Yale Buys York Townhouses For $2.85M

I wonder how long before it's off the tax rolls?

The Ivory Tower needs a moat - can't dig one, can't do it with a big fence with razor wire - looks bad - buy buy buy expand your field around the tower.... "such a nice neighborhood, it's so clean (aka "white")."

Thanks, Xavier-- I was scared for a moment that someone wasn't going to play the race comment. You are wearing it out and will be like the boy who cried wolf one too many times.

It's a question of color, all right. The color is GREEN . Yale's got it and we don't.

Good to know Joey is staying at 168.
One of the few places in town that is a real community left.
I look forward to having a hot dog there soon when they reopen!

I hope that Yale doesn't force out York St Cafe after a period of time like it did with so many other restaurants and shops in the properties that they bought downtown from the 1980's up to current day. Yale continues to buy up control of almost every property they can get their hands on in the downtown areas closest to their campus. Symbolic moats around the castle. Less property taxes for the city.

Why are we letting Yale buy up property like this? They are creating a land monopoly in the downtown, which will surely drive up rents. Further, they will likely not be taxed on this property under the guise of nonprofit filing, taking away tax revenue from the city. Having one giant corporation own everything does not seem good for the long term economic health of the city. Why has the city government not intervened?

There is nothing illegal about buying property. Mandy and PIKE are buying every day!

My understanding is that it is the use of the property that determines whether it is tax exempt, not the status of the owner. Yale-owned commercial properties, like the "Shops at Yale," are taxable properties. Unless the university ousts the café and turns the residential units into student housing, it will remain taxable commercial property

You got it , Pat. There will be something hospital or university related and it will slide off the tax rolls.

Since 1987, Yale has spent $28 million to purchase the properties comprising the Chapel-York-Crown block. There are only two properties left: 1150 Chapel Street owned by Mr. Guarino and 1144 Chapel Street owned by Mr. Szirbik (Hull's Property Group aka Hull's Art Supply and Framing). Yale has paid taxes on the majority of these properties (with the exception of the School of Art) since they have acquired the properties. It will be interesting to see what their long game is ... an expanded Art School or Drama School, a new Yale Rep with better ADA access? Regardless, each property owner is entitled to sell their land. And Yale can legally buy it. The City depends on construction project permits from Yale to balance the budget, so it we'll just have to wait and see what they propose in five to ten years. Yale knows how to play the long game (33 years of acquiring properties on this one block alone).

Not "hospital related"--Yale University is not Yale New Haven Hospital. There may be connections through Yale Medical School but the two are separate legal entities. Just clearing up a little confusion.

Eric Schwaber: The deeply indebted and impoverished city cannot outbid Yale. As it is, Yale manages its properties to keep the ghetto away from campus, which means the properties are among the best maintained in the city. To this end, it does not seek to maximize rents, but sets rents and lease terms to create the environment that it wants near its campus. Its recent suspension of commercial rents due to CoViD-19, something no other commercial landlord has done (to my knowledge), is evidence of its prioritizing environment over revenue.

To follow on to Needtocalmdown's comment, the School of Art was formerly the Jewish Community Center, a tax-exempt non-profit. When the JCC fled to Woodbridge, the building became derelict, at which point Yale bought it and moved the art and drama programs into it.

Not to channel Three Fifths. But the difference between appraised value of apartment buildings that have sold recently and their sales prices will be reflected in the next revaluation. This will mean substantially higher tax bills for most of the new owners, which they will pass on in the form of higher rents.

Xavier, I think Yale's actions are more about class than race. About 20% of the students are black, brown, or multiracial. But Yale is definitely seeking to attract well-off people to the area around campus, as seen in the types of stores it rents its property to.

Agree, Kevin--- this is so much about class but CLASS CONFLICT doesn't sell newspapers like RACIAL CONFLICT. WHY, you ask? Because , deep down, we all WANT desperately to be rich and to be of that class. Admit it, everybody. We do!!
I dream of the day when the race/identity protesters wake up and realize that it is GREEN that divides us!
But--- Who was it who said-- "NObody lost money underestimating the stupidity of the AMerican People" ?