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New Richmond Arena


eandslee

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Brent - couple things.

You are incorrect on Moxy.

Unless something changed there is a hotel commitment for a major hotel flag. Also - Everything I hear from industry folks is that there is still strong demand in our market. In fact, I know several brands that are actively seeking sites in downtown Richmond.

The DC AFL owner has said they will be adding a team in Richmond. I suspect minor league interest in other sports will follow with clarity on the situation. 

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Stoney endorses $1.4 billion Richmond Coliseum redevelopment proposal

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At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Stoney touted the various moving parts of the massive proposal to build a new arena, 2,800 apartments, 680 affordable housing unites, a hotel, a transfer station for GRTC riders and other amenities in a roughly 10-block area north of Broad Street.

That's almost 3,500 residential units plus the hotel.  That could add 4-5k people in that area which would light that section of Broad on fire! That's a lot of new customers. Is it Christmas yet?

Edited by RiverYuppy
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1 hour ago, eandslee said:

The Mayor just held a press conference endorsing the $1.4 billion new arena and housing project. 

A link to the video of the Mayor’s endorsement here:

https://wtvr.com/2018/11/01/new-richmond-coliseum-plan/

I’m excited about this and see this as a win-win for everyone!  It’s time for Richmond to grow up, step up, and meet its potential!

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14 minutes ago, cbl1 said:

Let the flood of complaining commence - "What about the schools" !!!!

Project is pretty amazing with a lot of private funds pouring into Richmond.

At this point, I don't think anything short of converting all the schools into boarding schools is going to move the needle.  You can't undo 16 hours of terrible home life  with 8 hours of instruction.  

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So still no new news on the Navy Hill /arena project.  He’s just trying to get us excited about what could be.  Nothing has been said, yet, about what will be.  

Cheerleading isn’t news. 

 

I’d be happy to be wrong.  I feel like we’d hear things like “we are very close to securing a national hotel brand for this project” if it had real momentum. 

Edited by Brent114
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I love the normal naysayers on Facebook etc saying it’s corporate welfare. 

Explain to me how the city doing tiff to only pay for the armory and coliseum they will still own and private investors ponying up over a billion dollars is somehow construed as corporate welfare.   Do peoe just like repeating the same old retoric! 

Edited by cbl1
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5 hours ago, RiverYuppy said:

Richmond BizSense covered it in detail too!

They say the hotel is going to be a Hyatt Regency hotel.

I'm glad that they would get Union Bank to manage the TIF.

It also mentioned that Union Bank is pledging $1 million to the affordable housing component and IN ADDITION will be central to a “major sponsorship,” which will cover a portion of the project’s cost, the details of which, will be announced later!  Hmmm...the Dominion/Union Arena?  Hyatt is a nice commitment too!  Seems to be coming together nicely. 

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6 hours ago, RiverYuppy said:

Richmond BizSense covered it in detail too!

They say the hotel is going to be a Hyatt Regency hotel.

I'm glad that they would get Union Bank to manage the TIF.

I'm glad that they have someone lined up for the hotel, that makes me more hopeful. 

I don't quite understand that idea of corporate welfare on this. I am a bit skeptical on the NH District and may have a slight trust issue, but without explicit knowledge of sketchy stuff there doesn't seem to be any obvious benefits to Dominion or Altria. 

I hope this doesn't turn into the stadium crap again. Either way it goes lets just make a decision and move forward. 

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It is good to see Hyatt interested.  It’s important  that money outside of Richmond flow into it before the city spends any money.  It’s dishonest to say that the city won’t be on the hook for any of the costs.  The city will forgo future taxes and will issue the bonds which may effect the credit rating of the city (increasing all debt held by the city). 

 

Its good to see that some  of the housing will be built outdude of this area too.  Who wants to bet that the housing built elsewhere will be the “workforce” housing? 

 

Food court seems weird. 

Arena  seems too big (maybe 7,000 of the seats are floor seats lol). 

 

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2 hours ago, Brent114 said:

It’s dishonest to say that the city won’t be on the hook for any of the costs.  The city will forgo future taxes and will issue the bonds which may effect the credit rating of the city (increasing all debt held by the city). 

Food court seems weird. 

 Arena  seems too big (maybe 7,000 of the seats are floor seats lol). 

  

While you're correct about the debt burden, the city does get the future taxes that are above the amount needed to service the debt AND it's pretty safe to say that this area wasn't going to be generating a lot of incremental tax revenue for at least the next 3-4 years.  You're also neglecting the fact that the city is spending $1 million/year on maintaining the current coliseum if nothing is done.

I think the arena size was chosen specifically to be above the minimum needed to host a later-round NCAA tournament game.  

 

 

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A similar proposed project is unfolding  right now in Atlanta, called The Gulch.  It proposes a TIF (in GA, its called a "Tax Allocation District") for an office/apartment/entertainment/affordable housing component and even the minority-contractor construction contract requirements.  It too, is spearheaded by a mayor and a developer and requires city council approval.  If anyone's interested in the pros or cons arguments that will likely play out here in Richmond, I'd look this one up.

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There is a huge difference between -

6th Street Marketplace - built to try to keep people and businesses from leaving the city (as they were) and try to promote the current large retailers.

Navy Hill - built because people want to come back to the city but need more housing, retail, and entertainment.

People have a hard time with those concepts.

One thing I will say that is key to all of this is crime.   Crime pushed 6th Street over the edge - people didn't feel safe.   The city is a different place then it was back then and the Richmond Police Department and City Government needs to make sure it stays that way if it wants all of these big plans to work out.   I have been very happy to tell people that I have walked around Jackson Ward and felt safe (and tremendously enjoyed that and the culture that exists in Jackson Ward) …. never would have happen in the days of the 6th Street Marketplace.  Navy Hill has the potential to bring  back Richmond to where it was mid-century - cultural center of the state.

 

 

 

 

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