City approves stimulus bonds for private projects

A handful of local projects could get a big boost from a federal stimulus program that funds tax-free bonds.

Last night City Council approved a resolution submitted by Mayor Dwight Jones requesting approval of five projects to be financed using Recovery Zone Facility bonds, a program of the federal stimulus act. The city has been allocated $8.8 million in bond issuing authority under the program. A total of $15 billion was allocated nationwide. Read more

Will a new boss whip Richmond’s economic development into shape?

There’s a new deputy in town.

Peter Chapman has only been working for the City of Richmond for five weeks, but already he’s studying ways to improve several departments that have for decades been a thorn in the side of local businesses.

In late June, Mayor Dwight Jones hired Chapman away from Denver to be the city’s first deputy chief administrative officer of economic and community development, a role that aims to bring together the two departments to serve the city and its residents more effectively.

Chapman is coy about specific plans for Richmond, in part because he is still evaluating his new surroundings. But he said he chose the job partly because of the mayor’s vision. Read more

Baseball debate turning into a full season of speculation

As soon as it seems dead in the water, the baseball debate in Richmond keeps coming back.

Charlie Diradour extended his hand in peace today to those in the opposite dugout at a news conference he called.

Connecticut, the giant Indian sculpture, looked down over the scene, a thick layer of pollen dusted over its head and shoulders.

“The arguments are over with,” Diradour said to a small audience of reporters gathered in front of the Diamond this morning.

Diradour was an outspoken critic of the downtown stadium plan recently dropped by Highwoods Properties. He founded his own website, BaseballontheBoulevard.com, as an advocacy platform for bringing baseball back to the stadium abandoned last year by the Richmond Braves. Diradour also owns a development company, Lion’s Paw Development, that is active primarily in the Fan District.

Today he announced he was shutting down the Baseball on the Boulevard site and launching Friends of Richmond Baseball to take its place.

“What I want to do is bring both universes together,” Diradour said.

He invited corporations to post their logo on the site to show support of bringing an Eastern League team to Richmond. He also announced he was shutting down his Facebook group and replacing it with Friends of Richmond Baseball, inviting supporters of the Shockoe Center plan to join as well.

Diradour made it clear he still was personally in support of redeveloping the Diamond, in particular a plan by Maryland-based Opening Day Partners owned by Peter Kirk for $28 million. The company has developed as many as 14 ballparks along the East Coast.

“Peter Kirk sent a plan to the administration,” Diradour said. “I call on the administration to at least call Peter Kirk.”

But that plan could have some competition.

The Times-Dispatch reported today that  the Reynolds Packaging Group is pitching their property on the south bank of the James River, directly across from downtown, as a  possible site for a new stadium.

The T-D reports that a Reynolds executive “pointed out the property” to Mayor Dwight Jones and other city leaders as a good location for a stadium. Real estate firm CB Richard Ellis is marketing the sale of the 18-acre property.

City officials said no one has proposed to them an official plan to build a stadium at that location.

No more bottled water for City Hall

Glug…glug…gone.

A tight city budget means no more water coolers to congregate around for workers at City Hall.

Parched employees will now have to turn to the old-fashioned water fountain to quench their thirst.

The city ended its contract with Diamond Springs at the end of May. The company provided bottled water and coffee services to various departments within City Hall.

The city spent $218,773 with Diamond Spring over the last year, said a city spokesperson.

Mayor Dwight Jones proposed the cut during his budget presentation to City Council on March 26.

“All departments are being encouraged to continue their efforts at economizing, including using the city’s own award winning tap water instead of bottled water,” Jones said.

The Department of Public Utilities received the 2008 Excellence in Waterworks Operations/Performance Award from the Virginia Department of Health.

‘Small businesses really drive the train,’ says Mayor-Elect

As Mayor-elect Dwight Jones prepares to transition from the pulpit back to public office, Richmond BizSense sat down with him to find out his plans for economic development and fostering business growth.

Jones, a Philadelphia native with a deliberate delivery, is no stranger to doing business in Richmond. He chaired the downtown development group Richmond Renaissance and served on the Metro Richmond Convention and Visitor’s Bureau board of directors. As a state delegate, Jones was a member of the Commerce and Labor committee. A corporation operated by his church dabbles in real estate investment, spending a few million to redevelop blighted portions of Hull Street in the city’s Manchester district. Read more