Buffalo’s BROKEN Housing Policy . . .
Finally, 28 of Wizig's 114 missing deeds filed on Friday
Repeated requests to the Corporation Council for status of 114 yet unfiled deeds of Houston investor Scott Wizig’s 236 parcels are unanswered. But on Fri, June 29 another 28 parcels (purchased Oct, 00 auction) were filed with the County Clerk:
| Address | Price/Type | GAR AV. / Wizig AV |
| 51 Bissell | $500 / 2 fam | $26000 / $2700 |
| 43 Gerhardt | $1600 / 2 fam | $22200 / $8000 |
| 91 Northampton | $1000 / 2 fam | $24800 / $3500 |
| 172 Carl | $3900 / 1 fam | $10000 / $3900 |
| 1430 Broadway | $2000 / Bars | $23500 / $3800 |
| 23 Watson | $1500 / 2 fam | $18600 / $2500 |
| 344 Bissell | $2000 / 2 fam | $15000 / $3000 |
| 45 Burgard | $2100 / 2 fam | $10000 / $3500 |
| 64 Wilson | $1500 /3 fam | $19000 / $2000 |
| 241 Sobieski | $1000 / 3 fam | $2500 / $1600 |
| 879 Northampton | $2400 / mult | $18000 / $4000 |
| 96 Sweet | $1000 / 2 fam | $15400 / $2000 |
| 40 Shumway? | $1600 / 2 fam | $17000 / $2000 |
| 61 Houghton | $1600 / 2 fam | $21800 / $1700 |
| 296 Chelsea | $4500 / 2 fam | $30300 / $10000 |
| 635 Sherman | $500 / 1 fam | $2000 / $1100 |
| 185 Playter | $1000 / 3 fam | $15900 / $1800 |
| 65 Riley | $3000 dwntwn row | $20000 / $4500 |
| 56 Sobieski | $1000 / 3 fam | $18900 / $1700 |
| 109 Playter | $1000 / 2 fam | $7500 / $2000 |
| 308 Riley | $1500 / 2 fam | $14200 / $3000 |
| 193 Strauss | $1500 / 2 fam | $11700 / $1600 |
| *575 Humboldt | $21000 /relig | $240000 / $30000 |
| 332 Breckenridge | $2200 / mult | $14000 / $8000 |
| 188 Landon | $700 / 1 fam | $20400 / $2200 |
| *205 Ontario | $8000 / diner | $74000 / $17500 |
| 28 Memorial | $500 dwntwn row | $32000 / $5000 |
| 244 Moselle | $1200 dwntwn row | $25300 / $2500 |
Analysis: Only 2 of these 28 Wizig purchases (as NY Liberty Homes LLC) will appear in the Buffalo News (Mon. July 9). See (*) above. All others are below the $5000 sale minimum reported by the News.
Consistent with the pattern seen repeatedly, Wizig dramatically reduced his new GAR assessments just established last summer. Reductions ranged from a high of 91% (56 Sobieski) to a low of 45% (635 Sherman). His combined city & county taxes range as low as $39 per year (3 family house at 241 Sobieski). The biggest cash reduction in assessment is 575 Humboldt, down $210,000.
Wizig’s “Permit Reform” It is not well known that ‘connected’ developers & investors have long been unaffected by Buffalo’s high building & rehab permit costs. They don’t use permits. A dramatic example is 177 W. Ferry, just _ block from Masiello-aide Peter Savage. It is the only West Side Wizig house we’ve seen be re-occupied. Altho some minimal work was done inside to a house he bought for $3,100, THERE ARE NO PERMITS. The new “rent-to-owners” pay $400 per month, but had no running water upstairs upon moving in; they flushed the toilet with a pail carried from downstairs.
WSNHS & HSBC BANK . . . $1,050 Permits In contrast, several blocks away, West Side Neighborhood Housing Service & HSBC Bank are doing extensive rehab to #351 Breckenridge, with permits costing $1050. Across the street several doors toward Grant is Wizig’s very shabby 332 Breckenridge, a 3 unit parcel he bought for $2,200. He reduced the new GAR assessment from $14,000 to $8,000. The Mayor’s Impact Team just cut his 18” high grass. But they did not remove garbage in the driveway, nor household debris piled high on the porch & upstairs deck for a month. Nor repair a long-broken front window. Hopeful signs at 351 Breckenridge are negated by #332, posted by an angry West Side activist with “MASIELLO APPROVED” Slums of Houston . . . Clearly Wizig is above the law.
GAR Assessments . . . Not Even Close Wizig’s only costructive impact we have seen is his proving just how inaccurate GAR ASSOCIATES re-assessments are. Again 177 West Ferry is a dramatic example”
177 W Ferry (2 family) Old assessment $33,500
NEW GAR assessment $39,700 (UP $4,200)
Wizig purchase price $ 3,100 (8% of GAR’s new value)
New Wizig Assessment $ 7,500 (a mere 19% of GAR’s value)
Clearly scores of neighborhoods where Wizig assessments are less than 1/3 of GAR’s new values need to be totally re-assessed. Wizig’s massively reduced assessed values are dramatic proof of how over-assessed low income housing is . . . & proof of how destructive city (& HUD) housing NON-policy has been.
Richard Kern, MSW, 7/3/01
354 Baynes St. Buffalo, N.Y. (716) 882-2388 Kernwatch@AOL.com
www.kernwatch.com
