Last night, perhaps prompted by the post "Back on the Block," a reader told me about a Dutch auction. Despite my heritage, I had never heard of a Dutch auction, although apparently it is term familiar to regular viewers of Jeopardy. In a Dutch auction, the auctioneer begins with a high asking price and lowers it incrementally until someone accepts the price, or they reach the lowest price the seller is willing to accept. Another name for Dutch auction is "descending-price auction."
Maybe, if the current plan to sell 429 and 10-12 Warren Street in a live auction with no minimum bid and the winning bid subject to approval by the Common Council doesn't yield the desired outcome, the City could try a Dutch auction. But alas, it is not a means of selling surplus property that is permitted by law to a municipality.
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Just for a change, could the Common Council make a simple plan for an auction with a reserve price and no strings ?
ReplyDeleteThe Airbnb rules that have killed a once thriving business that helped all restaurants and stores in Hudson did not have the Councils desired effect.
It just killed the accessible places to stay for young people and made the town seem dead at night while not in any way relieving housing prices. In fact, it just made the town more exclusive.
Just auction the property as it always has been done.
Social engineering does not always work. Look at San Francisco. It just kills the goose and sucks the blood right out of the place.