Outdoor concert venue booked for council approval

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A 7,500-seat outdoor concert venue that will feature 25 to 30 concerts each season is likely headed to the Richmond riverfront. Rejecting calls for delay from a representative from the Virginia War Memorial and residents of the nearby Oregon Hill neighborhood worried about the impact, a unanimous City Council this week put the proposed $30.5 million amphitheater on the fast track for approval at its upcoming meeting on Monday, June 12.

The location is a 9-acre parcel at 470 Tredegar St. Better known as Gambles Hill, the property is owned by New Market Corp., which has agreed to lease the acreage for the complex.

Projected to open in 2025, the amphitheater will be paid for by the development team led by R. Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management, which is partnering with national entertainment firm Live Nation.

Under a performance agreement that the council is poised to approve, the team will build the venue and then receive reimbursement from the city for 20 years all of the new real estate, admissions and sales taxes that that the operation generates. The city projects that it will contribute about $27 million to the project through around 2043. The property is valued at around $15.5 million and generates $189,000 a year in real estate taxes, which the city will still collect and retain.

Leonard Sledge, city director of economic development, told the council that the venue is projected to generate more than $600,000 year in new revenue for the city through increased property values and development.

Under the deal, Mr. Capshaw has committed to a goal of having 40 percent of the construction work performed by Black- and minority-owned businesses. After completion, the bathrooms at the site are to be open to the public on days when no concerts are scheduled, while the venue itself will be available for use at cost to nonprofits and the city.

Mr. Capshaw is well known in the music industry. His companies manage more than 400 recording artists and have been involved in building amphitheaters in Charlottesville and Nashville. The national entertainment group Live Nation is a partner and will arrange for Richmond to be part of the circuit of outdoor venues hosting summer concerts.

During Monday’s council committee session, Dr. Clay Mountcastle, executive director of the Virginia War Memorial, which honors Virginia service men and women who died in military conflicts, urged council to postpone action.

He said he was concerned that the new venue could interfere with programs at his venue and wanted time to meet with Mr. Capshaw and others involved with the project to prevent conflicts.

Council members said those issues could be dealt with after the performance agreement was passed to ensure the financing was in place.

Residents, including Charles Pool and Bryan Green, who represent Oregon Hill civic groups, urged a delay to ensure the new amphitheater could moderate sounds and prevent concert-goers from taking all the street parking spaces, a common occurrence now when the Folk Festival and events at Brown’s Island are held.

Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch noted that the new venue would be subject to Richmond’s noise ordinance barring loud sounds after 10 p.m., which should reduce that problem.

Mr. Capshaw and his team also assured council that every effort will be made to encourage concert-goers to use nearby decks and parking lots, rather than flooding into Oregon Hill.

Planned Fire Training Center clears final hurdle

By Jeremy Lazarus

The Richmond Fire Department can proceed with building a new training center on a 2-acre section of lawn at Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side, despite the property being zoned as residential.

The Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals voted on Wednesday to approve an exception for the project, clearing the way for the development that fire officials estimate will cost nearly $1 million, about half of which would come from a state grant.

Chairman Rodney M. Poole, who also serves on the Planning Commission, said that testimony and documents presented to the appeals board show the project meets the criteria for a zoning exception as spelled out in the City Charter.

The court-appointed panel is authorized by the charter to allow such public projects “when reasonably necessary in the public interest … in any district in which they are prohibited,” such as land zoned as residential.

The board found that the department and city had proven the new training center was needed and had met their burden of showing that the project during construction and use would “adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the occupants of the adjoining and surrounding property.”

According to the board, the department also met the other conditions – that the development “shall not unreasonably impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, shall not increase

Gone fishing

The Richmond Department of Parks, Recreations and Community Facilities went fishing June 3 by hosting the Family Fishing Fair on Shields Lake in Bryd Park. Brittany Deleon, project manager of Virginia Outside, left helped Travis Garrison, 9, unhook a big mouth bass that he caught on the scenic lake in Richmond’s West End. Bottom photo, Hayden Lewis, 9, prepress to throw a fish backinto Shields Lake in Byrd Park.The event was designed to familiarize participants with the art and joys of fishing.

congestion in streets and shall not increase public danger from fire or otherwise affect public safety.” City Council had approved the project last month, with vigorous support from the area’s council representative, Reva M. Trammell. The department applied to the appeals board in April to overcome the zoning prohibition. The project had faced substantial opposition from supporters of Hickory Hill and from residents of adjoining neighborhoods. The developer of a bird sanctuary that sits across the railroad tracks from Hickory Hill expressed concern at the disturbance the construction and use of the training center would cause to the wildlife in the sanctuary.

New police precinct building set for East End

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A new First Police Precinct will be built on the parking lot of the Richmond City Justice Center in the 6th Council District, according to information shared with City Council this week.

The city plans to invest more than $26 million to build the replacement for the current East End precinct, now located at 2501 Q St. in the 7th Council District, documents provided to the council state.

Along with a new building, the project will include a parking deck to accommodate the precinct’s vehicles and those of the Sheriff’s Office, the documents show.

The current precinct building, one of four in Richmond, has stood at the corner of Q and 25th St. for more than 30 years, the document states, would be demolished after the new building opens.

The council is expected to vote next Monday, June 12, to allow the city to hire a company to design and build the police precinct rather than following the traditional process of hiring an architect and then bidding for a general contractor to construct it.

Council has been told that using this process would save time and money due to the continuing inflation in building costs. The project is expected to be complete in 2025.

Council also plans to pass a second resolution next Monday to allow the city to use the same expedited process to build a replacement for Fire Station 21 in South Side.

The new station, which could cost nearly $26 million, according to the accompanying explanatory document, would rise at the old station’s current location, 2505 Richmond Highway. The work is expected to be completed by December 2024, the document states. Demolition at both sites could begin in September, if all goes well, according to the documents. Funding for both projects was included in the 2023-24 capital budget that the council previously approved.

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