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Massive parcel on 25th Street changes hands, includes post office building
11/30/2015 8:37 AM by John M
Rob’s comment on this recent photo of the post office building on 25th Street got me to finish digging into rumors that the parcel had been bought by developer Josh Bilder.
The city site says that the parcel was sold in April 2015 to East End Station, LLC, for $800,000. East End Station, LLC was formed in April 2015.
When I first heard rumor of the sale a little while back, I called Bilder to see if he would confirm a connection to the purchase. He said that he didn’t want to talk about it.
Digging around online, a few connections to Bilder come to light:
- The agent for East End Station, LLC (who owns the post office and parking lot) is Jennifer Mullen, who has previously represented Bilder in regard to the East End Theater project.
- East End Station’s principal office is listed as 3209 GROVE AVENUE, which belongs to Emily Sterling (Josh Bilder’s mother, who is his business partner).
— ∮∮∮ —
I bet he would of loved to gobble up Sarahfran’s too. Good CHPN CSI.
That’s it?
In my previous post about the Post office, I too mentioned hearing about the rumor about Josh buying the property. Seems like there are “indirect” connections but connections either way.
I also wrote in on this subject on August 3 to share with my neighbors the conversation that had taken place with a business owner. Unfortunately it was not deemed news worthy as it was never posted!
@s tea – I was trying to confirm the story before it posted, & I don’t think that the city property record online had been updated at that point. Very newsworthy, just trying to do some diligence.
Please not more apartments.
From a business perspective, this is a smart buy — based on the [realistic] assumption that the Post Office finally will be closed in the not too distant future and the entire parcel will be available for developing into something lucrative.
I don’t care what they put there as long as:
A) we get a replacement post office in the process, somewhere convenient and B) Whatever is built there is architecturally OUTSTANDING (by which I mean attractive and distinctive – not modern, not “traditional”, not CAR-approved-but-somehow-still-low-quality-and-inappropriate) and C) if it’s really damn big then it needs parking.
I think if those three things can happen it will be better than what’s there now. Then again, what wouldn’t be?
I understand that the service at the post office is not what most people wish it would be, but to close it to put up yet another set of apartments, however nice, would be the worst kind of gentrification. To many residents, especially the elderly and those without cars, the post office is a lifeline. To lose it to more apartments or another restaurant (and I love restaurants) would be very wrong. It would be like saying their needs and concerns don’t matter. Hopefully Mr. Bilder has a good plan that includes it. And I am with #7. I think we need a moratorium on apartments for awhile. There are so many that have gone up or are going up. We should be sure we haven’t reached a saturation point.
Trader Joes. BAM!
wish I had the finances to do it myself, but a spot similar to ArtWorks would be fantastic. Church Hills own art venue.
…or also no more apartments.
Why so many negative comments about apartments? If you want proper density to attract and sustain more great businesses in the area, if you want to create true walkable neighborhoods (where people actually walk), then more apartments in the area are needed. As long as they’re architecturally attractive and come with adequate parking.
@ East Grace – I understand your point with the need for the postal service. I’ve already stated that the current location should only close if they relocate it somewhere convenient to the current users (I.e. either on 25th street or within a few blocks)
However, I disagree with your idea of an apartment moratorium. Frankly, rents in the area have risen rapidly over the last few years (Decade, even? There was a post on this blog about this very issue not too long ago) and will only continue to go up if more apartments are not built. This would also result in gentrification. Some of this demand can be offset by restoring existing vacant buildings (Which seems less contentious), but there are only so many of those left. There’s also the risk that developers will start renovating existing buildings which are habitable but lower quality, making them into higher end apartments and exchanging lower income for higher income tenants. This would also exacerbate gentrification.
I have mixed emotions about what is happening with this block. Remember though, the old restaurant is owned by DALTONS REALTY LLC and sold to them this past May so whatever happens will have to incorporate that building into the big picture. Also remember, even before the theater the entire block was lined with houses that looked like the ones across the street so possibly, houses? At the same time, a modern building (the Post office) has been there the past 58 years so a supermarket wouldn’t be a bad thing either “except” you need plenty of parking with spaces big enough for all sized vehicles. That would mean that the restaurant building, built the same time as the East End theater and for it, would need to be razed to accommodate an open footprint.
One note, the CAR seems to have changed their “outlook” on things and the members are inaccessible unlike before. Josh Bilder is on their committee. I have not seen as much activity from them as in years past when it comes to enforcement to protect Old & Historic but for a while, they were doing the right thing rather than approving abominations like the house near 21st and Broad or other modernistic monstrosities that do not fit into the historic fabric of our neighborhoods nor follow the rules set by the National Parks covering historic properties and neighborhoods.
Please, no more high end apartments. We need affordable housing other than a one bedroom studio apartments that go for as much as a whole house, which can be too expensive for people living paycheck to paycheck and do not want to move to the projects.
As someone who has lived in multifamily buildings for more than a decade now, the apartment hate is pretty appalling. Not everyone can afford a single family house in Church Hill. Some people don’t want the extra work that comes with a yard. That doesn’t make them bad people that have a negative impact on the neighborhood. In fact most new apartment complexes have a management company that makes sure things like sidewalk snow removal are done. Which is more than I can say for some of the high-end historic single family homes in the neighborhood.
I’m also surprised by all the calls for more parking. I live an a relatively dense part of the neighborhood and I hardly ever walk more than a block to my front door. How terrible is it really to walk a couple hundred feet through our wonderful historic neighborhood? Does everyone really want more blacktop, so the neighborhood looks like short pump? Or is the idea to preserve the historic charm that reminds us of the spot where Patrick Henry parked his Lexus in front St. John’s Church?
I agree #16. As someone who has lived in more dense hoods in other cities, the whining is laughable. I’m no econ dev/urban developer, but the City of West Hollywood put some good new construction/zoning in to combat these problems. Mixed use commercial with low-income and the penthouse-in-the-sky stuff. We need density to help businesses survive. And to get that Trader Freakin’ Joes. But if anyone has been to TJs in CA or Boston, you know, all you get is 10 parking spaces. 🙂
We don’t need anymore “hip and modern” loft style apartments that cost $1200 to live in, nor do we need more condos. Apartment living is awesome, I love that so many of the larger homes have been converted into multi-family homes. But these large, boxy apartment buildings? They don’t fit in visually or functionally with the neighborhood. Let Shockoe Bottom have those.
As for the parking issue, after Bilder bought the old bread truck building and the adjacent parking lot at 24th and E. Marshall, two dozen vehicles moved out into the streets for parking. Adding to that, the multi-family homes that line the streets saw an influx of families with 2-3 cars each. The result is a much more difficult time finding parking. There are some nights where I have to park blocks from my home. And if there’s street cleaning or someone is having a party? It’s worse. And while a walk can be pleasant enough, at midnight or when I have a huge load of groceries, it isn’t comfortable to walk that distance.
What’s more, Mr. Bilder, who intends to renovate the building at 24th and E Marshall into a mixed use commercial and residential space, had previously stated he intended to use the empty lot as a parking lot for the mixed use building to reduce the impact on street parking. Now this lot is being turned into additional mixed use. The man is not good at keeping his word and will say anything to secure the permits and plots he wants–and the city is just as much to blame for that as well, for allowing him to make adjustments that maximize land use and neighborhood impact.
Are we to trust that he won’t simply take the portion of parking lot behind the post office and turn that into additional housing without parking?
…I just don’t want to start having the issues the Fan has.
JessOfRVA
I second the sentiments about parking and can only reiterate that when these houses were built, they were single family and most long before automobiles were invented.
If you take for example that one Church Hill block is approximately 360 feet not including sidewalks. The average car is about 16 feet long. That would mean that one side of one block could accommodate 22 cars bumper to bumper but people don’t park that way and can’t to get out of parallel parking. Add about 5 feet more total front and back per car to get out of a space and that reduces it to 17 cars. Now, you are not supposed to park 20 feet from the corner so that cuts off another 2 cars and now down to 15 per side tightly packed. If you have a block that has 12 to 15 houses on one side of the block then you end up with one parking space per house. And we all know that people have a habit of parking in a way that takes up 2 or 3 spaces.
Now, factor in that you have families with more than one car and houses that have been divided up multi-family and now you have another 15-20 cars without a parking space. So do not think we don’t have a parking issue in Church Hill already.
To simplify this some… a shotgun style Victorian in Church Hill has a plot width of between 20-25 feet. If the average car is 16 feet long it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that you end up with one space per house and that is the “average” size car like a Honda Accord – not including SUV’s or Pickups. Where are all of the overflow cars going to go? And i don’t like walking after dark or in the rain, especially with horrible sidewalks.
Cars are the problem. We need to think differently before cars destroy our city.
I’m more afraid of what he does to save money then what he does to “help”.
http://www.nbc12.com/story/25579976/chesterfield-familys-apartment-floor-collapses-as-son-bathed
@22 Jordan… I was wondering when this was going to come up? But take a good look at the video and tell me does the cleanliness factor has anything to do with also being respectful of the property they are renting? To me it looks like they are trashing the place. I also believe this was an ongoing issue that could have been reported long ago before it got to that point of falling in.