Green City

[BaNgMyPrOgRaM]

I'm sorry. I grew up in Glen Allen, and the city for years. Haven't been back in 25 years. No trolley.

 

[G-Man]

The developers say they will pay but the deadline is tomorrow. We shall soon find out the (official) fate of this project.

Hopefully, Henrico has enough legally in their favor to abort with the committed developer and go in another direction quickly.

The County Manager’s statement made it sound like they were ready turn the page and done with the lack of progress and embarrassment that it has caused the county.

 

[share the ball]

Hopefully, Henrico has enough legally in their favor to abort with the committed developer and go in another direction quickly.

The County Manager’s statement made it sound like they were ready turn the page and done with the lack of progress and embarrassment that it has caused the county.

problem often becomes the process for identifying and hiring a new developer - govt entities usually have to follow competitive bidding process unless it is deemed an emergency (which I doubt can be justified) -

perhaps a two year setback on top of the current setback if the developer is replaced (but then again the local baseball project took 10 yeara to get to the finish line)

just not easy becasue of the multi million dollar annual subsidies these projects require from localities (whether outright cash, infrastructure improvements, or dedicated real estate taxes from the locality)

arenas and ballparks are wonderful community amenties when they exist but it always comes down to how big the subsidy

 

[G-Man]

Not true.

I think the reverse is true. You're open to any and all ideas except downtown because of your distain for the City of Richmond's leadership. I get it. For me I'm not addressing anything involving politics. I'm strictly focusing on the best, the most sensible location and keeping emotions out of it, period.

When you have to go to such lengths to try to make something work (i.e. supporting facilities miles away from the arena), that's usually a red flag. GreenCity works because the plan was the build a mini city surrounding the arena (hence the name GreenCity). Without the city part, a stand alone arena is not the way to go in that location.

What gives you confidence that the city could get an arena done? I cannot think of anything of this magnitude that they’ve been able to lead. They’ve got bigger challenges and needs related to infrastructure, schools, etc.

As it relates to the county’s plan, I agree that other things are needed near a new arena. The county should focus on getting the arena built and financed, and open up the surrounding development to multiple developers, while allowing for some flexibility without having to follow a rigid pre-set master plan. If the arena gets momentum, the rest will fall into place…probably quickly at that.

 

[Mistachill]

What gives you confidence that the city could get an arena done? I cannot think of anything of this magnitude that they’ve been able to lead. They’ve got bigger challenges and needs related to infrastructure, schools, etc.

As it relates to the county’s plan, I agree that other things are needed near a new arena. The county should focus on getting the arena built and financed, and open up the surrounding development to multiple developers, while allowing for some flexibility without having to follow a rigid pre-set master plan. If the arena gets momentum, the rest will fall into place…probably quickly at that.

Once again...I am only discussing LOCATION. The closest thing I said to anything regarding the City of Richmond government is they have a new administration. That's it. I NEVER said a word about having confidence in the City of Richmond (or even Henrico now that the developer bailed).

Regarding challenges, as I've said before, if the city waited until their school issues were solved nothing would ever get built. The schools will ALWAYS need more money. You don't think Henrico also needs more money for their schools? You think DC needed more money for their schools when the Capital One Arena was built? More money for schools is the most convenient talking point to block anything from ever getting built.

Finally, everything you would be hoping a new stand alone arena on the current Henrico site would attract is pretty much already in place at the Coliseum site. Two major hotels within two blocks of the arena, restaurants within walking distance, parking within walking distance, public transportation within walking distance, a dense growing population of people living downtown and in Shockoe Bottom, a Convention Center across the street which greatly enhances the amount and level of big events we could attract. The Henrico site currently has none of this.

Of course the wild card (and this is a huge wild card) is the inept City of Richmond government. Like I said previously, with a new administration, who knows? Things could change. History says it likely won't, but you never know.

 

[Mistachill]

You should come up to the VCC area on a weekend. The amount of traffic and people in the area is noticeably different than it was a year ago. The hotel parking lots in the VCC area, Bass Pro area, Ashland are packed It takes all of about 5 minutes to get from Parham to VCC. The route 1 corridor is becoming prime commercial real estate. Parham to 301 is also primed for expansion. I feel they got it right, redeveloping northern Henrico.

...and it's all 4-5 miles away from the arena site. I am familiar with the area.

 

[G-Man]

Once again...I am only discussing LOCATION. The closest thing I said to anything regarding the City of Richmond government is they have a new administration. That's it. I NEVER said a word about having confidence in the City of Richmond (or even Henrico now that the developer bailed).

Regarding challenges, as I've said before, if the city waited until their school issues were solved nothing would ever get built. The schools will ALWAYS need more money. You don't think Henrico also needs more money for their schools? You think DC needed more money for their schools when the Capital One Arena was built? More money for schools is the most convenient talking point to block anything from ever getting built.

Finally, everything you would be hoping a new stand alone arena in current Henrico site would attract is pretty much already in place at the Coliseum site. Two major hotels within two blocks of the arena, restaurants within walking distance, parking within walking distance, public transportation within walking distance, a dense growing population of people living downtown and Shockoe Bottom, Convention Center across the street which greatly enhances the amount and level of big events we could attract. The Henrico site currently has none of this.

Of course the wild card (and this is a huge wild card) is the inept City of Richmond government. Like I said previously, with a new administration, who knows? Things could change. History says it likely won't, but you never know.

Okay. I hear you. I don’t pretend to know how these things get done in other cities our size, but perhaps it’s the regional cooperation that is missing. I imagine others may feel differently, but if my taxes went up a small amount to support a stadium or arena being built that is central to everyone, I would support this.

 

[valley ram]

early on they had a few concerts but fights emerged after one and Trani said no more!!!!! life changes imo

you would think like Old Dominion does at Chartway Arena on campus VCU could emulate and make a little money

I don’t remember a fight after the James Taylor concert!

 

[VRam]

Sounds about right for Trani.

Maybe that's another Trani-era change that needs to be undone.

I went to an event in Miami that Trani hosted. It was right after we joined the CAA. He was thrilled. I wanted to throw up.

 

[Ramlove81]

I saw the Grateful Dead at the Scope. When they played Drums-Space there was such reverb there that my pant legs were literally moving in response to sound waves coming from the Drums solo....they had 2 drummers and an entire wall of drums. You could literally feel the sound of the drums. Was pretty cool.....and I wasn't even high!

I thought it was illegal not to be high at a Dead concert. But yeah the sound bounced off the walls at Scope back then, you heard a lot of stuff two or three times.

 

[Mistachill]

I went to an event in Miami that Trani hosted. It was right after we joined the CAA. He was thrilled. I wanted to throw up.

Well, what else could he do? He had to try and put lipstick on a pig at that point.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

The interesting thing about that is that the old Siegel Center website actually promoted it as a concert venue, complete with seating charts.

They used to have concerts at the Stu. I've seen Maroon 5, Fountains of Wayne and Bruce Hornsby at the Stu. The problem with the Stu is it's too small for many concerts and too big for others. It also makes no sense to have concerts at the Stu when you have the Altria Center 5 blocks away, with much better acoustics. I also think posters would be surprised how oftern VCU actually uses the Stu.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

And this is an arena in 23rd largest city in Virginia with an airport I wouldn't consider to be major.

Back in the day a lot of acts bypassed Richmond because the Coliseum was a crap facility. I think a top flight arena in this region would attract a lot of events.

The Coliseum hosted a ton of big name concerts in the '70's. The Coliseum did not lose concerts because of the state of the facility. It lost concerts due to it's size. Lots of concerts started to bypass Richmond once larger arenas were built in DC, Charlottesville and even Raliegh. Richmond also lost concerts when 20,000+ outdoor venues were built in Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

Once again...I am only discussing LOCATION. The closest thing I said to anything regarding the City of Richmond government is they have a new administration. That's it. I NEVER said a word about having confidence in the City of Richmond (or even Henrico now that the developer bailed).

Regarding challenges, as I've said before, if the city waited until their school issues were solved nothing would ever get built. The schools will ALWAYS need more money. You don't think Henrico also needs more money for their schools? You think DC needed more money for their schools when the Capital One Arena was built? More money for schools is the most convenient talking point to block anything from ever getting built.

Finally, everything you would be hoping a new stand alone arena on the current Henrico site would attract is pretty much already in place at the Coliseum site. Two major hotels within two blocks of the arena, restaurants within walking distance, parking within walking distance, public transportation within walking distance, a dense growing population of people living downtown and in Shockoe Bottom, a Convention Center across the street which greatly enhances the amount and level of big events we could attract. The Henrico site currently has none of this.

Of course the wild card (and this is a huge wild card) is the inept City of Richmond government. Like I said previously, with a new administration, who knows? Things could change. History says it likely won't, but you never know.

Some comments:

First, you want to leave politics/government out of the eqation. That simple cannot be done. The City of Richmond has dropped the ball on way too many private ventures over the years. They have proven they are not capable of managing a project of this magnitude. If it wasn't for State government and VCU, downtown Richmond would probably be a ghost town.

Regarding your statement that the City of Richmond has pretty much everything in place that Green City would have to build is absolutely incorrect. VCC has numerous hotels already built and are currently building more. Regarding restaurants within walking distance of the Coliseum, there aren't as many as you would like posters to think there are. And then there is the crime/homeless factor. Within the last two weeks someone was killed in front of the VCU police precinct, which is three blocks from the Coliseum. People are not going to go downtown to the Coliseum area to dine when there is nothing going on at the arena with the existing list of restaurants in the area.

At the end of the day, a metropolitan area is going to support an arena based on what that arena draws, regardless of what is within walking distance of the arena. Restaurants/bars capitalize off of the drawing ability of the arena regardless of location. Also, hotels are nice, but what percentage of people attending single day events are going to stay overnight?

If Green City comes to fruition and The Crossings golf course is renovated, you are going to have a 17,000 seat arena, championship golf course and and entertainment and sports complex within a 5 mile radius of each other. All three are going to compliment each other and make the area a sports and entertainment destination. The City of Richmond can't come close to replicating that. And yes, the restaurants/bars/hotels will all piggy back off of the increased tourism. And don't rule out shuttle service to the venues from various destinations within that 5 mile radius.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

Okay. I hear you. I don’t pretend to know how these things get done in other cities our size, but perhaps it’s the regional cooperation that is missing. I imagine others may feel differently, but if my taxes went up a small amount to support a stadium or arena being built that is central to everyone, I would support this.

Regional cooperation is not a new topic to the metro area. Unfortunately, the counties got tired of dealing with the City of Richmond and pulled out. The City of Richmond has not done anything to give the surrounding counties any type of comfort level to re-establish any type of regional cooperation. The City of Richmond has no one else to blame except themselves for being left to fend for themselves when it comes to large projects that probably require regional cooperation.