Friday, September 14, 2012

Greensboro's Downtown Vultures

We all know who they are looking down from their perches high above Downtown Greensboro. A common issue faced in Greensboro is connected developers who sit like vultures waiting for a property to die so they can swoop in and buy it for almost nothing. Should you buy one of the properties these birds are looking at the they will sic the City inspectors and law dogs on the new owners in an attempt to bankrupt them and seize the property for almost nothing. I know of 1 downtown Greensboro property owner that was served with eminent domain papers for 3 separate projects but nary time could the City tell the property owner what the nature of the project was. Why? Because the vulture didn't and years later still doesn't have the financing to build his dream project.

Another vulture who held a high level job with the City and now holds a high level job with a local foundation used asbestos abatement to scare off a young downtown buyer with cash in hand then bought the building himself and resold said building without doing the asbestos abatement. Are you the one who bought that building thinking it was safe?

And it's not just downtown. A former employer of mine fought the City for years as they attempted to close his business so that the property owner next door could combine the two parcels into 1 much larger parcel. Talk about stupid rules and regulations: City Council actually voted to make my former boss blind part of his property from his own property at a cost of $20,000 that he was forced to borrow. The harassment from City Council ended the very same day the property owner next door managed to sell his property. Coincidence? Hardly.

Still they sit high above the city hoping to find victims. But unlike vultures in the wild, Greensboro vultures don't wait until you die to eat your remains.