Posted: 10/3/2007 10:40:34 AM EDT
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Washington Woman Defiant Despite Development http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIceJ8LVYq3TU07e16VpYGtMT9RAD8S1RNA83 Posted: Today at 11:56 a.m. SEATTLE — The little old lady who lives in a little old house is stubborn in a very BIG way. Edith Macefield, 86, has refused a $1 million offer from a developer to move out of her 108-year-old farmhouse to make way for a commercial complex. "I don't want to move. I don't need the money. Money doesn't mean anything," she said recently. Instead, the five-story project is being built around her, ringing the death knell for her once-thriving, blue-collar neighborhood. Macefield's house is the last on her block, though there's a restaurant nearby that's staying put as well. Gravel and cement trucks noisily work around them, and a tall concrete wall stands within feet of Macefield's kitchen window. Construction cranes hang over her roof. "When she digs her heels in, there is no changing her mind. She is set in her ways," said Charlie Peck, a friend for more than 20 years. Macefield has lived in the two-story, two-bedroom house since 1966. It has been assessed at about $8,000 on land worth about $120,000. She said she has no regrets about refusing to sell and simply drowns out the construction noise by turning up the television or blasting opera so loud you can hear it outside. "I went through World War II, the noise doesn't bother me," she said. "They'll get it done someday." Construction workers watch out for Macefield, particularly superintendent Barry Martin. He takes her to doctor appointments and to the hair salon. He brings her lunch. "It's like having your grandmother here," Martin said. "Once you get to know someone, you can't just walk by without saying hello." ------------ Pic from another story (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333917_macefield02.html?source=mypi): 
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 And they are offering her $1M out of the goodness of their hearts? Riiiiiight.[sarcasm]I'm sure the property is only worth the $1M Developers are offering anyway.... [/sarcasm] Kudos to the lady for not caving. |
Just wait til the new tax assesment and her land is now worth 2M and the gov steals it |
That's what I was just thinking. |
The property is only "worth" $1 million because she's the last hold out.  They want her gone, so they're offering more for that final plot. We go through this all the time in Korea. We have three factories and each of them has a little piece of farmland that we've edged around. Years later, those old coots are still holding out for their $1 million payday. Not gonna happen. If she wants to stay, good for her. If she's holding out for more money, good for her. If the developers pay or don't pay, good for them. The real issue is that ED hasn't screwed this lady over. Developers aren't doing anything abnormal or wrong. If her land is worth more than the assessment, it's because the developers (yes) made it that way. |
Agreed, and let's hope that if ED comes in and takes it that she's not hung out to dry. My point was just that the article made it seem like her property was only worth ~$128k based on the assessment. When it could obviously be re-assessed for more given the new development. Having said that, by reading the small amount of information we have gotten from the article it seems as if she is really just comfortable and doesn't want to leave. |
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There are odd shaped lots in NYC in Manhattan because somebody never sold out. Small bar gets surrounded by a huge building of some sort. (I can't think of their names right off the bat. Maybe someby else might know.) And now for Seattle’s turn for interesting landscape. 
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Once the plans for the development are done, and work around her house, the mil is off the table. Dumb, dumb, dumb. For $1 million she could have bought another little farmhouse, but on an actual farm... you know, have land around, instead of a giant shopping mall. Her heirs must be pissed. |
128K doesn't get you any kind of a house or a condo in that area. This isn't very far from where I live, I'll go over and get you guys some photos that will give you a better view. Here is a much older article. archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=danny08&date=20060208&query=macefield |