Richmond meeting draws stadium skeptics

City of Richmond

“The mayor’s Shockoe Bottom ballpark proposal continues to receive mixed reviews as Richmond leaders hold multiple community meetings to explain and answer questions about the proposal. About 50 people attended one of the meetings Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, some holding signs that said, ‘No stadium, yes historic district.’

The sweeping $76 million proposal — anchored by a new home for the Richmond Flying Squirrels — is three-pronged. The baseball stadium would be accompanied by a museum and other forms of commemorating the Bottom’s slave history, along with private development including apartments, a hotel and grocery store. Opposition has recently focused on making the plan work without a ballpark, but Mayor Dwight C. Jones and developers on board with his proposal have said all three pieces of the plan are essential.”

~Writes John Ramsey of the Richmond Times Dispatch

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Hampton may give $428,000 to developer for 'science park'

Hampton

“A Raleigh, N.C.-based developer who has already sown roots here may receive a $428,000 grant to construct five office buildings in the Hampton Roads Center North campus. The mix of public dollars and private development aims to create a cluster of science-based, high-tech companies on the campus just off Magruder Boulevard, Hampton Economic Development Director Leonard Sledge said. The City Council is expected to discuss the proposal – already backed by the Economic Development Authority – during its Wednesday evening meeting.”

~Writes Robert Brauchle of the Daily Press

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Crowd skeptical of ballpark plan at public meeting

City of Richmond

“When the crowd at Tuesday night’s ballpark meeting was asked to use electronic clickers to vote on the most positive aspect of the redevelopment plan for Shockoe Bottom and the Boulevard, the top answer, at 36 percent, was none of the above. In second place, at 26 percent, was the proposed historic commemoration of the Bottom’s slave trade. The ballpark came in third, at 21 percent.

The result may have, in part, been a verdict on the limited polling format rather than the plan itself, but the vote capped off another night of questioning on the wide-ranging development proposal from a skeptical crowd of about 75.”

~Writes Graham Moomaw of the Richmond Times Dispatch

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Shockoe Ballpark Critics Offer a Different Plan

City of Richmond

“Opponents of the plan to build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom have released an alternative proposal they say would allow development to occur while substituting a memorial park for a stadium. The plan, produced by a group of opponents, is designed to allow for the addition of a hotel, grocery store, office space, apartments and a parking deck while ‘allowing the city to avoid the embarrassment of desecrating a site increasingly recognized as completely inappropriate for a ballpark.’”

~Writes Graham Moodmaw of the Richmond Times Dispatch

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Land Agreement OK’d

City of Suffolk

“A couple of big steps forward in the development of land on North Suffolk’s College Drive have taken place recently, including clearing the way for a variety of uses on the site. A land use agreement for about 444 acres owned by the city’s Economic Development Authority and the Tidewater Community College Real Estate Foundation contains language that restricts its development to defense uses supporting U.S. Joint Forces Command. Since that command no longer exists, and other changes have taken place in economic conditions in the region, more flexibility was needed, city Economic Development Director Kevin Hughes said.”

~Writes Tracy Agnew of the Suffolk News-Herald

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Martinsville's Henry Hotel gets $600,000 from State for Revitalization Project

City of Martinsville

“City leaders wanted the old Henry Hotel building to continue to serve Martinsville, but needed extra money to make it ready for builders. Local schools recognized by Virginia Board of Education

This week the governor announced a 600 thousand dollar state grant to help fix up the old Henry Hotel.

About six years ago the city bought the building for nearly a half-million dollars. The project was put on hold while city leaders looked for grants and a redevelopment firm that agreed to do the remodeling.  City leaders chose a firm from Petersburg, Virginia that plans to convert it to an apartment building.”

~Reports Justin Ward of WDBJ 7

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Va. Beach Council Seeks Developer for Ex-Dome Site

City of Virginia Beach

“The city is looking for a new developer to build a long-planned entertainment complex near the Oceanfront. Texas businessman Michael Jenkins, whom the city tapped in 2008 to build an ambitious project on the old Dome site, has not been able to come up with the money to finance it. The City Council voted Tuesday to give other people a shot at developing the prime city property between 18th and 20th streets.”

~Writes Aaron Applegate of the Virginia Pilot

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Lake Anne land Swap Approved

Fairfax County

“A land swap that some view as critical to the revitalization of Reston’s Lake Anne community is moving ahead. The Reston Association Board of Directors gave initial approval to an agreement with developer Republic Family of Companies, operating as Lake Anne Development Partners, to trade two 1-acre pieces of land.

Many Reston residents said they object to the RA giving up a heavily treed piece of land and allowing a parking garage to be built there. Fairfax County has entered into a public-private partnership with Republic to redevelop the Crescent apartments, which the county currently owns, and to complete some other improvements to the Lake Anne Plaza area.”

~Writes Kali Schumitz of the Fairfax Times

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