I attended the Shockoe neighborhood meeting last night at Main Street Station. The point was to discuss the Downtown Master Plan as it relates to the Slip and the Bottom. Overall, very little of substance was said. It really seemed more like a formality than anything. Hopefully some of the concerned residents and business owners had some success in the face-to-face “open house” after the meeting. What was frustrating for me was that many of the attendees spoke up about blight from undeveloped infill sites in the Bottom. They asked what the City was doing to get these surface parking lots developed. The City didn’t have much to say about it. They mentioned that there was no tax incentive for new construction. What was frustrating though was that the moderator didn’t inform the attendees about the infill development in the pipeline. All Mr. Hardin had to do to put these people at ease was to mention the two or three proposed new construction projects which are SUBSTANTIAL. I’m sure countless other proposals have been discussed recently as well. Frankly though, as I drive or walk around the Bottom, I’m more put off by the blight caused by vacant buildings than surface lots. I would be happy for the market to take its time with the unimproved sites if the plethora of buildings with boarded up windows were rehabbed. Just my $0.02.
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2 Responses to “Downtown Master Plan - Shockoe”
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About Rapport
RAPPORT is a business networking group for Young Real Estate Professionals in Richmond, VA.
The mission of RAPPORT is to foster professional development within the Richmond real estate community by bringing fellow professionals together to meet, share ideas and build relationships. Also, we will seek to engage in charitable and community oriented activites and programs to better enhance our industry’s visability and overall image.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I wanted to attend and ask about plans for parking for the area. The new developments at Cedar and Broad & at Cold Storage will be putting pressure on the area AND removing existing surface parking.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Perhaps, but the Cedar development proposes to provide 1 parking space per unit. The current surface lot provides space primarily for VCU med students/faculty. If so, the pressure should fall on the shoulders of VCU, not the private sector.
Generally I agree though. The City seems to be allowing rezonings (from M-1 to B-5) for developments which provide little or no parking. I should point out that a proposed development at Main and 21st will also have structured parking for 100% of the units. So there is some offsetting going on.