or would have simply told him it was really none of his business what the “intent” was.    

She obviously has the money to pay for the houses at whatever she wanted to pay for them.  Once she owns them she can do whatever she wants to do with HER houses and HER land.  As long as she was within the zoning rules.  Tearing them down is what she obviously wanted to do.  Just a guess but I would say that was not cheap.  For what she paid for some of the properties the taxes on the non-homesteaded bare land is probably more than what was being collected with a house on it.  

Is there much difference between this and a larger farm buying up smaller farms to expand their land ownership?   Or if a person can afford several pieces of land for hunting and they had houses on them where you wanted a food plot?   If you can afford it you buy it, tear down the old house and do what you want with YOUR land.   Any time you want to connect properties together that adjoining property becomes much more valuable.  

The half-cocked mayor who thought he would puff himself up and demand to know what she was doing maybe should have approached this differently.   But then again is it really any of his business or any government business  what she does with HER land?    At no point did she say she was shutting down any beach or blocking anyone from going to it.  If she had broken any laws or rules they would have already been all over her.   The only thing I can see she did wrong, in the mayor’s opinion, was not jump when he wanted answers.  Good for her.  

They aren’t making more land anywhere. Heck in MN we’re actually losing land by attempting to give it away. “Buy it cheap, and stack it deep” isn’t just a phrase for ammunition. These extremely wealthy people understand it very well…whether it be the Cargills, the Menards, Bill Gates, etc. etc.

I’d be curious to hear the other side of the situation from those who chose to sell their properties and some who were likely approached and didn’t sell. It would take an absolute life-changing sum for countless generations for me to ever consider selling off land. It’s literally THE only investment that has regularly outpaced the S & P and other markets in recent decades year after year…minus the risk

buckybadger wrote:

They aren’t making more land anywhere. Heck in MN we’re actually losing land by attempting to give it away. “Buy it cheap, and stack it deep” isn’t just a phrase for ammunition. These extremely wealthy people understand it very well…whether it be the Cargills, the Menards, Bill Gates, etc. etc.

I’d be curious to hear the other side of the situation from those who chose to sell their properties and some who were likely approached and didn’t sell. It would take an absolute life-changing sum for countless generations for me to ever consider selling off land. It’s literally THE only investment that has regularly outpaced the S & P and other markets in recent decades year after year.

If I won a lottery, I’d be buying land. Period.

Jimmy Jones wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
They aren’t making more land anywhere. Heck in MN we’re actually losing land by attempting to give it away. “Buy it cheap, and stack it deep” isn’t just a phrase for ammunition. These extremely wealthy people understand it very well…whether it be the Cargills, the Menards, Bill Gates, etc. etc.

I’d be curious to hear the other side of the situation from those who chose to sell their properties and some who were likely approached and didn’t sell. It would take an absolute life-changing sum for countless generations for me to ever consider selling off land. It’s literally THE only investment that has regularly outpaced the S & P and other markets in recent decades year after year.

If I won a lottery, I’d be buying land. Period.

Me too!!

Its seems to me…and i do not have a dog in the fight…someone got in a snit when one of the great unwashed or to quote someone “deplorables”, asked questions…Transparency likes light..others..not so much.

Could be or……….the unwashed as you call them seem to think billionaires are a bad thing. You know, the ones who have employed 1000’s and thousands of taxpaying people building their businesses into what made them billionaires.

What business did Kathy or her husband build to earn their billions?

A business is never built. If it is, on its way out and The Cargill conglomerate is full steam ahead.
So Kathy’s husband is still building a business.

Is it pure jealousy why people dislike successful people?

^She married a guy, whose great grandfather started the very successful Cargill business ~160 years ago. Kudos to that family for making it work all these years. Us outsiders can’t pretend to know how much or little some of these people do to maintain/grow the business. She could be a bitter lady who was given everything and has no ties to business, or she could be at the forefront of things that company does. Either way I won’t be too bothered by it.

It is interesting that the blood relation to the founders (not the lady who married into it) keep a very low profile considering their wealth and haven’t seemed to get involved in petty exchanges publicly that I remember hearing about. Her husband’s father had a beautiful cabin and lived in Birchwood WI for many years…not sure if that’s still the case. I remember my BIL and sister showing it to me though a few years back and it was both cool looking and modest really when considering their actual wealth.

Reef W wrote:

What business did Kathy or her husband build to earn their billions?

None, she married the Great Grandson of William Wallace Cargill, although I guess you could say James Cargill II helped build Cargill Inc. William Cargill started the company that currently employs 150,000 people in 68 countries, and feeds the world. What have you done?

Eelpoutguy wrote:

So Kathy’s husband is still building a business.

BigWerm wrote:

I guess you could say James Cargill II helped build Cargill Inc.

How? What has he done or what is he doing? Is he CEO or something?

BigWerm wrote:

William Cargill started the company that currently employs 150,000 people in 68 countries, and feeds the world.

Pretty sure that’s a different person than I asked about who died over 100 years ago…

Cargill is also the number 1 producer of cocoa beans in the world. 90% of all cocao goes through Cargill. And even though the farmers refuse to sell to them now and we are entering a worldwide chocolate shortage, you have to give them credit for reducing child labor in their oversee plants by 50%.

Reef W wrote:

What business did Kathy or her husband build to earn their billions?

Lots of folks inherit their fortunes. I’d probably blow it all on myself, family and friends. Some of them use that money to make more money, and in the process allow hundreds of thousands of others to make money by working for them. It sounds like she’s a rag to me, but that’s not exclusive to rich people.

This type of stuff happens everywhere. Lake Minnetonka, Gull, Whitefish Chain… They all had rich people buy up property, tear down cabins and build one huge house. The difference here is that the lefties in Duluth feel the need to stick their noses into someone’s business. She bought the houses fair and square. Just because she may have paid way more than they were worth doesn’t mean anything other than the remaining property values just skyrocketed. I’ve never been out on the point but looking at it on Google Maps it seems as though there’s no shortage of houses there.

FWIW I thought it was interesting that the article states: Dan O’Neill, a 71-year-old Park Point native and retired union organizer, told the Journal he sold his house to Cargill last year for $825,000. “I think Kathy Cargill is a well-meaning lady. I have faith that they are going to do the right thing. They’re all very pleasant and I really believe that they want to blend it into the Park Point environment. No way it’s going to be some McMansion.” Looks like Ol’ Kathy turned a died in the wool union guy into quite a capitalist.

Reef W wrote:

What business did Kathy or her husband build to earn their billions?

my favorite billionaires are the ones who were born on 3rd base and think they hit a homerun.

Riverrat wrote:

Cargill is also the number 1 producer of cocoa beans in the world. 90% of all cocao goes through Cargill. And even though the farmers refuse to sell to them now and we are entering a worldwide chocolate shortage, you have to give them credit for reducing child labor in their oversee plants by 50%.

They were the deadliest co.pany in the world at one point as well and now have a wildly strict saftey policy that is basically a joke.

I alluded earlier that I draw a pension from Cargill. I was there for eight years. They dissolved the division I was in. Me and two other guys developed and installed grain bin temperature monitoring systems. Remember the grain bin fires and explosions of the eighties? When was the last time that happened?

I take great pride that we were able to bring that to a halt. They paid us very well to develop and travel the world installing these systems. I get more pension from Cargill for those eight years than I do from another fortune 500 company that I was at for 15 years. Cargill did a lot for me. When they laid me off my manager had me in his office to give me the news. With tears in his eyes he told me. My wife was 6 months pregnant at the time. He told me Cargill had to let the insurance expire and told me to submit all the bills directly to him and he would push it up the line.

We never paid a solitary nickel. Matter of fact we got a delivery of all sorts of baby needs to the house two weeks after my daughter was born. Yeah those damn heartless billionaires will do damn near anything to win your trust.

Ice Cap wrote:

I alluded earlier that I draw a pension from Cargill. I was there for eight years. They dissolved the division I was in. Me and two other guys developed and installed grain bin temperature monitoring systems. Remember the grain bin fires and explosions of the eighties? When was the last time that happened?

I take great pride that we were able to bring that to a halt. They paid us very well to develop and travel the world installing these systems. I get more pension from Cargill for those eight years than I do from another fortune 500 company that I was at for 15 years. Cargill did a lot for me. When they laid me off my manager had me in his office to give me the news. With tears in his eyes he told me. My wife was 6 months pregnant at the time. He told me Cargill had to let the insurance expire and told me to submit all the bills directly to him and he would push it up the line.

We never paid a solitary nickel. Matter of fact we got a delivery of all sorts of baby needs to the house two weeks after my daughter was born. Yeah those damn heartless billionaires will do damn near anything to win your trust.

Lot of people hate on them for no reason besides they have big money. But that’s pretty normal around here.
We worked on a Cargill building near thanks giving 10ish years ago and they included us in on the turkey and gift card give aways. I thought that was the nicest thing, especially considering we were only on a small 4 or 5 day concrete demo job.

i got no hate towards Cargill, or any million or billionaires.

my thing is i think things could of been handled alot differently from both sides.

i get the STAY OFF MY LAWN thing but a bit of respectful communication would of gone a lot farther keeping the piece!!

glenn57 wrote:

i got no hate towards Cargill, or any million or billionaires.

my thing is i think things could of been handled alot differently from both sides.

i get the STAY OFF MY LAWN thing but a bit of respectful communication would of gone a lot farther keeping the piece!!

But if she bought real-estate legally then why does she have to cater or explain to any one, I guess I wouldn’t feel the need to explain anything. Be different if it was going to burned in to a giant shopping center but that’s when the lawyers do the talking.

The plans she told the newspaper about would’ve required notification.

The newspaper tried to contact her multiple times to get a statement. Nothing.

The city council tried to contact her to get a statement. Nothing.

The mayor tried to contact her for a statement. Nothing.

Now she claims she was going to “benefit the community” but won’t now because people were too nosy.

If you buy up a bunch of residential lots and then start to tear down the residences, the value of those properties drop, increasing the tax burden on the remaining properties. Her overpayment on those properties causes the surrounding home values to rise, raising the property taxes on the other homes in the community.

People have a right to know.

This whole thing is because she is a billionaire. Some people because of jealousy and envy just can’t deal with successful people.

To bring this down to the working man level how many of you have gone and talked to your neighbors before buying a new ATV or RV? Nobody? The reason being because you think it’s none of their business.

biggill wrote:

People have a right to know.

Obviously not.

Clearly rich people suck!