The exit ramp of the Commodore Perry Bridge, formerly Shooster’s Restaurant
over and over, each time ratcheting up the ante. My brother Izzy was his partner. In 1972, another unexpected event happened. The Commodore Perry Bridge was approved. This would finally replace the ferry and go right through our land, forcing the sale of the property via the law of eminent domain. [Cities can force the sale of land for the public good at a fair rate.] A city bond was approved raising the money and making the project official. A deal was struck with our family and we had all of our capital back with new opportunities to explore. No one gets many chances to make big decisions in their life. Freeing this capi- tal turned out to be a doozy. Harry put all of the proceeds into his real estate business. My life might have been easier if I just went along for the ride, but I couldn’t. I felt like the little brother with just as little a voice in the
outcome. Instead, I chose my independence, something very important to me. Today, the exit ramp of the bridge rests squarely on what used to be Shooster’s drive- in restaurant. Being conservative with the money, I hedged our future by buying an income-pro- ducing property. Tax laws allowed me to reinvest the capital gains from the sale of the property at significant savings. So, I bought a 7-Eleven store. The idea was to push the taxes as far as I legally could and secure revenues over the long haul. 7-Eleven accepted a five-year lease with four five-year extensions. Looking back, I should have paid a lot more attention to the rental price for those additional years. In my later years, I was kicking myself for realizing it was seriously under-performing. When my son Frank graduated law school. I asked him to look into the store. I
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