Not that the city of Ketchum is enduring any ordeal near the dimensions of the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast. But surely, federal agencies involved in auctioning off the Bavarian Village apartments should consider ways to allow the property to become community-owned affordable housing to help remedy a growing problem.
A coalition of interests—the city of Ketchum, the Blaine-Ketchum Housing Authority and Advocates for Real Community Housing—showed good faith and energy in producing a $2.3 million bid that, by all reasonable standards, should've won title to the property.
However, the Internal Revenue Service's demand for a minimum bid of $3.5 million reflected no such good faith and represents an extremely high price.
The Bavarian Village buildings are run down and likely would be demolished by any buyer to make way for new structures as have other properties in the neighborhood. The value of the property in today's market is primarily for the ground upon which the old buildings sit.
Consider: A nearby property of 50,000 square feet—nearly twice the size of Bavarian Village's 27,000 square feet—recently sold for $3.24 million.
That means the IRS wants $130 per square foot for a lot in an area where a vacant lot just sold for half as much at $65 per square foot.
With that in mind, housing coalition bidders should step up appeals, not only to the IRS and the U.S. attorney's office in Boise, but to Idaho's congressional delegation.
The point to be made should be obvious: The housing group's bid at $85 per square foot is more than fair when compared to recent sales activity in the same area.
Furthermore, Bavarian Village is urgently needed to house workers who otherwise would be forced into long, expensive commutes or, worse, finding work elsewhere, adding yet more difficulty to maintaining the area's work force.
Future tenants could be first-responders—police, firefighters and medical personnel—whose skills must be close at hand in the event of emergencies.
These are not irrelevant considerations. From President Bush down through the national chain of command, the push has been for community preparedness for unexpected and perhaps dire emergencies. Billions of dollars are being spent on first-responder equipment.
But what good is equipment if personnel simply aren't available?
Besides, the bid offered by the community coalition would be found money for the IRS, which inherited property forfeited in a drug-related criminal case.
