Month: April 2021

Get ready, you are faced with a mystery.

I am able to make a decision that I actually consider to be of merit. But, like almost every column I can remember being action by the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors, this is about how they did something, not what they did.

On April 19, the Supervisory Board unanimously approved a resolution that created a property valuation department. There are three key factors that you need to know about this resolution and again I have no problem with any of them.

First, the resolution stipulates that the establishment of the department will carry out the evaluation process in-house. Since at least 2014 an external company called Wampler Eames Appraisal Group Ltd. Powhatan’s reviews.

Second, the decision provides that the district will be subjected to an annual assessment process from 2022 onwards. Prior to this decision, Powhatan’s evaluation was conducted every two years.

Third, and this is what caused some friction, the board voted to put the new department under the control of District Administrator Ned Smither.

I say this created friction because revenue commissioner Jamie Timberlake argued that the new office should be housed in his office. If you’ve seen the April 21st issue of Powhatan Today, you may have read a long letter to the editor of Timberlake arguing his case. You can read some of his arguments in the message on 1A. The main breakdown is that he argued that it was a power set out in the Virginia Constitution and that as an officer-elect he has direct accountability to residents.

2021 TYR 18 & Under Spring Cup – Richmond location

• April 29th – May 2nd
• SwimRVA, Richmond, VA
• LCM (50 m)
• Psych Sheet
• Live results on MeetMobile

The 2021 TYR 18 & Under Spring Cup kicked off last night at each of the four locations (Des Moines, Irvine, Orlando, Richmond) with the 800 free women and 1500 free men.

Nation’s Capital 18 years old Paige McKenna won the women’s 800 in 8: 39.08, just after her personal best of 8: 38.37, which she swam in July 2019. Although it wasn’t a personal best, McKenna’s swim marked her fastest swim of the 2021 with 5 seconds and her 2nd time under 8:40 in her career. She also split the race negatively, taking it out on top 400 in 4: 20.06 and coming home in 4: 19.02. McKenna is a Wisconsin recruit.

The 14-year-old Westchester Aquatic Club took 2nd place in the 800 Claire Weinsteinwho swam an 8: 41,44. The swim broke her previous best of 8: 45.34, which she posted in January of this year when she was 13 years old. With swimming, Weinstein took a cut for the Olympic Trials of Wave II, marking her first cut for Wave II. Kristin Cornish, a 17-year-old from the Badger Swim Club, took 3rd place with 8: 46.87, what below her previous best time of 8: 48.44. The swimming marks a wave that I cut for the Johns Hopkins recruit.

South Jersey Aquatic Club 17 years old Shane Washart took the men’s 1500 off in 15: 51.24, marking his first time under 4pm in the event. His previous best time of 16: 01.68 was from August 2019.

Released

April 29, 2021

by

Kate Andrews

The Cordish Cos. ‘$ 600 Million Live! Casino & Hotel is one of two casino proposals that are still being considered in Richmond. Courtesy The Cordish Cos.

T.Two operators are battling to build a casino in Richmond, the last city that law allows a casino to be built in Virginia. Later in May, an advisory board is expected to recommend a casino proposal for consideration by Richmond City Council and ultimately the city’s voters in November.

Richmonders, worried about crime and increased traffic in their neighborhood, have the proposed $ 600 million for Live! Casino & Hotel by The Cordish Cos., Which is being built right in front of the trendy Scott’s Addition area. Urban One’s $ 600 million ONE casino, to be built on 100 acres owned by Altria Group Inc. off Interstate 95 in a largely industrial area, has been pushed back less.

Cordish’s pitch for his Live! With 300 rooms! The Casino & Hotel Resort pledges to pay the city $ 200 million over 15 years to “fund critical nonprofit services such as education, infrastructure, healthcare, and parks [and] Recreation, human resource development and affordable housing. “

In April, the city cut back Bally’s Corp.’s $ 650 million casino proposal proposed for the Stratford Hills neighborhood of Richmond due to site access and admission factors. George Papanier, President and CEO of Bally, said the company was “disappointed and surprised” with the city’s decision to negate its proposal, which would include an upfront payment of $ 100 million to the city.

Residents near Bally’s and Live! Websites have spoken out against the proposals while others wonder if the city needs a casino at all, despite significant concerns about aging school infrastructure and other budget items that could be supported by tax revenue from a casino.

In March, anonymous flyers distributed on the north side of town opposed Cordish’s proposal and urged residents “to tell them to build it there,” referring to the less affluent and racially more diverse south side from Richmond.

Councilor Michael Jones, who represents a district adjacent to the ONE Casino site, tweeted that he was “completely disgusted by the rhetoric,” adding that “the south side is not” the trash can on the north side or red light Circle.”

Unlike Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth, where voters mostly approved casinos last November, it’s possible Richmond might turn down a casino, says Rich Meagher, associate professor of political science at Randolph-Macon College. Aside from “progressive folks who don’t want a casino,” unscientific polls from local officials and Nextdoor comments show significant opposition.

Meagher notes, however, that once the dust settles and the city council picks a project for voters – especially when it comes to Urban One’s plan – “concerns could go away” and “Richmond could get back to the dynamic that Casinos are OK “.

The owner of the restaurant on the east end of Carytown secured his home with the purchase. (Mike Platania photo)

A Hooville restaurateur has become his own landlord in Carytown.

Andy McClure bought 2907 W. Cary St., the building where his Citizen Burger Bar has operated for five years.

McClure paid seller Matt Donlon $ 1.45 million for the roughly 4,700 square meter building.

Andy McClure

Donlon bought the building for $ 926,000 in 2011, but has since moved to Florida and found it difficult to be a landlord from a distance.

“It made more sense for me to sell to someone I knew who looked after Richmond and that little piece of real estate that I consider to be a gem in Carytown,” Donlon said.

“Despite all of the COVID issues the hospitality industry has had, (McClure) was able to do his part, and I did my part in giving him breaks here and there to get through, like a reduced rent.”

The deal was closed earlier this week. The 71-year-old building was last valued by the city at $ 1.29 million. Donlon said Tom Rosman of One South Commercial represented him on the deal.

McClure was not available for comment at the time of going to press.

The Citizen Burger Bar is part of The Virginian Restaurant Co., a parent company of McClure with 10 restaurants under its roof. The majority of this is in Charlottesville, including a Citizen Burger Bar, the Virginian Restaurant, and the Biltmore Grill.

Matt Donlon

The Citizen Burger Bar came to Richmond in 2016 after McClure bought the property from the building’s previous tenant, Portrait House. Donlon said he put the building on the market last fall and had some other offerings but returned to McClure to give him the opportunity to buy it.

“As two friends, we just made it. I wanted him to control his own destiny, ”Donlon said. “I thought I would own it forever and live in Richmond forever, but life goes on.” Donlon co-founded tech startup Uzurv in 2016, but business has changed in both business plan and leadership since then. After launching Uzurv as an app that allowed users to reserve rides through Uber and Lyft, the goal was to provide non-emergency medical transportation services.

Donlon said he is still a shareholder in Uzurv, but his brother John is now the company’s CEO.

While the deal with McClure means Donlon no longer has to take care of the Citizen Burger building, the purchase agreement contained an unusual clause that gives him a reason to return to Richmond every now and then.

“I get some free burgers every time I go to Richmond,” he said with a laugh. “I’m serious. I did this part of the contract.”

Meanwhile, one of the neighbors of the Citizen Burger Bar in Carytown is preparing for a new construction project.

A rendering of the rooftop bar and event space that New York Deli plans to build. (Courtesy Kickstarter)

New York Deli at 2920 W. Cary St. this week announced plans to build a rooftop bar and event space that it shares with Bygones Vintage Clothing.

New York Deli plans to fund part of the project with a Kickstarter campaign that aims to raise $ 145,000 by the end of June. At press time, the campaign had raised over $ 21,000.

Headquarters of the Timmons Group in the Boulders office park. (Courtesy of the Timmons Group)

After the first year of the pandemic, a local engineering firm is given more leeway with two new offices opening along the coast.

The Timmons Group added outposts in Newport News and Wilmington, North Carolina. The new locations bring the company’s number of offices in Richmond to 18, with a presence anchored in the mid-Atlantic but spanning the country with additional branch offices.

CEO Brian Bortell said the moves follow existing customers who have expanded into these markets while providing relocation and leadership opportunities for employees.

Brian Bortell

“Customers that we have in our existing markets are moving to those markets, so we’re really going with our customers,” said Bortell.

The offices expand Timmons’ presence in Hampton Roads and on the North Carolina coast, where there are already outposts in Virginia Beach and Elizabeth City, respectively. The Tar Heel State also has locations in Durham, Greensboro, and Charlotte.

In contrast to these recent offices, the Elizabeth City and Raleigh expansions resulted from two acquisitions in 2018. Bortell said the deals were less of a driver for Wilmington than of customer demand in the market in which Timmons worked for North Carolina National Guard, Bladen County Detention Center, and New Hanover County Cape Fear Museum.

“Wilmington is growing like crazy. I think it was one of the fastest growing areas on the east coast last year, ”said Bortell. “And Newport News is between our Richmond office and our Virginia Beach office and (a market) that we believe can be better served by having a real presence there.”

In Newport News, Timmons credits include the Tech Center, Discovery STEM Academy, a civil engineering contract with Christopher Newport University, and consulting services at Jefferson Lab.

The new office near Oyster Point employs six people and is expected to grow to ten by the end of the year. The office is led by CEO Mark Richardson.

The downtown Wilmington office has four employees and is overseen by Keith Roberts, Raleigh Branch Manager.

Tim Klabunde, director of Timmons, shakes hands with Feed More President Doug Pick (left) as employees deliver groceries to nonprofits last month. (Courtesy Feed More)

Since 2018, when the company expanded to Dallas in addition to its North Carolina acquisitions, Timmons has opened offices in Phoenix and Metro DC

Bortell described the Dallas and Phoenix offices as outliers compared to the company’s other offices, which stretch from North Carolina to Maryland. It also has branch offices that stretch as far as Nevada and Portland, Oregon.

With more than 700 employees – including 300 in Richmond – Timmons weathered the pandemic without laying off workers company-wide and has actually increased the workforce in that time, Bortell said.

“Fortunately, after a few months, with a bit of shock and awe, we saw business come back,” he said. “But we definitely had a time there when things didn’t go as usual.”

The Timmons office openings follow other recent moves by engineering firms in the region.

Dunlap & Partners engineers recently joined the Californian company Salas O’Brien. Last year, Koontz Bryant Johnson Williams opened offices in Virginia Beach and Charleston, West Virginia.