Quote:
Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe
Sorry, poor contextual clues. The person to whom I was responding seemed to indicate that The Developer had no "largesse" and I disagreed. While The Developer certainly has a horse in the race and hopes to make a winning choice, their building the new schools without taxpayer burden is certainly both a business move and generous "largesse." They could have otherwise built commercial space for pure profit, but they opted for less monetary return in order to provide more needed (and hopefully attractive to new home buyers) infrastructure in the way of schools - usually a government pursuit. Why usually a government pursuit usually? Because they do not have much of an ROI. While The Developer is indeed doing this for long term strength and sustainability, it will not produce much cash flow, especially in the short term.
|
I still remember The Villages advertisements and infomercials back in the '80s. There was no direct ROI from those but there was the hope that it would sell more homes.
If all the new school did was to sell more homes then it would have some ROI but that is not all it does. In addition to selling homes it attracts employees who would like to have their children eligible for the school, and better still if the employee also buys a home in Middleton. Plus, there is a direct ROI with the lease money collected from Sumter County each year.
The new school *may* not be as profitable as retail (I don't know) but it probably will not result in a loss.
The Developer has not been in business this long by doing things that lose money. Whether it is finding a less expensive means of discarding waste or building a school to attract employees and homeowners, there is usually a good business reason for the things he does. There is nothing at all wrong with that, it has worked well for him for many years now. Just because he is making money doesn't mean it is not good for the community. Likewise, just because something is good for the community doesn't mean there is no money to be made. There seems to still be a pretty good balance at the moment.