(UPDATED) I can’t decide if I want this to be true or not, but by all indications on May 14 Star Tribune publisher, Par Ridder, currently busy hacking the livelihoods out from under 150 or so of his employees, closed a deal to buy former KARE anchor Paul Magers’ rather, shall we say, grand-to-ostentatious Lake of the Isles mansion for something just south of $3 million — $2.73 million to be exact. (For a time Magers tried to sell it for $3.9 million.)
The selling agent, Barry Berg, (an old high school classmate of mine — in case anyone ever wondered), has not returned calls confirming the deal, but several of his competitors have confirmed the purchase. (Being a very smart guy Barry has to know nothing good will ever come from disclosing anything — ever — to the likes of me.)
Magers, who lived the Hollywood high life long before moving to Beverly Hills, finally sold the sprawling 8000 sq. foot 1907 status statement in 2006 (after 818 days on the market) for something in the $2.55 million range. Young Par will part ways with a squalid $1.3 million Sunfish Lake pied-a-terre as he attempts to assume his position among the real money of old Minneapolis.
Needless to say, the place is ideal for entertaining. But the way Par’s been operating here in Minnesota, I have to wonder who among the “right people” will want to be seen accepting Par’s invitations? I mean, in a way isn’t it kind of like playing golf with OJ?
Taxes? Oh, yeah. Last year taxes on the Magers Manse were $41,648, or about one year’s salary for one of those sweet old gals Ridder canned from their switchboard jobs at the Strib.
As I say, maybe everyone feeding these numbers and confirming the purchase is flat-out dead wrong. Maybe Par, who is being sued for several variations of highly unethical, illegal business behavior by the new owners of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, has sufficient awareness of this particular moment in Twin Cities culture to avoid something this indiscreet. Maybe he is astute enough NOT to play the complete vulgarian by rubbing the noses of the laid-off, bought-out (for a song) and de-moralized in a grab of such shameless pretension. But that would surprise a lot of people who have met him since he arrived in Minnesota.
It reminds me of when his daddy, Tony, was preaching belt-tightening and “right-sizing” to all the Knight-Ridder papers he was cannibalizing for parts and nickels but didn’t have the good sense to decline Architectural Digest’s request to feature HIS home in their thick and glossy pages.
Also, I’m reminded that both in the law suit filed against him and again in one of his rare face-to-face meetings with his Star Tribune staff, Ridder is quoted saying something to the effect that, “I’ll never turn my back on St. Paul” … out of respect or his family’s long tradition over there in the east metro.
What’s that line about the acorn and the tree?
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