As I was flipping through the paper, an article in last Friday’s Statesman sparked my attention: “Owner says he can't afford to donate it to county but is looking for a private buyer rather than a developer.” The land the article is referring to is Windy Point a Lake Front Park on Lake Travis. I stopped to read the article because it sounded genuine; it sounded like the owner really intended the land to maintain accessible to the people. I was intrigued because usually people are just out for personal gain. In any case I read the article only to realize it was really just a publicity stunt or free advertising, as I would call it.
After reading into the article you find out that the seller already planned to get rid of the land, but the deal with a Houston developer fell through. So now he is just getting the word out to prospective buyers who are able to pay the ticket price of a whopping 15 million dollars. "Whoever comes up with the money gets it first" says Bob Barstow. He goes on to make sure to mention that "It's a trophy piece of property."
The article quotes the parks director for Travis County, Charles Bergh, who has obviously is on bad terms with Barstow. "This thing could go real quick and painless if Bob would just donate it to the county," Bergh said. "But I do not think Bob wants to donate his land to the county in light of our past." Now I’m not saying that he should donate it. It’s his land and he can do what he wants. But if he was serious about trying to keep it accessible to the public he could at least lower the price tag a little bit so that more than just developers could afford it or so that the county/state could buy it.
To me this article just sounded like a last attempt to get someone with a lot of money to take it off his hands so he could retire to Fiji, “My motto is, 'Meet me in Fiji as soon as the property sells.'” At the ripe age of 78, it seems like, more than anything, Barstow wants to retire rich and quick. "I want to spend the rest of my life having fun," he said. "I've paid my dues." I guess when you get that old you can do what you want…
Windy Point Park on the market for $15 million
“Owner says he can't afford to donate it to county but is looking for a private buyer rather than a developer.”
By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, October 12, 2007
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/10/12/1012windypoint.html
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