Dillin Pays Up At Levis Commons

"Back taxes" for an operation of Dillin's size is an extremely bad sign. We're undoubtedly facing the largest commercial-loans crash in American history. Dillin isn't immune since what he's involved in, is as fueled by unsustainable credit as anything. All those morons who are "spending money" at Levis Commons are undoubtedly actually flashing the plastic, and their jobs are at risk.

That "road to nowhere" along the Maumee River in East Toledo is another fine indication of what fools the voters really are. Nothing significant is going to happen there. There can't be any noticeable development there, since we're in the Second Great Depression. Can Dillin hold his breath for another 2 decades? I bet he can't. LOL!

Dillin never had a magic touch. It was all an artifact of White Flight and the Housing Bubble. Well, we're in too large of an economic collapse. Consumer spending must fall significantly. Tax increases alone will ensure it.

But he found a way to get it done............keep it up

After spending the day working at my not at risk job, my wife and i went to levis commons yesterday and ate dinner at biaggie's and paid cash. had a really hard time finding a parking spot near the resturants, the whole lot was packed.

Hoops, if you have to "find a way" to cover from being late with your tax payments, then you're in big trouble in the first place. That's the point. And the rest of my points only logically follow.

Tough times can call for creative "rob peter to pay paul" scenarios. I like what he has done and think it is a great mix of business. The past few years have not been good for any new construction and he is paying the price and not keeping a good cash flow with new projects.

I hear you loud and clear on your points. He remains in my opinion, a good PR guy, but I don't want to give him too much room on a leash.

GuestZero raises a good point about business owners who are behind on taxes. One of the worst ways to deal with cash flow problems is to delay or withhold taxes, as government late fees and penalties end up making such short-term stop-gap solutions very poor long-term financial decisions. The government is one of the most expensive "bankers," and if Dillin is reduced to using tax payments to meet his current obligations, he is in a world of trouble.

Chances are that Dillin has tapped out every conceivable legitimate form of credit, or else he would have gone to a bank or a private finance company for a loan. With the local economy crawling along at such a lousy pace, the only way out of trouble for Dillin is an economic recovery, which in this region could be many years.

(continues above post)

A few other thoughts:

1. Jhop: the relative busy-ness of Levis Commons means little to Dillin, who makes his money from rent and/or selling plots to new retailers. If he is in financial difficulty at Levis Commons and/or other holdings in his portfolio, it is because the level of development did not meet projections. More than likely Dillin planned on additional anchors for Levis Commons that did not materialize in the 2008-2009 implosion (or else some of his other investments have been real dogs).

2. I suspect that Dillin did not get to where he is today by being inefficient in his operations. Anyone who falls behind on taxes is wasting a lot of cash just to buy some time by delaying the due taxes. Luckily for Dillin Fifth Third helped to an undetermined extent with the tax immediate $363,406.80 that was due to forestall the county siezing the property, but now he will have to cough up over $150K a year over the next five years, not a dime of which is in his original business model.

3. A silver lining for Dillin is that his operation may fall under the category of "too big to fail": county and city officials have invested a ton of money in infrastructure for Levis Commons (not to mention political capital) and they would be loathe to let this collapse or to have to manage the site themselves. He undoubtedly knows this, and probably flexed his muscles in the back taxes negotiations.

4. If the Blade wanted to do some real digging, they would probably find that property taxes are not the only area in which Dillin is struggling. If Dillin has been reduced to playing the property tax shuffle, one has to assume that he is also behind with major vendors, utilities, and perhaps even employees, none of whom have as much power as a county government.

I'm declaring myself "too big to fail" and not paying taxes for the next 3 years. Don't worry, I'll pay the government back just as soon as I'm in a better financial position.

If it works for the big guys...

Oldhometown:

Just to be clear, I am not advocating a government bailout for Dillin, but rather opining about what his strategy would be. Perrysburg and Wood County would be highly averse to see their retail gem turn into an area of commercial blight, and the last thing they want is to have to manage or sell Dillin's properties out there. Dillin has to be smart enough to figure out that even though he was until recently in tax deliquency, he is still in a much more enviable position than an individual homeowner like you or me.

h-mike

i've been out of town. was it reported that indeed the bank had stepped in with the tax cash - was it structured that it give them an ownership stake?

your point #4 is dead-on.

to me there is such a danger in people falling for pretty pictures that developers present - but those drawings especially in this case were based on inaccurate/unrealistic views of urbanism. urbanism is based on mixed use-owner occupied pedestrian/transit organized - this is an outdoor mall with an apartment complex down the road. "lifes-style center" is just an expensive word for mall.