The Agenda: Local government briefs for 3.8.21
BizSense file)
Mayor proposes $770M budget for FY22
Mayor Levar Stoney presented his administration’s proposed FY22 budget to the Richmond City Council on Friday. The $770.3 million budget is balanced despite municipal revenues projected to be nearly $18.5 million less than revenues in last fiscal year’s proposal.
The proposed budget contains no increases in real estate, personal property or other general taxes. It does include a proposed utility rate increase of $5.27 a month for the average customer. The increase would fund more than $3 million in infrastructure improvements to address flooding in Southside and other parts of the city.
Thalhimer looks to prime 2-acre Manchester plot for redevelopment
The 2-acre site is one of the last undeveloped sites along Hull Street east of Commerce Street. (
Mike Platania photos)
With a major project nearing completion nearby and plenty of other activity in the vicinity, a large untouched plot in Manchester is being prepped for eventual redevelopment.
Thalhimer Realty Partners is seeking to rezone the 2.2-acre plot at 423 Hull St. from its current B-5 Central Business District designation to TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal District, a relatively new zoning type that allows for mixed-use projects up to 12 stories.
TRP, the development arm of local commercial brokerage giant Thalhimer, bought the parcel as part of a $9 million deal in 2013 that kicked off its redevelopment of the former Reynolds South plant. The site is adjacent to the residential part of the project, City View Lofts, as well as Lynx Ventures’ office, retail and residential project The Current.
Northside apartments, Arthur Ashe Boulevard rezoning move forward
March 3, 2021 6
An aerial view of the Wesco Distribution site, which Thalhimer Realty Partners purchased for $3.7 million in 2019, facing south. Arthur Ashe Boulevard is to the left. (
City documents)
Dozens of new income-based apartments near Highland Park and a potential redevelopment site on Arthur Ashe Boulevard both got an initial greenlight at City Hall on Monday.
Richmond’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of a special-use permit for Commonwealth Catholic Charities’ planned 56-unit residential project at 1031 and 1101 Fourqurean Lane.
The commission also recommended approval of Thalhimer Realty Partners’ rezoning request for 2902 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. from M-2 Heavy Industrial to TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal District.
Flying Squirrels announce legacy campaign to honor the Richmond 34
Flying Squirrels announce legacy campaign to honor the Richmond 34 By Jasmine Turner | February 24, 2021 at 7:22 PM EST - Updated February 24 at 7:49 PM
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - This week marks 61 years since a historic sit-in held in Downtown Richmond. The Richmond 34 - a group of Virginia Union University students - peacefully protested the injustice of the time.
Wednesday, the Richmond Flying Squirrels announced a campaign to celebrate the legacy of the Richmond 34.
On Feb. 22, 1960, 34 students were arrested for trespassing, after refusing to leave the segregated Thalhimer’s lunch counter. Local historians say it was the first mass arrest of a movement and changed the course of history.
Smith-Palmer House on Franklin Street sells to local church for $1M
Jonathan Spiers photos)
An 1850s-era townhouse on a visible street corner in Monroe Ward is now in the hands of a local church after a seven-figure deal.
Remnant Church purchased the Smith-Palmer House at 211 W. Franklin St., where it plans to house offices for Grimké Seminary, its pastor training arm.
The church, which has locations in Shockoe Bottom and on Arthur Ashe Boulevard, paid $1.15 million for the three-story, 5,700-square-foot building. It previously housed offices for Sandpiper Hospitality, a hotel group now based in Henrico’s Glen Forest Office Park.