This is why Iowa Tailgating Sucks

[CyForPresident]

Gazette Online: Change of rules at Olive Court

$20,000 for 10 years! Wow, glad we don't have to deal with that.


EDIT...

On Hawkeye Report, Doug Moore clears up many issues the Gazette got wrong...

LINK

[cstrunk]

Gazette Online: Change of rules at Olive Court

$20,000 for 10 years! Wow, glad we don't have to deal with that.

I almost wanted to feel sorry for the students... until I realized they were Hawkeyes!!

Seriously though, I would hate it if something like that happened at my school.

[cyclonekj]

If it's divided into 100 lots and they're paid ahead, the $2 million property is paid for before the first season it's open. Ka-ching!

Edit:

If they currently jam that space with 800 vehicles and the new lots are 100-120 square feet, there must be space for a lot more than 100 lots.

[cyjlt]

I thought it sucked because of all of the Hawkeyes?

[benjay]

I've always tailgated in Olive Court for Iowa/ISU games. This definitely sucks for the tailgating atmosphere.

And the people complaining about the students need to shut their faces. They rake in cash hand over fist charging for admission because of them. I guess they have to pretend there's a good reason to sell the lot, aside from the $2 million.

[redrocker]

I thought it sucked because of all of the Hawkeyes?

That was my guess!

[SlyCy]

If it's divided into 100 lots and they're paid ahead, the $2 million property is paid for before the first season it's open. Ka-ching!

It's way bigger than 100 spaces. I used to live next to it.

He'll never get the money for it. Parking passes through the University would be cheaper in the long run.

"Family friendly tailgaiting" ......I have yet to see any of that in Iowa City.

[acrozier22]

Hawkeye fans are stupid if they invest 20,000 in this lot rather than give that 20,000 to the athletic department.

[HILLCYD]

Hawkeye fans are stupid....

Could have ended your post there.

[SlyCy]

Hawkeye fans are stupid if they invest 20,000 in this lot rather than give that 20,000 to the athletic department.

Agreed, I had to laugh when their own AD deparment was HAPPY about this guy doing this. Just goes to show you they aren't very business savy over there.

Don't they have a well known MBA program over there?

[Raymeus]

9 acres = 392,040 square feet. Liberally figure 250 square feet per spot (with ingress/egress and drive aisles, etc.). That's 1,568 spots at 20k per spot, which equals $31.36 million. Wow.

[jtd9046]

I don't understand why the family wouldn't do this themselves. The article states they pack about 750-800 cars on gameday. If they plan to lease spots for $20,000 I would exect the spots to get bigger for it to have value. So if he sells 375 spots... he would rake in $7.5 million. $5.5 million profit.

I don't blame the guy at all for what he is trying to do, I just would have kept this on the DL as much as I could. I would imagine there might be some other buyers in the market now too.

[mark]

As usual the CRG hosed this article up. Here is the clarification form the owner of the property. Makes much more sense. Thank God for the internet.
_________________________________________________________________

Sorry to post this as a seperate topic, but I wanted to be sure it got seen.

Hello- I am Doug Moore, the guy in the story in the Gazette. As some of you guessed, the Gazette got a few numbers wrong. Here's the scoop.

My goal is three things:

1) Keep it green for those of us who live nearby, and don't want another condo development in our backyards (there is a group proposing 42 condo units for the property, which would take it off the market for ANY kind of tailgating or parking). Football is only 6-7 days a year. The other 359, it's a great little neighborhood that's safe for kids to ride their bikes on the street. I don't want to lose that to a bunch of $400,000 condos.

2) Continue parking cars there to pay for ongoing expenses, like mowing, security , taxes, porta-johns, and cleanup. I HAVE NO INTENTION TO END TAILGATING AT OLIVE COURT OR TO CLOSE IT TO THE PUBLIC. This is a tradition since 1944, which, for the most part, we enjoy as a neighborhood. If I do not purchase this property, sooner or later it will be developed into apartments or condos, which will be the end of the fun there.

3) Bring back the era of "family friendly" tailgating. I told the Gazette reporter that I'd like Hawkeye grandparents to be able to bring their grandkids to Olive Court and not worry about the behavior they're going to see.

Where the Gazette got it wrong:

PART of my plan is to offer 40'x40' spaces (not 120 sq. feet as the article stated, but 1600 sq. feet) to small businesses and groups for $2,000 per year for a 10 year contract, $20,000 total. My idea is that this amount of space (big enough to park 5 cars PLUS have a big tent for eating, or just parking 10-12 cars in, etc...) would be attractive to people who would like to have a guaranteed spot to bring friends, employees, vendors, etc... to on game days, and not have to worry about where they'll all park. When you look at the nearby options for this sort of gathering (Hawkeye Village), it's an attractive opportunity for someone who wants to reward good customers, etc..., especially as it's a tax writeoff from a business perspective (within IRS limits).

I WILL still offer individual parking spots on a season-reserved and single-game basis. How many will depend on how many takers we have for the large spots. The average price for single-car parking will be around $30, which is very close to what it is now.

If anyone out there wants to do the math, including expenses, property taxes, and Federal tax, this is not a money making proposition. I'll be happy to break even and have a 10 acre space for my kids to play in, that, thanks to a conservation easement, cannot EVER be developed. Neuzils have been parking cars there for 63 years- I'd like to be the keeper of that tradition for the next 63.

I hope this clears up any confusion from the Gazette article. It's OK if you think I'm nuts, but the Gazette's $2000 for a single parking spot made me a criminal. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments- my email is dem1004@mac.com

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[ISUFan22]

As usual the CRG hosed this article up. Here is the clarification form the owner of the property. Makes much more sense. Thank God for the internet.

I was about to do the same thing, I added a link to the Hawkeye Report post Doug Moore put up.

A horrible, horrible job by the Gazette. They should be ashamed.

[benjay]

wow that makes a huge difference. What he's proposing seems reasonable, aside from this comment:

If I do not purchase this property, sooner or later it will be developed into apartments or condos, which will be the end of the fun there.

Not really a valid cause and effect here.