New Richmond Arena

[RVAbigdawg]

Unbelievable. 

[eandslee]

I’m done here. 

[marinog711]

Edited February 11, 2020 by marinog711

[wrldcoupe4]

4 minutes ago, Hike said:

It will be interesting to see, if like some are saying, that this end of Navy Hill will actually be a new beginning, that now we'll get the new RFPs for the next development, people powered developments,  we'll see,  we'll see.

Does city council issue RFPs for development? 

[georgeglass]

I liked Newbile's comments. "Tired is not an excuse."

It's over now, but 5 of them skirted the process. It's clear Reva Trammell hates Stoney, but to her point...he should have been there. It seems like council has just turned their back on the business community. That said, there were several people from the social service community that spoke in support. 

I also find it interesting that so much is made of race and class in this debate... but there is only 1 minority in the group of 5 and only 1 white in the group of 4.

[DalWill]

Well,  y'all can see those 5 out in Nov, I guess.

[Icetera]

42 minutes ago, DalWill said:

Well,  y'all can see those 5 out in Nov, I guess.

Unfortunately one of the 4 is getting a casino while the other huge anti has the Diamond...

 

Also, ads on here are now centered around "aim for singles in your area".  Sigh...

Edited February 11, 2020 by Icetera

[vdogg]

2 hours ago, Hike said:

I didn't go, watching on TV,  missed most of the opposition, was it all younger VCU students opposing, that's all I saw towards the end.

Why would a bunch of VCU students be against the project?

[Icetera]

23 minutes ago, vdogg said:

Why would a bunch of VCU students be against the project?

They all buy into the Richmond Schools propaganda, which is used to kill everything in Richmond.  I sat with mostly this crowd and they laughed everytime someone brought up details that they clearly had no clue about.  When a councilman brought up the fact that all of the new renovations in Scott's Addition were generating no tax revenue for the city for ten years, they all got upset as if insulted in a way that showed that they were the likely residents in that area.  Misinformation has been astounding throughout this process.  I would love to know how all of them acquired pro-RPS scarves and other gear.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Icetera

[Icetera]

Ugh, this is the first time I have ever felt embarrassed to be a Richmonder.  The most optimistic thing to come out of the opposition was Lynch saying this is a way to move forward with new proposals.  At best, that means another 3 years for anything to start, at which point it would likely be too late.  Realistically we are going to see the city center rot while tax exempt housing fills out Scott's Addition and continues to evict Church Hill and Northside residents.  Combined with state bills, Costar has zero incentive to remain so NC-bound sounds likely.  Dominion will raze the old tower in order to only have to pay for undeveloped property taxes.  Dominion may be thought of as a local utility but they are all over the nation.  At worst, they would have been siphoning from other locales for Richmond gain.  MCV will still expand but with the State buying the land, so zero taxes.  All the groups complaining about homelessness will sure as hell see no help now with nothing to leverage.  I did, however, like the idea to open up the Coliseum as it serves not other purpose for the foreseeable future.  After Kim's corrupt shenanigans I may actively fight anything in her district, meaning the Diamond.  After all, if we do not need a multiuse arena, transfer plaza, music hall, housing, offices, etc., because schools, then we definitely do not need a single use ballpark, because schools.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Icetera

[DalWill]

59 minutes ago, Icetera said:

Ugh, this is the first time I have ever felt embarrassed to be a Richmonder.  The most optimistic thing to come out of the opposition was Lynch saying this is a way to move forward with new proposals.  At best, that means another 3 years for anything to start, at which point it would likely be too late.  Realistically we are going to see the city center rot while tax exempt housing fills out Scott's Addition and continues to evict Church Hill and Northside residents.  Combined with state bills, Costar has zero incentive to remain so NC-bound sounds likely.  Dominion will raze the old tower in order to only have to pay for undeveloped property taxes.  Dominion may be thought of as a local utility but they are all over the nation.  At worst, they would have been siphoning from other locales for Richmond gain.  MCV will still expand but with the State buying the land, so zero taxes.  All the groups complaining about homelessness will sure as hell see no help now with nothing to leverage.  I did, however, like the idea to open up the Coliseum as it serves not other purpose for the foreseeable future.  After Kim's corrupt shenanigans I may actively fight anything in her district, meaning the Diamond.  After all, if we do not need a multiuse arena, transfer plaza, music hall, housing, offices, etc., because schools, then we definitely do not need a single use ballpark, because schools.

You are PETTTTTTYYYYYYY!!!!! And I here for it!

[Ward Wood]

Best path forward? Raze the coliseum and build it anew next to the diamond. 

[Virginian11]

I’m going to be redundant, but I feel so crummy this morning after last night’s debacle, I have to do my own (granted repetitive) venting...
 

Much like you all, I’ve meticulously followed each and every  update/progression of this project.  It has been years in the making - what a roller coaster.  After watching last night, I’m appalled that the overarching theme/argument against from city council was “fatigue”.  Such an outlandish comment made It awkwardly apparent that 5 council members were bound together in unwavering solidarity by any means possible.  Best they could come up with was “I’m too tired” and “why would we swing for the fences”?  

Could it be any more painfully obvious that the now infamous 5 were truly bent with personal agendas? I hear rumblings of such personal/petty decision making in the city, but after the travesty I saw last night, I’m floored and embarrassed at how accurate such concerns seem to be.

The arguments in support were wonderfully articulated, for the most part. Otherworldly ridiculous that they were not enough to even grant the project its true due diligence.  Richmond wasn’t given its fair process because of “fatigue”.  Let the sink in.  

Edited February 11, 2020 by Virginian11

[DalWill]

9 hours ago, Icetera said:

Unfortunately one of the 4 is getting a casino while the other huge anti has the Diamond...

 

Also, ads on here are now centered around "aim for singles in your area".  Sigh...

So? It took her 13-14 whole years for new development in her area while Stoney was able to get a surplus  of 19.5 mill for the city within 3-4 years of his term as mayor with 3 schools breaking ground. Also, the last man who spoke about the education reform was totally needed kill the "schools" arguement.

 

[Icetera]

Realizing back to the VCU students, for them it was more about being against Dominion Energy, as is currently trendy.  Had it been a different backer things may have gone another way.  Does seem funny that they are basically in the same boat as suburban conservatives.

I disagree with moving the Arena to Boulevard as the current location allows for synergy with the Convention center and the hotels and parking currently existing around these developments.  Rather than spread these out we can better build up the existing fabric.  The unlike the others, the Diamond is not going to be bringing in many visitors from outside that will need lodging, though obviously parking will still be essential.  Both areas can utilize office and residential full usability of the parking without needed excess.

Regardless of the logical arguments, I also now am definitely tempted to use Kim's tactic against her until she is gone.  For the schools!

[vdogg]

We need to do a better job of explaining the process and why things costs what they do. A lot of the animosity towards Dominion is due to a basic misunderstanding of what it takes to keep the lights on in this state. It’s hard to break down complex engineering concepts into sound bites. The push for renewables is commendable (and something I assume most VCU students are for), but that push results in added costs. People see a big nefarious corporation, but that corporation is made up of human beings that don’t want to pay anymore for their electric bill than the public (there is NO discount for Dominion employees). A lot of misinformation out there that needs to be addressed.

[marinog711]

So does this mean Beyoncé is not coming ?

[Icetera]

37 minutes ago, vdogg said:

We need to do a better job of explaining the process and why things costs what they do. A lot of the animosity towards Dominion is due to a basic misunderstanding of what it takes to keep the lights on in this state. It’s hard to break down complex engineering concepts into sound bites. The push for renewables is commendable (and something I assume most VCU students are for), but that push results in added costs. People see a big nefarious corporation, but that corporation is made up of human beings that don’t want to pay anymore for their electric bill than the public (there is NO discount for Dominion employees). A lot of misinformation out there that needs to be addressed.

The other misunderstanding is thinking that it is just VA resident's money.  Dominion Energy runs utilities and other businesses all across the country.  This would have invested money from elsewhere into Richmond.  By killing this, utilities are not going to get cheaper and schools are not going to see any more revenue.

A few things I did learn out of this:

1.  Most of that organic development we have been excited about (historic renovations) does generate taxes for the city for ten years.  This includes a lot of homes that are pushing current taxpaying residents out.

2.  Part of the $300 million was to pay off existing debts caused by the area sitting idle.  Either way, we have to pay that while continuing to rack up more debt.   I need to dig in deeper to find those numbers.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Icetera

[rjp212]

10 minutes ago, Icetera said:

The other misunderstanding is thinking that it is just VA resident's money.  Dominion Energy runs utilities and other businesses all across the country.  This would have invested money from elsewhere into Richmond.  By killing this, utilities are not going to get cheaper and schools are not going to see any more revenue.

Agreed.  Dominion is the 7th largest utility provider in the world!

source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022516/worlds-top-10-utility-companies.asp

Edited February 11, 2020 by rjp212

[Urbs42]

3 hours ago, Ward Wood said:

Best path forward? Raze the coliseum and build it anew next to the diamond. 

I like this idea. More space, better infrastructure and less problematic in terms of having "dead" blocks here when events aren't taking place as opposed to downtown.   

[wrldcoupe4]

When does Kim Gray announce she is running for mayor?

[marinog711]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

When does Kim Gray announce she is running for mayor?

She will be too tired to run!!

[Icetera]

17 minutes ago, marinog711 said:

She will be too tired to run!!

You owe me the coffee I just spit out!

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Historic, frustrating moment. 

I'm now more worried about CoStar than anything else actually 

[Virginian11]

25 minutes ago, RVA-Is-The-Best said:

Historic, frustrating moment. 

I'm now more worried about CoStar than anything else actually 

Indeed.  Here’s hoping RVA gets a mulligan and we can continue the upward momentum with a costar based infill project elsewhere downtown (maybe a double??). 

Edited February 11, 2020 by Virginian11