[solveit]

Sounds to me like they're deciding what to do with the land, and then taking on the risk for whether the developed property is economically viable. They should be taxed for the value of the underlying land, but they are absolutely not useless middlemen.

[feet]

"Taking on risk for whether the property is economically viable" is a funny way of saying "bought a house that a normal person could have purchased and instead charges them a marked up rent"