Jeff Notrica's "millions" spent on improvements

[Cap'n Ken]

One of the key assertions Jeff Notrica made in the Sunday Paper article about the EAV vs. IPP battle was how much he's invested in property improvements. To quote the article:

Notrica, however, points out that he owns about two dozen pieces of property in East Atlanta most of which were in horrible shape when he bought them. He says he has invested millions of dollars in improving those structures and that the challenges he has faced in developing these properties have been much more formidable than those faced by other East Atlanta owners.

"millions of dollars", you say? Well, the city of Atlanta has its building permits dating back to 2000 online, and in those permits it states the value of the work to be performed. From the known IPP properties, I found the following dating back to 2000:

200002247   440 FLAT SHOALS AV SE   4/6/00   $20,000.00
200003495   462 FLAT SHOALS AV SE   5/24/00   $15,000.00
200004930   567 FLAT SHOALS AV SE   7/20/00   $75,000.00
200001624   575 FLAT SHOALS AV SE   3/13/00   $50,000.00
200005343   575 FLAT SHOALS AV SE   8/7/00   $250,000.00
200107615   1314 GLENWOOD AV SE   11/30/01   $265,000.00
200106332   535 FLAT SHOALS AV SE    10/3/01   $25,000.00
200105797   567 FLAT SHOALS AV SE   9/10/01   $50,000.00
200301663   1314 GLENWOOD AV SE   3/12/03   $35,000.00
200600860   1314 GLENWOOD AV SE   2/8/06   $2,000.00
200102629   469 METROPOLITAN PL   4/30/01   $75,000.00

Total value of permitted improvements: $862,000. Of that, $302,000 was for the Iris/Crave space, and $300,000 was on the condo conversion at 575 Flat Shoals. Best case scenario, that's $1,138,000 unaccounted for in building permits since 2000.

So either he spent a lot of money on the John B. Gordon School between 1997 (when he bought it) and 1999, he's spending money under the table, he has other properties that don't show as under his ownership or he's lying. Which do you figure it is?

[denise]

Jeff Notrica has spent millions on improving his buildings? Maybe, in his dreams. These old buildings could have been renovated by now, by someone who cared about them. I would like to see him do something to just one of his properties!

[decaf achiever]

So of the two dozen+ properties he owns in EAV, IPP has made improvements on less than half, and roughly half the money went to two properties, one of which he no longer owns? FABULOUS!

What gets me is that the Sunday Paper just printed "he says he's invested millions" without independently verifying that number. What'd it take you to pull this info - 15 minutes? Fucking lazy journalists ... Wikipedia has tougher criteria for submission than the Atlanta newspapers do! How about some fucking fact-checking, for chrissakes!

At least they didn't misspell anyone's name in their shitty article like the Loaf did.

Bastards.

[Shamamama]

Where do we find a real journalist? 

[T@Nk]

Send your info to the journalist responsible.....via Bexx delivering it with a brick to the face.....

[Gentri]

Nice find.  Must be another one of those "old skool" reporters who don't know how to use a computer and wrote for the Entertainment section 1st before  job cuts forced them to wear more than one hat.

The dudes HAS spent a lot of money, but not really on anything that has helped the EAV.  Still not sure why codes could not be used against this guy/corporations to force some changes.......

[jhays]

Still not sure why codes could not be used against this guy/corporations to force some changes.......

They probably could if the city would actually start enforcing them. 

[Shante Cohen]

He seems to get his fingers going in a lot of different pots at once. Amazing what money and power gets you...I encourage everyone to Bug Code enforcement until something happens

[JBB]

The dollar figures listed on building permits are estimates used to calculate the fee for the building permit.  In most cases the actual cost of construction probably exceeds this estimate.

-JBB

[J. Grouchy]

The dollar figures listed on building permits are estimates used to calculate the fee for the building permit.  In most cases the actual cost of construction probably exceeds this estimate.

-JBB

when i've walked building plans through gwinnett county for permitting, we are asked to provide a letter from the owner for cost of construction.  they then independently estimate cost of construction by their own method and base the permit fee off of (of course) the larger of the two numbers.  typically the larger number is their own...so what you say is not necessarily true.  generally the contractor has negotiated a contract by the time permitting happens, so the number the owner gives the county is generally a better estimate of true cost...leaving the inevitable change orders out of the equation, of course.

[Cap'n Ken]

The dollar figures listed on building permits are estimates used to calculate the fee for the building permit.  In most cases the actual cost of construction probably exceeds this estimate.

-JBB

when i've walked building plans through gwinnett county for permitting, we are asked to provide a letter from the owner for cost of construction.  they then independently estimate cost of construction by their own method and base the permit fee off of (of course) the larger of the two numbers.  typically the larger number is their own...so what you say is not necessarily true.  generally the contractor has negotiated a contract by the time permitting happens, so the number the owner gives the county is generally a better estimate of true cost...leaving the inevitable change orders out of the equation, of course.

Yeah, exactly. Shorting the city on the estimated cost would be like underreporting income on your taxes because the fees are based on the value of the project. And I know IPP would never do something like that.

The problem I have with the "millions" reference in that Sunday Paper article is that the reporter/editors simply took Notrica at his word on that, and it's a key question in the debate over whether IPP is a "good" property owner or a "bad" one. It's easy to quickly run a sanity check before printing a claim like that. They didn't do it, which helped color the article in favor of IPP.

[Shivers]

Did you guys see the LEASED!! sign on FlatShoals at the old tucker place? I thought it was funny that it happened so quickley after the meeting. So I wonder what is 'coming soon' there in 1999? (Sorry but I am skeptic)

[Cap'n Ken]

Did you guys see the LEASED!! sign on FlatShoals at the old tucker place? I thought it was funny that it happened so quickley after the meeting. So I wonder what is 'coming soon' there in 1999? (Sorry but I am skeptic)

Yeah, sure smells like a PR move to me. In all fairness, it does take forever to get things rolling with opening a restaurant (remember how long Graveyard took?) in Atlanta, so if IPP has a tenant there and it's actually moving forward, that's a good thing but don't be surprised if nothing's open there before 2008.

[hfranks]

Any follow-up on the demolition of the old house next to the Antique Mart? Isn't a developer required to present plans before tearing something down?

[EastAVolunteer]

The ugliness of these posts undermine any valid points you may or may not have. 

Inman Park Properties has consistently agreed to provide help/support to various organizations, including the recent Bike Rally last weekend- much needed help for this very local event.

Notrica could stand to do more for sure, as could all business owners; but attacking businesses and people personally does not get the job done.  You complain about money and "power" and yet the only reason you get away with so much nastiness on here is because you own this board.