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City keeps Hild in limbo on sale of property
A lack of transparency in the city’s process for selling it’s own unused property has one local man in limbo. As plans for developing the old Nolde garage move forward, Michael Hild is pushing for some kind of resolution:
Michael C. Hild, founder and owner of Anderson’s Neck Oyster Company, contacted the city in September 2012 with an offer to buy the old Nolde garage building and an adjacent parking lot for $188,000. Hild, who lives in Church Hill and runs an oyster farm on the York River in King and Queen County, wanted to open a raw bar and brewpub in the building, which the city uses to store old sports equipment and decorations.
Local developer Joshua Bilder is poised to buy the property for $250,000 and turn it into apartments, commercial space and a civic area that could be used for community events. Bilder’s interest in the Nolde garage property dates back to April 2011, according to the city, and he has been working to refine his plans and build neighborhood support. Bilder’s company, Sterling Bilder, is also redeveloping the East End Theater as apartments a few blocks away.
From the linked article: “….being reserved for….” another potential purchaser? Smacks of something…unsavory, preferential, cronyism? Does one make a deposit at some unspecified location at city hall in order to have a piece of property “reserved” for exclusive purchase?
That there should be an open, orderly process for disposal of surplus real estate would be obvious anywhere else. Whatever the City thinks about the highest and best use for this property, the appearance of impropriety is the issue here. Start over.
From the linked article:
“We feel our proposed use would be a much better contribution to the neighborhood and would add a great deal more to the fabric of the city than yet another ubiquitous high-density apartment project.”
With statements like this I can’t figure out why people think there are a bunch of whiners up here. Apartments are not inherently bad. They allow an increased population that helps to support the increased number of restaurants and other food establishments up here.
Awesome! Good luck !!
oysters and beer !!!!!
Bilder’s offer is higher. Hild is sour grapes. The City should maximize its resources – if Hild got the deal at his lower offer, imagine the cries of injustice and insider dealing! Good newspaper story but case closed.
The auctioneer says:
“Can I get four and a quarter…do I hear 4-2-5. Can I get $425 thousand…Mr. Bilder, do I hear 425? Anyone, 4-2-5?”
Let’s keep the bidding going, it’s for a good cause – “purchase funds can go toward schools and other city projects in dire need of funding.” Let’s open up the bidding…and let it be transparent! We can even do it on the courthouse steps…let’s not play favorites here!
@ facebook random numbers. Your bid wasn’t higher at any time until now, today. You are trying to force the city to retrade a deal when your first offer was always lower. You are bullying the city (which is all of us who live here) and the other bidder. Looks like the sole purpose of your article was to force the retrade of the other, previously higher, deal. This is not fair play, but you are drumming up support through a transparency clarion call. Great for the city coffers I guess if you get what you want out of this, but you’ve used thug tactics, bro. The injustice you are pulling here really bothers me and it should bother everyone.
Really hoping for oysters!!!
p.s. @Postive Hits–what exactly are “thug” tactics?
Please enlighten us all LOL
Give me oysters & beer or give me death…
@ #2 – Matt is 100% on point.
I respect Mr. Bilder and his concept. Driven business people such as Mr. Bilder are often civically involved, as highlighted by his position with the CAR, leading to accusations of cronyism.
Unfortunately, the disbursal of the Citizens property is flawed. The City needs to start over.
You made a bad offer two years ago, the city took another one in the meantime, and now you are launching a PR campaign to undo the other deal a week before the council votes on it. That’s a thug tactic, friend. As is raising your offer two years later and going around saying your “offer” is more. It’s not ethical business and you should be called out on it. You’re getting more bites at the apple than any other arms-length buyer because you are manipulating public opinion and the process. That’s bad for all of us.
Do we really need more apartments/condos on the Hill? Church Hill is building a reputation for great restaurants in a residential setting; let’s keep the momentum going. An oyster bar brings yet another genre of dining to the neighborhood; would love to see it come to fruition.
I’d love to see an oyster bar at that location. Richmond needs a more casual alternative to Bookbinders and Rappahannock for seafood and oysters, similar to Awful Arthur’s restaurant. The Hard Shell is always tasty, but a location on the Hill would complement and diversify the restaurants we already have. Restaurants create parking issues, but the plethora of apartments being built without enough parking spaces is becoming more problematic. I’m glad we have folks investing in the community, but I’m being “shellfish” and thinking with my stomach!
@PositiveHits “That’s bad for all of us.” Speak for yourself.
I also agree with @Matt Conrad.
In the meantime, Metzger’s offers oysters on the half shell as an option.
Your spin on this is good, Hild. You might win. Maybe you should have made such a good offer at your first bite?
But since you’ve raised your “offer” a third or fourth time, now you are getting at least three more bites at the apple more than anyone without a spin campaign gets. Imagine if you made an offer on a house and it was accepted (like Bilder’s offer with the City in this case). You can only close on that offer a few weeks or months later (like when council approves the property sale in this case). What you are doing here would be the same as if a seller accepted your offer on a house, and then another offerer, whose original offer was bad, started screaming in the papers before you closed that their offer is now three times what yours was and they should get it, never mind that their original offer sucked to begin with. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t matter that council hasn’t approved it yet, that’s like the closing when you buy a house.
All of that said, since disruption is on trend, you get to look like an Agelasto hero when in fact you are just an unsophisiticated businessman and great story teller.
Next time, make the good offer the first time.
False equivalency–it’s not a private house that is at issue, it’s a piece of public property. We are ALL interested parties.
Bilder optioned this property YEARS ago (for parking for the theater) and it has sat…and sat…and sat…just like he took his time getting the theater project started (by waiting and waiting, and then proposing something that was so at odds with what could realistically be pulled off that it was practically a stalling tactic). This is like a 5-year long “save seat” that people are getting tired of. Give it up already.
Truth is that people don’t like him and are wary of his projects because he comes off as not being truly engaged with community feedback (unless forced to be) and frankly not very responsive to what the neighborhood wants in general.
The Hilds offer something, then, that Bilder does not. And it would be nice if the city council took that into consideration.
@ Michael Hild
Not only have you outbidden Mr. Bilder, you have now outbidden yourself…hmmm.
(Your offer) It’s gone from an insulting, low-ball bid to a waaay over-the-top, grandstanding gesture. (Uncouth.)
Micheal, you are never going to convince me that this whole thing is anything other your sour grapes from your own bungled first offer. Looks like I’m the only one who can’t be convinced, and I am a nobody, so good job again on your effective messaging.
The fact remains that Josh Bilder, for all of his good qualities as a builder, isn’t an insider inside his own house. It’s ridiculous on its face that anyone in this neighborhood who’s actually met Josh could propose in seriousness that this is some sort of insider deal.
This whole thing stinks, but not for the reasons Micheal Hild says.
Why Won’t Anyone Let Anderson’s Neck Oyster Co. Open a Brewpub/Oyster Bar in Richmond?
http://www.richmond.com/food-drink/dish/article_4d6d611c-65ef-11e4-9b3d-001a4bcf6878.html
I still believe that Bilder had his proposal in place before Hilde. And the property going to used and expanded for multiple use rather than only a restaurant/bar that may or may not be successful. I know at one time St. John’s Church was also in the mix wanting to open a museum as part of the proposal which may also hold weight?
The article referenced in #31 seems to point to all the earmarks of a Tier I city!