[Mpls] Mpls property values

[Steve Brandt]

William Lundquist asks a good question when he wonders how the Star
Tribune's office buildings can be affected by the rental income method
of assessing property when the property doesn't have tenants.

Keep in mind that there are three methods for assessing commercial
property, as I posted in November.  They are the rental, sales and
replacement methods.  Keep in mind also that one objective of the
assessment system is to keep some proportionality among various
properties in the same assessment class.  Although the Star Tribune
doesn't rent its buildings to tenants, it operates in a larger downtown
office market in which vacancies and rents are the major determinants of
property values.  Therefore, the assessments on newspaper buildings and
other owner-occupied properties are influenced by these factors.

As for light-rail influencing property assessments, that's well beyond
my expertise.  Obviously, light-rail service hasn't been enough of a
factor in the broader downtown area to offset the drag on property
values caused by an excess of vacancies downtown.  And since the Star
Tribune has had for decades the factor of being situated within blocks
of major freeway ramps and right on Portland and Park, it already has
substantially more  transportation access than properties closer to the
downtown core.  

Steve Brandt
Star Tribune