Comment 52551

By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted December 02, 2010 at 15:27:40

adrian >> they're waiting for government to build it because they don't have hundreds of millions of dollars in existing capital and they don't have the right to tear up city streets and replace them with a private transportation network.

If LRT is such a sure thing investment, private capital could easily buy options on all the properties along Main/King, build the line and then exercise those options once they increased in value. If LRT is a sure bet, why aren't they doing this?

>> I believe what you are actually talking about...is a tenfold increase in the price of property & rents near the line, since increased demand directly correlates with increased prices. Correct?

Yes.

>> the benefit to the city in general is that developers invest their own money in an effort to further increase the value of their properties and thus their prices

That's assuming that consumers are willing to bid up rental prices more than it costs to build/maintain the LRT. If this is the case, then why aren't private investors already building it? There are only two possibilities

1) They don't believe that the costs of investing in LRT will lead to higher rental incomes, after LRT costs.

2) They don't like making money.

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