VCU Wants the City to Give It City Stadium as a "Gift" - Apparently They Are Experimenting with Hallucinogenic Drugs

Mayor Jones, don't you dare!  So VCU is interested in acquiring City Stadium and wants it as a GIFT?!?  VCU would like to be "the steward" of the property.  Hey Dwight?  I'LL be happy to be the steward of the d*mn property, if you're just going to give the thing away.  I guarantee the folks in the surrounding residential neighborhoods would like my development plan a heck of a lot more than what VCU has in mind.  Or anything else that has been proposed for the City Stadium site, for that matter.

There are so many things wrong with the entire concept I don't even know where to start.

1.  Why in the world would the City GIVE away an extremely valuable parcel of property?

2.  If the City gives City Stadium away or sells it, it loses control over the future development of that parcel.

3.  Ummm, it's not like the City of Richmond has so much extra cash lying around that a multimillion dollar property, with umpteen millions of dollars of development potential, is disposable.  Are these people smoking crack?

4. Not to mention if VCU owns the property, it will never be real estate tax producing for the City. 

5.  Just what we need, VCU expanding into yet another neighborhood, smashing and destroying to get whatever it wants.  Maybe Rao is different, but under the Trani regime it was a "give me what I want or I will crush you!" sort of approach.  If you doubt me, call up the folks from Oregon Hill, they might have some stories to share.

I'm literally sputtering.  This CANNOT happen.  Margaret Freund's idea of "Stony Point in the City" was and is God awful, but this is worse.  VCU is going to be the blob that eats the City.  My love-hate relationship with VCU has officially slipped into the at least "extreme dislike" category.

So, who is with me?    

Comments

[Scott Burger]

VCU rector Panny Rhodes recently made the case for VCU acquiring the City Stadium area by stating that the university was "landlocked". On the other hand, the same developer thats doing the new dorms on Canal wants to build new dorms in Carver:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2011/mar/14/tdmet01-proposed-apartments-raise-concerns-for-car-ar-903531/

Meanwhile, Oregon Hill can't seem to get the proper rezoning of its Cary Street Business Corridor to an appropriate Urban Business designation mainly due to piss poor representation on City Council by Marty Jewell. City Planning Dept has spent many work hours on this issue. It is so important that this be addressed - again.