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[childers.paula AT epamail.epa.gov]

dave said:
>i hate to see prime real estate go unused.  wouldn't the owners think
better to lower prices (or create other incentives), instead of having
their property sit vacant and look run-down for years??

I've often wondered about that myself. Are the tax breaks such that
owning an empty property can be just as profitable as owning a rented
one? You'd think that would be high on the list of worthwhile tax-law
reforms, if so - better to encourage real estate moguls to promote small
business via cheap rent, than encourage them to jack rents so high that
almost no one can afford to even try.

There are storefronts on 9th Street in Durham that can't keep occupants,
or that sit empty for years between gullibl- ahem, entrepeneurs. What
good is that? If you rent to other businesses on a street, looks like
you would want to promote the area's success by keeping your vacant real
estate clean and cared-for, so that those other properties would remain
full of strong businesses, and you could still get high rent. Seems like
owners that allow storefronts to fall apart are just shooting themselves
in the foot.

anyway.
I will miss Silk Road. The ambiance was like nothing else I've found in
the Triangle.

paula