The preliminary report on the financial feasibility of the Shockoe Center development has been released. Now people can read for themselves the experts' analysis of the financial projections. Here's the front page newspaper article on the subject.
The big "reveal": The consultants say the project is "highly unlikely" without City of Richmond credit support for the bonds that must be issued to finance the project. This is a sea-change from what the developers HAD been saying, which is that the project could be done without City money or City debt obligation.
I suspect the "against" crowd will jump on this financing change like a duck on a june bug. I still haven't made up my mind where I come down on the project, period. I still have significant concerns about the impact this development would have on the invaluable and irreplaceable historic resources in the area. I agree with a recent commenter to one of my other posts that the conceptual architecture is bland and not worthy of a gateway area of our City. I, for one, don't want some cr*ppy "new urbanism" development with cheap chain restaurants and lame retail.
The devil is ALWAYS in the details. But I DO commend Mayor Jones for his measured response to the report. Let's use it to really re-focus on what I think is the MAJOR issue, the issue that gets lost in the heated discussion about baseball, whether, if and where:
What is ultimately best for the entire City of Richmond and its citizens? How do we make sure we do this right the first time? There are no second chances with historic areas. Let's make sure any decisions we, the community, advocate, are reasoned, rational, and based on accurate information. Referendum, anyone?
OK, I can post links too.
http://downtownrichmond.blogspot.com/2009/05/take-me-out-to-ballpark.html
Posted by: paul_h | May 19, 2009 at 08:34 PM
Again, I would suggest that the first question should be 'what is the best use of Shockoe Bottom?'
There's a place already for a baseball stadium. How to pay for it is a whole other subject that deserves more attention.
Posted by: Scott Burger | May 19, 2009 at 01:39 PM
Here are some more articles on yesterday's developments:
The Sinker:
http://tinyurl.com/q6u3at
Mixed Signals:
http://tinyurl.com/qy8qzp
Posted by: Jason Roop | May 19, 2009 at 01:25 PM
Referendum!
To read more about how and why, go here -- http://fdhub.net/referendum-is-the-answer/
Posted by: F.T. Rea | May 19, 2009 at 01:15 PM