“New” development north of Broad on Staples Mill
Posted: December 19, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Commercial Leasing, Henrico County, Multi-family Housing, New Development, Office Buildings, Redevelopment, Residential, Retail | Tags: commercial real estate, Henrico County, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »About once a month I get a question about the large, vacant property that borders Staples Mill Road that is just north of West Broad Street, right over the Henrico Count line. My answer is always that it was an old, rundown neighborhood that was purchased and cleared with the intention of rebuilding, and that the developer is the same group that is doing the project at Monument Avenue and Willow Lawn Drive – Gumenick Properties. As to why it hasn’t been started, well just look around at new building all around the country. The developer was obviously waiting until the economy turns around.
But, I always have to give that answer with the caveat that the last official word I had heard about it was a few years ago. I couldn’t even be sure that the same plans were in place. Thankfully I can point to this article on Richmond.com that gives us the lowdown on the current situation — which is pretty much as described as above. It sounds as though things are just on hold, but the same big plans are still on the books. In fact, this project is expected to take 10 years even once they finally get underway.
You need to go read the article to see all of the reported details, but I thought I would share a couple of details of the plans here:
What: Staples Mill Centre, proposed to include 1,096 apartments, 571 condominiums, 391 townhouses, 32 single-family homes, 60,000 square feet of offices, and 100,000 square feet of stores.
Where: About 80 acres between Staples Mill Road, Libbie Avenue and Bethlehem Road, near Interstate 64.
Starting a business in Richmond? You don’t want to miss this!
Posted: September 26, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: City of Richmond, Government Institutions | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business environment, business owners, downtown Richmond, government, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »Being involved in helping start-ups in Richmond, we often get invitations to attend sessions put on by the Economic Development departments of the local governments. When we get them, I’ll make sure to post them here for your reference. The ones I’ve attended in the past have been extremely helpful and great brush ups on the resources that the localities provide for small business.
Here is the email from the City of Richmond that we received regarding the upcoming event:
As part of our ongoing efforts to provide you with valuable information & resources, the City of Richmond Department of Economic and Community Development-Business First Richmond Program is pleased to announce another in our series of free educational seminars.
The City of Richmond Department of Economic & Community Development and the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will host the first in a two part series on establishing and growing your business. Part I in the series the” Entrepreneur Express Seminar” will address the basic concerns of establishing a business in Richmond. The seminar will be held Wednesday, October 12, 2011 from 8:30 am to noon at the Police Training Academy, 1202 W. Graham Road, Richmond, Virginia 23220. (See Entrepreneur Express Seminar Flyer for details) Please share this information with your clients and colleagues.
To sign up (free!), you can either register online by clicking here, or call 804-371-0058.
Oh, and make sure to let me know if you’re going to be there! Leave a comment here or at least be sure to come up and say hello when you see me there.
Virginia ABC laws changing soon
Posted: September 26, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Legal, Restaurants | Tags: ABC law, Bandazian & Holden, business environment, government, legal, Restaurants, Richmond, Virginia | 1 Comment »
*image courtesy of Alan Turkus (http://www.flickr.com/people/aturkus/)
A common complaint in the restaurant industry here in Richmond is about how outdated and difficult (and sometimes just plain nonsensical) the ABC regulations are, especially for start-ups. Well it might finally be time for that to change:
…the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Board is for the first time in 20 years reviewing and updating all of its regulations in an effort to rewrite or eliminate any antiquated and burdensome restrictions. And they’ve asked the state’s merchants to help, giving them until Oct. 17 to propose changes.
You heard them, folks. If you have an ABC license, then they want to hear from you! Be a part of the updates in the ABC laws. If you’ve seen what can be done better, now is your chance to speak up.
Where to speak up? I’m not exactly sure. I checked the Virginia ABC website and didn’t see anything specific about the initiative, but calling them directly would be a good place to start. If you do know the reporting process, please leave a comment with the information.
(Thank you to Richmond BizSense for pointing out this article in their morning email. If you’re not receiving it already, then you might want to rectify that.)
It’s true, RVA, Mint is coming to the Fan!
Posted: September 25, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: B&H News, Buying a Business, City of Richmond, Restaurants | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, Restaurants, Richmond, Virginia | 1 Comment »There was a rumor floating around for the past few weeks that Amy Cabaniss, the owner of Julep’s in Shockoe Bottom, was purchasing the building where Davis & Main operated a long-standing restaurant for decades. There was good reason for the rumor, because it was true!
Amy closed on the deal to purchase the real estate and the equipment at 2501 West Main Street this past Friday afternoon. Richard Holden, Principal Broker at Bandazian & Holden, represented Amy in the purchase.
It has been on the market for some time. Fan of the Fan reported back in June that the restaurant had closed, and I know that it had been for sale for some time before that. We are proud that Bandazian & Holden was part of making this sale happen, and even more proud that such a fine restaurateur will be the one taking over.
The new restaurant will be Mint New Casual Cuisine. From all of the great ideas that I’ve heard from Amy and from the reactions I’ve heard so far from the neighbors, the Fan District will be very happy to have her there!
Congratulations on the purchase, Amy! I can’t wait to try out the new place!
Richmond restaurant pioneer dies at age 85
Posted: June 27, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Restaurants | Tags: business owners, downtown Richmond, Restaurants, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »While we have many talented restaurateurs and chefs in Richmond, but only a handful can claim such a long-lasting impression on Richmond’s restaurant landscape as Stavros “Steve” Dikos can.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a wonderful article that commemorates his restaurant legacy. Read it — you will recognize the restaurant names! Dikos was the father of Katrina Dikos Giavos, whose husband Johnny Giavos is mentioned so much in the local restaurant scene because of their string of highly successful restaurant ventures (3 Monkeys, Kitchen 64, Sidewalk Cafe, etc).
Mr. Dikos passed away over the weekend of heart problems at the age of 85. My thoughts go to his family, and all of the people whose lives he touched, as they work through this loss.
How to make zoning easier to understand
Posted: February 7, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Legal, Redevelopment | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, government, legal, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia, zoning | Leave a comment »Government regulations are typically so complicated that not only can the lay-person not understand what they mean, but they are written in such a way that even people that think they know what is meant are left arguing completely different interpretations. Zoning regulations are no exception.
In fact, in NYC the zoning regulations are so convoluted that “In a recent case, a judge said the word “development,” which appears at least 2,500 times in the [zoning] resolution, did not mean what the city said.” (source: New York Times article — we’ll see more about that article in just a minute)
The Planning Commissioner for NYC, Amanda Burden, is attempting to make the zoning regulations a little more accessible to the general public by issuing a new city handbook with plain explanations and cartoon drawings that illustrate what particular zoning designations look like and what they mean. Check out the coverage in the New York Times about what she has been doing to bridge that gap.
While this may not be the right approach for every locality, the idea is one that every local government should take to heart: Start building tools that puts control of the government back into the hands of the people. Sure, we elect officials to represent us and we should not be ruled by mob mentality (see: California), but the people also need to be able to understand what is being done — especially when we are expected to interpret these rules and abide by them.
I have seen far too many business and property owners try to follow the rules that have been laid out, only to find a health inspector or building inspector come in with a totally different understanding and cost the owner thousands of dollars in hard cost and lost business because the rules were not clear enough.
What do you think, Richmond? Have you had any issues with the local zoning regulations (city or county)? What would you suggest could be done to make the rules more clear?
Redevelopment plans for Carytown get nod from Museum District
Posted: February 6, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: City of Richmond, Commercial Leasing, Government Institutions, Investing, New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Transportation | Tags: business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, government, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia, walkability | 2 Comments »The redevelopment of the old Verizon building at 10 N. Nansemond Street has been hotly debated and contested. (see: the official site for the Carytown Place; Don’t Big Box Carytown‘s website; & this post and the accompanying comment thread on Caramelized Opinions for a good summary & feel of the debate)
The Museum District Association had originally ruled to oppose the redevelopment based on the original plans, but Friday they sent out a press release announcing the reversal of that position. The gist of the situation can be summed up from this one paragraph in the press release:
The Board voted 13-1 in November to oppose the original SUP and subsequently provided the applicant with detailed requests for further changes to make it more amenable to the neighborhood. The applicant responded by altering the SUP to remove vehicular ingress/egress on Nansemond Street as well as reduce the number of available uses of the property to 10 uses. The applicant also agreed to limit the usable floor space of any one tenant to no more than 25,000 square feet, ensuring there would be multiple tenants in the building and ruling out a single, larger “big box” tenant.
The whole press release can be read here on the MDA’s website (right now it’s at the top, but it will shift down the page as new releases are issued).
What do you think? Are you satisfied with the MDA’s ruling, or are the changes in the plan not enough for you? In that case, what changes would be enough to get your support for the development?
Exciting times for a local revitalization organization
Posted: January 24, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Charity/Non-profit, City of Richmond, Multi-family Housing, Redevelopment, Residential | Tags: Church Hill, downtown Richmond, non-profit, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »
The Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (A.C.O.R.N.) has worked diligently for more than a decade to “promote the purchase and renovation of vacant and abandoned buildings in Richmond’s oldest neighborhoods.” This past Friday, ACORN announced some big news that will help them in that mission, and that’s exciting for all of Richmond. I’ll let their press release speak for itself:
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