Ro?ie O'Donnell's House

[Dean Hoffman]

Rosie sold her house at a loss. The developer is going to break the property into affordable housing.

The neighbors aren't impressed.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Wow, shame to tear that down. OTOH, does anyone really need a house that size? I may have wanted something like that many years ago but now see it as a waste, though the builder did well and kept a groundskeeper employed. .

I bet the new neighbors will be welcomed with love. Perhaps the neighborhood will be more colorful.

[rbowman]

it's only 8 out of the 60 that will be reserved for the cullud quarters.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I wonder how they rate "affordable" in that area. Maybe some poor doctor only making 200k a year?

[micky]

Interesting. It says she didn't want to sell and she sold at a loss, but if you're going to lose money, isn't there some rich penny-pincher who would buy it?

Apparently there is some court decision against the town and there must be a lot to the story.

"As part of a fair housing court settlement between the borough of Saddle River and the Fair Share Housing Center of NJ, the 5-acre lot that belonged to O?Donnell will be converted into 60 units ? of which only 20% will be used for affordable housing." So will the other 80% be unaffordable? if it's not affordable, then no one can afford to buy it and it will sit vacant. 80% of 60 units is 48 units, expensive I guess. How big is the lot that it can hold 48 expensive homes and 12 cheap ones. At a half acre each it would require more than 24 acres.

Somehnow my numbers are wrong "The insider explained that of the 60 units in the plan, ?only eight are set for low and moderate income and the developer will stick the eight units in the back corner of the property instead of integrating, so everyone will know these are the homes saved for the poor.? "

"Bergen County court records reveal the case ? including the 20% affordable housing stipulation ? was settled when the borough agreed to include O?Donnell?s property and two other neighboring properties that span 10 acres. " So the 3 together are only 10 acres, for 52 units of expensive housing (on her part alone?) But if it's the whole 10 acress that's a fifth of an acre each. I guess that's room enough for a McMansion.

"O?Donnell, 59, sold the property at a $1 million loss for $5.3 million on March 17 after five years on the market, according to an insider. The actress, who is currently filming the new season of Showtime?s ?The L Word,? first bought the home in 2013 for $6.3 million. "

I wonder why she couldn't sell it. I dislike it when I lose a dollar, but if you can afford 6 million,... well if I could afford 6 million I'd spend a million and have 5 million for a rainy day.

I'm also against tearing things down. I think houses should last 400 years. (this one was built in 1928.) I hate it that malls are being torn down, along with the AC that made shopping in them so comfortable.

Saddle River was in the news decades ago and I correctly recalled that Nixon and Pat lived there, from 81 to 91.

A few other famous people too.

?Poor door? tenants of luxury tower reveal the financial apartheid within

Picture of "The entrance to luxury Lincoln Square tower (left) and the "poor door" to the same building."

I certainly see the pov of the rich people. I have a hard time seeing the complaints of the poor ones. Except that the intercom and door buzzer** doesn't work, I think I'd be happy to be there. Once I agave up my 330/month apartment in Brooklyn, I could never afford to move back unless I got a good job, and maybe not even then.

Recent changes in the law mean no more "poor door" separate entrances.

**When I got an intercom / door buzzer installed in the building I lived in in Brookly, the deal was there would be no return buzzer, because too many people just let anyone in. But the installer was bound by the law and he had to install both. I cut the wires the buzzer twice, until they stopped repairing it. (I also hot-wired the elevator so I could go to the basement when I wanted, and I unscrewed the latch to the furnace room so I could turn up the heat, which was illegally low. After I put the latch back together, I would wet the screws so that they rusted before the super saw them again.)

[jimmy]

This is nothing new.  Most southern plantations had "affordable housing" for their slaves.

With commiecrats, it's all about marketing.

[gfretwell]

Unfortunately the only people going there tended to be old farts who just wanted to walk in the AC and never really bought anything. Malls are starving to death along with the "Anchor" stores that kept the lights on for the boutiques. One of our smaller malls became federal government office space and a large one 329,000 sq/ft was taken over by the school board. The other few are really struggling with no big anchor stores of note.

The new trend is outside "malls" with separate stores scattered around a well landscaped piece of property with parking closer to the stores. There is no enclosed mall. I don't get it but nobody asked me.