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Brightline. Which is tail? Which is dog?

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Brightline. Which is tail? Which is dog?
Posted by oltmannd on Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:06 PM

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article161031124.html

Is this a train with a supporting real estate development?

or...

Is this a real estate deal with supporting train?

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

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Posted by D.Carleton on Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:19 PM

Yes. Let's put it another way: would you build a high-rise without an elevator or would you build an elevator without a high-rise?

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Posted by JOHN MEHRLING on Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:41 PM
Nothing new here. Simply copying the plan developed by the New York Central in New York's grand Central Terminal updated to 2017.
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Posted by 54light15 on Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:54 PM

When my parents moved to a house in the country, I asked, "Does having a car make living in the country possible or does living in the country make having a car necessary?"Dad said, "Either way." Seems like the same thing here. 

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:15 PM

   The pendulum swings.   I believe this was fairly common over a century and a half ago.

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Posted by Buslist on Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:19 PM

oltmannd

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article161031124.html

Is this a train with a supporting real estate development?

or...

Is this a real estate deal with supporting train?

 

in a talk given by someone fairly high u in Rail America said it was a real estate ploy!

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Posted by oltmannd on Thursday, July 13, 2017 9:05 PM

...which is why transportation infrastructure, on it's own, never "makes money".  The benefits all wind up in other people's pockets.  

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

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Posted by oltmannd on Thursday, July 13, 2017 9:07 PM

If anybody saw "The Founder", it wasn't until a money guy explained to Ray Kroc that he wasn't in the restaurant franchise business (that was losing money), he should be in the real estate leasing business.  Buy the land and lease it to franchisees.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, July 13, 2017 9:59 PM

It has always been a real estate development that needs a train to make the real estate viable for development.  This was stated by the real estate arm of FEC when they were all part of the same company and began the saga.  The Real Estate arm has been 'spun off' as it's own company and the rail road portion of FEC has been sold to Grupo Mexico.  At this time 'Brightline' is on its own financially to the best of my knowledge.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Thursday, July 13, 2017 11:01 PM

The nimbys are starting to see handwriting on wall.  $6.0 M spent on fighting the RR could have been better spent on building a passenger platform(s) for a few trains a day ?

http://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/editorials/2017/07/13/time-pursue-brightline-train-stop-our-view/472634001/

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Posted by D.Carleton on Friday, July 14, 2017 9:37 PM

BaltACD

It has always been a real estate development that needs a train to make the real estate viable for development.  This was stated by the real estate arm of FEC when they were all part of the same company and began the saga.  The Real Estate arm has been 'spun off' as it's own company and the rail road portion of FEC has been sold to Grupo Mexico.  At this time 'Brightline' is on its own financially to the best of my knowledge.

Florida East Coast Industries recently sold Florida East Coast Railway to Grupo Mexico, a deal that was finalized two days ago. FECR was a smaller holding compared to what FECI retained: Flager (real estate) and Flager Global Logistics (supply chain management). And then there is their newest holding: All Aboard Florida.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, July 16, 2017 1:56 PM

And the pioneering western railroads made money off of land grants, land that suddenly became valuable because of the railroad.

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Posted by MidlandMike on Thursday, July 20, 2017 9:20 PM

Right now the built part of the Brightline just connects their 3 real estate developments betweem Miami and WPB.  With no identified real estate development of theirs in Orlando, I am skeptical thay they will ever build beyond WPB.

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Posted by schlimm on Thursday, July 20, 2017 10:21 PM

daveklepper

And the pioneering western railroads made money off of land grants, land that suddenly became valuable because of the railroad.

 

 
They also got to issue tax-exempt, low interest, gov't. guaranteed bonds.

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