http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/univ...m-1.369149

Sold for $38,000 which is, quite frankly, far more than it's worth.

THe USFL still exists? Well, WHEN that falls through, they can always tear it down and use it for something else that would actually work in that area.

(01-30-2013 01:17 PM)RobertN Wrote:  THe USFL still exists? Well, WHEN that falls through, they can always tear it down and use it for something else that would actually work in that area.

The only thing that would work in that area is extra parking spaces for the Soapbox Derby raceway next door. There's nothing else to do in the area, and construction is limited by the airport runways that are near by.

Pretty interesting to read about a time when the city was proud of that place.

(01-30-2013 01:31 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  

(01-30-2013 01:17 PM)RobertN Wrote:  THe USFL still exists? Well, WHEN that falls through, they can always tear it down and use it for something else that would actually work in that area.

The only thing that would work in that area is extra parking spaces for the Soapbox Derby raceway next door. There's nothing else to do in the area, and construction is limited by the airport runways that are near by.

I forgot it was near the airport but it seems to me that would make it fairly desireable as a proprety for commercial/industrial use.

(01-30-2013 01:03 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/univ...m-1.369149

Sold for $38,000 which is, quite frankly, far more than it's worth.

LOL
"In 1970, UA acquired the Rubber Bowl from the city of Akron for a mere $1."

So really they are not even going to be able to take a loss on the sale...right?

I would guess that the $38k is what the property taxes are on the place. UA wants back what they already paid this year and they let them have the RB for free.

(01-30-2013 02:39 PM)hilltopper Wrote:  I would guess that the $38k is what the property taxes are on the place. UA wants back what they already paid this year and they let them have the RB for free.

Hopefully its the taxes since 2008 when they stopped using the thing!

I'd imagine it'd be a huge money pit just to keep it standing at this point. Makes more since to me to pay rent for the franchise at InfoCision if the league ever gets off the ground.

(01-30-2013 07:32 PM)FunkmasterFlash Wrote:  I'd imagine it'd be a huge money pit just to keep it standing at this point. Makes more since to me to pay rent for the franchise at InfoCision if the league ever gets off the ground.

Yes, the RB is a money pit at this point, just getting $38,000 out of it (when it needs hundreds of thousands in renovations just to get up to code) is a good deal for UA.

Plus, UA has never owned anything more than what this new company will own ... the stadium and a 1-foot ring around it. The immediate property is much more valuable than the stadium itself, but that has always been owned by the city of Akron.

I agree the group that bought the Rubber Bowl would be better off paying rent to the university to bring the USFL team to Info vs. buying and dumping money into the RB. However, I don't agree with the if Info "ever gets off the ground" part. While UA football has sucked since it opened, the venue has been used at at least as much (if not more) than the Rubber Bowl. Local city high school teams (like they did at the RB) still play their big games at InfoCision. Plus, the state still plays their bigger local playoff games there ... for example, Massillon-McKinley this past year. Nothing has changed in that regard, except UA is now not going to pay property taxes on two venues. And the RB won't ever get the big HS games back, unless the group that bought it dumps a ton of money into the facility. But even then, they still would have to compete with Info, and there isn't enough money for this RB group to offset what they would have to spend to renovate that dump to even make on par with Info, before even thinking of it being a money-maker.

Edit: never mind funkmaster. I misread you're post. Thought you were saying Info never got off the ground. Now see, you mean the USFL.

(01-30-2013 02:39 PM)hilltopper Wrote:  I would guess that the $38k is what the property taxes are on the place. UA wants back what they already paid this year and they let them have the RB for free.

No, if you read the article you find that property taxes are $79K/year. That's down from over $750K which was what they were w/ the orignal assessment of $27M.

Still $38K is cheap. It would be cool to own a stadium.

My hometown sold an elementary school and it went for $25K. That would be awesome to own a whole school! Then the owners flipped it on ebay and grossed about $100K on the sale. Why the city didn't do that at first, I have no idea.

Surprised someone would want it.

If I was some random rich guy in the Cleveland-Akron area, I might be interested in bidding on the RB. Torch is kinda right, it would be cool to own a stadium if I had that much disposable income.

(01-31-2013 08:24 AM)JSF Wrote:  Surprised someone would want it.

My guess is that it's only being used as a bargaining chip. Now the USFL organizers can say to potential investors that they have a place to play that they fully own. it's appealing to own your own stadium instead of having to rent it from a college or high school.

(01-31-2013 05:38 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  

(01-31-2013 08:24 AM)JSF Wrote:  Surprised someone would want it.

My guess is that it's only being used as a bargaining chip. Now the USFL organizers can say to potential investors that they have a place to play that they fully own. it's appealing to own your own stadium instead of having to rent it from a college or high school.

I understand that in concept, but any investor who would be dumb enough to buy that line of thought, is even dumber than the group who bought the RB in the first place.

I admire that this group is making an effort to reinvest locally, but I just don't see a scenario, considering how much money has to be put into the RB, where it is economically feasible. I'm no expert, but I drove by the RB the other day and even an average Joe can see it is going to take hundreds of thousands in renovations just to get it up to code (and it probably wasn't even up to code when UA was operating it four years ago). With the crowds the USFL will draw (probably 10,000 at the most), it will take decades to recoup the amount of money this group would have to put into the RB vs. the profit they will make by owning the concessions.

Oh well, UA got 38,000 out of something that was costing them double that annually in taxes. A good deal for the school. While 38,000 is basically what you could get for a run-down 1,200-square foot home in Barberton or Kenmore, it's still 38,000 into UA's coffers. It may only buy new padding on the backboard supports, but it still could put UA 38,000 closer to a new basketball arena.

I saw Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead there in 1986.... #trippy

(02-01-2013 01:34 PM)El Grande Flippero Wrote:  I saw Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead there in 1986.... #trippy

Wow, that sure is a trippy lineup.