NRVLiving - Real Estate. Simplified.

As The Dirt Turns

Yep, they're turning dirt down at First & Main, the new retail development mix on South Main Street in Blacksburg.  I took some pictures on my phone this afternoon, so apologies if the quality's not the greatest.  You can find out all the latest on First & Main from Google here.
You've heard the news - the developer wanted a big box store, Town Council voted an Ordinance into place to block it, and now that's been repealed by the Planning Commission.  We won't belabor that, but if you haven't been down South Main Street in a while you'll be surprised when you do.  I've said all along, I think this is good for the Town and I'm excited to see them get started.  In the end, I think most of us are going to be happy with the results.  Like many of you, I'm concerned that a development match the character of the Town, but I know the principals involved here have worked diligently with the Town's Powers That Be to assure that is done.  And I'd love to have someone involved with the project on the radio show soon, so if you're reading this and can help with that, please email me.

Anyone up for a beer at the Brewhouse when complete?

And the battle rages on ...

Clearing to the left of the Rugby Field.

Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, Hibbett Sports, Wireless ZONE, RePlay Games, Books-A-Million, 12-Screen Cinema

Rack Room Shoes, Henebry's Jewelers, Ann Taylor Loft and JoS A. Bank

Classic Body Image & Day Spa, Talbot's, Coldwater Creek and Catwalk Clothing

Beamer's, Maggie Moo's, Sonic, Sake House, Elderberry's ... and I don't recall the rest.  Plenty of others on the way, including a Gold's Gym (get your workout on).

This is one of the most commented on topics on this blog, so I hope you don't disappoint ... any thoughts?

To Break Ground, Or To Not Break Ground ...

Heard the news?  The Blacksburg Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to reverse Council's approval of Ordinance 1450, and overturned Zoning Administrator Steve Hundley's ruling that the South Main Street development would be subject to the rules of the newly adopted Ordinance 1450.  It's about time ... Ordinance 1450 has the opportunity to allow the Town better control over what's built within Town limits, but it was inappropriately enacted and I hope the Board's ruling will stand.  As usual, we need to go through the appeal of the appeal now. 

This doesn't mean a big box store is going in on the site ... but it certainly makes it more likely than ever before.  And I like that the Ordinance will still be in place for future projects ... As I wrote at the time, I don't care where you stand on the issue - Council's vote was grandstanding and ill-served.    I hope that this ruling will stand and we can move forward.  It's not about one store over another for me, it's about the project as a whole.  Ordinance 1450 was created to try and stop what some believed to be an inappropriate store (despite the fact that no announcement has ever been made) and was a knee-jerk reaction.  Council's decision ended up being what was inappropriate.  I don't want this Council going unchallenged when they clearly acted with a vendetta. 

Enjoy the ride.       

Bring Da Noise! Shut Da Window!

Interesting article on Friday of last week - yes, I'm a little late - regarding noise ordinances.  I was a little surprised to hear that Christiansburg has such an open-ended noise ordinance ... "Currently, Christiansburg's town code addresses noise under the nuisance ordinance and simply states that 'unreasonably loud and unnecessary noise' constitutes a nuisance."

I can understand this woman's concerns, and the tone that Town Manager Lance Terpenny took when he was quoted as saying "this lady won't hear this noise forever and ever." seems a little flippant.  I mean, she wants to knit on the back deck!  Who doesn't like to pass away a quiet Saturday morning outside with their knitting supplies?  I kid - a little bit - but I understand the Town's point as well.  Discretion is important, as Terpenny says, but the climate in the New River Valley DOES dictate that a lot of the work be done when weather conditions are favorable.  Of course, I chuckled when Terpenny said he empathized with the contractors - of course he does, they've been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth or permitting fees to the Town of Christiansburg over the last few years!

Interested to hear your thoughts ... what do you think?

Speaking of noise - and we hope it won't be offensive - the NRVLiving Real Estate Team begins hosting it's radio show cleverly titled "The NRVLiving Real Estate Show" this Saturday, August 4th at 10:00am on FOX News Radio 810AM.  Hope you'll choose to check it out ... we'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, suggestions, or better yet ... Get involved!  Questions or show suggestions can be emailed to [email protected].

Follow-up To Ordinance 1450 ... The Gloves Are Off & The Dust Has Settled. Now What???

So, Ordinance 1450 passed and all is right with the world ... or going to hell in a handbasket ... depending on who you ask.  It's been more than a week since the vote and my legs have just regained feeling from standing all night long listening to the comments.  Since the vote last Tuesday night I've gotten a number of emails from folks who, like I, were against 1450 and who wanted to get my thoughts.  What was I going to say??  It appeared to me that Council had already made up their minds and that nothing was going to be solved by the grandstanding that took place.  I thought it was GREAT that there had been so much citizen participation - for or against the Ordinance, it's our duty to speak out and there were literally hundreds that did it that night ... some ad nausea, but they spoke nevertheless. 

Here's the thing ... I'm not against the development but I understand some of the reasons people were upset.  "This is a big store, it's next to a school ..."  Valid arguments, sure, but the way Town Council acted retroactively to block this portion of the development is, in my opinion, an inappropriate use of authority and, again in my opinion, a bait and switch as well.  That's the thing I find so distasteful in all of this, I think.  That and the use of children as props both before and during the session.  You can't tell me that an 8 year old knows what they're saying as they read a prepared statement full of not so subtle references to "The Evil Mart" and "cheap plastic stuff", or picket outside the Council chambers.  Excuse me as I spit ...

While I was thrilled to see that kind of involvement in public policy, I found actions like using children to be deplorable, and was disappointed at some of the rude comments made both to myself and others who opposed 1450.  It became personal - there were some there who weren't there to speak out or support, they were there to be rude, obnoxious and degrading.  I was called stupid, a colleague ridiculed as he stepped to the podium, and I know others left because of the name calling they experienced.  That's disappointing - we're adults, let's act like it.  How did this become so personal?

I wish I could find Councilman Lancaster's comments at the end of the session - if you know where the video is, let me know and I'll embed it here.  The speech could be entitled "What I Have Learned" and was an equal opportunity woodshed moment, pretty balanced in its' venom.  Some have said there was a lot of grandstanding on both sides, which I would agree with.  This turned into a circus ... as one individual said to me after the event, "the law allows people to protect their property when someone is taking outward action which will harm the property and saleability ...".  They're right, the law does allow for that kind of protection, which only makes the future that much more interesting as now the law is being challenged and those who wrote the Ordinance are being sued.

Showdown In The Hedgepath Chambers, 7:30pm

Tonight, the battle rages on.  Blacksburg Town Council votes tonight on Ordinance 1450, an Ordinance proposed by Council to limit the size of retail buildings to no more than 80000 square feet without Council-issued Special Use Permit.  Proponents of the Ordinance say that it is the "Anti-WalMart" Ordinance, while opponents of the Ordinance say it's an inappropriate use of governmental regulations and limits economic growth for the Town. 

Adding drama to an already intense "my feelings are hurt" debate, the developer have the property has already filed a preemptive suit against the Town, and rumors are swelling that Councilman Langrehr is using the Ordinance to gain support for another run at Mayor. 

Oh, isn't Blacksburg fun sometimes?  But in all seriousness, regardless of where you stand on this issue this is where your voice should be heard.  The session begins at 7:30pm at Town Hall tonight - if it's anything like last summer's session when the project was approved, it should be exciting.  If you're able to make it and see me there, stop by and say hello!

The Battle For Blacksburg - 2007

And so it begins ... school children in the future will refer to May 11, 2007 as the beginning day in the Battle For Blacksburg.  Or, perhaps May 11, 2007 will be Bruce's day?

Ordinance 1450 Is Bigger Than The Mayweather-De La Hoya Fight!

You didn't even know there was a boxing match this weekend, did you?  Yea, I couldn't care less either ...

Yesterday I posted about Michael Miller's piece in the Roanoke Times about how Blacksburg Takes Itself Too Seriously.  Apparently I'm late to the game - I had several people write me and tell me they regularly read his stuff, but I had never seen it before.  Regardless, he's just about got it right ... we do take ourselves a little too seriously sometimes.  I DO think the issue is one that's important enough to have some solid debate on and that Council needs to work with their original decision, although his piece was funny and on target nonetheless.

I wanted to bring to everyone's attention two websites of interest around this topic.  I've gone out of my way to try and present both sides of this whole redevelopment issue although I don't agree with the Council's handling of Ordinance 1450, and with the idea of fair play I wanted to bring to everyone's attention these two sites (if you hadn't seen them already) both for and against Ordinance 1450.  It's interesting to see the opposing images the two sides use.

Against - http://www.blacksburgshopping.com - recently created in support of the South Main development, the site shows the most recent site plan, provides opportunities for supporters and opponents alike to understand what the developer wants to accomplish, and has an online petition that people can sign.  One thing I've found disappointing is the number of people who've signed the petition who have actually opposed the project.  You've got your own petition!  I feel like I'm back in the 6th grade - let's be adults, people.

For - http://www.citizensfirstforblacksburg.org/ - Citizens First, according to their website, was founded in 2003 as a way to defeat the proposed Tom's Creek Sewer basin project and elect a new Town Council.  It could be argued whether the characteristics of "transparency and responsiveness" that they were looking for in their new Council have been attained (sorry, that was below the belt), but nonetheless they are organized and I believe many of their members do have Blacksburg's best interests at heart. 

Dissenting opinions aside, I'd encourage everyone to check out the two sites and inform yourself as best you can.  Ordinance 1450 is important for Blacksburg, and I'd encourage you to take the time to come to the meeting next week.  If you've never been, try it once - it's better than the dentist's chair I assure you ... apologies to any dentist-readers. 

New Site Plan - The Boulevards At Blacksburg Will Consist Of A Sub Shack and Tatoo Parlor ...

Okay, so the title of the post is a bit misleading but you kept reading, right?  I hope so.  I received the following comment from my post yesterday about the web site www.blacksburgshopping.com from a reader named Paul who makes a good point.  I love that this is getting people in this Town talking, but I'm disturbed by some of the comments that have come out of the arguments (not here on this blog, but in other forums around Town).  Nevertheless, I think this breeds some really good discussion, and in my reply to Paul I realized I was just writing another post.  So I've continued it below ...

Paul says - "I’ve been following this development since it was proposed last year and I was very excited about it until the latest plan showed a big-box store behind Kroger. Fairmount has not released the name of the big-box, but I can only presume it’s a Walmart until they say otherwise. I’ve noticed that several of the comments on the petition, including your comments, stated that we should compromise and work with the builder to make the anchor store work. Without ordinance 1450, there’s no incentive for the builder to even come to the table to talk about it. One aspect of 1450 that people keep forgetting to mention is that it doesn’t prevent a big-box from being built. It just requires that the builder would need to acquire a special-use permit for the building in question. The builder would then have an incentive to work with the town on making the anchor store work for the community. I personally believe the town doesn’t want to see this opportunity pass them by, which is why I believe they’ll use 1450 in a positive manner."

Thanks for the comment, Paul.  If my memory serves me right, every plan has shown a large-footprint anchor store on the plan, it's just that when the developer decided to take residential out of the plan and replace it with a larger footprint, people got upset.  The developer never proffered to include residential - they wanted to include residential but I'm sure quickly found in signing leases that an anchor tenant was going to be key to the plan.  As I've said before (http://tinyurl.com/3745l4), I don't want a Wal-Mart either but I have seen applications where the big-box fits well into the scheme of the project and I think that can happen here.  What I DO want is for the project to continue in an expeditious manner.  The Town has repeatedly rejected opportunities over the last several years that would have created significant commercial tax revenue and slowed the rampant growth in the residential sector that has driven so many to live elsewhere.  Without revealing too much, I may or may not - wink wink - have had the opportunity to learn a good bit more about the project within the last month, and I walked away from that meeting feeling no better about the fact that it wouldn't be a Wal-Mart on that site.  But I also didn't get the impression that it couldn't be any number of other large anchor tenants.  I don't shop at Wal-Mart - I don't care about cheap plastic stuff - but there are a lot of other tenants in that tenant mix that I want to see here and I firmly believe this is an opportunity for the Town to step up and make this work.

Here's the thing that bothers me the most - Ordinance 1450 seems to have been   put in place after a minority started pushing on Council to retract the approval they agreed upon last summer, and Council relented.  I don't have a problem with Council changing a previous agreement if that agreement was invalid in some way, but in this case they rezoned the property to allow the development to continue and now are attempting to change zoning again less than 12 months later to restrict the development.  I am no architect or space planner but I'd be willing to bet that 80000 square feet is not going to be touched by any of the retailers that would be considered big box stores.  If a big box store is what is needed to make something like this work - and if you look at other lifestyle centers you'll see that it's a theme among all of them - then the development will not succeed.  Large-scale retail in lifestyle centers like this scratches smaller retail's back.  The closest lifestyle center to Blacksburg right now is probably Concord Mills in NC, and that's a "prehistoric" version as it's really a mall.  But it's a good example.  The "smaller" retailers of Concord Mills (chosen randomly from CM's website) - like Ann Taylor Loft, California Pizza Kitchen, Oakley and Wet Seal - do not survive without traffic from the Circuit City's, BJ's, and Home Depot's both surrounding the mall AND within the mall.  The smaller retailers just don't attract the dollars necessary to make that work, but the larger retailers do. 

I think you and I agree on most of this, but from comments made publicly by some of the Council I just don't believe they are interested in using Ordinance 1450 as a means of working with this developer and that's where we likely disagree.  Like so many others I sat through those public sessions and heard the proffers to fulfill what the Town was requesting.  Now, someone posts a website saying "WAL-MART IS COMING, WAL-MART IS COMING" and Ordinace 1450 is fast-tracked.  That says to me the Town isn't interested in working with the development or discussions would have taken place; they're interested in working against it and that's where I think a SUP wouldn't be approved.  But I'm hopeful that I'm wrong ...

Blacksburg Shopping ...

Over many many months I've written about various responses and reactions to the proposed Blacksburg redevelopment, The Boulevards At Blacksburg.   Last summer, Town Council approved the development after a 5-hour public comments session and tenant recruitment subsequently moved forward.  Since that time, some on the Council appear to have changed their minds and are now trying to find a way to block the project.  Ordinance 1450 is designed to do just that, and personally I think its a shame. I'll post more on this when I get back to the office, but for now check out this site.  It's a site designed by the developer to solicit feedback and signatures in support of the project, but I also think it does a good job of explaining why the project is good for the Town.  Obviously it's going to be biased toward a favorable outcome but in my opinion, that's an okay thing. 
Again, I'm walking across campus as I type this on my phone so I'll write more when I get back.  Apologies for any spelling mistakes but I just can't see the screen all that well with this wonderful, gorgeous sunshine!  Check out the site, I'll have more later.

Protest The Big Box!

That's what a few dozen folks did yesterday outside the International Council of Shopping Centers meeting here in Blacksburg.  Fairmount Properties, the Cleveland-based developer of the South Main project currently slated to begin here in late summer 2007, was in attendance and held a press conference after the luncheon saying that the project couldn't move forward with a big-box anchor tenant and that other retailers were watching. 

I've been following this project pretty closely since it was publicly announced quite some time ago, and I have never once heard with any certainty that the anchor tenant Fairmount has targeted for the site is Wal-Mart, but there are hundreds within the Town that seem to think otherwise.  Petitions have been signed, websites and blogs denouncing the retailer have been created, and emails announcing the protest have been circulated.  Good Lord, enough already!  Here's the point ...

As I've said before, there are certain things that make Blacksburg unique and I'm not certain that a store like Wal-Mart is one of them but I AM FOR THIS DEVELOPMENT.  But I don't know that it's a Wal-Mart - could it be a K-Mart, a Kohl's, a Target?  Who knows, at this point EVERYTHING out there is just conjecture.  In the summer Town Council approved rezoning of the South Main site and now they've switched their opinion and seem to be trying to change the rules once again on the developer.  If I'm Fairmount I'm going to be pissed ... I've made promises to tenants based on what the Town approved in regards to the zoning, and now it's being challenged and threatened to be changed? 

FULL DISCLOSURE - I don't know this developer.  I don't know anything specific about what's going into the site other than what I've already posted. There, that's out of the way.  So tell me - why is this such a big deal?  Increased revenue for a municipal government that needs the estimated $1,000,000 in tax revenue a retail development like this could bring?  While they're low compared to national averages, our property taxes aren't going to get any cheaper, folks, and the burden of another tax increase like we just saw could be partially borne by solid retail development involving a mix of tenants who are committed to staying, not mom and pop stores that are going to struggle every day to survive.  I love the mom and pop stores - Natalie and I try to buy our books from local stores, we purchase milk from Homestead Creamery (try their Egg Nog!) and we support the Buy Local campaign.  But the truth of the matter is that our dollars need to stay in Blacksburg, rather than being spent in and supporting Christiansburg.  Nothing against Christiansburg, but I'd prefer to support retailers and restaurateurs in the community I live in.  Right now, I buy gas, groceries and Diet Pepsi in Blacksburg.   

I really hope some of the readers here will offer some insightful commentary on their thoughts - this is one of the most contentious issues to hit Blacksburg in quite some time and I know there's some thoughtful commentary out there.  We all look forward to reading it ...