The Observation Deck

Can’t find asking price yet but the county has the value at 1.495 million, down from 1.6 million. It is owned by Psenicka Family LLC.

Bridget Conant wrote:Can’t find asking price yet but the county has the value at 1.495 million, down from 1.6 million. It is owned by Psenicka Family LLC.

Maybe they'll sell it to Ed FitzGerald for $1.

Michael Deneen wrote:

Bridget Conant wrote:Can’t find asking price yet but the county has the value at 1.495 million, down from 1.6 million. It is owned by Psenicka Family LLC.

Maybe they'll sell it to Ed FitzGerald for $1.

I believe they are out of Georgia, last I heard family was mostly seniors.

If they sell it for more than $500,000 then the School Board will look foolish.

If they sold it for $2 they would still make City of Lakewood look like fools.

.

A curious aside is all the people on fb who see the "for sale" sign and conclude the U.S. Postal Service is going away.

$30,000 per month rent is not excessive. If might even be on the low end.

How much could you pay for a building that generated $360,000 per year in profit?

If you paid $1 million in cash your annual return would be 36%. If you expect an 8% annual return then the building has a value of $4.5 million. The mortgage on $4.5 million is about $29,000 per month for 20 years. The Postal Service could buy the building for $4.5 million and save money.

So, what is the building actually worth?

The general public may never know how much the property sells for because the County does such a terrible job of tracking the sale of commercial property.
The Sphere apartments at East 12th and Chester recently sold for a reported $40 to $50 million.

• 101-37-001
• SPHERE APARTMENTS, LP
• 1801 E 12 ST
• CLEVELAND, OH. 44114

The County assumed a sale price of $36 million because that is what the mortgage is. The sale price was much higher.

The Sphere was owned by an LLC. They buyers bought the LLC. The sale price of the LLC is not a public record so the County appraisal department does not know how much the building actually sold for.

The people of Lakewood may never know what the Post Office lot sells for because the lot is owned by an LLC. Of course, the City could find out if they really wanted too but I’m sure the City has no interest in determining the value of vacant land in Lakewood.

The Barry Buick lot recently sold for between $2 and $3 million per acre. What would the public reaction be if people knew the value of land in Lakewood as much as $3 million per acre? Since the Barry Buick land is owned by an LLC we will never know the actual sales price.

It's a horrible place for a post office anyhow. Moving it from (downtown) central Lakewood would be great.

J Hrlec wrote:It's a horrible place for a post office anyhow. Moving it from (downtown) central Lakewood would be great.

Wha?

Why would moving the Post Office out of a central location be better than where it is now? Heck, the location now is next door to it's original location, now a Key Bank.

Centrally located is fair for everyone.

cameron karslake wrote:

J Hrlec wrote:It's a horrible place for a post office anyhow. Moving it from (downtown) central Lakewood would be great.

Wha?

Why would moving the Post Office out of a central location be better than where it is now? Heck, the location now is next door to it's original location, now a Key Bank.

Centrally located is fair for everyone.

The front counter and P.O. boxes need to be centrally located, but not the distribution operations.

Dan Alaimo wrote:

cameron karslake wrote:

J Hrlec wrote:It's a horrible place for a post office anyhow. Moving it from (downtown) central Lakewood would be great.

Wha?
Why would moving the Post Office out of a central location be better than where it is now? Heck, the location now is next door to it's original location, now a Key Bank.
Centrally located is fair for everyone.

The front counter and P.O. boxes need to be centrally located, but not the distribution operations.

Separating those would be very unproductive. It would turn the front counter into a FedEx Kinko's maildrop and not much more. But I suppose if folks want to ship out more jobs...

cmager wrote:

Dan Alaimo wrote:

cameron karslake wrote:

J Hrlec wrote:It's a horrible place for a post office anyhow. Moving it from (downtown) central Lakewood would be great.

Wha?
Why would moving the Post Office out of a central location be better than where it is now? Heck, the location now is next door to it's original location, now a Key Bank.
Centrally located is fair for everyone.

The front counter and P.O. boxes need to be centrally located, but not the distribution operations.

Separating those would be very unproductive. It would turn the front counter into a FedEx Kinko's maildrop and not much more. But I suppose if folks want to ship out more jobs...

I'm just thinking about the amount of space each one takes. Also I was thinking about some place like on the east side of town for distribution, where the rent would be cheaper than DowntowN. I bet they could figure out the logistics in order to save rent money.

Now if they went Amazon on us and robotized the back room, that"s another discussion.

Dan Alaimo wrote:

cmager wrote:

Dan Alaimo wrote:

cameron karslake wrote:

J Hrlec wrote:It's a horrible place for a post office anyhow. Moving it from (downtown) central Lakewood would be great.

Wha?
Why would moving the Post Office out of a central location be better than where it is now? Heck, the location now is next door to it's original location, now a Key Bank.
Centrally located is fair for everyone.

The front counter and P.O. boxes need to be centrally located, but not the distribution operations.

Separating those would be very unproductive. It would turn the front counter into a FedEx Kinko's maildrop and not much more. But I suppose if folks want to ship out more jobs...

I'm just thinking about the amount of space each one takes. Also I was thinking about some place like on the east side of town for distribution, where the rent would be cheaper than DowntowN. I bet they could figure out the logistics in order to save rent money.
Now if they went Amazon on us and robotized the back room, that"s another discussion.

I get your point, but to me it hews to the notion that downtown is too valuable for things like post offices and hospitals and school boards and Kauffman Park. It supports the cry to bring on more bars and strip malls.

Dunno if this has been posted yet. I jump on Loopnet from time to time and happened onto this....

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1475-Wa ... /16081500/

Thought it might be of interest....

From the listing:

There is a great potential at this area for redevelopment.

Five million asking price. Hmmmmm

Tim Liston wrote:Dunno if this has been posted yet. I jump on Loopnet from time to time and happened onto this....

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1475-Wa ... /16081500/

Thought it might be of interest....

A 5% cap rate and a $5 million asking price implies a monthly rent of about $21,000. The rent seems low.

I talked to a postal clerk at the Warren Road office and he said the owners put the building up for sale when the lease comes up.

If you had $5 million in cash would you buy that building? If you had a mortgage the rent would not cover the payments.

Would the Post Office pay $50,000 per month? Would the buyer demand more and accept the possibility that the Post Office moves? Would you take that risk?

The asking price is about $2 million per acre which seems about right.

The asking price is about $2 million per acre which seems about right.

Not in Lakewood - if you know the right people here it’s only 17 cents per acre! Lakewood Hospital’s 6 acres were only $1!