The Richmond Economic Development Authority could soon have a 12-month deadline to demolish the Richmond Coliseum as part of the city’s plans to sell and redevelop the shuttered downtown property.
Following the recent introduction of legislation to convey the 7-acre property under a cooperative agreement with the EDA, the City Council Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee on Thursday voted 2-1 to endorse the bill ahead of a final council vote slated for Monday.
Council members Ellen Robertson and Michael Jones supported it, while Councilwoman Kristen Nye voted against it, saying she worries about the timing of the property transfer.
If approved, the EDA would have six months to launch a competitive solicitation process to sell and redevelop the property within the next 42 months.
Leonard Sledge, the city’s director of economic development, said Thursday that the redevelopment would be based on plans for the downtown core that the City Council adopted in January.
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“The interests of the EDA are absolutely aligned with the city,” he said. “We want to see a high quality redevelopment occur on the site in line with the vision that’s been laid out by the city in the small area plan,” he said.
The plan covers an area bounded generally by East Franklin Street to East Leigh Street and from North 5th Street to North 10th Street.
The main goals of the city plan are to rezone and sell surplus city-owned property to foster growth, redevelop vacant and underutilized privately and publicly owned property and create a new “high tech” high school. The plan also calls for new zoning designations with “unlimited height and density” for new development.
Conceptual illustrations of what a potential redevelopment of the area could look like include new hotels and entertainment venues, government facilities, apartment buildings, a central plaza and a linear park spanning several blocks along Clay Street from the Greater Richmond Convention Center to Ninth Street.
The city has marketed the plan as an opportunity to create a so-called “innovation hub” with VCU Health, Reynolds Community College and the VA Bio+Tech Park as anchors for the central downtown district.
While five council members have signed on as co-patrons for the legislation, all city-owned property transfers need at least seven council votes to pass.
In addition to Robertson and Jones, the bill’s patrons include Council President Cynthia Newbille, Andreas Addison and Ann-Frances Lambert.
Nye said she’s generally supportive of redevelopment downtown, but said she would prefer the council to start reviewing coliseum project bids before conveying the property to the EDA. She said transferring it now would strip control and oversight of the project from the council.
“I think as a city we need to be conscious about our assets and the huge value that they hold. So transferring it now when the process hasn’t begun ... it just makes me uncomfortable,” she said.
However, Robertson, who represents the district where the coliseum is located, said she’s eager to transfer the property and begin the project.
“It is the heart of our city. And it’s one of the most blighted areas within our city. And transferring it to the EDA is the right thing to do,” she said. “The council will still have significant involvement in this process.”
The potential rezoning for the downtown area and sale of the coliseum comes about 21 months after the Richmond City Council shot down the $1.5 billion Navy Hill redevelopment plan for downtown. That plan had called for a new 17,500-seat arena as an anchor for a massive redevelopment project that would have included new apartments, a high-rise hotel and renovation of the historic Blues Armory.
The council and residents opposed the project due to concerns about the financing of the project.
The city has since adopted a piecemeal approach to redevelopment in the area, starting with the $3.5 million sale of the Public Safety Building.
A development team had initially proposed to redevelop the site as part of a $325 million project with VCU Health, the Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Doorways, but the plans for a 20-story high rise have since shrunk.
Meanwhile, city officials are evaluating plans for the replacement of The Diamond baseball stadium on Arthur Ashe Boulevard as part of a major redevelopment project about 3.5 miles west of the downtown core.
The city recently announced that it will ask three development teams for more refined plans and details about their vision for the so-called Diamond District that covers nearly 70 acres.
Officials say they expect the City Council will vote to finalize an agreement with a partner for that project later this summer.