The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - After Judge's Ruling, CVille New Zoning At Risk; Judge Rules Lawsuit Vs City May Move Forward

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: After Judge’s Ruling, CVille New Zoning At Risk Judge Rules Lawsuit Vs City May Move Forward New Zoning Ordinance Is 7 Years In The Making How Will Developers Respond To Judge’s Ruling? How Will Active NZO Lawsuit Impact Violet Crown? Does Ruling Impact City Legitimacy Perception? 16 v 24 CVille HUD Family Income: $92K v $124K 16 v 24 CAAR Home Values: $275K v $480K Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Friday afternoon, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. Downtown Charlottesville, our studio is located, and today we are breaking news. We're determining and dictating the legacy news cycle by what we do right now. I encourage you to go to iloveceville.com, click on the homepage, and go to a story that has significant potential implications for any homeowner in Charlottesville, Virginia, any renter in Charlottesville, Virginia, any developer in Charlottesville, Virginia,

any politician in Charlottesville, Virginia? Any politician in Charlottesville, Virginia? City Hall. This has significant implications for City Hall. Questions I'm going to ask on today's program. And let me set the stage first as we are making the donuts on the Friday edition of the I Love Seville show. Finally, we have a ruling from Judge Claude Worrell II. The ruling I have in my hands right here suggests, it's not even a suggestion, indicates the lawsuit filed by citizens in the city of Charlottesville in January of this year.

A portion of this lawsuit may move forward. And as this lawsuit moves forward, there are questions that have to be answered. The obvious question is, what is the future of the new zoning ordinance, and will it fall? Will the cookie crumble like it crumbled in Arlington, Virginia, where a judge decided that the radical upzoning missing middle housing plan in Arlington County was not done correctly. And as a result, Arlington County, because of this litigation, does not have missing middle housing and an upzoning plan that many in Arlington County felt was done disingenuously. I want to talk about this as it applies to the following. What will happen to development in the city as we have more questions surrounding what we can and we cannot do? Please realize this new zoning ordinance, upzoning, whatever the hell you want to call it, has been percolating for seven years. We've been working on this for seven years in the city of Charlottesville with taxpayer resources, taxpayer dollars, and the opportunity

cost of elected officials, city hall employees, and taxpayer time. I want to talk on today's program what this means for projects like Violent Crown, where a New York City developer named Jeff Levine has a purchase contingent on zoning changes, a purchase contingent that could birth said purchase, an 18-story building that's 184 feet tall and 225 apartments at the footprint of a movie theater that is struggling mightily. The out-of-market developer has already indicated to the Daily Progress that he needs counsels, green light, to massage and change the new zoning ordinance to give him the permission to go from 13 to 18 stories.

And he has also indicated he needs real estate tax breaks if he's going to do this project. Curious what Jeff Levine is thinking right now when Judge Claude Worrell has now ruled that the NZO is in fragile, fragile ground. I want to talk about this project from a perception standpoint and what it does for stakeholders in the community from potentially eroding trust in government with Charlottesville, Virginia. Seven years we've been talking about this. Seven years. And now a judge has determined that a lawsuit filed by average Joes and average Sallys in the city of Charlottesville can move forward and may head potentially to a jury trial. Good Lord. So much to cover on today's program. I'll give you a statistic that was passed along to me this morning on Real Talk with Keith Smith. Charlottesville

metro area, the Charlottesville MSA, the HUD family income, median family income in 2016 was $92,000. In 2024, $124,000. From 2016 to 2024, the HUD median family household income has uptick 35%. 35% from 2016 to 2024, an uptick in family median household income, according to HUD. Listen to this. According to the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors, median home values in the same footprint have increased 75% from 2016 to 2024. So at the very same time that groceries have become more expensive, credit card debt has become more expensive, inflation has impacted every aspect of our life,

family household income in that eight-year period of time has upticked 35%, while home values have uptick, 75%. That is good news for those people that had a home and their ownership or their purview in 2016. It is bad news for anyone that's looking to purchase a home for the first time in particular after 2016. You are just dying the death of a thousand cuts. We'll unpack that on today's program. Good God, we are making

the donuts today. Today's show is going to be absolutely fire. I very much encourage you to visit iloveceville.com and read the breaking news that will determine and dictate the legacy media cycle after this program ends at 1 30 p.m. I want to give some props to Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, Judah. 60 years in business, John Vermillion and Andrew Vermillion at Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, Judah. 60 years in business. John Vermillion and Andrew Vermillion at Charlottesville Sanitary Supply have proudly served this community. This is a three-generation family business located on East High Street. And now an e-commerce website for Charlottesville Sanitary Supply online at charlottesvillesanitarysupply.com. And what do I say, Judah Wickauer, about about river hawkins about johnny ornalis and mexicali restaurant in the old world of beer location good lord it's a street art museum

it's a cocktail bar it's a music venue and it has some of the best latin fusion cuisine possible in the commonwealth of virginia mexicali restaurant on west main Street, Judah Wittkower, studio camera, and then a two-shot as we weave you into the mix, my friend. It's been a busy morning, I think you would say, per usual. What's new? Is that how you would describe it? Sure. We, on Tuesday on this very show, I published on the I Love Seville Network, on Tuesday on this very show, I published on the I Love Seville Network, on Tuesday of this week,

a word of caution. I talked about it on the show, and then I published it on all our social platforms, and I said, and I tagged the city councilors. I tagged the city councilors. I said, before we do anything else with the new zoning ordinance,

we got to hear from Judge Worrell, especially after the Arlington ruling in September that shot holes through the upzoning plan for Arlington County. Residents, average Joes and average Sallies in Arlington County, they said, we don't think this is legitimate, this new zoning plan, this missing middle plan. We're going to sue Arlington County. A couple of judges that lived in Arlington County recused themselves from offering their decision and said, we are not fit to be a part of this because we live in Arlington County. We're too close to it. As folks that live in Arlington County, we should too close to it. As folks that live in Arlington County, we should

recuse ourselves from this because clearly upzoning would impact our home values. We're just too close to it. They bring in a judge, I believe from Fairfax, the Fairfax judge, and you can find all this on iloveceville.com. He basically says, these citizens are right. Judge Shell, David Shell, he ruled in favor of Arlington County, Virginia residents who filed a lawsuit against a radical upzoning plan. Four of six counts he agreed with. Judge David Shell did in this lawsuit. And now the Arlington County plan is dead. Dead in the water. A similar lawsuit materializes in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It starts in January of this year. After seven years, City Hall and previous city councils, previous planning commissioners, previous lobbying groups, have worked to bring this plan to the forefront. Finally, it materializes with a green light vote, a 5-0 vote in December of 2023. So in January of 2024, a group of citizens galvanizes, they organize, they strategize, and they say, this is not right. This was not done correctly. And they sue the city. City councilors are confident. City hall is confident. They were

so confident that on Tuesday when I published a word of caution, and I offered a word of caution of not putting the cart before the house on Tuesday. Friend of the program, a man I admire, a man I respect. Our neighbor in the Macklin building, Counselor Lloyd Snook, working 30 feet down the hall from where I'm talking right now, a man I see every day and have tremendous admiration and respect for, a man who got the ship in order following the Nakia Walker disastrous regime. He responds to me on Tuesday of this week, we are conscious of the Arlington litigation as we were passing what we did. We were conscious of what Arlington was going through when we passed what we did. Confident on Tuesday, Counselor Snook.

And here we are on Friday and the future of the new zoning ordinance, ladies and gentlemen, is in peril. At risk right now. I'm going to ask you before I weave in Deep Throat, who's got some fantastic commentary on this, before I take Bill McChesney's comments, I'll highlight the local media that's watching the show right now. Before I weave in your comments, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to ask for some of your perspective, Judah, and I'm going to ask some straightforward questions.

Straightforward question number one. If you were considering doing a development project in the city of Charlottesville, you're in the midst of it right now, or considering doing it, would you move forward in any capacity with said project? of Charlottesville, you're in the midst of it right now or considering doing it, would you move forward in any capacity with said project? And you don't, these are, these are.

Probably not. And especially not if you were basing your, basing your build out on the current new rules. Question number two, how does the news that we just broke impact projects that are already in the hopper or potentially in the hopper? about on barracks road behind the CVS where the old Anderson seafood used to be behind where old Anderson's seafood used to be on a hill in a gully next to the tony and expensive barracks road Blue Ridge neighborhood next question I have depends how quickly you can get it done right next question I have. Depends how quickly you can get it done, right? Next question I have. Nothing is quick. It's Charlottesville. Next question I have. How does it impact Jeff Levine? You want to hear something crazy? It may help the city in terms of... 72 hours ago, Jeff Levine said, I need the city to change its new zoning ordinance.

It currently allows me to build a 13-story apartment building that's 184 feet tall, where the Violent Crown Downtown Movie Theater is. And I want the city to give me 18 stories, five additional ones. And I want the city to give me 18 stories, five additional ones. And I want the city to give me tax, real estate tax breaks, where I'm not paying as much taxes in the first years as I'm building this project. And if the city gives me this, I'll give you $150 million plus

building and 225 apartments. If you're just tuning in, you should read iloveceville.com to see the breaking news of a local judge saying a lawsuit against the new zoning ordinance may move forward, putting the ordinance, the NZO, an absolute question or at risk. I have this question, and this is perhaps the most significant one, okay? This is the most significant one of them all. For seven years, seven years, we've been working on this. Planning commissioners, city counselors consultants city managers how many city managers have been a part of the nzo think about it what do you got uh a mike murphy a chip boils

uh a john blair a Sam Sanders, the city manager who quit before his first day on the job. Remember that guy? Michael Rogers? How many city managers have worked on this? How many people have spoken before planning commission and council in favor or against this? How many hundreds or thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of hours have been put into this by taxpayers, by elected officials, by paid officials? How many articles, newspaper stories, or time on the I Love Seville Network has spent on this?

And right now, 2024, whether it's fair or not, we live in a world where perception is reality. The only world where perception was not reality that I have seen in recent history was what traditional media was trying to do with their coverage of the presidential election. Traditional media, any way you turned in, any time you turned in, any time you read it, any time you heard it, legacy media was saying Harris this, Harris that, Harris this, Harris is going to win. And it was the complete opposite. And I said previously it's eroded significant trust, what legacy media and traditional media did with the coverage of this election. And I'm going to use that same logic. That same logic.

Seven years we've been working through this. How much trust has been eroded? How much legitimacy has been eroded? With this perception issue the city now faces yet again? It's facing a perception issue of turnstile employment in City Hall. It's facing a perception issue of a zoning ordinance that's been bannered around for seven years Now being Shot to you know what Good lord Maurice Jones

Bill McChesney said Worked on this That's another one Before he left for Chapel Hill To be the manager down there That's another one. Before he left for Chapel Hill. To be the manager down there. So what do you do if you're the city? Does the city have a city attorney right now?

Not that I'm aware of. Is the lawsuit moving forward? Are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit doubling down, passing the hat and raising more money for an arms race that could be decided in a courtroom? A judge and jury. I still ask this question. If the judge lives in the city, should he be a part of these proceedings? Does that not – I feel like that doesn't jive with his ruling here. Two or four –

You're right, and we evidence from the plaintiffs. Four counts from the plaintiffs. Count one and two are out, Judge Worrell said. Counts three and four may move forward to the evidence-gathering stage. A phrase passed along to me by a valued viewer and listener. I'll leave it at that. The evidence-gathering stage. This person knows who they are, and I'm grateful for them. Counts one and two are out. Counts three and four may go forward. Plaintiffs likely to appeal counts one and two being out. Throwing out. All right. I'm going to do this. I'm going to read a handful of paragraphs that offer clarity on this from Deep Throat. Get ready and giddy up. This is not short,

but I think it's valuable. He says to the viewers and listeners, to Judah and to Jerry in the I Love Seville show, here's some background for everyone. This case is the second case relating to the zoning issue in Charlottesville, Virginia. The first case was Doe v. Charlottesville back in 2022, relating to the comp plan. As you may recall, viewers and listeners, Judah and Jerry, that suit was also met, and he's going to have to, I mean, plea and bar by demur and a plea and bar motion by the city. It's very specific language here from a very intelligent man. The end result of that case was that the city had to re-notice the comp plan

and hold another public hearing. They also had to add a missing chapter about manufactured housing. Judge Worrell, however, ruled with the city that it was too early for the plaintiffs to challenge the comp plan on a substantive grounds because there is no cognizable harm to any plaintiffs from a comp plan, only from the zoning ordinance that arises from it. Please recall that any zoning ordinance must be compatible with the then current comp plan. Typically in Virginia, you can only challenge a government action within 30 days of its promulgation. So it felt like the reason the plaintiffs raised these issues early was to stop a future defense on the part of the city that you challenged too

late. Put a pin in that. It becomes important later. City and plaintiffs eventually agreed to non-suit this case after the comp plan was renoticed and repassed. It's the first paragraph. The current case, White v. Charlottesville, is the second case and challenges the new zoning ordinance directly. That said, some of the challenges involve the assertion that the 2021 comp plan is void, so the 2013 plan is still in effect, and therefore the NZO is not compatible with the truly current comp plan. These are counts one and two.

Count one says that the city failed to comply with the section of state code on comp plans that requires the submission of specific materials to VDOT for approval before a comp plan is passed. The city did not submit all the materials and did not tell VDOT the full scope of the rezoning, so VDOT's approval was not a valid approval, the plaintiffs say. Count two alleges the comp plan is void because it does not comply with another section of the code that talks about more general requirements of the issues that a jurisdiction must study before passing a comp plan. And the final two counts, June accounts three and four, relate to the NZO directly. Count three alleges the NZO failed to comply with state code

on rezonings that require the consideration of a number of infrastructure and related issues before rezoning. And count four alleges more broad common law claim that the NZO should be struck down because it is so unreasonable as to not be fairly debatable. The judge ruled counts three and four may, this is me talking now.

The judge ruled counts three and four may move forward. The judge said counts one and two are out. The plaintiffs will appeal that. They're putting their plan in place now. Next steps, he says. My guess, one and two appealed and subsequently a trial

either before Worrell or possibly before Worrell and a jury. Following questions I have, who represents the city in said trial? Don't they have temporary... A city attorney is referenced in this, a man I know well and have tremendous respect for, a one-time fantastic teacher at Western Amarillo High School, an extremely intelligent individual, and Robinson J. Hubbard, Rob Hubbard, the deputy city attorney.

Die-hard basketball fan, die-hard UVA fan, very likable guy, very humble guy, deputy city attorney referenced on this ruling, which I have in my hand right now. The hat is being passed for the proverbial attorney arms race. And the attorney is a part of this from the plaintiff's side. There's three of them listed on the judge's ruling.

One of them from Flora Petit and two of them from Gentry Locke. One attorney's from Charlottesville on the plaintiff's side, another attorney is from Richmond on the plaintiff's side, and a third attorney is from Roanoke. Then you've got one on the city of Charlottesville or legal experience for this legal arms race? Hmm. What is the collateral damage of this lawsuit playing out in very public fashion? How does it impact the development pipeline and which projects head to said pipeline? How does it impact

current projects in the pipeline? Will they be completely grandfather-clause-ed in under the new zoning ordinance right now? And what happens with the projects that are in the development pipeline if they need any kind of massaging of said ordinance? What happens to projects that go before the BAR next week, this Violent Crown project, where the principal, who's got Violent Crown under a purchase contingency of needing the NZO changed and tax abatements before any project is paid for, any purchase is done by him, Jeff Levine.

This town never sleeps when it comes to quality content for content creators. Never sleeps. And I got this question for you. Was a ball dropped? I got this question for you. Did staff at City Hall I got this question for you. Did staff at City Hall do everything it should have done with educating council

when approving or green-lighting this NCO? Why on Tuesday was one of five people so confident he was willing to write to me on Facebook on the I Love Seville network that reaches hundreds of thousands of people and speaks so confidently about this lawsuit? And 72 hours later, two of the four counts

can go to the evidence-gathering stage literally 72 hours later, two of the four counts can go to the evidence gathering stage literally 72 hours later after Counselor Snook's comments. Maybe he is confident that the evidence won't support the accusation. Should he be that confident, or has he been misinformed by somebody, or has he misinformed himself? That's a good question. Would you say the Arlington County Board of Supervisors was confident with the radical rezoning plan they put in place? I don't know anything about them. I

this is I think what is going to be the most damning, this is the most damning and damaging aspect of this, okay the most damning and damaging aspect of this, okay? The most damning and damaging aspect of all this is the either realistic

or real or perceived loss of trust or legitimacy or confidence of developing or doing projects in this 10.2 square mile city. Was there a whole lot of confidence in development in this area to begin with?

That's a fair response. That's a fair response. But the way not to build said confidence back is to happening at a time when family household income, median family household income, according to HUD, in 2016 was $92,265. And in 2024 was $124,200, an uptick of 35%, all at the same time while median home values uptick in 2016 from in the car footprint to $275,000 to $480,000, a 75% uptick. You should put slide six on screen.

Keith Smith, data courtesy of him. There it is. It's on screen. Family median household income in an eight-year period of time from 2016 to 2024, a 35% increase or $32,000 per household, while home values in that eight-year period of time have jumped from a whopping Judah to 75 275 thousand to 480 thousand yeah this is why the NCO this data data those numbers that I just highlighted in very simplistic terms this is why the NCO the new zoning ordinance was pushed forward.

Because activists and elected officials and consultants politicked that zoning flexibility was necessary, would create more density, inventory, which would help stabilize prices. Business people who are in the game of real estate said that would be not the case and that making dirt more opportunistic would make dirt more expensive to purchase, which would then be passed on to the end consumer. And we've seen limited action through the NZO so far. The most noteworthy action we've seen is the 24 proposed units behind the CVS on Barracks Road. The second arguably most notable was the Lewis Mountain home that traded in the 800s in the summer and is now being turned into six luxury brownstones. But one thing I can say is that all this storyline is going to do is erode legitimacy and trust.

Bill McChesney, those consultants, had no sense of place regarding Charlottesville. Most of the crew that was in that consulting pool never owned a home here. Albert Graves, will this ruling open up more localities for these type of lawsuits, for example, Albemarle County? The lawsuit is not happening in Albemarle County because the zoning ordinance has not been changed. But Arlington County losing the lawsuit and now Charlottesville in the middle of a lawsuit. And I need to highlight active lawsuits like this cost you, me, Judah, viewer, listener, all of us more money. Because somebody has to pay

the people to do the lawsuits, to manage the lawsuits. And you know who pays for the people to manage the lawsuits? Us. Us. We do. Who is going to go in City Hall and go toe-to-toe with two high-dollar law firms with offices in Richmond, Roanoke, and the city of Charlottesville? We pay for that. Our tax dollars. Mm-hmm.

Sandra McDaniel, thank you for watching the program. There's three media outlets watching us right now. Another intriguing wrinkle to this is this is happening at a time where the real estate market has stalled. Yeah. Price cuts left and right, interest rate headwinds, and folks locked in to 2% and 3% interest rates. I've heard from so many friends and viewers and listeners of the show that they are unhappy with their current house. It no longer meets their needs, but they are unwilling to sell their current house or financially cannot sell their current house because of the rate they secured

prior to COVID or during COVID. You'd have to end up a lot of, I think would have to end up downsizing. I hate to say this, but this is another headwind for a market that already has a lot of headwinds in real estate. Yeah. Because some suggested that you could build your way out of this housing crisis.

If it were easier to build in Charlottesville, perhaps. And this was one of the Robert Liberty silver buckshot. And it's not a silver bullet. I owe you $10 now, Robert Liberty. It's buckshots that are going to solve this. I'll close with this. Does the city issue a statement today? Does the city issue a statement on Monday?

They don't have to acknowledge, they don't have to outline a plan, but does the city issue a public relations statement? What would be the plan? We are aware of the judge's ruling. We are disappointed and we will prepare to double down on our fight or are we considering other options? What would be the plan if the NCO was taken down? Would it be to, since it's only... If it goes the way of Arlington County? Well, since it's only issues three and four that are at risk right now, could they...

Three and four to the evidence gathering stage. Yeah. If the only thing that was wrong was they didn't consult the correct agencies or give them the correct information, could they retroactively amend that, Fix that issue? I'm curious. I'm going to get to your comment here in a matter of moments. Albert Graves, sure it costs more for the lawsuits, but doesn't it also cost more for insufficient government

who didn't dot all their I's and cross all their T's? Insufficient government has cost this town millions from the renaming of schools to other frivolous studies, just to name a few, and now this zoning fiasco. See the perception, the trust, the credibility it creates? You see? Yeah, if they go back to the drawing board, how many more hours will they spend?

The credibility, the collateral damage, that's the biggest thing here. This comment from Deep Throat. The thing I want to note is the case is not about whether the zoning is a good idea or a bad idea other than count four. He says it is about a failure to follow an analytical process. The city could have avoided a lawsuit with the exact same or probably very similar NCO if they had just done their homework. But we know their process was a mess. For example, they didn't even know that the comp plan law had changed and they needed to manufacture housing. They needed to add a manufacturer housing chapter. They did not submit anything to VDOT until days before the vote on the comp plan and their emails from Missy Creasy harassing

the VDOT functionary to please, please, please get back to them quickly. Then he points to this this position what's that he's FOIA'd city emails and he's highlighted correspondence that was done between city staff and VDOT about needing a response from VDOT immediately to help meet criteria in this process and he cites the late stage nature of these emails, the persistence of these emails, the pestering nature of these emails as evidence or an indication that homework wasn't being done correctly. Preparation was not being done.

Yeah. Another thing that I find really intriguing about this, this is another, as someone who owns property in the city of Charlottesville, a lot of people own property in the city of Charlottesville. There's another thing I find really intriguing. The new zoning ordinance, upzoning, the zoning flexibility,

would have created even more value for people's property. What are your thoughts before we get to this? Well, I'm curious, does this give council a chance to go back and rethink the zoning ordinance? Does this give them a chance to kind of like a free step back to take what they've learned since they've enacted it and make some make some changes that will perhaps make this a better fit for the city?

Time will tell. Does this give them a little leeway with Levine? I don't get the leeway with Levine comment. I don't understand what you're implying here. Well, if the, let's say the zoning ordinance gets struck down, then he doesn't really have a bargaining chip. He has to wait until there's a new one because I don't believe he could build what he's planning on building without the zoning ordinance. You're saying the new zoning ordinance offers more upside to build what he needs for it to economically pencil out. And if he doesn't have the NZO.

He doesn't have the height without the NZO. If he doesn't have the NZO, then he can't even get close to what he needs. But I'll flip the coin on you. Doesn't the city want the 225 apartments at Violent Crown? Potentially. But do they want the potential for this to go bad the way some of the deals the city has made in the past have? I'll flip the coin again.

The revenue the city is earning from a movie theater that's in third place in the market, that's empty and falling apart, it pales in comparison to the revenue and the job creation and potentially the economic stimulus of 225 apartments on the downtown mall. So you're arguing that they were most likely going to appease him with tax breaks? I'm arguing the city of Charlottesville would have entertained what Jeff Levine wanted. And they would have entertained what Jeff Levine wanted because of the fear of Violent Crown turning into the Dewberry Hotel. Violent Crown, the movie theater is not going to survive there.

It's not going to be a movie theater. The owners of the real estate are telling the operators of the theater, we're not going to renew your lease. So if you're of the theater, we're not going to renew your lease. So if you're the movie theater, you need to, if you're the city, if you're local government, you need to say this. Do we have a potential serious problem on our hand? Well, considering the amount of time that may or may not be left on that lease, this all may be

a moot point. Again, not clear with what you're saying. I'm saying that by the time the lease comes up, this may have all been figured out. Unless the operator chooses to close before the lease expires. Yeah. Unless the operator chooses to close before the lease expires. Yeah. Because the operator's operating a business that's akin to

selling the yellow pages, or operating a business that's akin to selling print newspapers, or operating a business that's akin to the 6 a.m. news on Saturdays and Sundays on NBC 29. Every day that goes by,

movie theaters have less value. We're going to watch, you know what I'm going to watch tonight on Netflix? I do not. I'm going to watch Jake Paul and Mike Tyson and what many boxing pundits have called the most anticipated boxing match of all time. And you know where that boxing match is airing, Judah? In your living room?

On what platform is it airing upon? I believe you said Netflix. On Netflix. So we have boxing that is the most anticipated boxing match of all time. Some pundits are calling it. The most gambling done on a boxing match in boxing history, Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. A 59-year-old boxer versus a YouTube idiot.

A YouTube heel. You have a 59-year-old boxer that has a face tattoo and a YouTube idiot, and it's the most anticipated boxing match of all time and has the most gambling done around it in boxing history, and it's airing on Netflix. That's an indication that this media,

this content concept has changed, and we don't spend $14 tickets to drive in our cars to park three blocks away, to walk 15 minutes to a movie theater, to sit in seats that are sticky from God knows what that stickiness is, to spend $18 on buttered popcorn, $14 on beer, and $9 on juju beans when we're all said and done, $90 on the hook to watch a movie that we can watch on Netflix or Max or Prime or Peacock in the comfort of our house with the 75-inch television surround sound and a kegerator right next to the couch. Was the boxing match ever going to be in a theater, though?

The boxing matches were previously shown on pay-per-view, where the viewer of said boxing match had to pay $95 or $80 or $100 or $125 to view the match. And you're already paying that. Now the promoters of the boxing match are saying, we can make more money with this business model just putting it on demand, on streaming. It's the same thing as the movie business. Same thing as the movie business.

Why are you going to go through the headaches and hassle of a box office when you can just put it on a movie platform and get paid boatloads of money from Netflix, boatloads of money from Prime, boatloads of money from Max? When David Chase did The Many Saints of Newark, is that what it was called? All the Saints of Newark? Love that movie. What was that movie called? The Many Saints of Newark. He put that movie starring a young Anthony Soprano on Max. It didn't even go to the box office. Before COVID, that would have been unheard of. And it aired in 2021.

My point is this. and it aired in 2021. My point is this. The operator of the business on the downtown mall must realize that their business is failing, certainly in the market the size of this one that has two other theaters that have better movie selection and parking right in front of them. Eventually, they're going to say, we're not going to run this lease out. We're going to close it down, especially when we know the owner of the real estate is not going to renew our lease.

So they shut it down early. Then city council's got a serious issue. They lose the tax revenue from the business because it's closed, and they must realize no other suitor is going to consider something of that size. Doesn't somebody still have to pay tax on the property? The owner of the real estate pays. See, this is a lot of folks don't realize this. Owners of businesses realize this. I'm not trying. I'm not, I'm not knocking you here. The business pays taxes to the city.

But if there's no business, somebody is still going to be liable for the taxes. Am I wrong? The city is losing the taxes from the business when it closes. It's still going to get the real estate tax revenue, but it won't get the business tax revenue. And on top of that, it really loses when there's no foot traffic heading to this trophy piece of real estate on the most popular side of mall that could then sprinkle over to the food and beverage businesses. Then it's losing times two. And it loses times three when one of its most marquee pieces of property on the eight blocks is a boarded up storefront, all of the Dewberry. If anyone in this community thinks the future of that location is violent crowd movie theater,

you are not reading the tea leaves correctly. You're just not reading the tea leaves correctly. So I do think they were going to entertain Jeff Levine. Do I say the apartments were going to materialize? I still think it's five to one against it, but I think they were going to entertain what he had to say. Where 15 years ago they would be like, screw you, we want a movie theater.

What are you talking about? neil williams he says the thriller the thriller in manila was way more anticipated than jake paul and mike tyson than Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. You know when the Thriller and Mandela took place? Do you know who was in the Thriller and Mandela? I know it was Muhammad Ali and... I'd have to... Joe Frazier. Yeah. What year do you think that took place?

Oh, man. I would guess, I don't know, 64? 1975. Is that the year you were born? Yeah. So the most anticipated boxing match since Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, a YouTube idiot and a 59-year-old retiree that's close to collecting Social Security, is something from 49 years ago.

Yep. That puts things in perspective. Does it not? I suppose it does. And I also want to highlight this. Remember the grocery store we were talking about on Cherry Avenue that the Woodard team was going to build? Yeah. The estimated cost for that grocery store,

and they were just going to build a box, a box was close to $600 a foot just for a box. Yeah. This Levine guy is brainstorming 300,000 square feet of steel, 225 apartment, 184 feet, 18 story construction on the downtown mall. Yeah. I anticipated 500 a square foot

for a project like that. I bet you that was light. Say the number is closer to 600 a foot. We'll use 600 a foot. Times 300,000 square feet. The dude is proposing a $180 million construction.

Epic crazy. We had a good week of content. Albert Graves, great comments. He said, online shopping is killing brick and mortar stores, food delivery is killing fast food, and streaming is killing movie theaters. He says, Mike Tyson is going to destroy Jake Paul. This is the thing that's intriguing me about the Tyson-Paul fight.

The betting public is overwhelmingly betting Tyson to win. The betting public overwhelmingly betting Tyson to win. Yeah. You think it's a trap? Trust but verify. Some may call me the biggest doubter.

You think Tyson's going to throw it? That was funny. Thank you. That was good. That was excellent. When the average Joes and average Sallys are overwhelmingly doing something, your antenna should be up. Yeah. sallies are overwhelmingly doing something, your antenna should be up.

Yeah. Be fearful when folks are greedy. Be greedy when they're fearful. And be greedy when they're fearful. The Oracle of Omaha. Judah Wickhauer, Jerry Miller, the I Love Seville show on a Friday.

iloveseville.com if you're just tuning into the show. The headline, Charlottesville's new zoning ordinance is in jeopardy after Judge Claude Worrell rules lawsuit may move forward. So long, everybody.ありがとうございました Thank you.