Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 14, dated Dec. 14, 2018.



Hi. This week's TL has more land bank news, a city school district item, a missing tree, and more. Heads up: There will be no Troy Letter sent out the week of Christmas. (So, just to be clear: TL15 will be sent out on Dec. 21, and TL16 will be sent out on Jan. 4, but you won't receive anything from me in between those dates.) I'll remind you again next week!



There are now 530 of you who receive TL. Thank you, again, for your interest in/appreciation of this experiment!



The Troy Community Land Bank board adopted a (subject-to-change) two-year budget yesterday at a regular meeting. It looks like this:The budget shows that the land bank expects to carry over about $324K in unspent funds, about a third of which comes from the state attorney general's office, the land bank's primary funder. The land bank also expects to receive an additional $500K from the state over the next two years. Additionally, it projects it will receive $555K from sales of properties that it currently owns.All told, the two-year budget—described as "fluid" and "open for revision" by the board president—forecasts a net income for the land bank of $250K., a 19th-century home that Stewart's Shops literally moved to accommodate the construction of its new store on Hoosick St . There are three options regarding the disposition of this property, according to TCLB director Tony Tozzi: (1) sell it as-is, (2) install primary services (electric, water, gas) and sell after that, or (3) complete a full renovation and sell it "as a complete turnkey property."The building is "in really, really good shape," Tozzi said. "It's by far the best building, I think, we've ever had."The land bank's contracted realtor said at the meeting that he thinks the building could be sold for between $45K to $55K in its current condition. That, however, would likely need to be a cash deal, because it would be difficult for a potential buyer to obtain a conventional loan. If the land bank installed the above-mentioned services, perhaps spending an estimated $10-12K, then said buyer would probably be able to obtain said loan, given the building's otherwise good condition., a six-unit brick building across from the Troy Central Little League fields and next to a Capital Roots garden, after the approved buyer "wanted a significant extension of time" to finalize the purchase, Tozzi said.(previously discussed in TL6 according to a board member. The board discussed the bids in executive session and, when it re-emerged, took no action on the item.