in these difficult times is there likely to be someone out there who can buy the business, keep the name going (and standard of work), and buy the $4m building ? - most would just start their own business in a rented building, would they not ? perhaps this helps to further explain your question quote from article : “George and Sam were the shop,” said Ken Gross, a hot rod historian and former Petersen Automotive Museum executive director. “That’s who you went to. They were very responsible for the whole custom car scene.” .
"Barris-Paster said the historically significant contents of her father’s shop will be boxed up and moved to a location in the Oxnard-Ventura area, where ultimately it will be a collection open to the public. “It has to be, and we want it to be, because he would have wanted it that way,” she said." Sounds like the real estate is for sale, but Barris Kustom City is going to be put on display in a different location and likely will stay owned by the Barris family. I suppose it's a bit of a shame it's not staying in the same location, but sounds like the family is very much trying to keep the shop intact, and open for people to see, just not at that location. So that's good.
It’s sad to hear. I’ve never been. There are a lot of things I haven’t done or seen that perhaps I should have. Maybe i can see this before it’s gone.
My guess is that property has been paid for since the 60's and can be sold for a nice profit. Plus, the new place can be written off on the taxes. Moving is a no-brainer.
Sad to hear but you can bet that the taxes on that piece of property eat heavily into the income it produces. I'm glad to see that his daughter has plans to do the move. Some would have sold off everything and been done with it.
Almost 5 mil duh ! Sell sell sell !!!! that building has been paid off for decades, she’s doing the smart move by cashing out, moving the collection to a “more cost effective “ location snd keeping it open to the public. better then trying to keep the memory going not having the cash letting it fall into disrepair and eventually it’s just old junk .
Agreed that cashing out at 4 Mil while Socal real estate is off the hook ridiculous, and moving to a location where real estate is more reasonable is probably a wise business model. Perhaps opening as a "museum" will provide some tax breaks too? I always thought it would be cool to have wings in the Starbird museum to house Barris, Winfield, etc history, cars would have been awesome to have all the top customizers under one roof.
What's happening to a lot of people who own property in expensive markets is that even though they may not have a mortgage, the property taxes are outrageous, and forcing people to sell because they cannot afford the taxes anymore. When they sell they make a lot of money, but it still sucks they have to leave.
I’m betting that that property was taxed at a reduced rate under Prop 13 and there are attempts to eliminate that that tax break for commercial property
Probably not. Property taxes in California are set at the time of sale, as of 1978, on the property value, even on commercial property. It is entirely possible that the property owner has been paying property taxes on the assessment value in 1978, since 1978. This law was intended to keep old folks on fixed incomes in their homes, but had some unintended effects. This is likely the case. The property has enormous value, and the tax rate is at-risk of being updated to current rates.
I won't post again on the tax topic after this, so DM me if you have questions, but this needs to be cleared up. This is economic, not political, to don't get it twisted. The property tax structure here in California untenable, and not in the way that you think. What was intended as a measure to protect homeowners ended up getting extended to commercial property owners, you know, the ones that generate revenue, unlike most homes. While, over time, this was awesome for commercial property owners, especially those that owned the contained business, it had some sinister side effects. TL;DR: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. In California we have a housing shortage near where the good paying jobs are. Land in those areas is often zoned commercial/industrial, or some other non-residential classification, so no housing can be built there. In many cases a commercial property owner is paying miniscule property taxes (like 1978 taxes, in 2021), and can write some/all of uncollected lease payments as business losses on their taxes. Add in the elimination of most maintenance expenses required by an occupied property (with the rest being tax deductible), and you introduce the incentive to keep a commercial property vacant. Industry is forced inland, where prices are cheaper. List it for lease at a rate that is enormous, that nobody will take, and you can start lobbying the local municipality for a rezoning, or zoning variance to change the classification to residential. As soon as they do, you can get started on building $100,000,000 - $200,000,000 worth of condos, on a single parcel. Of course, this does not actually help the local housing issue, as the real need for housing is not a $1,400,000 condo. Steps are in the process to eliminate the business coverage here. It is less about raising taxes, as it is about ending the free-ride that many businesses have been enjoying for decades, at the expense of every other taxpayer. If the Barris family owns the building, and has for a long while, they may want to take the money and run before they have to start paying modern property taxes on it (like everyone else has to).
Sometimes things just take their natural course and die a happy death. Look how many antique car museums have closed in the last ten years. How many Rod shops have closed? Ask any teenager who George Barris is and they will look at you with a blank stare. I, along with everybody on this site probably knew who the Barris Brothers were when we were 15 years old. For example, until I retired I worked in mid town Manhattan and rode the subway uptown every day. I would see a kid on the train frequently that wore a Von Dutch shirt. One day I asked the kid if he knew who Von Dutch is. He said "yes, he was a Dutch painter, famous for painting tulips". I answered "close, he was a painter that did pinstripes". He replied, "what's pinstripes"?
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