Sale of State-Owned Buildings Halted

Maybe later...

​The pending sale of 11 state-owned buildings -- a short-term cash infusion that would cost taxpayers billions down the road -- has been halted, albeit temporarily.

The 6th Appellate District Court in San Jose today issued an order staying the sale, which was to commence Dec. 15. Among the 11 state-owned buildings are San Francisco's State Supreme Court and Public Utilities Commission buildings.

The plaintiffs in the case, San Francisco's Don Casper and southern Californians Jerry Epstein and Redmond Doms, are former members of State Building Authorities. Each railed about the terrible fiscal sense of selling off state structures and leasing them back from private corporations for long-term losses in the billions; they were all fired for their efforts.

Today, however, they came out on top. Per the court:

To permit further consideration of the issues raised by the petition for writ of mandate, and good cause appearing, the sale of the 11 state-owned properties, currently schedule to close on 12/15/10 is stayed until further order of this court. Real parties in interest may file on 12/27/10 in preliminary opposition to the petition. If real parties in interest file a preliminary opposition, petitioners may file a reply to the opposition on 12/29/10

Last week, a San Francisco Superior Court Judge refused to block the $2.3 billion sale, prompting the call to the Court of Appeal.

The plaintiffs claim the sale would result in a loss of $644 million in 20 years and $1.4 billion in 35 years.

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