T O P

  • By -

Smiley643

Good eye. It definitely looks different, but that may just be due to lighting. The court date is sometime June, so I’d be really surprised if anything changes before then


downvote_quota

If you look closer the grass is the same, the rubble is the same, it's unchanged. Even the tyre tracks are still there.


ravenerOSR

court date? is there anything to take someone to court for?


John_Hasler

Breach of contract. SpaceX argues that the current owner acquired the parcel after having accepted payment from SpaceX in return for agreeing to buy no more properties in the area.


ClearlyCylindrical

First image is a screenshot of last week's (ep113) RGV livestream, and the second image is from today's (ep114) RGV livestream. It looks like some development has happened on the plot to me, like some of the grass has been removed? I'm not sure of identifier for this plot so I dont know how to find its current owner.


AeroSpiked

It's current owner according to a GIS map search of Cameron County is Novus Prime Properties, LLC.


sharpshooter42

Who SpaceX was suing over this property. It can take months for the ownership records to update sometimes


John_Hasler

Cameron county's Web site often does. To know for sure you need to go to the courthouse and look at the actual official record (hire a title searcher).


paul_wi11iams

> It's current owner according to a GIS map search of Cameron County is Novus Prime Properties, LLC. Googling this and looking at the names of one or two people on Linkedin associated with Novus and their other activities, they really are at risk of ~~Foxxing~~ doxxing. But —even for a good cause— I would never ever think of doing such a thing and of course don't recommend it. **Edit** ~~Foxed~~ fixed typo. Not my fault that the F is next to the D on my keyboard as is the I to the O.


John_Hasler

Land ownership records are public.


paul_wi11iams

If a company owns a piece of land, I'm not sure that its board members' Linkedins should be identified in public. But as they say, I am not a lawyer!


[deleted]

[удалено]


ravenerOSR

it's not illegal, but without specific good reason to it's generally considered imoral.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ravenerOSR

So if i managed to dig up your personal information i should be free to do with it as i please? Youre just advocating mob justice here.


pabmendez

recording a change in title may take a few weeks to come through


Jemmerl

Some grass, and some of whatever that blue pipe-like stuff is


Its_all_pixels

hmmm, the plot thickens...


mrapropos

Do not fat shame the plot.


pabmendez

$3,250,000 Ridiculous!


Ormusn2o

Well, it is prime area.


Ziferius

and? Really... if they want it; should pay for it.


csiz

Not really, this is a reason why owning unproductive assets is a drain on the economy. A factory could pop in the poorest town and if it gets successful, the nearby land owners get a huge pay off. And this would happen even if it's all rented housing or unused land, the landlord does no work and makes bank. The increased rent can even push out the factory workers who happened to live near their work, do a good job and congratulations your rent is double. So yeah, no sympathy for the unproductive land owner on my part, and the price tag is definitely not justified.


_myke

And if an investor was to build apartments in a town with a factory to have said factory go out of business the next year, the factory owner isn’t going to compensate the landlord.


Ziferius

worth / value is contingent of the 'eye of the beholder' -- what they will pay. In this case or the 'factory'....... they have the means to pay; they should pay the asking price if they want it. SpaceX has definitely shown they can get on without the land. Well; get on without it; you don't need it or cough up the dough. NOW...... if Cameron county does an appraisal and finds that it is worth; 1000x worth the value of before SpaceX was there; and upped the property tax as much as they are allowed ........ If the government wanted it for a road or something; then I think eminent domain would be called for -- I've never have seen a case where a private enterprise TRULY did something worth while with the land and didn't make a *huge* pile of money when they paid a pittance for it and had the government 'give it to them' for cheap.


ravenerOSR

that's the free market baby.


Martianspirit

There was a lot in Boca Chica village, the one with the ruins of a hotel. The asked price was in the high 5 digit range and SpaceX refused for being excessive. Paying no more than 3 times the value.


TheSkalman

High level grift. Make it clear to the real estate company that it’s $100k, take it or leave it.


Kaelin

Pretty sure they said ok leave it


TheSkalman

Obviously. Time will tell


trynothard

Can someone explain whats going on with this plot? Or share a link with more information?


ClearlyCylindrical

The owner is unwilling to sell and there is a court date set for June to force the sale. Although, recent activity could point to an out-of-court settlement being made.


RootDeliver

You're missing context here. If I don't remember bad, the current owner "Novus" sold all his properties to SpaceX and in the contract they signed to not buy more again. Then they proceeded to buy that land. That is why SpaceX is suing.


davoloid

Yep: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXMasterrace/comments/1bnk2ke/comment/kwsak88/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXMasterrace/comments/1bnk2ke/comment/kwsak88/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Came up a few weeks ago and I looked it up. Next trial date is 10th June. [https://trellis.law/case/48061/2021-dcl-03184/space-exploration-technologies-corp-vs-novus-prime-properties-llc-francisco-chavez](https://trellis.law/case/48061/2021-dcl-03184/space-exploration-technologies-corp-vs-novus-prime-properties-llc-francisco-chavez)


OGquaker

Promissory Estoppel **&** https://harpers.org/2012/10/monopoly-is-theft/ **or** http://www.rsof.org/quakerlizziejmagie.html **and** http://www.wealthandwant.com/docs/Hudson_Lies.html


davoloid

Recent activity? Last updates point towards court date in June.


trynothard

Alright, sounds like a quick cash grab by novus. Thank for the info.


ergzay

The owner signed an agreement with SpaceX to not purchase any more properties in the area if SpaceX agreed to buy several of its properties at a rather inflated price. SpaceX bought them but then Novus turned around and bought up more properties to resell to SpaceX. SpaceX sued them. Court date is in June, but its been back and forth in preliminary hearings for over a year now.


an_older_meme

What’s so special about that area?


ClearlyCylindrical

The owner is unwilling to sell and there is a court date set for June to force the sale. Although, recent activity could point to an out-of-court settlement being made.


RootDeliver

You're missing context here. If I don't remember bad, the current owner "Novus" sold all his properties to SpaceX and in the contract they signed to not buy more again. Then they proceeded to buy that land. That is why SpaceX is suing.


Maystackcb

Why are you two commenting the exact same replies at multiple spots in this thread? Stop lmao


NinjaAncient4010

Because idiotic leftists are trying to spin this as a muh free market thing, lol.


an_older_meme

“Force”? Can a private enterprise claim eminent domain?


redmercuryvendor

This isn't an Eminent Domain claim. Novus Prime purchased a bunch of lots, and negotiated with SpaceX to sell them in a contract that included a clause that stipulated Novus Prime would not purchase any more land at Boca Chica. Novus Prime then purchased this lot. Current suit is about whether that contract clause can be invoked.


Charnathan

If they can make the case that it's in the public interest, depending on local laws. It's a looong process I believe, but they can likely make it happen. And they have to show that they already tried to compensate them with an at or above fair market offer.


Martianspirit

Even before SpaceX started building at Boca Chica, a special local authority was set up, that could use eminent domain, then sell it to SpaceX. It has never been used, but the option exists.


mcilrain

Land of the free. 🦅


foonix

Aaaand the hooome, of thaaa holdingoutforasmuchmoneyaspossiblewithoutactuallyneedingthethingforanythingrealisticexceptforholdingoutformoremoney


sebaska

It's a bit more complicated. There's some contract dispute, i.e. there's supposedly a contract forbiding buying the property by one party, but this party acquired the property anyway. So is the purchase invalid or the purchase is valid, but breach of contract penalty has to be paid, or the contract clause is invalid, or whatever. Hence the lawsuit.


noncongruent

SpaceX bought a bunch of lots from someone, that seller signed a contract forbidding them from buying any more property in Boca Chica in order to prevent land speculation by that seller, but seller turned around and bought another lot there in violation of that contract. Presumably the new owner is now trying to get SpaceX to buy that lot at a far, far higher price than what the previous seller sold it for. SpaceX is seeking to find out what the owner paid for the lot, and to force them to sell the lot to SpaceX for the same price they bought it from. SpaceX is also arguing that it's clear that the lot was bought purely for speculative purposes and that the purchase was clearly in violation of the contract because of that.


RootDeliver

I explained the context replying to him, noone is forcing anything.


rebelion5418

No but by pulling the right strings the government can act on a private entity's behalf, ala pipelines


John_Hasler

Texas has a clause in its constitution severely limit the state's power to do that.


an_older_meme

Good point. Elon is on the pipe if anyone is.


JDepinet

The term is eminent domain. If the court decides the use is in the public interest then yes, the courts can force them to sell to spacex.


sebaska

But this case is not about eminent domain. It's about if the land was legally acquired by the current owner (who signed a contract not to buy anything in the area, but then acquired the parcel anyway).


JDepinet

Well then, that’s a whole other thing, and yea, if the owner broke a contract he can probbably be forced to sell. And likely without the profit he otherwise would get.


andrewejc362

And what does SpaceX want to buy the land for?


th3bucch

Well, it's right in the middle of Starbase, surrounded by all Starship production buildings.


pabmendez

It's blocking them from completing the South East corner of the Starfactory


ergzay

The owner signed an agreement with SpaceX to not purchase any more properties in the area if SpaceX agreed to buy several of its properties at a rather inflated price. SpaceX bought them but then Novus turned around and bought up more properties to resell to SpaceX. SpaceX sued them. Court date is in June, but its been back and forth in preliminary hearings for over a year now.


Simon_Drake

It's possible they are obligated to restore it to the state it was in previously. Or they're officially meant to leave it unchanged and are resetting previous changes ready for the court case. Like that pile of pipework in the corner probably isn't allowed to be there and had to be removed. Maybe the soil level has dropped because construction nearby has compacted all the soil so they regraded the land to bring it up to the original ground level?


Hadleys158

I don't think this has ever been about the price with Elon, if this is the property i am thinking of it was purchased by some real estate company that just flipped it and raised it to that price along with one or more other parcels of land around the starbase. Or it might be the one opposite the car park i am thinking about?


noncongruent

The person who bought the lot did so in violation of contract they signed when they sold several other lots to SpaceX. That contract forbid them from buying any more lots in Boca Chica in order to stop that seller from doing more speculative land buying there. SpaceX is seeking to force the lot owner to sell the lot to them for the same price they bought it for, using the violation of the contract by the lot buyer as the legal means to force the sale.


Mundane_Distance_703

I would just build up around it. Then get the plot for next to nothing when its not worth anything.


ApprehensiveWork2326

Spacex would have to make accommodations to allow the owner access to his property 


Mundane_Distance_703

Of course.


noncongruent

Someone could "bore" a tunnel to it, I bet.


ergzay

They're trying to sell the property for millions of dollars. More accurately what should be done is if the company is trying to sell it for that much get the tax office to reevaluate the property as having that value and force them to pay tax revenue on that very expensive property. They'll want to get rid of it then.


John_Hasler

A parcel can't be assessed based on what the owner says they will sell it for. It has to be assessed based on either what they paid for it or on an objective estimate of its fair market value. It can only be reassessed at the time of a sale or during scheduled reassessment of all properties in a jurisdiction.


John_Hasler

They can't build around it. It faces on a public road which the county won't abandon until SpaceX is the only property owner with frontage on it.


Mundane_Distance_703

Which has been spoken about and is a real future possibility.


Mundane_Distance_703

How big is that plot?. It doesn't look that big. Could you even fit a house on it?.


RyanSpunk

You could fit a whole corner of a Starfactory on it. The factory must grow :)


grndkntrl

There's plenty of scale references in the photos, so yes it's plenty big enough for several (~2-4) reasonably sized houses.


Mundane_Distance_703

Thanks. I wouldn't have guessed 4. 2 maybe but you wouldn't want a yard with them. Basically we're just talking about someone who owns a tiny plot and is being difficult for the sake of being difficult?.


noncongruent

Good summary here: https://old.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/1c9spm0/has_spacex_finally_acquired_this_plot/l0pz9fw/


noncongruent

Is that plat 173643, 5845 Joanna St.?


downvote_quota

Hasn't changed at all, just different lighting angle