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Awaiting renovation
11/13/2007 2:15 AM by John M
At McQuinn’s meeting last Saturday, City Assessor James Hester made the off-hand comment that every year the edge of where people are buying and renovating moves north about 1/2 a block. I went looking for that line and took some photos through Church Hill North towards Oakwood and up into Fairmount.
May i suggest/hope that this “half-block” progress moves east to 33rd. and Marshall and have someone develop the existing unused retirement home into condos…?!
There is already a lot of renovation going on at 33rd. I have lived there for 3.5+ years and it is a vast improvement. Just need to have someone start buying those renovated houses. Some have been on the market for over a year.
The more restoration and renovation the better, particularly when it comes to single- and two-family houses. The unnused retirement home is/had been schedule to go condo, but where the heck are all those cars going to park? As for renovated houses that sit empty, the’d probably sell a lot quicker if they were more appropriately priced. Some average-sized homes on Broad are selling for close to $500 or more. That’s a price point for a house on the park.
Wonderful pictures!
Chimbo Resident – good point, I happen to think that there are a lot of over priced houses up here. I assume you meant that ‘some average-sized homes on Broad are selling for close to $500 or more’ that they are ASKING close to $500,000 or more, not actually selling?!
As to condos – we don’t need more, the ones we have aren’t selling!
Give it up Celeste…. please.
Celeste…I would personally rather see a nice empty condo complex rather than a dirty boarded up empty retirement home, but that’s just my opinion.
Does anyone know what the old Blue Wheeler Laundry Mat is going to be next? The laundry mat recently closed and they have painted the exterior and some what cleaned it up.
I’ve noticed they’ve been doing a lot of work to that building as of late and am excited to see what it’s going to be. I walked by with my dogs the other evening and 2 men were on a ladder doing something to the side of the building. I’m very glad it’s not going to sit empty for as long as some of the other buildings have and hope whatever opens there works out for the people running it.
Speaking of renovations, the Church Hill Market folks said in their ad in the CHA newsletter that they are now applying for Historic Tax Credits through the Dept. of Historic Resources.
Does anyone know if applying for such credits so late in the process is typical? I mean, it’s been 2 years or so since this project started.
Hey, in terms of taking the pictures last Saturday, I was there too!
Speaking of the “Church Hill Market”…. Any talk by the management that there is anything really happening with this property is pure propaganda. The owner is simply putting up a smokescreen to keep the support of the community. Support has faded…this property is being placed on the list of blighted properties in the neighborhood. This building is in clear violation of code with the missing windows on the second floor, et al. Moreover, it is a blatent eyesore on Broad Street in Church Hill. This is a clear example of an irresponsible (insane) property owner that should be held accountable to either fix up the property or sell it. So much for grandiose and unrealistic business plans…. Let’s hope that the future owners of this site make responsible use of that special use permit!
“posted by wilhelmina at November 13, 2007 9:43 pm :
Give it up Celeste…. please.”
wilhelmina – what do you mean? Please explain, thanks.
Dave – I just realized that building on 33rd was vacant and the front door has a sheet of plywood over it. So sorry, I don’t always look at my surroundings. How long has it been vacant, do you know? I think it used to be a school, not sure, and I had a long phone conversation with someone tonight who thinks same but we could not remember when it was taken from school to assisted living home. Hope you can shed some light on it, at least when it was closed and why it was closed (as an assisted living facility), thanks.
The building was Chimborazo Elementary School until the 70’s when the new one was opened on Marshall St. It was restored in 1984-1985 as 35 apartments for the elderly. It was purchased in 2005 by a developer to turn into condos, and the last tenants were moved out in Oct, 2006. It was sold to Fulton Hill Properties in mid 2006, and there it sits. I talked with Fulton Hill Properties about it last week and they said they will probably return it to apartments at some point. Obviously, the condo market isn’t the best place to be right now.
Bill…thanks for the information, very interesting. I have only been in the “Hill” for 2 1/2 years, but i remember it being active at one point. During the warmer months it seems to be a spot for some to loiter around all day. I wish Fulton Hill Properties would address that.
I like the guys that hang on the step of the old school. By the way the call it “The Strip”. I’m not sure where they all come from, several of them drive from other areas and bring chairs and radios. They are part of the neighborhood like it or not. I happen to like it. Sometimes they are the only people outside on the whole block. I rarely see people on the front porches of the newly renovated homes just down the street on Marshall.
The guys hanging out on Marshall Street in front of that side door to the old school have been there for years. It’s kind of a tradition in the neighborhood. In warmer months they hang out in the shade at the school, and in cooler times they are across the street behind the house at 32nd and Marshall. Same goes for Tulip and Venable and across the street from the market on 25th above O Street. It’s just a neighborhood thing that has gone on for generations. They are never a crime problem and actually stabilize the neighborhood, if you can call it that.
Some more history of the school at 33rd and Marshall. If you look at the cornerstone, it is marked RPS (Richmond Public Schools) and a date of 1904. That is the year it was built-about the same time as a lot of other schools were built in the City. Bowler School, at 26th and Leigh was done at the same time, by the same architect, and with the same basic plans. I was the property manager when it was last used as a retirement home, never an assisted living facility, so I know the building very well. It would be a great apartment building, and is solid as a rock. There are parking spaces in the back and some vacant lots in the area that could be used for parking. It’s a shame that that building is now closed. It would be a cornerstone for the revitalization of that area.
I saw the back of my home in some of those pics…lol. Believe it or not, the three burned homes on 22& V, used to look a lot worse. They were doing some work, which got it to the stage it is now, but work has ceased.
I believe they were getting some sort of public assistance with the renovation. Not sure what happened to the dough.
I aboslutly love Fairmont!!
Personaly, I would ask homeowners before taking pictures of their house. Just a respect thing. My neighbor wasnt to happy about her home being: (a) photoed (b) placed on the net. She said she wouldnt have cared, but just would have rather have been asked first.
Would hate for you to be snapping a shot and someone walks out and then theres a problem.
Personaly, I would ask homeowners before taking pictures of their house.
I always ask before I take pictures inside. 🙂
Seriously though, check out local.live.com or Google Earth. It’s all online already.
Dave… It looks like the Blue Wheeler Laundromat (a.k.a Heavenly Suds Washeteria) has been converted into a church.
As a home owner at N 32nd and Marshall, I cannot speak as fondly of the people that hang out on Marshall in front of the old Chimbo school as Mr. Hartsock. Maybe they could come over to sit in his back yard for a few weeks – or months?? I can curse with the best of them, believe me. But it really grates on your last nerve when you are trying to spend a quiet Sat or Sun at home after working all week and hear screaming curses over many hours like they are sitting in your back yard. Or if you are home sick. Not pleasant. It is worse when they are drinking, which they are more often than not. I knew they were there when I bought the house, but I thought they were gathering to be social and talk, and that I would not mind. I do very much mind the yelling and cursing, as well as the drinking on street and everything that goes along with it (don’t get me started on the details – it just gets gross). They’ve moved as the renovations have come further down Marshall but they are really hanging around the Blue Wheeler for the purposes of obtaining alcohol. I am sorry to hear the Chimbo school will be developed as apartments rather than condos. I had hoped for more home owners in the the area.
I am also a home owner at 32nd and Marshall, I have been here for over 3 years, and have seen the neighborhood change from one of Richmond Police Departments top ten heroin distribution points with the blight of junkies knotting out on our porches and doing deals between our houses to its’ current state. I remember the first time I had my parents spend the night a kid walked out of the wheeler and started shooting his gun in the air, my fathers face turned white as he told me to get away from the window. I agree that the volume, language ,and just plain negativity coming from the street can be disturbing to say the least, but in comparison with 3 years ago, its a variable utopia. It is nice that they no longer sell crack pipes (or crack) out the blue wheeler, but wish they would change there inventory even further, everything they sell is still bad for you. Does anyone know whats going on with that health food store off broad? I eagerly anticipate the renovation of the old chimbo school, I noticed that the church on the corner of 32nd and broad is for sale with its adjoining lots is for sale 1.6 million.