No algorithms. No content filters. No A.I. — Honest and insightful analysis from Richmond, VA.
Grab a paid subscription this week for 20% off!
STORY #1 — Pandora’s Coliseum
Just in time for Christmas stockings came the news that there is yet another delay over the award of the economic development plan known as City Center. It is the remnant of the failed Navy Hill boondoggle and a plan to build a large convention center hotel, demolish the Coliseum, repurpose the historic Blues Armory and add mixed-use development and residential and affordable housing.
The original request for development proposals (RFP) was put out in November of 2022 (not long after the Diamond District project), when Mayor Stoney proudly boasted City Hall could walk and chew gum at the same time and handle two development projects simultaneously. Five development teams responded and their proposals were made public, and the Times-Dispatch ran an article in June 2023 with highlights and diagrams “The winning development group will be tasked with demolishing the Coliseum structure within 12 months, repurposing the historic Blues Armory on North Sixth Street and building a 500-room hotel that will support the Greater Richmond Convention Center,” they reported.
The original spring 2023 target date for a selection was pushed back to summer, and then the fall of 2023, and then the project fell off everyone’s radar and City Hall didn’t talk about it for months. Virginia Business reported in February of 2024 that no one knew where the process was, when a final selection would be made, or why the final selection process was taking so long.
Then, in April 2024, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Lincoln Saunders told Council the city would need to budget about $3 million to demolish the Coliseum before awarding the project. The Coliseum was originally shut in early 2019 as an attempt by Stoney to push through his Navy Hill boondoggle; the city could have demolished it anytime before issuing the RFP in late 2022 (or since); however, the RFP included the demolition of the Coliseum as a responsibility of the selected developer.
Richmond BizSense reported that when CAO Saunders reported the surprise $3 million tab, he told City Council the move would help reenergize City Center while
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to RVA 5x5 to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.