Wow. I can't even keep up with all the articles on the Justin French mess. For those of you who have not been following the sordid drama, here is the list of articles from Richmond BizSense (who broke the story), the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Style Weekly. They are in chronological order, as the story unfolded:
- Richmond BizSense, "Strategic Default?" June 30, 2010
- Richmond BizSense, "French's Bills Pile Up," July 9, 2010
- Richmond BizSense, "In Development Feud, Writing Is on the Wall," July 16, 2010
- Richmond BizSense, "Union First Sues Justin French," July 19, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch,"Developer Fights Bank in Takeover of Property," July 20, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Judge to Decide in Bank's Bid For Properties," July 27, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Judge Approves Receiver for Certain Justin French Properties," July 28, 2010
- Richmond BizSense, "French Saga Takes a New Twist," July 29, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Developer Loses Control of 8 Properties," July 29, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Richmond Developer at Center of Dispute," August 1, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch,"Federal Agents Raid Developer's Office," August 5,2010
- Richmond BizSense, "Feds Raid French's Office, Developer Goes Off the Radar," August 6, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Federal Agents Raid French Consulting Office," August 6, 2010
- Richmond BizSense, "I Was Not Told Why They Went In," August 6, 2010
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Architect on Two of Developer's Projects Sued," August 7, 2010
- Richmond BizSense, "Architect on French Projects Sued," August 10, 2010
- Style Weekly, "Justin French, Chapter One," August 10, 2010
- Richmond BizSense, "French Tax Credit Records Raise Red Flags," August 12, 2010
This is going to be a critical story in Richmond for a while to come, and the fallout goes well beyond Mr. French. I am already hearing stories from commercial brokers of deals falling apart because of the local banks' exposure on the French projects. I'm hearing that lenders are refusing to touch any transaction with a historic tax credit component. I'm hearing that commercial lending by the community banks in this town has ground to a screeching halt while this mess is sorted through and the banks' losses quantified.
This is very, very, VERY bad news for the City of Richmond, which has the largest number of historic properties and neighborhoods in the Greater Richmond Metropolitan area. Historic tax credits are a means to revitalize these neighborhoods, increase property values, and promote environmentally-friendly building practices. Yes, they can be abused by unscrupulous actors, but don't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch. Folks, historic tax credits are a very good thing. In my next posts, I want to explain exactly why. But until you understand how tax credits work, please don't condemn the entire program just for the bad actions of one developer and his cronies.
I'm at ground zero for the field of vacant Donald Lacey houses, I've been thinking for a while about the ongoing impact of his bad actions. Looks here like French has just upped the ante.
Posted by: john m | August 13, 2010 at 06:29 PM