NRVLiving - Real Estate. Simplified.

Loan Modifications Perpetuate The Problem, and Don't Use The Benefit Of Experience

Inman News posted information last week a new plan whose focus was to streamline the loan modification process. 

I'm admittedly behind on this post, and it's been rehashed across the web.  Essentially, if (1) you're at least 90 days delinquent on a home that is your primary residence and on which you owe at least 90% of the home's value AND (2) either Fannie, Freddie or one of their participating loan companies must own the loan, then under the loan modification program you can restructure your loan to as much as 38 percent of your gross income. 

Forgoing the in-depth analysis and critique from economists and Harvard-types for a moment, I have a problem with this.  I'm struggling with the issue of personal responsibility, and Government subsidy of these loans doesn't resolve the problem.  The problem is poor decision-making on the part of consumers and lending institutions and the real estate industry.  I'm not sure modification or "streamlining" resolves the issue of personal responsibility, and on the flip side I don't know that allowing millions of loans to default and further crippling the housing and financial sector makes a lot of sense either.  I have no answer for this, but struggling with the issue.

Bloodhound writes (emphasis mine):

The streamlined process looks only at income, not assets. If you refinanced your home to buy a Mercedes or own another home, you won’t be expected to sell them to pay your mortgage.

Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, predicts that many homeowners who have little or no equity will stop paying their mortgage and then reduce their income to get the biggest payment cut possible. They could stop working overtime or, if two spouses work, one could quit. After the modification, they could try to boost their income again.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Schiff says. “People are going to feel like complete morons if they don’t participate. The people getting punished are the ones who never made an irresponsible decision to buy a house they couldn’t afford.”

The government is offering loan servicers $800 for every homeowner they get into the plan.

Schiff predicts that loan agents “will be cold-calling people trying to get them into it. Just like they encouraged people to overstate their income to get a bigger loan in the first place, now they will encourage them to understate their income to qualify for a smaller loan.”

I can see Schiff's point.  Desperate lenders will have an incentive to push people into what appears to be an even worse problem. 

As I said, I'll leave the bulk of the analysis to economists and people who have a better grasp of the larger picture.  I know that locally, Blacksburg and Christiansburg lenders haven't gone crazy with out of control loan terms.  Rates are low, borrowers are bringing money to the closing table and deals are getting done.  Mark Weddle says it's "Back To Basics" and he's right ... you can still buy and sell in today's market.

It was eery watching this video, reposted on Jim Duncan's blog, this morning.  Take the 10 minutes to watch what Peter Schiff has to say, and then tell me you didn't raise your eyebrows in surprise at how history has played out these last several months.

No ... the photo has nothing to do with the post.  I took the photo, and I liked it.  That's all.

See? It's Possible To Get Along

A reader sent me this article overnight about adaptive reuse in Washington DC. 

As Judy wrote:

"wouldn't it be great if Blacksburg could do a similar type of adaptive reuse to the old Blacksburg Middle School?  Granted, our school is much older, but the commitment of all parties made it work."

Thanks Judy - there really is something to Fulghum's book.

Have an idea or article you'd like to share on the blog that applies ?  Email me and let me know.

The Colosseum Wasn't Built In One Day

And this one won't be, either.

A few days ago, I needed a break.  I had been in the office all day working on some things, and my craving for a Diet Pepsi Max (yea, I'm one of the 31 people across the nation that actually like the stuff) kicked in.  One of the many reasons I like my office is that its an easy walk to a local gas station, so I hoofed it down to pick up that invigorating cola and then headed back.

On my way back I passed the site for The Colosseum, so I snapped some photos of the excavation.  It had been a while since I had stopped in and so I thought I'd capture the moment.  Just a lot of dirt right now ...

There's a lot of Blacksburg history in those layers of dirt:

Dozens of piles of dirt looking back towards South Main Street:

Someone's going to have a killer view:

E-Waste Recycling Event

Have old electronics piling up, and don't know what to do with them?  Old computers, radios ... we've all had them at some point, and you've likely wondered what to do with them.  I've got an easy solution for you - bring them to the second annual E-Waste Recycling Event, to be Saturday November 8 from 9 am to 3pm.  And it's FREE.  The event is a joint venture between Virginia Tech and Hollins University.

Click the image below to see the full list.

It's important.  From their website:

Along with many other serious issues facing our environment, the world is experiencing a crisis in electronic waste. Toxic materials such as lead, mercury, chlorine and bromine are commonly used in producing computers and other electronics, and if these devices are dumped into solid waste systems after they have outlived their usefulness, the toxins can seep from landfills into groundwater or be released by incinerator emissions or ash.

Hazardous e-waste is often sent to developing countries for recycling. However, once there it is often simply discarded. Even if recycling occurs, the process used in those countries is very dangerous to workers and pollutes the general environment.

Load up the cars, and bring in that old stuff.  There are a LOT of items they'll take, but some they can't - check their website for a more comprehensive list.  It'll be held at the old Blacksburg Middle School, 501 South Main Street in Blacksburg.

Thanks to Natalie for pointing this out!

The State of The Market - October 2009

Ah, the leaves in the New RIver Valley are changing.  It's one of my favorite times of the year here - until the winter winds decide to blow.

Just as the leaves will change every year, it's election day today and with a lame duck President in place we'll see change in DC, as well - you DID vote, didn't you?  The leaves change, our leadership changes, and the real estate market ... well, it's changed a bit, as well.

I'll repeat it one more time:

"a slow, steady and calculated approach to the market is going to be important as we move forward towards 2009."

There are opportunities for buyers and sellers, right now, and a slow and steady approach will serve you well.  That being said, I don't think we'll see significant market rebounds in the short-term so Sellers, if you don't have to sell, don't.  As you can see from the following numbers, anything over 5 months is a buyers market and right now, there aren't any buyers markets.  I'm currently working on an end-of-year market report, I'm interested to see how that works out ... stay tuned for that.  Again, when it comes to absorption rates, we're looking at how long it would take to sell the existing residential inventory in a particular area, if nothing else came on the market until supply was exhausted.  Anything over 5 months is typically a buyers' market, and anything less than 5 months is typically a seller's market.

Area	# of Active Properties	# of Sold Properties	Absorption Rate	Buyer/Seller Market
Blacksburg	216	11	19.64 Months	Buyer
Christiansburg	278	14	19.86 Months	Buyer
Montgomery County	67	8	8.38 Months	Buyer
Floyd County	124	6	20.67 Months	Buyer
Giles County	60	9	6.67 Months	Buyer
Pulaski	105	9	11.67 Months	Buyer
Dublin	113	6	18.83Months	Buyer
Radford	72	10	7.20 Months	Buyer

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Another Shade of Green

Saw this article in the New River Valley Current this weekend regarding Progress Street Builders' new NAHB Gold Standard program.  As the owner of a home built by Progress Street Builders, I can speak firsthand to their attention to detail - in this case, they're paying attention to things that have a greater purpose.  And as you'll see in the article, Don is putting his money where his mouth is - Kudos to Don and the team at Progress Street
Builders ...

(Dear Roanoke Times - would you please publish these articles online so they don't have to be written out in their entirety?)

"EarthCraft, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) ... all are promoting sustainable building techniques, energy-efficient usage of space and materials, and long term, cost-effective approaches to design.

Progress Street Builders, whcih, since it started the eight-year old Village at Tom's Creek project, has been known for a sustainable building approach.  It has incorporated aspects of energy efficiency into its homes for nearly a decade.  Now its Roanoke development, Colonial Green, and a new spec house in the Village at Tom's Creek, will incorporate the NAHB Green Building standards, according to Don Hughes, operations manager.

The spec house, a four-square will not stand out architecturally from the rest of the houses in the Village, said Hughes.  And neither will it be significantly more expensive.  In pursuing the NAHB standard - it has chosen the Gold Standard, the ones Hughes said best fits their focus of sustainability.

'Green building is not a term I'm terribly fond of,' he said.  'It's so ambiguous, so we use the term sustainability, which indicates where you build and how you build.  The majority of our construction work, in The Village at Tom's Creek and in Roanoke, has been green since the inception of The Village.  It has a lot inherent characteristics, with the ability not just to look at the house but also the community.  NAHB looks at the community at large, and we felt it was a really importatn component.'

Hughes explained that his company's green building approach uses smaller lots and larger continuous green spaces.

'One of the reasons we took on the Gold program was that we've been doing this throughout our company's history, and we wanted to utilize it to the greatest extent,' said Hughes.

According to NAHB, its building standard 'will maintain the flexibility of green building practices while providing a common national benchmak for builders, remodelers, and developers ... It is based on the three-year-old NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, but enhanced to include residential remodeling, multifamily building, and lot and site development - also the first of their kinds in the country.  It also reflects advancements in requirements in the International Residential Code and other changes that serve as indications of the dynamic nature of green building.'

Hughes said the program is more flexible and meets their needs as well as the characteristics of the New River Valley.  For instance, he said, prior EarthCraft certifications (although they may have changed recently, he added) would not allow a program that used septic systems.  While it is a very good program, said Hughes, in some areas of the New River Valley septic systems are necessary.

'This house [in The Village] will be certified under both programs,' he said.

The NAHB program requires a third-party, independent verification that involves both a blower-door test and a duct-blaster test to check air leaks. 

'We go through a complex analysis of each house.  The program gives you a broad range of meeting certain performance criteria, and we can address those objectives in a multitude of ways,' said Hughes.

Although Progress Street Builders chose the Gold Standard, when building subsequent homes it will offer homeowners a choice as to which level of home they want.  The seven key green areas that the standard addresses are site, resource efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, homeowner education and global impact.

Hughes said Progress Street Builders' houses didn't have to go trhough any major changes, because the company's standard specifications already were in line with both EarthCraft and NAHB certifications and goals.

His company has concentrated on creativerly building air barriers, bringing HVAC systems inside the conditioned envelope, yet still turning out a house that is both energy efficient and cost effective.

'As long as you build carefully, not using exotic materials, you don't have to build a house that is compromised in livability or in its aesthetics.  You'll drive by this particular home and it will not look out of place.  It's going to be in complete architectural harmony with the community,' said Hughes.

Progress Street Builders is so confident of the NAHB Gold standard that Hughes is offering homeowners who live in NAHB Gold Standard houses an energy-usage program that guarantees a certain energy usage for two years - in units rather than in dollars - that will reimburse the homeowner for overages.

'When we build and test and have third-party verifications, we feel very comfortable in guaranteeing energy usage.  it's something we have monitored in model homes and in our personal homes,' said Hughes.

For more information on Hughes and Progress Street Builders, check out their website.  This article is just in time for the Roanoke Energy Expo.

Blacksburg Transit Provides Election Day Transportation

Need a ride to the polls this election day, or want to continue the theme of Sustainability Week and encourage the use of public transportation while exercising your right to vote?

Blacksburg Transit is providing "Election Day transportation service to voting locations within the Town of Blacksburg. Service will operate from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday November 4, 2008 to the following voting locations:

• Blacksburg Library, Blacksburg Middle School
• Blacksburg Community Center on Patrick Henry
• Gilbert Linkous Elementary
• Luther Memorial Lutheran Church
• Margaret Beeks Elementary
• Slusser Chapel
• St. Michaels Lutheran Church

For detailed information regarding your district and voting location please visit the Montgomery County Registrar's Office at www.montva.com or call (540) 382-5741.

For up to date detailed information regarding Election Day Service visit the Blacksburg Transit Website at www.btransit.org or call (540) 961-1185 for service questions."

They also have an Election Day route schedule:

We're Connected - Whether We Know It Or Not

Anne Clelland of Handshake 2.0 has a guest writer on her blog today, talking about finding connections - online and offline - in places you never expect to find them.

Are we connected?

Have You Considered Biking To Work?

It's Sustainability Week in Blacksburg, which means we should be focusing a little bit more on minimizing our impact in the communities we live in. 

One of the ways to do that is to bike around Town.  Have you ever tried it?  Blacksburg is a pretty bike-friendly town, at least more than most, and it's pretty easy to get around from place to place via pedal power.  It's great exercise, the main corridors of Blacksburg (Main Street and Prices Fork Road) have bike lanes, there are bike racks around Town (although not enough, in my opinion) to lock your bike to, and if you decide you've had enough pedaling and need a ride, most Blacksburg Transit buses have bike racks.  The current Huckleberry Trail takes you out to the Christiansburg mall, and will eventually go even further than that expanding the number of retail, grocery and entertainment options you can reach by bike (if you decide you don't want to visit the new First & Main).

What about riding your bike to work?  Sure, it's getting colder and most of us aren't going to head out into the cold for a commute to work - it's hard to signal, ride and drink coffee all at the same time (and until they get seat heaters for my bike seat like they have for my car, I'm tempted to stick with my routine thank you very much)!  One of the unintended benefits of higher gas prices this summer though, was an increase in the number of people using their bikes to commute to work.  I know I did, and my wife did as well.  And when the winter weather breaks a bit and we have that balmy winter day, I'll get the bike out and do it again.  It's a great way to get around, and just in my industry there are more and more real estate agents - like Dru Bloomfield, Jim Duncan and Tony Arko - who are using their bikes more and more. 

So ... what's your commute look like?  Here's mine:

Less wear and tear on roads, less vehicle emissions, less fuel usage, more caloric burn ... We talk about the high quality of life we have here in the New River Valley, isn't the opportunity to do something that's good not only for our bodies but the community we live in just another way we can support the mission of Sustainability Week, and make it, as Jim calls it, a lifestyle shift.

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Stuart Mease On Supporting Local Business in the Roanoke and New River Valleys

Rackspace, and it's webmail division of Mailtrust - which, coincidentally is Blacksburg-grown - IPO'd in August 2008, yet very little was written about it in the local paper.  Stuart's contention is that success stories like Mailtrust, and so many others located throughout our region, need the support and publicity that all of us can provide.

This is important to real estate for a couple of reasons.  First, Stuart mentioned the term "creative-class" jobs when he referred to Mailtrust's initiative to bring 100+ new jobs to the Blacksburg community within the next 18 months.  I'd not heard the term "creative-class jobs" before, but I like it ... creative class jobs are in demand in what has rapidly become a global economy, and the workforce created by these jobs encourages not only new businesses creation in the region, but also the relocation of existing businesses - and therefore their jobs as well - into the region.  These are not positions that are outsourced; they are jobs that are created, maintained and promoted within the region, and Mailtrust is but one example of this local talent.

Thanks to Handshake 2.0 for sharing the video.

They Call It The Tower of Power

Coal-fired power plants.

Critics say they're dirty, that it has enormous leave-behinds in the form of ash, pollutants like sulphuric acids, arsenic and loads of carbon dioxide, not to mention the costs - both quantifiable and non-quantifiable - for mining, disposing of leave-behinds, and illnesses in the local communities.

Doesn't sound like a really pleasant thing to be around, does it?  Did you know that Virginia Tech has it's own power plant, and that it's fueled by coal, that dirtiest of fossil fuels?

Before you jump up and start making picket signs, check out this article by 16 Blocks Magazine - it might just give you a different perspective on new ways that 800 pound gorilla we call Virginia Tech is discovering to serve an increasing demand while minimizing its' impact.  Think it isn't working?  The systems installed in the Virginia Tech facility have resulted in "a ninety percent reduction in emissions and a smoke stack that hardly seems to smoke at all. By industry standards, an emissions opacity of ten percent is considered good. VTPP's opacity hovers between two and three percent, a level of smoke invisible even in broad daylight."

THAT's making a difference.

More photos of the plant on Flickr.

Just announced today, Tech's new energy initiatives.  It's all part of Sustainability Week here in Blacksburg.

16 Blocks Magazine supplied the photo.

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Dazed & Confused Concerning Affordable Housing in Blacksburg

The Current yesterday ran a "forum" piece regarding the proposed Blacksburg workforce housing project that's been hotly debated; it appears that the forum was a response to this October 5th editorial. 

Please tell me this was a joke.  Honestly.  I'm confused as to the message this sends to community residents.

Quotes include:

• "Residents ... would have the convenience of having elementary, middle and (proposed) high schools; churches; parks; recreation fields; and grocery and other shopping located one mile or less from their neighborhood"
• "Blacksburg Transit service would be extended to the site ..."
• the residents would enjoy "social and environmental benefits of living in an EarthCraft designed and certified community -- the first such proposed project in Virginia"

Why is the Blacksburg Housing and Community Development Advisory Board determining that the best place to put an affordable housing project is outside the Town limits?  At least on the Harding Avenue site we were attempting to annex the property so that it'd be within the Town boundaries and it has easier access to downtown, but to say the Merrimac Road location is the best solution is crazy.  The whole goal of the project is to find a location where residents can easily interact with things happening within the Town while utilizing current roads, public transportation and walking and biking trails, but as it is now the Merrimac Road location is outside of Town limits, and provides no easy alternative to get in and out of the downtown area other than Price's Fork Road.  I haven't driven it - yet - but I'd guess the Merrimac Road location is nearly 5 miles from Main Street and College Avenue, widely regarded as the "center" of downtown.  The Harding Avenue location is maybe half that, and for the most part follows established bike paths and suburban streets?  Furthermore, to extend Blacksburg Transit just to serve this community smacks of "thank us for our generosity."  The Harding Avenue had a bus stop literally yards away, eliminating the need for heavy rerouting of buses and scheduling. 

The forum goes on to say that the project will be green and efficient, and will be the first such project proposed in Virginia.  If they're referring to affordable housing that may be the case, but I don't think it's the first EarthCraft certified community in the state, nor is it the first in Blacksburg.  

I have a hard time understanding why Merrimac Road makes more sense.  I think it just reeks of elitism and ulterior motives, and I hope you can work it out with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors to fix this one.

Dazed and confused.

Sustainability Week in Blacksburg - October 20-25

I mentioned Sustainability Week recently, but there wasn't much information available. 

Now, there's a lot more.

• What is Sustainability Week?
• What's happening?  Short version or long version.

Why is this important?  Taking care of our environment is more than a fad, it's the right thing to do.  We have a legacy to leave - what will it be?

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The State of the Market - September 2008 (Renamed: A Slow And Steady Approach)

August has come and gone, and September has as well.  The leaves are changing ... it's one of my favoritest (can I say that?  Sure I can) times of the year here in the New River Valley.  September has NOT been nice to the stock market, however - there's no secret there, we've passed a bill with economic implications that are really beyond comprehension to try and stabilize it, and oh yea, there's a presidential election going on as well.  Wondering how it all effects housing?  My best guesses here, here, here and here.  As I said last month however:

"a slow, steady and calculated approach to the market is going to be important as we move forward towards 2009."

I believe that, more than ever.  If you look at the first half of the year you'll see prices being soft during a time of year that's typically a much stronger market, and then as we've gotten further into the fall that trend has continued.  According to figures pulled from the New River Valley MLS, volume across the entire New River Valley (which my absorption rate statistics does not cover in its' entirety) is down about 14% from this time last year, the average sold price is down about 11% from this time last year, but the list to sale ratio is 96.3% (compared to 96.2% last year).  That tells me that while prices are down from this time last year, sellers are pushing for lower list prices as well - this is a good strategy.  In a market that's soft, don't rely on the price your neighbor got six months ago.  Stay ahead of the knife and price it right the first time.  One more cautionary tale, and I mentioned it last month ... if you are in an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, and your rate adjusts or expires at anytime in 2009, please contact me immediately.  There are serious implications for many homeowners who will find their payments jumping by hundreds of dollars a month, let's find a local lender who can act quickly to help you refinance and keep your payments low.

When it comes to absorption rates, we're looking at how long it would take to sell the existing residential inventory in a particular area, if nothing else came on the market until supply was exhausted.  Anything over 5 months is typically a buyers' market, and anything less than 5 months is typically a seller's market.

Area	# of Active Properties	# of Sold Properties	Absorption Rate	Buyer/Seller Market
Blacksburg	206	19	10.84 Months	Buyer
Christiansburg	272	17	16.00 Months	Buyer
Montgomery County	68	8	8.50 Months	Buyer
Floyd County	127	2	63.50 Months	Buyer
Giles County	60	8	7.50 Months	Buyer
Pulaski	101	5	20.20 Months	Buyer
Dublin	116	7	16.57 Months	Buyer
Radford	79	7	11.29 Months	Buyer

A full and complete shift into a buyers' market through September, which again is no surprise, it's part of the cycle.  Certainly, news from Wall Street and an election are playing into this, as well as just the typical slow down that happens every year about this time.  I was asked on Monday if I was worried about my job.  Let me be clear ... NO.  People are going to buy and sell during turbulent times.  The market will be different, it will be rocky at times, but if I know how to navigate it and put the pieces in place, it all works out in the end.  Let me repeat - a slow, steady and calculated approach to the market is going to be important as we move forward towards 2009.

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Help The Huckleberry

They've determined how to cross Route 114, they've determined the route ...

But they need the money.  You can help the Friends of the Huckleberry by writing to express your support.  Brad Stipes tells us how ...

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NEW! SWVABloggers.com

I JUST found out about a cool new site for Southwest VA that I wanted to make sure to put out there.  It's called SWVABloggers.com, and it's put together by a group of bloggers who want to offer a one stop to get information from all sorts of SWVA blogs.  From their site:

The idea behind the site is to pool the creative writing skills and wide variety of topics from local bloggers into one site. From local sports and business, to parenting and local governments; we’re looking to bring all the local bloggers under one URL. We’re not asking them to move their blogs here, SWVABloggers.com simply offers them another outlet to showcase their passions while at the same time, providing a centralized site with a wide range of topics related to this part of the Commonwealth.

A quick search through the site and I see information on pumpkin pickin', Virginia Tech sports, product reviews ... all kinds of stuff, even real estate (the screen shot above just happened to have a post I wrote yesterday, it was completely coincidental I swear).  Their list of bloggers includes:

• Stuart's Connecting People
• Heather's Desperately Seeking Reviews and Desperately Seeking Sanity
• Anne's Handshake 2.0
• My very own NRVLiving Real Estate Blog
• TechHoops.com
• Gary's TheGaryCope.com
• VTHokieFans.com

It's a great idea, thanks to those of you who took the time to put it together - they've even created a Facebook group and Twitter page!  If you'd like your blog to be a part of SWVABloggers.com (and membership is FREE), email Gary.

 

Weathering The Real Estate Storm

Zach Crizer of The Collegiate Times called me early last week and asked "why do people decide to invest in college towns?"  We talked for a few minutes, and later in the week he posted "Blacksburg Real Estate Weathers Financial Storm".

Thanks, Zach, for the chance to talk with you, and to be quoted in the same article as someone as well known in his field as Dr. Koebel was an honor.  He certainly described it in much more intelligent terms, but at least I didn't stutter.

I appreciated the chat, Zach, call anytime. 

Wow.

See Sustainability and Smart Design In Action

The Town of Blacksburg is showcasing it's latest project in sustainability October 25th.  This should be cool, hope to see you there.

Will The Colosseum Stand The Test of Time?

Blacksburg's newest development project, The Colosseum, has broken ground.  Here's a link to the recap in Multi-Housing News.

I wrote in January that I thought it was too much for the area - too much product right now.  I still do; condos are lagging behind the rest of the market.

Only time will tell how this project does. 

Just like to say that this picture was taken by my wife on a trip she took to Italy over the summer. It's my absolute favorite - I'm so proud.

The Colosseum in Blacksburg

A few weeks ago, I attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Colosseum project in Blacksburg.  The event featured speakers, all kinds of food and drinks, Roman gladiators (I mean, honestly - can you name something "The Colosseum" without gladiators?) and golden shovels.  I took video to show you, in fact.

Stupid video - somehow, everything was corrupted and I lost it all. 

So I'll recap the project here, as best I can.  Sorry about that, but I DO have answers to some of the common questions people have been asking about the project.  From the project's marketing department:

What exactly is a condominium hotel - Condominium hotels operate as a hotel but also add the legal and financial structure of a condominium.  Buyers receive a deed for a real property interest that they can in turn sell whenever they choose.

How is this different from buying a regular condominium - In addition to the investment value of a condominium, buyers can take advantage of the benefits of a luxury hotel.  When the condominium unit owners stay at the hotel, they have access to all of the hotel's amenities, including its restaurant, bar, pool, fitness and spa facilities.

What happens when I'm not using my condominium - When the owners are not using their suites, they can be made available to rent through the hotel's voluntary rental program.  The Colosseum is managed by Salamander Hospitality, an award-winning manager of exclusive hotels and resorts, so buyers don't have to worry about maintaining a property away from home.

What makes The Colosseum a luxury sports condominium hotel - Conveniently located near the heart of Blacksburg's business and shopping district and two miles from Lane Stadium and Cassell Coliseum, The Colosseum is perfectly designed for Virginia Tech alumni and fans who want to support Virginia Tech athletics.  Game day enthusiasts can also take advantage of extras such as child care, game shuttles and underground parking.

How many units are there - The two tower, six story, 241 unit condominium hotel offers luxury fully furnished studio suites, or a one or two-bedroom suites.

How does The Colosseum support the local community - The Colosseum has pledged to donate a portion of the sale of each unit, up to $500000, to the construction of the new basketball facility.  The donation will be made in the name of the purchaser, who will also receive Hokie Points toward preferred seating and parking for their contribution.  Likewise, The Colosseum has committed to endow a permanent $100000 scholarship for a student athlete pursuing a degree in property management or hospitatlity and tourism management, and offer internships to building and construction students during the construction phase.

Pictured above, left to right:

Steve Semones, Balzer & Associates
Daryl Andrews, The Colosseum
Mayor Ron Rordam, Town of Blacksburg
Mark Kinzer, Unlimited Construction
Mike Burnop, ISP Network Analyst and Virginia Tech Hall of Famer
Todd Meckley, Entasis Design PLLC
Random Gladiator