vaceltic

Dominion is hanging onto that property for the tax write-off. It’s unlikely they sell it soon because they can stretch the demo cost of the land out over years. That’s also why they proposed that ridiculous green EV parking lot - for the green energy tax credits and count it as a share of their green energy offset for traditional power generation (Nat gas, coal power, etc). The company itself is in a tenuous financial state. The stock has lost over 1/4 of its value over the past two years. I don’t see them doing anything with that property to assist the city in its redevelopment, they are going to do whatever it takes to help themselves financially first. Remember when they promised that twin tower was going to pay a load of tax revenue for the Navy Hill costs? They sure got a lot of you with that whopper!

IMO (and to use a baseball analogy to tie this thread back to the Diamond District ) you hit singles. OVER and OVER and OVER again. You don’t take giant power swings at the ball - you’ll whiff every time. I think a huge reason why Co-Star is building a downtown tower is because they’ve had 10 years to establish themselves here and build from a smaller workforce into a very successful research center. It would be insane for CoStar to try and uproot all that talent built up to another place and think they’ll be as successful or believe that people would move with them. The EDA should increase incentives for smaller companies or start-ups to grow, relocate, or develop here. Because it’s not dumping ALL its eggs in one or two baskets, there’s lots more money to go around to foster different kinds of economic sectors. Some businesses will work out but probably many of them won’t. Then, you further grow those successful smaller wins into bigger ones with additional incentives. The EDA’s FY2023 Annual Report is very well done! It even highlights a lot of the smaller successes i hope so see more of. https://www.richmondeda.com/fy2023/

Wrt to Charlotte, I just don’t find the place or its downtown that appealing. It’s a bunch of bankers walking between 1980s and 1990s office buildings in a very tall office park. Whoop-di-do. Also, have you been through the CLT airport? It has one of the worst layouts ever to transit between terminals. It’s completely overcrowded for its size and there is carpet on the floor. CARPET! Have you ever frantically dragged a roller bag across CARPET in an airport rushing to your connecting flight?! is Charlotte bigger? Yes. Is it better? Meh. Every time I’ve been there to visit or pass through, it doesn’t leave me with a great impression. It can be dressed up with gleaming, tall office buildings and new stadiums, but it’s still not starting from much. I’m sure that’s perfectly fine for a lot of folks, but I am not envious of Charlotte having more population and economic activity when the place in general is just MEH.

I guess I just don’t care what Charlotte, Austin, Nashville, Raleigh, etc. ARE doing. You seem to. Richmond is growing. Richmond is thriving. And yes it still has ALOT of challenges to overcome even with anll the transformation that’s occurred. That’s all I care about.

Calm down. In the 20 years I’ve lived here, Richmond has changed DRASTICALLY! I think mostly for the better: 1) Manchester is rapidly becoming a real neighborhood again. 2) Scott’s Addition has completely transformed from industrial to a trendy entertainment district. 3) Shockoe Bottom is becoming more dense, as well as the Monroe Park area and midtown 4) Co-Star is building a 20+ riverfront tower (despite the city’s Navy Hill efforts to squeeze them into the other side of downtown) 5) Riverfront Amphitheater 6) Expanding the James River Park System and connecting pedestrian bridge, capital trail 7) BRT anyone?! Rocketts Landing is now a place (mostly Henrico side though?) 9) Sauer Center Phase 1 underway The transformation here has been nothing short of awesome to grow along with. “Other cities” are envious of the urbanization and walkability Richmond already has for its size.

Just wait for the City Center convention center hotel scheme to release. I predict we will see history repeating itself again. Untransparent attendance figures for the convention center itself to justify the need for the hotel’s size. Wildly optimistic occupancy projections for the proposed hotel’s success. Lots of debt placed onto the city’s debt limit to make it happen. This happens over and over again from city to city, as it’s the only way convention hotels get built. They get built on lies Save Las Vegas and Orlando, these are not financial successes. But the politicians will lead you believe they will be.

I’m appreciative of Jon Balliles’ thorough explanation of all the changes with this development scheme. FWIW, Balilles worked in the Richmond planning department, was on city council, and started out as an advisor to Stoney’s first mayoral administration. So I don’t think what he’s presenting is some subjective, emotional opinion piece for or against keeping a sports team in Richmond. That being said, he is being critical of all of the changes against all of the publicized statements up until now. The financing. The execution schedule. Even the winning development team has significantly changed from what was selected out of the RFP process. I just come back to thinking about all that time and money completely wasted on the grossly flawed Navy Hill plan the first go-around. We’d already have a new baseball stadium AND city center’s redevelopment would’ve long been underway by this point.

Dulles over RDU any day of the week, especially these days. Technically, we don't need to drive to get to Dulles from Richmond anymore. You can hop on an Amtrak train and then Metro there. That’s huge for returning international flights and fighting the jet lag that comes with them.

The opinion article below perfectly encapsulates a more nuanced explanation as to why voting no is a salient argument that is not based on the trigger-happy excuse of class or race. If anything, Cathy Hughes, the second richest African-American woman behind Oprah, exposed herself as the patronizing, classist, and racist one when she did not get her way in a community she ultimately could care less about. https://rvamag.com/politics/editorial-opinion/who-are-we-becoming-reclaiming-a-radical-vision-and-solidarity-of-economic-freedom-to-counter-a-divisive-casino-campaign.html

I understand the passion my friend. I am very pro- transit, pro density, and pro development! Time will tell what RFP responses come in and what proposals the city will get to work with.

This is an argument every city with a convention center has pitched to THEM. It’s not a statement of fact made by planners, but by local political business boosters and their hired convention center consultants, who have a miserable track record of hotel occupancy projections, profitability, and convention center attendance projections after the fact. If you look at Appendix D of the RFI, it explains the two likely scenarios to develop the hotel will only happen with a certain requirement attached - public subsidy. What I fear and predict (and truly hopefully wrong about), is that we will be witnessing Navy Hill 2.0 process play out. What I don’t like is that the remaining City Center area will be held up by that process, because the HQ hotel is required to come first.

I have some concerns about how the city has decided to phase this project and issue the RFP. Is a 500-room HQ hotel in Phase 1 realistic to expect a private development response for? The city has been wanting one ever since the GRCC opened in the 90s. What’s changed now? Higher construction costs, financing costs, and a hotel industry reeling from the pandemic. For comparison’s sake, Virginia Beach is looking for a smaller, 400-room HQ hotel next to its near-oceanfront convention center. A 2018 market study was done there showing attendance figure comparisons for the VBCC (twice the attendance of GRCC) and hotel competition in the region. There are a few existing hotels in all of Hampton Roads that near ~400 rooms, but that’s it. Virginia Beach has not made any headway on their project, despite what I would think would be a greater draw for large conventions (the beach). I posted figures comparison the VB convention center to GRCC and hotel availability. Don’t get me wrong, I hope all of City Center is redeveloped densely and in a manner that makes a new dynamic neighborhood for everyone to enjoy. I question the motive/rationale for underpinning Navy Hill’s phased redevelopment on a massive “want” (the HQ hotel is a want, not need) at the beginning of the effort that seems totally unrealistic to me at the present time.

I think the “overcrowding” argument is a red herring for folks that bought expensive condos nearby (perhaps in a short, two-story grey brick building?).

If Richmond wants to maximize development potential and mass transit, a Route 1 N-S corridor makes the most sense to me - most potential for infill residential density and connections to job centers in the south. Hull Street maybe secondary to tap redevelopment of Southside Plaza. I'd be curious to see a concept that successfully integrates BRT traffic with POVs along the stretch of hull between Commerce and the riverfront.

I’m interpreting the slides to mean demolition of the existing building where the new tower is going starting in 2022 before tower construction begins. One slide mentions selling the Monroe Building.