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Potemkin Properties


RocketSci

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Near the Montrose area there are 2 properties that I pass frequently that at first passing seem to blend in with the natural development and use cycles of the area, but over months and years I notice that they are not what they seem. My first 2 nominations for Potemkin Properties are:

 

  • West Dallas and Montrose - the Aga Khan property was fenced off a couple of years ago, and inside was built an apparent sand volleyball court along with other playing fields - since then I have noticed that the gates are never opened, the fields are never used - I noticed that the trash cans inside are always filled to about the same level.
  • 1700 block of North Blvd - a double lot has been fenced, unfenced, portapotties added and removed, staked and unstaked, signed as work areas, signs removed, and at least 4 different times temporary style structures (stucco, brick, roof style etc) have been added and removed.

 

I suspect that the West Gray property has added "playing fields" as some way of scamming or reducing their tax burden. (It sure would have been better if they would have rebuilt the crappy sidewalk along Montrose instead).

 

I have wondered if the North Blvd property hasn't been some part of a financing scam that requires "work" to be ongoing in order to collect some money. Not sure why else there would be so many starts and stops on "building" (I also note that one of the first things all "real" builders do is install a barrier on the median to prevent trucks from backing onto the median and defacing it - there has never been one added at any time at this property).

 

Anyone else have any candidates, or perhaps can correct my observations?

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FWIW, I recalled this from freshman history class:

 

Grigory Potemkin, a favorite lover of Catherine the Great of Russia (Catherine II) and governor of the southern Ukraine at the time, erected a fake village to impress his empress during her journey to Crimea in 1787.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I doubt that the volleyball nets would have any bearing on their tax exempt status. The Aga Khan Foundation USA is a religious non-profit organization. If you want to challenge this and take it to SCOTUS, knock yourself out, but you better have deeper pockets than A.K. himself, who is reputed to be worth $800 mill.

 

I for one can't drive by there without thinking about..... Rita Hayworth.

 

 

 

Looks like the owners of 1748 live nearby and just can't make up their minds.... just speculating.

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