Highwoods walks away from Shockoe Center, Boulevard proposals

Citizens Against Virtually Everything prevail again! Well done, Richmond.

I look forward to moving to Alexandria.

Daniel, baseball team isn’t coming, at least not the one in Connecticut they (isn’t the group called Richmond Sportsbackers?) were trying to buy, turned out the so-called investors didn’t have the money to buy the team.

@Liberty – how much tax revenue is that venue currently generating? 😉

This is a terrible loss for Shockoe Bottom. $300 million in investment which would have helped add vitality and livability to an already wonderful neighborhood. The city and community really blew it on this one. Next time your wonder why your public schools don’t have more money to provide a solid education, remember that the community and city preferred a parking lot to substantial private investment which (eventually) would have led to significant tax revenue increases in the area, both by this investment in particular and by the other development it would have spurred.

Opposition to the development is not what killed the project, it was the flaws in the project itself that caused it to fail. So it turns out that they were dependent on public money to make it happen, contrary to what the supporters were saying, and which would have left Richmonders with the debt if it failed. Richmonders aren’t opposed to development, they’re opposed to getting ripped off. I say start from scratch and find something to put there that would actually benefit the city.

Also, wasn’t it something called Opening Day Partners, or something like that, who recently proposed renovating the Diamond for baseball, at a somewhat reasonable cost? Like 18 million or something like that? And didn’t Chesterfield and Henrico say they were at least looking at that, which would not put the city on the hook for so much money? That would at least satisfy these hordes of baseball fans who seem to want baseball so much.

I knew I should have stayed in Alexandria, least they live up the the “city” part.

It’s not just about baseball though – it’s about a conjuring a vibrant, diverse, and cosmopolitan downtown Richmond….

This is a setback…

The only sad part of this story is that the citizens of RIchmond will never know what a huge bullet they dodged on this proposal. The new stormwater assessment certainly gives a hint at the creative kinds of fund raising the city is capable of. I suspect we would have seen a lot more of these “special” programs if this stupid stadium project had been plopped down in the Bottom.

Now can we please return to the Boulevard, fix up the Diamond, and get on with baseball?

Magneto, the property CAN’T be developed without something like a ballpark due to the floodplain and green space requirements. More than likely you will be looking at broken-up parking lots down there for another 20 years.

“the property CAN’T be developed without something like a ballpark due to the floodplain and green space requirements.”

Where is this written in “broken-up parking lot” stone?

Given your previous statements and what we now know about what would have been the public financing in the Shockeoe Center proposal, I question your credibility, Fanboy.

I am surprised there has not been more discussion of Paul Goldman’s idea- using mass transit/high sped rail and MCV’s proximity to create a world-class hospital/medical center in Shockoe Bottom.

But regardless…

Even with the Shockoe Center proposal “dead”, the baseball stadium debate is STILL distracting Richmond citizens from other, more important priorities and issues.

Citizens must demand more from leadership and media than just the continued slugfest.

http://www.vagreenparty.org/richblog/?p=379

posted by Omelette
“Citizens Against Virtually Everything prevail again! Well done, Richmond.
I look forward to moving to Alexandria.”

Good luck and bring your wallet.

Consider “Nationals Park” in your new stomping grounds.
Local taxpayers promised pie in the sky, fleeced for 700 million dollars.
Only a year later, crowds down 27 percent and on any given day, half the seats are empty.

Case closed.

Very disappointing, but not really surprising given the current economy. Though I agree that Richmond is not the most forward thinking community when it comes to land development, I think that the current economy and the difficult bond market are more at fault here than lack of political leadership or courage.

The beauty of Shockoe Center project was that it brought a diversity of much needed development to tens of acres of blighted, empty eyesore. The opponents of the stadium were always right that stadiums never pay for themselves. The stadium was only the entertainment anchor to a coordinated private/public investment strategy that would encourage the development of the much more important housing, offices and business venues that would bring life back to Shockoe Bottom. Sure the TIF would consume of the tax revenue generated by the development for a period of time, but the hundreds, if not thousands, of new residents, workers and tourists drawn to the bottom would have brought in substantially more revenue to the City than is currently being provided by the empty parking lots (which are probably destined to remain empty parking lots for the next 10 years).

Now that the Shockoe Center proposal is dead I hope the City won’t mistake support for creating an interesting, mixed-use neighborhood in a currently desolate wasteland with a demand to waste money fixing up a 40 year old, over-capacity, crumbling stadium that has not in 40 years encouraged any beneficial development in its vicinity (please don’t try to say that the development of Movieland or Strong Hill had anything to do with the Diamond). There are a million other things that the City needs to spend tax payer money on other than fiximg up the Diamond b/c I am pretty darn sure that the new development propsed by Opening Day Partners for the area adjacent to the stadium (bumper boats and a skate park – yep that’s it) is going to increase the City’s coffers by about zero dollars.

With the official collapse of the Shockoe Center proposal I will be curious to see if the proposed apartment/condos on Broad and 20th and 18th and Marshall proceed with any great haste.

The Diamond was completed circa 1985 and is not 40 years old. In its time, it won numerous design awards and was the premier AAA baseball stadium in the country.

It was held up as an example for all stadiums to follow. The newer stadiums leapfrogged over the Diamond in amenities and had soaring costs. I believe I read the Diamond cost less than $15 million to build. Compare that to today’s stadium.

Any building requires maintenance. The Diamond saw very little and even fewer upgrades

Ramzi, what other development provides for greenspace, an elevated structure, AND provides accessiblity for the required emergency access as the baseball concourse did?

I will believe you if you can come with a major proposal that meets those requirements. No one has yet.

The problem with a park on this location is that the current parking lots generate income of approximately $95,000 in annual tax revenue for the city. A public park would erase this revenue and then require city resources for upkeep. Of course, considering the lack of attention and maintenance the city devotes to its current parks, maybe a park wouldn’t cost any additional money after all.

The problem with cultural tourism, i.e. a slave museum, is that no one is interested in funding them. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124164783046593317.html

Bullwinkle in post 15 hits the nail square on the head:

“It’s not just about baseball though – it’s about a conjuring a vibrant, diverse, and cosmopolitan downtown Richmond….

This is a setback…”

Hummmm, I wonder how many of the supporters of this project who are so hot to spend millions of taxpayer dollars have attended more than a handful of games at the Diamond where they had to pay for the ticket themselves?

tvnewsbadge,

Sort of like the $50 million we spent on the train station that no one rides?

I think it is the same people.

Someone up there mentioned that baseball would not be coming because the bid to buy the team failed. This is not accurate.

The EL president has made numerous proclamations that an EL team would play in Richmond next season, regardless of whether or not one is purchased by Bostic. Another article in the RTD said that the CURRENT owner of the Defenders was considering transferring the team to Richmond because the Norwich market is incapable of supporting a full season of minor league baseball (due to its limited population, cold weather, and regional competition).

Also, I agree with everyone who is upset that this plan to revitalize the Bottom failed. I also think that putting the counties on the line for the Diamond refurbishing is DUMB. This brings people away from the counties and generates tax dollars for the city. The only thing that would make this logical is if the city repaid the counties WITH INTEREST to essentially redistribute the taxes earned by the city until the counties’ money is repaid.

sprestonduncan, your response borders on inappropriate.

posted by Anna
“This brings people away from the counties and generates tax dollars for the city.”
You’re talking about the so-called “ripple effect”.
Actually, when it comes to sports stadiums, there are a number of studies that say that’s a myth.
The real question here is, if a baseball stadium was the cash cow the supporters claim it would be, the counties would be falling all over themselves to build it in their back yards.
The reason they are not is because they know it would be a constant drain on the treasury and their citizens will not stand for it.

I think a lot of folks are missing the point the developers made in their statement regarding the potential incompatibility of high speed rail and the proposed bus hub that would operate out of the train shed. Kudos to Michael Paul Williams for pointing this out several weekends ago in the RTD.

I think we can all agree that high speed rail at the Main Street Station opens the door for a wealth of economic opportunity, increase in real estate value, and increased opportunities for business and develpoment in the Shockoe Bottom area. What an opportunity for Richmond residents when it comes to job hunting!

How exciting to be able to live in Richmond and work in Washington DC and have a reasonable commute! What an incredible option for Richmond!

WITHOUT A DOUBT, high speed rail must be in close proximity to a city bus hub, so that all citizens of Richmond and surrounding areas benefit from the significant federal and state investment that will be required for high speed rail to become a reality.

Lets get our priorities straight here – no development in Shockoe Bottom should proceed if it is not entirely clear that it will be compatible with a major transporation hub at the Main Street Station.

So don’t get distracted by the failure of this one proposal. If high speed rail and a major bus hub come to Main Street Station, developers will be flocking to the Bottom providing us multiple opportunities to give feedback on how the current eyesore of a concrete expanse should best be utilized.

It’s amazing that people still don’t understand what a benefit the TIF financing program was to the City compared to every other proposal. Many fine things have been laid upon your table, Richmond. Stop taking a pass.

The Boulevard is still a mistake. Keep an eye out for other news…