scm

How Obama Got Elected

I don't believe it -- Zillow, one of my fave sites, says VB prices are down 5% in the last year. Says Orlando is down 17% this year. Las Vegas -- 15.4% down. Miami -- down 21.9%. So something doesn't add up.

They are making nice progress on the finish out -- front and interiors are gutted. I think they can make 1Q '09 no problem. If I can remember the camera next time I am there, then I will get some pics.

The corner that had Comfort in it . Same guys own from the old Harry's Pawn all the way up High, and around the corner on Effingham to King. That development is in this link. Article on Comfort's closing in Porfolio.

Portsmouth project at Holiday Inn site held back

Small amount of good news -- no HR stores among the ones Circuit City plans on closing: VIRGINIA: _ Charlottesville, Manassas, McLean

From the folks that own the building at the corner of High and Effingham:

Not a problem -- our major East Coast port competitors -- Savannah, Charleston, all of the NY ports -- are upstream of at least one, if not two, bridges. Now, the Navy has a huge woody over this issue -- another real "please sir, may I have another" moment. Call the tune, make no contribution to the tax base. And "leaders" here keep dropping their drawers for another schwack.

Portsmouth investors learn of Lucas' large stake in project

Once the city extends Constitution to Bonney, they should take a look at extending it across Bonney, down Bendix, then creating a new overpass across 264 to Mt. Trashmore -- a signature entrance, with perhaps only two lanes of vehicular traffic, and a broad pedestrian/bike area. Maybe bend Edwin drive around, take part of that parking lot east of Edwin, and connect them? When we talk about making VB Boulevard into a Champs-

Public Information Meeting -- A Transit Vision Plan for Hampton Roads The Hampton Roads regional public transit plan will address local and express bus, bus rapid transit, street car/trolley, light rail, commuter rail, and ridesharing. The plan will also look at development patterns in areas where expanded public transit may be recommended. Thursday, October 16, 2008, 4:30

Waterside is a major arterial from Hampton Blvd (EVMS and NGH) to 264 to VB -- in both directions. Brambleton, with its numerous intersections, isn't a suitable alternative. St. Paul's backs up with 464 southbound on ramp traffic. Necking down Waterside, in a hope to solve some un-defined problem at the Market, is like shooting your foot off to fix a blister.

Hey, Tel -- friend turned me on to a new web site -- has an exchange on there that I swear could have come from you:

You mean a real estate professional turned developer, like Buddy Gaddams? Look, this wouldn't have happened without Keith Newby being the developer. This was a drug deal between Newby and Sentara -- they wanted the patients out of his cardiology practice (for caths, hearts, etc.) and he needed tenents. Since they have gone around town buying up as many practices as they can, they now "own" most of the potential doctors to populate the building. Second, the fact that Newby is black, made it easier to appeal to the pimps like Paul Riddick -- especially in the downfall of Robert Johnson's participation in the convention center hotel -- and get the subsidies from the city, including the enterprise zone bond money. But then, that calls to mind, why a cardiologist like Newby, typically making over $700,000/year, needs taxpayer subsidies, especially now they they have canned the hotel that potentially was the employer of enterprise zone residents -- and the raison d' etre for the program to begin with -- provide employment.

It will also allow them to keep the current store open while the new one is under construction. This is great news for the Ghent neighborhood. When I lived there, it was a drag that our HT had half the number of items of the suburban stores. I wonder if the remodeling/expansion of the former GW store had anything to do with this.

Well, I'd enjoy seeing pigs sprout wings and fly, but if you go back to the 1963 formation of the current VB, it was destined to grow the way it did to accomodate all of the people fleeing the racial turmoil in Norfolk. The schlock, lowest possible cost developments like Green Run and Ocean Lakes, were targeted at the housing allowances of Navy enlisted. The city grew rich off development fees, and really didn't care about HOW the city developed. The idea of modeling Paris is admirable, but doomed to disappointment. First, the French value style as much as content. The Golden Corral crowding populus of VB couldn't be farther from that value system. Second, it is density that gives the boulevards of Paris the vibrancy that makes them. Paris' density is right at 25K/Km2. VB's is around 661/km2. I don't see, at least in my lifetime, the people that are attracted to VB, willing to live in that level of density, even if it is in a small area around TC. You have to be willing to live in flats, in four to six story buildings, to get to that density. The third problem is that VB doesn't have the infrastructure that would support that density. Start with parks -- nothing like Luxembourg Gardens or Bois de Boulogne. Might be possible to make Mt. Trashmore into VB's Luxembourg Gardens -- it is twice the size. Need to have easier access from TC, across 264, for starters. Need to have LR extended to VB. Then you can get to the style vs. content mindset.......

yea, where is Baron Haussmann when we need him? I think we talked about this very subject back in January: Problem is making it happen in VB