Oaky Woods at double the price in a down market
The Political Insider blog is on hiatus until the new year.
Here’s something to ask yourself today: Is your house, and the land it sits on, worth twice as much today as it was in 2004? Probably not.
In fact, odds are that your little slice of heaven is worth a good deal less. No matter what your mortgage says.
But the real estate market can be a tricky thing.
On Wednesday, the Board of Natural Resources agreed to pay $28.7 million for 10,015 acres of Oaky Woods wilderness in middle Georgia. Six years ago, the price was roughly the same — for the entire 20,000-acre tract.
By passing on the property in 2004, over the protests of environmentalists, the state allowed the pristine black bear habitat to pass into the hands of Houston County developers — whose plans to build a private city did wonders for local land prices.
The assessed value of 101 acres adjacent to the Oaky Woods property, purchased by Gov. Sonny Perdue a year or so earlier, more than doubled to $750,100.
Oops. Sorry. I forgot to mention Perdue’s interest in the transaction. Just like the governor forgot to mention it in 2004. The same governor who appoints Department of Natural Resources board members.
The private plans for Oaky Woods went bust with the housing market. But while your home or your neighbor’s home may have gone to the courthouse steps for a sheriff’s auction, the owners of Oaky Woods Properties LLC again proved themselves as lucky as cats in a creamery.
With the DNR purchase, which still requires one more vote of approval from a State Properties Commission chaired by Perdue, the developers will be able to recoup most of the $32 million investment they made six years ago — and still hold onto half their purchase.
Unlike you or me, some people are simply recession-proof. They are too big to fail.
Tree-huggers, perhaps the most beleaguered and outgunned interest group in state politics, have been loath to criticize the transaction, out of fear that a rare and valuable half-victory will — poof! — vanish from sight.
Though she didn’t participate in the final 11-6 vote, even Jenny Lynn Bradley, chairman of the DNR board, expressed qualms. “It’s a good acquisition for this state,” she said. “I still personally think the property is too high. I think the state is paying too much money for it.”
A day earlier, a preliminary discussion of the Oaky Woods purchase by the DNR board was attended by Ray Boyd, the real estate executive and former candidate for governor.
Boyd has embarked on a solitary, perhaps quixotic campaign against sleaziness in the state Capitol. In front of the DNR board, he used the “C” word, which got a rise out of board member Dwight Davis.
“As far as I know there’s absolutely no evidence that there’s any corruption at all,” Davis said. “I think there are some greedy landowners involved in this. And people are taking advantage of a situation. Having seen so many times here where generous citizens have stepped forward and donated land or taken reductions, this really stands out as a bad example.”
It is a comfort to know that we are not burdened with corruption — only with greed and sharp dealing.
Because there is a myth in politics that says all past sins are washed away by large, watershed elections. Some victors assume that landslides are a sign that voters have carefully examined a candidate’s personal conduct and offered their approval.
It is an egocentric philosophy that leads to overreaching. Ask Jack Abramoff, whose commonplace wheeling-dealing in Washington — with Ralph Reed and others — was merely cagey one day. And a series of felonies the next.
There is significance in the fact that the Oaky Woods fiasco will be contained within the Perdue tenure. One suspects that Gov.-elect Nathan Deal put out word that he wants no part of the issue.
This may be a sign that Deal understands what voters did and didn’t say in November. Or that the governor-elect recognizes that he will quickly have his own fish to fry.
Over the past few days, Deal has passed out lists of those who will head up his administration — a mix of new names and holdovers.
One position the governor-elect has not touched — not yet — is the post now held by state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham.
During a congressional investigation into allegations that Deal improperly used his office to protect his auto salvage business, Graham gave detailed descriptions of his meetings with Deal to federal investigators, and was later subpoenaed by a grand jury.
Deal isn’t saying whether or not he has asked for Graham’s resignation. Graham isn’t saying anything.
And the rest of us are just watching.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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104 comments Add your comment
Iconoclast
December 9th, 2010
12:43 pm
If the acquisition of Oaky Woods holds public benefits, which I believe it does, why not simply move to a (friendly) condemnation of the land. The owers, after all, have indicated a willingness to sell. The state need not simply roll-over and accept the price.
Not to make a mountain out of a mole-hill, though. Quite the other way around: to make the courts assign an enforcable fair-market value to the acquisition before the state cuts a check to the seller. This is a common practice when the DOT or utilities acquire lands where the only dispute is in the fair-market value at purchase.
"RGB"
December 9th, 2010
12:55 pm
If the land is such a treasure let the invisible hand of the free market write the check. If the land cannot turn a profit as a forest preserve there is no reason to make the taxpayers foot the bill. Just another liberal government takeover of land from the patriots of this country. The real person responsible according to the Heritage Foundation’s research is Jimmy Carter who approved the purchase while he was Governor of Ga. Obama stole my chicken.
Limbaugh and Hannity are WHINERS
December 9th, 2010
12:59 pm
RGB, can’t you just leave the right-winged drivel out of this and go back to cleaning the soot from your white, hooded robe?
SpaceyG on Twitter
December 9th, 2010
1:16 pm
You dumb bunnies voted these thieves into office thinking they were going to do what? Help the little folk instead of themselves to a really bad land deal? Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Thanks for f-ing us ALL on Sonny’s way out the door.
SpaceyG on Twitter
December 9th, 2010
1:35 pm
Where the heck is a Neill Herring blog when you need one? God hates Luddites.
POOR TAXPAYER
December 9th, 2010
1:58 pm
Enter your comments here
POOR TAXPAYER
December 9th, 2010
1:59 pm
shame crooks we will not forget
riff-raff
December 9th, 2010
2:01 pm
The only thing this land is good for is the animals and to hold the world together,let that SOB Sonny and these developers eat it!!!!
Jay
December 9th, 2010
2:14 pm
RGB,
What kind of “patriots” try to sell land to their own state at twice its value? Those who are taking advantage of their government, and thus their fellow citizens – that’s not the loyalty patriots are supposed to display, now, is it?
Granted, corrupt government officials are in cohoots with these so-called “patriots.” But anyway, to your other point, that the “invisible hand of the free market” will preserve the land – that is just not very bright. First, it assumes that everything in this country only has value if it turns a monetary profit. If that were true then we’d have no national parks, no schools, no highways, no sewer systems. Heck, we might as well euthanize those citizens who don’t earn above a certain threshold.
Money is not everything. There is value to being in wilderness, to having open space and preserving the functionality of ecosystems – but these are things whose value cannot be easily monetized.
RedneckLogic
December 9th, 2010
2:17 pm
If Perdue continues to rape and pillage Georgia before leaving the Capital, he’ll have to pull a Confederate President Jefferson Davis type escape. Like Jefferson Davis’ escape from Richmond, Perdue will have to escape Atlanta in the dark of night donning a petticoat and bonnet.
Atlanta, be on the look out for a skeezy old man wondering around Victoria’s Secret, looking to try on thongs and push-up bras. Look closely, it may be Perdue looking for his getaway disguise!
While I’m at it, here’s another Civil War Era comparison. Perdue’s Money March is like Gen. Sherman’s March from Atlanta through middle GA and on to Savannah. Leaving Atlanta and bivouacking in Oaky Woods in mid-GA, Perdue and his army of cronies continue their burning money march on to the Port of Savannah.
Georgia’s most corrupt governor bids adieu « ATLmalcontent
December 9th, 2010
2:20 pm
[...] most corrupt governor bids adieu He robbed the state blind yet leaves with favorable rating. Sonny’s replacement could well be indicted for his [...]
GTBmom
December 9th, 2010
2:37 pm
Very very sad to see that Art Williams Jr. is a turncoat to his home state. He had a great concept when he started A L Williams. We knew the whole family, they were nice people. I know he hasn’t lived in GA for years. What a sad testament to how money and power corrupt.
SICK OF IT
December 9th, 2010
2:38 pm
This has been a long standing corruption situation within Georgia – look at this, look at good ole Sonny’s so called “girls” in his constituent services – they cover, lose files intentionally for him, long since have. We are sure they will be “kept on”…. We have dear friends who experienced this. Also look at the worst that happened in this state! Mentally ill and developmentally disabled died, were sexually assaulted, beaten, and good ole Sonny never stood up never made changes and IGNORED the plight of these people and their families. Only when the Dept. of Justice intervened did change happen (future – that is). LISTEN, WHEN POWER AND MONEY WALK INTO ANY SITUATION – JUSTICE WALKS OUT.
We live in a state where people have become complacent – this Oaky Woods DEAL will happen – because they are all corrupt. No Sonny is not welcome here in Bonaire – the good people here really know who he is. He and others operate under the pretentions of carrying a bible, going to church, and “pretending” to live by ethics and rules. His Mother would be quite ashamed as all other Georgians are of him……what a legacy!!! Unfortunatley, we in this state shall continue to see this mess.
Mad As Hell
December 9th, 2010
2:42 pm
My friends in Houston County have spotted a U-Haul truck apparently driven by a State trooper unloading what looks like boxes of groceries, canned goods, and other stuff into Sonny’s garage in Bonaire. I can only surmise that he is cleaning out the cupboards at the Governor’s Mansion. What a greedy little cheapskate.
Kathleen Neighbor
December 9th, 2010
2:59 pm
I called the State Properties commision to find out what opportunities there were for public comment during the board meeting on 12/13 and the receptionist said that according to their legal counsel, it would be at the discretion of the Chairman…Sonny Perdue. So I’m certain there will be ample time for the public to weigh in on this issue before the vote.
It’s interesting to note that the 3 citizen members of the commision all have backgrounds in either finance and/or real estate (EVP of Finance at Emory University, Personal Financial Advisor to the Blank family -yes THAT Blank family, and self-storage owner as well as Chairman of the Georgia Medical Center Authority). I believe that if any of them were presented with a deal to buy a distressed property at twice its actual value, they would turn it down flat. I believe that they will act as their fiduciary duty as members of the SPC commands them to and reject this deal also. If you believe as I do and wish to respectfully remind all the board members that the statute under which they operate commands them no less than 12 times to act in “the best interest of the state”, please feel free to contact them:
Sonny Perdue, Chairman — 404.656.1776 (Office of Constituent Services)
Greg Griffin, Vice-Chairman 404.656.2133
Brian Kemp, Board Secretary 404.656.2881
Tommy Hill, Board Member 404.656.2168
Michael Mandl, Citizen Member 404.727.6018
David Homrich, Citizen Member 404.367.2110
Dr. George Snelling, Citizen Member 706.868.7171 (Washington Road Self Storage)
John Daly
December 9th, 2010
3:20 pm
Double 9:07
Since you brought up the Obama pay freeze — under that freeze 1.1 million federal employees will receive raises totalling $2.5 billion.
So much for a pay freeze.
Smart enough to know better..
December 9th, 2010
3:40 pm
I would suggest that Governor Elect Nathan Deal jump into the fray and say…..”Hey, wait a minute, that’s not a good deal for our state…..let’s negotiate some more”…….that would get him more good press than anything he could do right now.
I totally agree and I support the TEA Party. This needs to go back to the table. Let the owners pay another year or two on property tax… (If they are paying any at all.)
Einsteindawg
December 9th, 2010
5:22 pm
WTH does the State of Georgia need with more land? Just another example of why outsourcing the Governor’s duties makes ethical as well as economic good sense for Georgians. (And I voted for Sonny twice.)
JDW
December 9th, 2010
5:30 pm
Smart enough to know better..
December 9th, 2010
3:40 pm
“I would suggest that Governor Elect Nathan Deal jump into the fray and say…..”Hey, wait a minute, that’s not a good deal for our state…..let’s negotiate some more”…….that would get him more good press than anything he could do right now. I totally agree and I support the TEA Party. This needs to go back to the table. Let the owners pay another year or two on property tax… (If they are paying any at all.)”
BAHHAAAAAa…only thing Nathan said was clear this so I can get mine when I get in office…this is the Tea Party in action.
Common Sense Man
December 9th, 2010
5:32 pm
Where is the tea party? What time does the rally at the state capitol start for this? Oh yeah everything is all right as long as its not Obama? You people are some of the most uneducated hill billy folks I have ever met? You think that these “god faring, good old boys” give a damn about your family. They will do something like change the flag again or publicly challenge Obama to get the racist base all riled up while they rob them blind and deaf. They already dumb.
khc
December 9th, 2010
5:36 pm
anyone who voted for current gov needs to lose the moniker einstein
Einsteindawg
December 9th, 2010
5:51 pm
khc,
Unfortunately, I agree…but I didn’t know better.
Dis Gusted
December 9th, 2010
5:53 pm
Where are all you loud mouthed Republicans now? Step up and start defending that fat meat head now! They are all disgusting, godless, selfish and shameless. I would say stupid too but that’s a title the morons who voted for him get. And one last thing-cutting education and cutting corporate taxes? PUH LEESE. There’s not a corporation in Georgia paying any income tax because of their shady income shifting strategies cooked up the the cpa firms. So let’s just take from the children. Rot in hell you disgusting, revolting rednecks. And God bless all the rest of you!!!
Dis Gusted
December 9th, 2010
6:04 pm
Hello? Republicans…. It’s not Wednesday night-you’re not in church-cough up an answer to this one! We’ll all just accept your silence as a confirmed “yes” that you are idiots. Oh wait..now you’ll all just say you are “independents”, aka ashamed republicans. Barf.
Einsteindawg
December 9th, 2010
6:14 pm
Dis…How long have you been fired from your teaching job? Just maybe the problem is with your inept school boards. How many ass’t principals do you need and who told Superintendents that their birthright was to make more than POTUS? We need a reality check.
D. M. Mullis
December 9th, 2010
6:37 pm
In looking at the agenda for Monday’s meeting we see a like tract of land in McIntosh County on the Altamaha River being purchased for $508 dollars per acre, for a total of $536,425 for 1,055 acres. This compares unfavorably to Oaky Woods at $3,000 dollars per acre for 9,595 acres. Total $28,785,000. Six times as much per acre. This is insane. Same river, ten miles from Atlantic Ocean, you be the judge.
Herb
December 9th, 2010
6:44 pm
Governor Elect Deal has already shown his true colors relating to more cuts in education funding and now the State and Brother Perdue is going to spend this kind of money to bail out his buds….shame….shame…shame. STOP this Governor Elect Deal ever what it takes to do so. Buy this land if we must but sure as hell not for the amount mentioned.Not anywhere near that amount….this whole thing stinks and so do the people involved….do it Brother Deal, fix this and show some real politica courage.
khc
December 9th, 2010
6:47 pm
einstein, big of you to admit mistake….unfortunately, a good many politicians do not serve the people but rather try to gain power and influence for personal goals that have little to do with leaving the world better than when they came into it
Mad As Hell
December 9th, 2010
6:50 pm
D. M. Mullis….the difference in the prices you mention is that Sonny Perdue is not in position to profit from the McIntosh land that the State is buying.
WTF
December 9th, 2010
7:11 pm
Well, all the dummies who voted Sonny Boy and his crooked cronies into office should be happy – the fat cat Repubs get richer at the expense of the taxpayers of the state. There has to be a special place for these people to rot in the next life. And with the recent elections, things will continue status quo. How sad!
Laid Off Teacher
December 9th, 2010
7:15 pm
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/students-police-clash-as-771346.html
Check out the above link from ajc,com
And the angry London student rioters rocked the Royal Rolls Royce while chanting “off with their heads!”
Ladies and gentlemen of the committee and profiteers, are you listening? You need to pay attention. The ONLY reason we are now paying a premium for this land is because some developers with buddies under the Gold Dome jacked up the price/acre by creating a “development plan” that flopped when the economy tanked. The “fair market value” has now been artificially increased beyond reality. This new price is what we the taxpayers are being asked to pay? Utter specious nonsense! GET A FLIPPING CLUE, FOLKS!!
007
December 9th, 2010
7:43 pm
The state did not have the money in 2004 when the economy was teriffic but has the money now & the economy is in the toilet. Would someone besides Sonny please explain this to me?
007
December 9th, 2010
7:45 pm
For a real good deal on Okey Woods, call BR 549, that’s BR 549.
nocumentum
December 9th, 2010
8:14 pm
Perdue is unquestionably the most corrupt Governor this state has had since the 1940s. And yet, the voters elected him twice and have now elected someone just like him. Perhaps even worse than Perdue’s legacy of corruption and self-dealing is the shameful abandonment of public education orchestrated by him and the other nitwit neo-cons in the General Assembly. Now, the Governor-elect says we can expect more of the same while the GOP pursues a plan to lower corporate income taxes that he says will attract businesses — complete nonsense! George Carlin said it best – the last thing a sorry government wants is a population capable of critical thought — Georgia is well on its way to establshing itself as an ultimate example of how bad things can get when the dominant characteristic of its electorate is ignorance and gullibility.
JACKIE
December 9th, 2010
8:20 pm
ARE WE SURE IT IS NOT GWINNETE COUNTY BUYING THIS LAND.?
JACKIE
December 9th, 2010
8:21 pm
Enter your comments here
sofa throws
December 9th, 2010
8:42 pm
Great articles and a great site
Question Man
December 9th, 2010
8:45 pm
What’s new with this type of transaction? Didn’t Shirley Franklin pay Wayne Mason THREE times what he paid for his BeltLine land (at the beginning of the real estate crash)? Why is it that these transactions are consistently allowed to occur and wouldn’t it be great to know what the eventual “pay back” is to the government officials who make these flagrantly bad decisions?
D. M. Mullis
December 9th, 2010
10:09 pm
I normally don’t get on these websites but this one has hit a special nerve with me. As an elected official, (Laurens County Commissioner since 1989), I am very sensitive of the perception that our citizens have of our ethics and our duty to serve.
I am personally embarrased as I think all elected officials throughout this state should be. This taints us all. A respected public official from a nearby County once said, “he’s plowing a row that we all will have to hoe”. So true.
another voice
December 9th, 2010
10:17 pm
Perhaps the state could tell the landowners to “Go Fish!” Just like the card game…we don’t have $28 mil; go fish and see what you get. On the other hand it would be a shame to lose such a natural treasure as Oaky Woods. So, why not take Iconoclast’s suggestion to condemn the property for public benefit and arrive at a fair market purchase price for the proprety. Or take pn’s suggestion to pay the owners their purchase price plus 10%. Or follow D.M. Mullis’ lead to pay a price comparable to the McIntosh County property. Or follow Kathleen Neighbor’s suggestion to exert political influence upon the state commission members to express displeasure with the shenanigans and to call upon them, no demand of them, to practice their responsibilty for the best interest of the citizens of the state of Georgia. The land is a treasure to be enjoyed by all Georgians and not to enrich the treasure chests of a handful. Perhaps Sonny the Sunday School teacher could inspire his friends to do something altruistic by reminding them not to store up treasures for themselves on earth where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through and steal but to store up treasures in heaven for themselves where neither moth nor rust corrupt and where thieves neither break through nor steal. And for good measure he could add, “For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” And why wouldn’t the Go Fish advocate and fisher of men do this? After all, what man is there of us, whom if his child asks a fish, would give him a snake? Go fish Governor Perdue.
Michael
December 9th, 2010
10:18 pm
These comments read like it’s one person posting under different pseudonyms.
Tom Mitchell
December 9th, 2010
10:18 pm
D. M. Mullis…I wish Georgia had a whole lot more public servants like you. Thank you for your service.
StuckinATL
December 9th, 2010
10:20 pm
Outdoorsman, you are partially correct. It would have been good economically for the state to have bought the full 20,000 acres years ago for roughly the same money. FWIW I quit hunting WMA’s a long time ago as they are run ragged by everyone and their brother. I manage to kill just as many deer in the suburbs as in the river bottom, which I learned on the Ocmulgee.
Prez Obozo
December 9th, 2010
10:27 pm
I have to say I am proud of what the students in London are doing against their corrupt government. Is that what needs to take place here against our corrupt trash in office?
eatmotacos
December 9th, 2010
11:49 pm
One of these days voters will realize that career politicians are all cast from the same moulds as child molesters. Giving them access to the public treasury is like hiring a child molester to teach a kindergarten class. After 8 years of Sonny(never trust a short man who wears high heels), electing Deal defies all logic. If ignorance is bliss, we live in the most blissful state in the Union.
Winfield J. Abbe
December 10th, 2010
12:19 am
I agree with most of the posters above who have expressed indignation at this clearly corrupt land deal. Why all they have to do is pass on the deal and they can likely buy it for half or less from the bank in less than a year. They likely won’t even need condemnation. This is what has happened to properties all over this state.
Georgia is a very physically beautiful state, its people very friendly for the most part, but its government is an ugly cesspool. It has the most failed banks in the nation. Synovous lost over $200 million on Sea Island and the federal government picked up the pieces. The purchase of this unnecessary land for this outrageous inflated price is totally unconscionable and unjustifiable and should be illegal. Even the DOT couldn’t pay for land without a proper appraisal. No licensed appraiser would sign off on this deal. Yet the citizens have no, zero recourse other than hollow words. A court challenge would likely stop it but that costs money. Indigents get free legal aid, but responsible citizens must put up their own money to seek to compel government to do what is right.
Remember that Mr. Perdue, a former Democrat, also lied about the flag and about ending tolls on GA 400. He stacked the Board of Regents with 12 out of 18 members from UGA or cronies of them, his alma mater. That is why they recently approved the foolish medical and engineering programs for UGA which should be revoked and not funded by the legislature. Look for Mr. Perdue to undeservedly have his name on the next multi million dollar building at UGA. It is difficult to find polite words without using profanity to describe all this. Shame, shame shame on all those involved in this corrupt transaction.
Winfield J. Abbe, Ph.D, Physics
150 Raintree Ct.
Athens, GA
Citizens of Athens for 44+ years
Born at Cleveland, Ohio, raised at Sierra Madre, California
AB, Physics, UC Berkeley, 1961
Ph.D., Physics, UC Riverside, 1966
Honors for outstanding achievement in mathematics, physics and chemistry.
Tell The Truth
December 10th, 2010
6:10 am
Georgians keep getting these kind of politicians because education is not a priority in Georgia. The majority of Georgians never learned critical thinking skills, therefore, this will only get worse under the Deal administration.
Double Zero Eight
December 10th, 2010
8:41 am
It’s scary to contemplate that Deal will probably be worse than Perdue. Don’t be surprised if something similar is done in Hall County before Deal leaves office. As a previous blooger
mentioned, where is the outrage from the tea party?
Double Zero Eight
December 10th, 2010
8:42 am
Spelled “blogger” incorrectly in my previous post.
Jay
December 10th, 2010
8:42 am
I’m a conservative who voted for NO Republicans in the mid-term elections. When I read things like the Oaky Woods debacle, the unethical Perdue handing huge raises to staff members, the “beloved” Isakson’s support for the war and against repealing DADT, and a variety of Deal and Ralston antics, I know I made the right choice. Too bad Democrats are bailing. Obama’s going to be our prez again in 2012.Ga. will continue to sink lower and lower with its current “leadeership” and rising illiteracy rate.