Showing posts with label Bankrupt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bankrupt. Show all posts

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Urban decay to be replaced with farmland in Detroit

Bankrupt and hemorrhaging population, the city of Detroit is banking on greener pastures to lead its rebirth.
A private company is snapping up 150 acres on the Motor City's East End -- property where more than 1,000 homes once formed a gritty neighborhood -- and turning it into what is being billed as the world's largest urban farm. Hantz Woodlands plans to start by planting trees, but hopes to raise crops and even livestock in the future, right in the midst of the once-proud city.
“We are interested with moving into different types of agriculture,” Mike Score, president of Hantz, told FoxNews.com.
“Your eyes would have a hard time absorbing the blight.”
- Mike Score, Hantz Woodlands
Hantz needed approval from Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to buy up the 1,500 parcels for approximately $450,000, or $300 per parcel. Many of the parcels held dilapidated and abandoned homes and buildings and were condemned by the city. Others were rubble-strewn or weed-choked lots. The company intends to spend $3 million to clean out the areas.
“Your eyes would have a hard time absorbing the blight,” Score said. “A third of every neighborhood in Detroit has been devalued by blight on public property.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Christmas spirit dies at White House as ornament-hawking gift shop goes broke

In another sign of the tough times in Washington these days, the White House Gift Shop, long run by a nonprofit group that helps uniformed Secret Service officers and their families, has gone broke.

The Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund, which traces its roots to the 1940s and for years did business as the official White House Gift Shop, lists more than $600,000 in liabilities in a pending bankruptcy petition in Washington.



The fund — which operated independently of the White House and Secret Service, and was not a part of the government — disclosed tens of thousands of dollars in assets consisting mostly of Christmas decorations, as well as such trinkets as magnets, puzzles and paperweights, many valued at just a few dollars each.

The price of more than 140 Democratic and Republican mouse pads is listed as “???” in court records, while 10 unsold copies of the book “Adams’ Alligator” go for $8.48.

The bankruptcy petition, filed in June in a case that remains active, doesn’t explain why the fund went bankrupt in the first place, but court records reveal a recent history of tax troubles and litigation.

President Barack Obama shows military officials the White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room following a meeting, Dec. 1, 2011. The 18-foot-6 inch balsam fir was decorated with holiday cards created by military children and ornaments featuring medals, badges, and patches from all of the military branches. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) President Barack Obama shows military officials the White House Christmas Tree in ...more >
A trustee appointed in the case, Wendell Webster, said in a phone interview Thursday that he is trying to market and sell what assets remain, including a Cal Ripken Jr. commemorative plaque that the fund priced at $500 in bankruptcy papers.

The fund, billing itself as the official White House Gift Shop, operated a retail outlet in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building before moving into National Press Club, which the fund has since vacated.

Via: Washington Times


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