Official recommendations on the privatization of ABC stores
Posted: September 8, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: ABC law, business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, government, legal, McDonnell, Restaurants, Virginia | Leave a comment »Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, has been getting a lot of news coverage lately over his push to privatize ABC stores statewide: RTD from 9/3/10, NBC12 from 8/19/10, Hburgnews.com from 8/26/10, Style Weekly from 6/29/10.
This proposal still has a ways to go and many levels of bureaucracy to push through before it becomes reality, but McDonnell ‘s senior staff members have been studying the issue to make recommendations. Here are their official findings (the full version), which were released today. You can find the presentations that were made through this link. (although it doesn’t look like it will stay the top story but for so long)
I pulled out a number of points from the press release that I found to be the most intriguing:
- 1,000 retail licenses will be auctioned off to the highest bidders
- The licenses will be broken into three categories: 600 licenses for large establishments such as grocery stores; 150 for smaller establishments such as package stores and wine and beer shops; 250 for convenience stores/retail pharmacies
- No one company will be allowed more than 25% of licenses within each level
- 1,000 licenses will still give Virginia 1.8 outlets per 10,000 adults, far below the private state average of 3.8 per 10,000 adults
- Majority of new license holders will be existing stores; Virginians will primarily see new shelves in retail establishments, not new establishments.
- 332 licenses will be guaranteed for areas currently served by an existing ABC outlet
- The additional 668 licenses will be granted based on population density
- The wholesale side will also be privatized, allowing the Commonwealth to completely focus on law enforcement and regulation of distilled spirits
- There is no tax increase in the privatization proposal
- The Commonwealth will also make an additional $33 million on the sale of the ABC warehouse in Richmond and 19 state owned outlets
- The number of ABC enforcement agents will be increased by 25%
- The Commonwealth, through the ABC board, will maintain health, safety, law enforcement and marketing regulatory authority over private distilled spirit sales and distribution
Also, the point that has been making the most buzz lately is the idea of a 4% tax on the gross liquor receipts for restaurant operators. That seems to have been taken out of the recommendations (given the 9th bullet point listed above), unless it’s a matter of semantics and they’ve buried it by not calling it a tax. I didn’t have time to go through, but I’m sure there will be lots of other people combing through the details of this proposal word for word.
Another point that is of particular interest to me is the sale of the ABC main warehouse. I wonder who will be listing that? *ahem* Mr. Governor, I’d be happy to take a look at it for you!
Richmond loses a great restaurant talent
Posted: July 27, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Henrico County, Restaurants | Tags: business owners, Restaurants, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »There aren’t many restaurateurs that are so widely acclaimed and well-liked as Alain Lecomte. Richmond has lost a true talent and he will be missed. Over the years I have heard lots of high praise for both Alain and his restaurant, Chez Max. Having never met the man personally, I can’t add much that isn’t already covered in the article in this morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch — “Restaurateur Alain Lecomte dies at 46” (so go read it, *nudge*)
Should I wait to sign a lease, or is this as good as it gets?
Posted: July 9, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Commercial Leasing, Office Buildings, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers | Tags: business environment, business owners, commercial real estate | Leave a comment »Fear is a strong motivator, but so is hope. They’re especially strong when they come together. It’s a special moment when we’ve made it through an especially bad economic downturn and your business starts to tick upwards for the first time.
Commercial landlords have been through that hard time right along with every other business owner, and they are ready to see that uptick themselves. They are ready to deal to get in good steady tenants. At the same time, businesses are seeing new contracts come in (I know we have!) and they are ready to start taking advantage of the deals on leases — are you?
2217-2219 W Main Street
I’m certainly not the first to point this out, and I’m taking my cue from a recent online article on National Real Estate Investor — “Office Tenants and Landlords Battle for Upper Hand”
Landlord concession packages are not likely to get any bigger… “They’re as good as they’re going to get.” The same may be true with rents, he adds. “Rents may fall in some markets a bit further, but the ship starts to turn before a lot of people know they’re on it.”
Robert Bach, senior vice president and chief economist at Grubb & Ellis, agrees. “More tenants are active now and willing to sign a long-term lease because they are more confident in their own outlook and realize now is a good time because of the concessions available.”
They’re talking about office leases in the article, but it makes just as much sense with retail and restaurant spaces, too.
Of course you never know when the economy has hit bottom until it’s too late to take advantage of the best deals. The great part is that as long as you’re not making decisions out of fear, you can keep your eye on your own business and use cues from your business activity help you decide when is the best time to move.
So if you’re seeing cues that things are getting better in your business, perhaps it’s time we talk about finding a good deal now…?
Don’t let them catch you dancing!
Posted: July 8, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: City of Richmond, Government Institutions, Hanover County, Henrico County, Legal, Restaurants | Tags: business environment, downtown Richmond, government, legal, Restaurants, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »Everyone can now rest easy, dancing will no longer be tolerated in the City of Richmond! (Well, when I say “everyone can now rest easy”, I really mean everyone except for those pesky dancers.) From what I hear, dancing brings about all sorts of immorality so I am relieved that we won’t have dirty dancers parading around making light of the city’s laws. (My research really is confined to movies from the first half of certain movies from the 80′s)
I’m actually a little confused because visitors or transplants to the city are always complaining about how there aren’t many dance clubs here anyways.
Style Weekly has plenty of information in this week’s edition here, including a Q&A follow up session with a representative from the Mayor’s office.
As a tribute to the new City ordinance, here’s a video of some scenes from the movie Footloose:
Actually, this ordinance is nothing new here in the Richmond metro area. Chesterfield and Henrico have been issuing permits (or NOT issuing permits, depending on who you talk to) for a couple of years now.
Here are a few links about the stink from last year about Chesterfield and dance permits:
- Richmond BizSense article from 3/24/2009
- Midlothian Exchange article from 3/24/2009
- NBC12 article from 3/27/2009
(thanks to Richmond Good Life’s time-capsule archives for those links!)
Henrico has the same type of ordinance and dance club permits, but I recently had a tenant that had to apply for one and it wasn’t a huge ordeal.
If you’ve run against any of these dance ordinances or know of how it’s handled in other areas, I’d love to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment!
Man v. Food — Richmond-style
Posted: June 25, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Restaurants, Television | Tags: business environment, downtown Richmond, Restaurants, Richmond | Leave a comment »Richmond restaurants have been getting lots of love from the national cable TV shows lately — Bobby Flay has been through a couple of times (or he’s been through once and he’s coming back through again soon) and Eric Ripert was spotted scouting the Richmond restaurant scene just last week.
Recently, Man v. Food stopped into three great local restaurants for their legendary food challenges — Caliente, Black Sheep, and Buz & Ned’s. Rather than rehashing all of the details here, read this great recap of MvF’s visit to Richmond here on RVANews.com: “Man v. Food v. Richmond“
There was even a Nightline news crew covering MVF while they were here: click here for the video, which I can’t seem to embed. It’s a Hulu video, so there are about 30 seconds of commercials, then skip ahead to 7:51 in the video by sliding the bar at the bottom. Watch through about 15:52 and you’ll get to see the entire MVF report.
The reason I’m posting this now is because the Richmond episode will be airing soon, on Saturday, July 3rd at 10:30 E/P ! Set it up on your calendar, set your DVR because you won’t want to miss this!
[edit (6/26/10, 4:31pm): regardless of what the Travel Channel says, I've gotten multiple reports from people that their DVRs and other things have shown them that the actual premiere date is Wednesday, June 30th at 9:00pm E/P -- given the incorrect info that I was relying on earlier, I feel that I should warn you that while the date has been confirmed by multiple people, I found the time through some further research on the Travel Channel site]
In the meantime, check out the Travel Channel‘s photo slideshow of the visit.
Restaurants in Richmond: New names & expansions
Posted: April 26, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Restaurants | Tags: business environment, business owners, downtown Richmond, Restaurants, Richmond | Leave a comment »Every time you turn around in Richmond, there is a new restaurant popping up…well, pretty much everywhere! This week is no exception.
I’m not going to pretend that I’ll keep you up with ALL of the openings and closing through this blog, but I’ll keep up my tradition of sharing news when I’ve come across it and when there is a particularly active week or two I’ll compile the info and point you to where I’ve seen the news.
Speaking of which:
1) The old Fuddruckers at the intersection of West Broad Street and North Parham Road has been sold to Buz Grossberg to expand his Buz & Ned’s Barbeque concept to a second location from its original home on Boulevard. That was announced a few weeks ago or so. The reason why I think it’s noteworthy today is because of Buz’s interview with Al Harris of RichmondBizSense that was posted this morning. Lots of great info on his plans for the building, and how the deal worked when his last attempt at a new store didn’t.
2) Secco Wine Bar opened this week in Carytown (Style Weekly article from last week), after at least a couple of months of public preparation (and who knows how long this was in the works before it was made public).
3) Dos Amigos Burrito opened a couple of weeks ago on MacArthur Avenue in Northside, to replace a short-lived ice cream shop (posting from North Richmond News). From what I’ve heard, it’s related to Northside Grille around the corner on Bellevue.
4) Empress is opening with a “Grand Soiree” this Wednesday, 4/28, at 2403 West Broad Street (former location of Enoteca Sogno, and Ma Musu’s West African Cuisine before that). Check out this article on RVANews for more details on the restaurant and the Grand Soiree.
AND, there are plenty more on the immediate horizon! I can think of at least 5 others new restaurants that are coming soon, but they are all at a stage that I can’t spill the beans. Believe me, that you’ll be excited when you hear (and I’ll let you know as soon as they let me!).
If there are any others that I’ve missed, please share. We have a great restaurant scene here in Richmond, and it’s only getting better as we celebrate it!
Tips on leasing commercial space
Posted: April 26, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: General, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business owners, commercial real estate, Entrepreneur Magazine | Leave a comment »If you’re looking for commercial space for your business, or think that you might ever be looking — read this article from Entrepreneur Magazine, “How to Negotiate a Lease“. It has lots of great information on what to expect and how the process works for finding a commercial space to lease. [please ignore all of the obnoxious advertising that Entrepreneur Magazine is so horrible about, the article is worth suffering through the ads]
Be educated about the process and do your homework, but don’t let your ego get in the way and think that you can do this on your own. As the article mentions, be sure to use a commercial broker to find and negotiate the space with you, and use an attorney to review the lease documents.
There are things that you won’t know that you’re missing, no matter how savvy of a tenant you are — and those things that you missed will become painfully obvious the moment you reference your lease regarding a contentious issue 2 years from now, or the moment you hear about the space that wasn’t officially “on the market” but was half the price and better positioned than the space you chose.
More info about The Devil’s Triangle!
Posted: April 14, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: B&H News, New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, property management, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »This is an article that you don’t want to miss about The Devil’s Triangle by Alix Bryan
I said my bit in a post yesterday, after seeing Alix’s videos — but there is SO much more that can be said, and she has a quite a few of the stories I have heard over the years about the rough days here in the Triangle. Be sure to read all about it!
Insight into The Devil’s Triangle
Posted: April 13, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: B&H News, New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, property management, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | 5 Comments »There is a little-discussed part of Richmond’s Upper Fan/Museum District that was once a pretty rough area — “The Devil’s Triangle”, or as it is sometimes called, “The Bermuda Triangle”. Now it is an economic corridor with independent shops and restaurants that serve the residents of the Museum District, the Fan District, and anyone else that wants to wander through.
I lived in the area for several years back in the mid to late nineties, and I missed most of the rougher times but heard plenty about Felix’s, Cafe 21, and the Ritz — now Caliente, Cafe Diem, and Arianna’s.
We moved our offices over to 604 North Sheppard Street several years ago to be in the heart of the revitalization going on, and to show our commitment to the area. Our founder and CEO, Bedros Bandazian owns all of the commercial along this part of Sheppard Street except for the 7-Eleven, as well as some nearby commercial buildings — so there was already a strong commitment within the company to revitalizing the area. Our move made a further commitment, and of course we all patronize the surrounding businesses faithfully.
The transformation has taken another step with the most recent additions of:
- Sylvia’s Stitch & Suds (renovated coin laundrymat, now a seamstress and laundry),
- Arianna’s Grill (Italian restaurant from the extended family who also own Mary Angela’s and several others around town — built out from almost from scratch shell)
- The parking lot in the rear of the buildings at Park & Sheppard (repaved, landscaped, lighted, and available for any customers of the shops along Sheppard)
The Devil Doesn’t Live Here Anymore from Alix Bryan on Vimeo.
The Devil’s Triangle is located in the Museum District, which is nestled within the Upper Fan, of Richmond, VA.
This area received its name from three rough local bars, which formed a triangle. The bars have changed ownership, and the area has undergone a major transformation.
However, the nickname has stuck, and has a quirky appeal to locals–locals who never went when it was actually the Devil’s Triangle.
It wasn’t unlikely for police to find wanted suspects in the bars, or for gun and fistfights to happen almost nightly.
Origin of a nickname from Alix Bryan on Vimeo.
Rich Holden, former owner of Felix, talks about how a two block area came to be known as The Devil’s Triangle. Located in Richmond, VA, this area was home to drug trafficking, prostitution, bar brawls and gunfights. The triangle consisted of three bars, The Felix, The Ritz, and Cafe 21.
Although Holden called it “The Bermuda Triangle,” that moniker is also commonly synonymous with “The Devil’s Triangle.”
[editor's note: Richard Holden is now the Principal Broker and President here at Bandazian & Holden, Inc.]
I’m eagerly awaiting Alix’s article to go along with the videos, and if she’ll allow me I’ll share it with you in a later post — or at least I’ll link over to it! I greatly appreciate her allowing me to use the videos here, and encourage you to go to her Vimeo site to take a look at her other work!
If you haven’t visited the Devil’s Triangle in a while, you should! Visit the Black Hand for some coffee that was roasted right there on site. Come sit on Caliente’s patio and enjoy the spring breeze while you have dinner. Come listen to some amazing music down at Cafe Diem. Or explore one of the other shops or restaurants.
[edit (4/13/10, 2:27pm): After a couple of off-blog responses, I'm curious to ask -- If you are familiar with the Devil's Triangle, please share some memories of your time there with us in the comment section below!]