5 ms·
Berlin is a money laundering hotspot of Europe. I think about that too when I walk past some random shop that’s never/rarely open. They may also be grandfather
by jamil7 5y ago
Berlin is a money laundering hotspot of Europe. I think about that too when I walk past some random shop that’s never/rarely open.
They may also be grandfathered into affordable leases and paying less rent than you imagine, although not sure that works as well for commercial leases as it does for residential.
- R0b0t1 5y agoRent used to be very, very low. Area was basically blighted, no? Everybody was moving out of eastern Germany.
- jamil7 5y agoYeah but it's been sharply rising in the last 10-15 years and I'm not sure that the protections that exist for residential leases in Berlin exist in the same way for commercial. But still quite possible that the rent hasn't adjusted for many of these shops.
- R0b0t1 5y agoResidential and business rent can be disconnected. Isn't that what happened in SF? Massive oversupply of one because they're not interchangeable. In Kansas City there are some highly gentrified city neighborhoods but then a block or two away a bunch of old warehouse-type factory buildings for rent.
- jamil7 5y agoYou could be right, I honestly don't know. The media here tend to mostly cover the residential side of things. You do see stories of businesses like bars and bookshops being forced out when an investor buys a whole building that includes both commercial and residential spaces.
- kzrdude 5y agoSmall scale money laundering maybe. For the big money look at the property prices in London.