Apple Pays Couple $1.7m For 1 Acre Plot 215
itwbennett writes "Chris Nerney is blogging about Apple's $1.7 million purchase of a 1-acre lot in Maiden, N.C. where it plans to build a $1 billion, 500,000 sq. ft. data center. The couple who owned the land, and the home that sat on the land, Donnie and Kathy Fulbright (hereafter known as Apple's shrewdest investors) reportedly 'rejected two previous offers from Apple before being told to name their price,' says Nerney."
Comment removed (Score:2, Insightful)
eminent domain (Score:1, Insightful)
I am surprised they didn't grab the land using eminent domain.
Re:Wouldn't leasing it be a better deal? (Score:5, Insightful)
So learn some self control and bank the single big payoff, then spend wisely for the remainder of your days. The article refers to the people winning then "losing" the money. They didn't lose it. They fucking blew the cash!
Re:More details (Score:3, Insightful)
TReally, why in the world would anyone have submitted a crummy, abbreviated blog post over a decent article from a reputable source?
AdWords traffic for their buddy or themselves? It's called blogspam for a reason. Maybe the /. editor should have done some editor work?
Re:Do the math (Score:1, Insightful)
For someone doing math your logic is a bit lacking. The purchaser is building a $1billion dollar house on the plot *they'll end up buying*. If you ask for a bit more, Apple might buy a plot from someone else.
Re:More details (Score:3, Insightful)
Am I the only one who finds it extremely unsettling that Apple plans to run a $1B facility with up to 50 people and *maybe* employ up to 250 more minimum wage people for security etc?
That's a trend that's not going to go away. Welcome to the information economy where people are in a surplus. How long until a $10B facility is managed by 2 people (excluding the ISS)?
Welcome to the Industrial revolution. Things that can be Automated are automated for the savings in manpower. Why should computers remain a labour intensive industry?
Re:Wouldn't leasing it be a better deal? (Score:3, Insightful)
I doubt that applies to this couple as they were savvy enough to hold out for it and actually earn it.
Re:More details (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Fair market price (Score:3, Insightful)
In the US, SCOTUS was apparently fine with municipalities using eminent domain for the benefit of developers. Had Apple decided to be evil, they probably could've gotten it for a small fraction of what the property was really worth.
The first part of what you said is true, but the Kato ruling doesn't prevent state and local governments from restricting eminent domain from benefiting private development. Many places did so after the fallout from that case.
Assuming the GP is correct and NC did that thing, Apple would have to take the time and money for a massive lobbying campaign to change the law, then ask for the land to be force-bought. It would've been much more expensive than the price they paid, very time-consuming, and very risky. There would've almost certainly been some degree of public backlash as well. Since Apple isn't in the property development business, there'd be no future benefit to them. Buying the land for a couple of million made a lot more sense.
Apple doesn't get any not-evil points for this, sorry; it was easily the more pragmatic choice. In the "corporations not being as evil as they could be" race, they're still pretty much in the middle of the pack, but losing a bit of ground each time a factory worker producing iStuff components jumps off a building because his death benefits will feed his family but his paycheck won't.
Re:fools! (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes. you are renting anything you must pay taxes on in regular schedule or forfeit. You do not own something if you must continue to pay for the privilege of possession. If it were anyone else, it'd be extortion. Shame if anything happened to your home...
That's a rather illogical argument. Not paying your taxes creates a lien as in any other debt. It's the same if you don't pay your mechanic bill. If you didn't pay your mechanic's bill, a court can seize your car and sell it off to pay the bill. The creditor has a right to receive payment; unfortunately, your creditor is also the government so they can and will readily enforce payment by any means at their disposal. With a mechanic it might take a while to go through the court system; with the government it's much faster.
Re:Fair market price (Score:3, Insightful)
So tell me, where it the summary or article does it explain why they needed that particular acre of land, as opposed to the other thousands of acres nearby? I'm sure there is a good reason, but it doesn't say. This is why I stopped paying attention to the news. Those "hard-hitting journalists" are too fucking stupid to ask even the most obvious of questions.