GRTC Bus Barn Sale - The City of Richmond as Developer? Say It Ain't So....

Oh. My. Goodness.  I go on vacation, don’t read the paper for a few days and I miss a MAJOR development in Richmond real estate.  It is confirmed that the City of Richmond and the Richmond Redevelopment Housing Authority (“RRHA”) want to buy the Greater Richmond Transit Corporation (“GRTC”) site in the Fan at Robinson and Cary.

 

Now, I did write about the rumors floating around that the City was interested, and wanted an “affordable housing” component.  But the Mayor and his staff were being coy, to say the least, and refusing to comment on the rumors.

 

Well, as of Saturday, it’s been confirmed.  An article on the front page of the Metro Section reads “GRTC Site to Be Used for Housing?” with the subtitle “Affordable Housing Now Issue as Debate Looms on Development of Property.” Talk about your understatements.  If people think the baseball debate of Boulevard vs. Bottom was a doozy, buckle your seat belts, people, we’re in for a wild ride!

 

Here’s the deal:  The City wants to buy the property at appraised value and then hold it, have a public process, and ultimately determine the highest and best use for the parcel.  Although the messages are mixed, CLEARLY, the City wants at least an affordable housing component there.  Here's the doublespeak, judge it for yourself:

 

"Personally, I don't think this would be the appropriate spot for [affordable housing]."  Elliott Harrigan, Chairman, RRHA Board of Commissioners.

"No specific plans for this site have been determined."  Tammy Hawley, Press Secretary to Mayor Jones.

"I think there could be a component for affordable housing."  T.K. Somanath, Executive Director, Better Housing Coalition.

"I asked Mayor Jones if this [the City's proposal] was going to have a low-income housing component in it, and my understanding was that it was not."  Elliott Harrigan.

"It is Mayor Jones' "administration's goal to provide high quality affordable housing within the City."  Written Proposal from the City for the Purchase of the Bus Barns.

"It is 'RRHA's mission to be the catalyst for quality affordable housing and community revitalization."  Written Proposal from the City for the Purchase of the Bus Barns.

 

The Chairman of RRHA, per the paper, met with the Mayor more than two (2) months ago about the RRHA plan to acquire the property. 

 

Let’s ignore the issue of what they plan to turn that property into if they can get their hands on it.  Here’s my big issue:  WTH?  There was a plan on the table two (2) months ago for RRHA to buy the property and the Mayor’s press secretary has been DENYING any specific plans in the paper and to the public?

 

Here’s what has been revealed:  There is a written proposal, probably a formal Letter of Intent, for the City to purchase the property for some sum of money, amortized over 20 years at a rate of 5% interest.  Apparently, the appraisal someone has prepared values the property at $4.7M and $5.4M.  [NOTE:  Dime to a donut, that appraisal was prepared by an appraisal firm hired by the City of Richmond.]   The RRHA approved the proposal in May.  GRTC, per its Chairman, learned of the proposal in mid-June.  The GRTC Board has seen, but not approved, the proposal.

 

Thanks be to whatever Higher Power you believe in, GRTC’s Board cannot accept or reject the proposal before it’s August 2009 Board meeting.

 

There is so much wrong with this situation that I cannot even begin.  That will have to wait for Blog Entry, Part II. 

Comments

[Melissa Loughridge Savenko]

Harry:

I don't disagree with the conceptual idea of what the City is trying to accomplish. I think there are two things going on: (i) they want to control the parcel; and (ii) if they can buy it for the appraised price that has been thrown around, I think they stand to make a TON of dough from the resale to the ultimate developer, because I believe - without any hard evidence, just based on gut, so it’s just one woman's personal opinion - that the parcel is worth LOTS more than the $4.7M-$5.3M numbers that have been bandied about. I bet that's an "as is" appraisal value, not an "after development" appraisal value

And Harry, I think you have highlighted the big issue: what does everyone mean when they say "affordable housing?" Any good lawyer knows if you control the DEFINITIONS in a deal, you've gone a long way to controlling the deal. I don't necessarily disagree with the idea of some sort of affordable housing component. But is that an "affordable housing component" developed by the City and/or RRHA? If it is, and that's part of the motivation for trying to purchase the parcel, to control and develop all or some part of it, THAT gives me the heebie-jeebies big time. Because, again, in my opinion, I haven't seen the City capable of doing any kind of affordable housing that IS well-designed and threaded into the surrounding neighborhood. To not put too fine a point on it, IMHO, what they've done in the past is poorly designed, poorly constructed, poorly conceived, and just plain ugly.

And good design doesn't have to be expensive. Look at the numerous architectural competitions after Hurricane Katrina for affordable and attractive housing and the winning entries. However, rather than implementing those housing options, SOME OF WHICH WERE CHEAPER, the government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to go with trailers instead. Brilliant.

The bottom line: I don't have any faith that the City and RRHA could get it right. I'd rather rely on the market and the neighborhood associations to make sure it's done well, in a historically sensitive way, with appropriate consideration of all relevant factors, like density, retail/residential mix, scale, building materials, etc. Believe me, all the alphabet soup of adjacent neighborhood associations, as well as the Council people in the 2nd and 5th District, are going to be on this like a duck on a junebug.

You only get one chance to do it RIGHT. And “right” can’t be whatever is the cheapest.

Thanks, as always, for your thoughtful comments. MLS

[Harry]

Melissa: On the other side, is not what the City trying to do is prevent a bunch of T-shirt shops and nail salons? Affordable housing isn't such a bad thing, and ought not send people for the emergency fire hatchet. I mean, we want people living in the city -- provided the residences are well-designed and threaded into the aesthetic of the surrounding community. And an affordable component is different from a housing complex. Isn' it?

[paul_h]

This is one of the best properties in the city and should be developed to it's highest use. Such a location would make a spectacular residential and retail complex anchoring the east end of the Carytown and bring some badly retail to the city. I'm tired going to Willow Lawn.