The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - CRHA To Purchase Downtown Mall Building; Why Is CRHA Spending $2.65 Million On Mall?

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: CRHA To Purchase Downtown Mall Building Why Is CRHA Spending $2.65 Million On Mall? Is This A Good Fit For The Downtown Mall? CRHA Selling Two Buildings To City For $4M Fashion Square Mall: New Businesses Opening Feasibility Of Success In Fashion Square Mall Desayuna Con Gomez Restaurant Review UVA Hoops Riding 4-Game Winning Streak 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 and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Monday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to be with you on the last Monday of January in 2024. Shocking. Time is flying right before our eyes. A lot to cover on today's program, including, I mean, I'm surprised it even takes me aback to say this. The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is about to spend $2,650,000 to purchase a building on the downtown mall. The old location and headquarters, the old restaurant of Vita Nova. Henry's restaurant used to be in the basement of that building.

That particular location, I think, was the home. In fact, I know it was the home at one time for the escape room. Yeah. That building's been on the market for a while. It's got an elevator in there. Elevator buildings are

challenging. I know firsthand as the largest owner in the Macklin building on Market Street that also has an elevator. I'm going to ask you a very pointed question. And I don't want this question...

You know what? This question is going to rub people the wrong way. And it's fair commentary. The downtown mall is what, Judah? Eight blocks? Two shot yourself in. What do we call it? Eight blocks? Yeah, it's about eight blocks.

Wouldn't you say? I think so. From the Omni to the Pavilion? Yeah, it's about eight blocks. Wouldn't you say? I think so. From the Omni to the Pavilion? Yeah. Very limited buildings on the downtown mall. Maybe Deep Throat can answer this question for me if he's watching. Maybe Neil Williamson can answer this

question for me if he's watching. John Blair, if he's watching, maybe can answer this question for me. How many buildings would you say is on the downtown mall? I mean, it's very difficult to say. I don't know it off the top of my head. But a limited stock? I'd say maybe, let's see. I would not even be sure how to guess that.

I'd put it at like maybe 10 per block, if you're counting both sides. Okay. That sound reasonable? I wouldn't be able to wager a guess on this. This would be a fantastic prop bet. One that I would not feel like I would have the upper hand on this particular one. So you're saying it's how many buildings? I mean, I guess.

You're saying 160? Yeah, 160 to 180 maybe. Okay. Your guess is as good as mine. Yeah. I don't think many even in this community know what the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is. I don't think they know the acronym CRHA. I don't think they have much of an idea of what CRHA does. And right now we're on the cusp of watching the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which I'm going to unpack this just from a common sense perspective, of spending $2,650,000 to purchase a building on the downtown mall, a building that is not set up to be converted to housing by any means. I'll unpack that for you, why it's not a good building for housing.

I'll unpack for you why it's a building that is in rough shape right now. I'll unpack for you why it's a building that I'm not even sure makes a great office conversion project. And I'm going to do it from many different aspects. I'm going to do it from the aspect of a local that walks up and down the downtown mall. Do you want a redevelopment and housing authority on the eight blocks that we call Charlottesville that are the heartbeat of the community that are supposed to attract locals, tourists, and students alike through restaurants, through shopping, through music, and through omni-experiential activities like escape rooms or arcades or things to do with families and your kids or your dates or your girlfriends while walking up and down the eight blocks?

Will the redevelopment and housing authority building be open after hours? I'm befuddled. And we'll talk about it on today's show. I'm going to talk about Fashion Square Mall new restaurants are opening in Fashion Square Mall that's something else I find what's the word I'm looking for baffling

baffling thank you perfectly said Judah baffling new restaurants opening in Fashion Square Mall the new restaurant is Tolia African Cuisine. In the mall. How feasible is that?

What is the feasibility of success for someone spending their hard earned money to open a restaurant in a mall that is an afterthought when there are vacant storefronts and high traffic districts everywhere in the city in Alamaro County? I mean, is the mall giving away the restaurant

at a dollar a square foot, two dollars a square? I mean, I hope to God it's an incredible deal. We'll talk about that on today's show. I want to talk Desayuna con Gomez. Judah Wickhauer himself has a restaurant review. You want to give him a tease on that? I mean, it's hardly a surprise. Everybody who's been to Tacos Gomez, the food truck, knows that they always have quality food. Consistent. Yeah, consistently delicious food.

And they're the kindest people as well. And your experience? It completely holds up to the quality of the food truck. Wow, fantastic review. I can't wait to hear what you had. Did you take any photos? I didn't take any photos. Okay, I cannot wait to... John Blair, welcome to the show. I cannot wait to hear your review. I can't wait to hear what you had. Did you take any photos? I didn't take any photos. Okay. I cannot wait to John Blair. Welcome to the show. I cannot wait to hear your review

pretty much across the street, right? Of their food truck. Yeah. Right across the street, kind of kitty corner. Um, but yeah, right there. All right. Sean Tubbs, the lead of the story from the Charlottesville community sub stack. If you're not supporting Sean Tubbs the lead of the story from the Charlottesville community sub stack if you're not supporting Sean Tubbs guys you're doing a disservice to this community because Sean Tubbs is covering the type of news that needs to be covered through his sub stack and I awoke on I think he posted this on Sunday to news that I was just surprised about the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, Sean Tubbs reports, is going to meet at 6 p.m. The meeting is not listed on their online calendar, nor are the materials posted on their website. This meeting was postponed to the fifth Monday due to the city council meeting on the fourth Monday due to a snowstorm the week before Sean Tubbs reports.

The board is going to go into closed session to acquire 310 and 312 East Main Street, an office building known as the Milgram, is that how I would say that? Milgram Center? Built in 1916 that last sold for $1.9 million. This was the home of the old Vita Nova Pizzeria. This at one time was home to Silverchair before they expanded next door to the hardware store building. This was in the basement. They had Henry's Restaurant,

run by a fantastic family. According to the Charlottesville GIS, the gross square feet of this building is 17,895 square feet, and the purchase price is 15% below the 2023 assessment of $3,129,000. Deep Throat's got the number we're looking for. Thank you, Deep Throat's got the number we're looking for Thank you Deep Throat God he's effing good

Can you put his photo on screen Number one in the power poll Number two in the power poll John Blair offering some perspective Which I will get to as well He says Jerry and Judah It looks like just under 100 parcels on the downtown mall And I'm using all East Main parcels and West Main parcels with a 200 block or lower address from the GIS. on the top commerce, dining, music,

and omni-experiential district in a 10.2-square-mile city. I'm going to ask everyone watching this program a sincere question. What is the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority? Judah, what is your answer to that question? Not trying to put you on the spot. Frankly speaking, it wasn't until I started taking a really deep dive on this show that I knew what it was. I mean, my guess would be that they have something to do with low-income housing, helping people get into places. I don't know. CRHA is a resident center.

This is from their website, a resident-centered organization committed to excellence in providing affordable quality housing, revitalizing communities, supporting resident involvement, and promoting upward mobility and self-sufficiency through partnerships in the public and private sector. Their commissioners and management team, the chair of the board is Dr. Wes Bellamy, the former City Councilor. The Vice Chair is Ms. Bridget Wicks. The Treasurer, Laura Goldblatt. Judy Sandridge, one of the Commissioners. Javier Radula is one of the Commissioners. Michael Payne on the Board, City Councilor, two-time City Councilor. Alice Washington, the CRA management team. Mr. John Sales, the executive director.

Is it Sales? Is it Salas? I hope I'm not mispronouncing his last name. Kathleen Glenn Matthews, the deputy executive director. Sharon Payne, the director of finance. This is the same CRHA that's on the cusp of selling two buildings to the city. You have the photos of the two buildings. Is it the two buildings that you have in our photo library, the one that was the old community bikes and the Google map that you can put on screen? Do you just have the Avon building it's considering selling or both the Avon and Levy building?

Just the, let's see if I even still have it. I've got just the frontage. Of both or one, or the Avon one? You can only see the one on Avon. Okay, so in a one-week period of time, maybe I'll be conservative and say a 10-day period of time, the CRHA has been significantly in the news cycle. First in the news cycle, roughly 10 days ago,

do you put those photos on screen of Avon? And then the Google Maps, if you can? CRHA is the talk, it's reality, selling two buildings on Avon and Levy. The Avon one is the most recognizable one, the home of community bikes, the nonprofit that provides bikes to kids and adults to the city of Charlottesville for $4 million. Sam Sanders is pushing this through the city manager. is money from the American... from money from the federal government allocated to Charlottesville during COVID, the American Rescue Fund,

money the city did not use to stimulate the economy during the pandemic. Instead, they just put it in an account, accruing very little interest as opposed to putting the money on the street to help small business during a pandemic. Instead of losing the money because they hadn't spent it, the city is going to take the money and shuffle it from one city coffer to the CRHA coffer. It's going to take two buildings from CRHA ownership and put it into city ownership, and the talk was a homeless shelter

in Tony prestigious affluent Belmont. Belmontonians pushed back on a homeless shelter. Sam Sanders then trickled his commentary back and said, all right, it might not be a homeless shelter. It's going to be buildings used to provide valuable resources to the homeless, but we're not sure what those valuable resources are yet. Everything we're hearing and what we hear is, I mean, the track record is there, is it's going to be a shelter. It's going to offer shelter services among other things. The $4 million goes from the city to CRHA. Now the city is going to take over ownership of these two buildings, take it off the tax rolls.

Was it granted? Probably wasn't really on the tax rolls with CRHA owning it. More concerning, have the cost of maintaining and staffing the buildings and the shelter and homeless services provided, which are obviously going to be funded by your tax dollars, Judah's tax dollars, and my tax dollars. The next bit of news with CRHA is the purchase of one of 100 units on the downtown mall,

one of 100 buildings on the downtown mall, one of 100 buildings on the downtown mall. And I'm going to ask a very straightforward question. It may ruffle some feathers, but it's commentary and a question that should be asked regardless, right? I think this is a fair question, Judah. You hold me accountable on this talk show all the time. Is a redevelopment and housing authority the proper fit for 1% of the downtown mall? Is that a fair question? Yeah, I think that's a fair question. I think

it's also good to look at, I mean, how many spaces are, is anybody looking at that space? It's been on the market for an extended period of time for sale. And do you think anybody is going to move in there? I mean, maybe it's a good thing. Maybe they're taking up a spot that wasn't ever going to be a home for a restaurant or, you know, a shop. But it's still a decent question. John Blair, number two in the family, put his photo on screen. Says, Jerry and Judah, I think a decent question john blair number two in the family put his photo on screen says jerry and judah i think a fundamental question is this what is the city's planning

and development vision for the downtown mall over the next 20 years is it housing is it experiential dining is it experiential dining destination or is it office buildings? I think that's a great question. Great question. This commentary provided by Deep Throat. Take a look at 310 and 312 East Main. There is simply no way that this could be housing. It is 25 feet wide.

It is 220 feet long. It has windows only on the front and back, so most of the floor space is windowless and a great distance from an egress of any kind. This is simply unusable as living space under any reasonable safety health regime. It's not even clear how you make these decent office spaces. 25 foot wide floor plate where, two-thirds of it is not within shouting distance of a window. What the F do you do with this? Here's the picture. Judas put the picture on screen of what CRHA is buying. Gloria Gibb watching the program.

Gloria, I think that's on your end. Other folks are saying the sound is good. Let me respond that to her here. Interestingly, there's someone who may know buildings like this very well, and that is yours truly. I am the largest owner in the Macklin building on Market Street. The Macklin building only has windows on the front of the building and only windows on the back of the building. The Macklin building also has an elevator, as does the CRHA purchase on the downtown mall. The Macklin building is a condo building with commercial

on the first and second floor and residential on the third floor. All this you can find on the GIS. The units on the third floor residential unless you're on the front or the back have some natural light, some natural light. Skylights are

utilized to bring natural light in. On the first and second floor there are numerous units that have no windows. They're interior units only. I own one of those on the second floor, interior unit only. An old dentist's office that I converted into executive office space and took a dentist's space for Dr. Benegal Page, a dentist's institution in Charlottesville, and now it's six office spaces. Gloria,

no one else, I hope you resolve this. Others are not having this issue, respectfully. But I appreciate you very much for watching and listening to the show. Vanessa Parkhill's photo should be on screen. She says, maybe the first question we should be asking is, why didn't the city spend the money on economic development and COVID closure related to support for the community? I think that's a

great question. I think that's what I've been trying to emphasize. Was it the American Rescue Act? I can check. Why wasn't the money spent during COVID that the money is spending now shuffling to CRHA, why wasn't that money spent during the pandemic to help small business? It's a fantastic question. CRHA, Bill McChesney get his photo on screen ask where are their offices right now

well let's go to their website still on their website it says due to the COVID-19 pandemic the CRHA rental office is closed to the public probably should update that language on the website no doubt they have a PO box listed and phone numbers for maintenance and a main phone line only

and they've removed all location address information and says the housing the office is closed because of covid is is covid over i believe it has been for a little while can i say it's over or or am i going to have some folks berate me for saying that? Probably both. Thank you. So you're saying either way. Is that what you're saying? I think most of us believe it's over or at least until some serious reassessment

of the news. According to its website, there is no location. Bill McChesney. Is it an opportunity for CRHA to build a branding position? That could be it. One of the reasons I love Seville, where we're at now on Market Street, I previously had our headquarters and the first stages of our podcasting studio on the second floor. We had a great

office on the second floor. Two balconies and two windowed offices including one corner office that I called my own overlooking Market Street, overlooking the Enterprise Center, overlooking Morgan Stanley. QIM was across the street at the time. It was a great spot.

It was quiet. It was time. It was a great spot. It was quiet. It was remote. It was safe. It was on the second floor. But I made a strategic decision of purchasing this storefront in the Macklin building from former head UVA athletic trainer

Joe Geek in a negotiated seller finance deal. The reason I made that purchase was I wanted the visibility of I Love Sivo on the storefront with 10,000 cars driving by it every day. And it raised our visibility tremendously. We've been here seven, eight years since I made the deal with Joe Geek. Is it a perfect place for a podcasting studio? No.

You guys have heard it. When the police or the fire trucks or the ambulances go by, you can hear the sirens on the microphones. If there's loud noise out there, you can hear it on the microphones. Was the previous location on the second floor quieter? Absolutely. But it lacked the brand visibility that a signage on a storefront with 10,000 cars going by offers. So I weighed the scales of justice, and I made the strategic decision of buying the storefront and coming down here for the enhanced visibility. Is this a marketing play for CRHA?

Put the brand in the most visible place possible, downtown mall? Could be a way to get more visibility in the city. Is that the play? I don't know. And to John Blair's point, what do we want downtown to be over the next 20 years? Yeah. Do we want downtown Charlottesville over the next 20 years

to be office buildings? Do we want downtown Charlottesville over the next 20 years to be office buildings? Do we want downtown mall to continue being restaurants and retail and music? Or do we want the downtown mall to convert into a hub for government-controlled and government-managed buildings. You start getting too many government-managed entities on the downtown mall,

what's going to happen? Genuine question for you, Judah. I think it changes the... What's the word I'm looking for? The profile. Yeah, the face, the profile of the downtown mall. I think depending on how much real estate space they take up, I mean, you've already got the big block of the eyesore building.

The Dewberry. Yeah. I mean, certain things are obviously never going to change. We're not going to lose the paramount. No one's going to tear down the pavilion. But at some point, I think you get diminishing returns, and I think that hurts the businesses that are legitimately here as businesses and not as government entities. James Watson's got a comment that's a good one. I'm going to get to in a matter of moments. Ginny, who's in the lead slot? James Watson on deck. Ginny, who's photo on screen, if you could, please, sir. Let me know when that's at on screen. Ginny, who's on screen? Yep. One of the key members of our family. She says of course

that money could have been used to help businesses on the downtown mall survive and thrive during COVID. And she also says, how are they going to get more visibility if there aren't businesses to bring people downtown? Yeah. Her comment is a perfect compliment to James Watson's comment.

I'll repeat Ginny Hu's comment. This is how I feel. How are they going to get more visibility, CRHA, with this purchase if there are not businesses to bring people downtown? James counters Ginny Hu's comment by saying this. Why are we so bothered by the CRHA purchase? It will bring vibrancy to a vacant building with little interest from investors nowadays. It's near public transportation and close to many people that the organization serves.

It's also great marketing because everybody will be aware of their presence. How would you respond to that, J-Dubs? I'd say those are good points. Ginny's comment and James' comment are contradicting comments with each other. Yeah, but I don't think they're necessarily... I don't think they... I'm sorry.

I think you can have both. I mean, like I said, we don't really know what they're going to do with it. We don't know if anybody was ever going to use that building. I think it's better that something inhabits it if it's not going to get businesses that are genuinely there for the business. And I think it is good if they do want to brand the company, brand the CHRA, and keep it in the front of our minds. But I think it depends. And I think what John said about what do we want the face of the...

What do we want the downtown ball to be in the next 20 years? Yeah. What do we want the downtown... I sincerely have that question for you viewers and listeners. What do we want the downtown ball to be in the next 20 years? Janice Boyce-Trevillian, I'm going to get to your comments. Have her photo ready to go. Carol Thorpe, I'm going to get to your comments.

Two media outlets watching us on the program right now. Deep Throat, I'm going to get to your comments. Deep Throat's responding to James Watson here in a matter of moments. Show's on fire right now. We just want to be the water cooler of discussion. That's it. What do we want the mall to be in the next 20 years? Can I say this straightforwardly?

Hold me accountable, please. The mall currently right now is underperforming from what we knew what it was prior to COVID. Yeah. Is that safe to COVID. Yeah. Is that safe to say? Yeah, without a doubt. The mall currently right now has as many vacancies as you and I have seen since our time in Charlottesville. I've been here almost 24 years.

How long have you been here? A long time as well. Yeah, roughly just under that. So two decades for you, 24 years for me the mall has more vacancies than we've ever seen in our time in charlottesville would you say that's fair yeah and i think there are a lot of them that even if they're not vacant they're they've got reduced hours and so it may it may appear that way at times uh you know you walk by and restaurants are closed at three. So it's definitely changing how, you know,

changing what you can do on the downtown mall, depending on the time that you're there. What do you want your vision to be of downtown, of the downtown mall in the next 20 years? You will still be, God willing, both of us alive then. Genuine question for you. I mean, I have a hard time not judging things based on my experiences in Savannah, Georgia. And they've got a strip that's a lot like our downtown mall, as well as River Road, which is our downtown mall on steroids.

And I would love to see it like that. Shops and restaurants is, you know, offices are, I think, just kind of, they're almost like a blank spot on the downtown mall. Judah, you're on point today. Let's go to Janice Boyce-Trevillian. Janice Boyce-Trevillian in the power rankings is, and she's climbing, and she's climbing quickly, number 17 in the power polls. You get her photo on screen? Yep. Lisa Costolo, I'm going to get to your photo.

Philip Dow, or your comment, Lisa Costolo, Philip Dow, Olivia Branch. I'm going to get to your commentary. Janice Boyce-Trevillian, and then I'm going to get to Deep Throat responding to James Watson. Janice Boyce-Trevillian says they hold on to COVID funds and charge more taxes and watch businesses close. That doesn't make sense. I think they just want to change that whole area. Who decides where the money should be shuffled to? How about school safety and bus drivers? Respect on the comment. This comment from Deep Throat to James Watson. I think James would be right if the seller just threw in the towel, realized no private owner wanted it, and sold it for like 50% of assessed value. It's way less convincing at $2,600,000. Also, it is not clear why CRHA needs to raise its profile.

It is not advertising anything. It is giving away subsidized housing. You don't need to have a huge brand strategy to give away $1,500 a month apartments for $500 a month. Furthermore, he says, CRHA should have its office near where its clients are. Seems like that would be closer to their actual properties, not on the downtown mall. He says, Friendship Court is close-ish to the mall, but if I understand it correctly, the redevelopment to Kindlewood has put this in PHA's hands

and it is no longer in CRHA's hands to manage. I'm not 100% sure of that, but I strongly think so. Good comments right there. Lisa Custolo says this. CRHA appears, and let's get Lisa Custolo's photo on screen, please. Lisa Custolo, key member of our family, number 24 in the power poll. CRHA appears it is acting as a private investor, but with the possession of our tax dollars. Lisa Cusslow says it appears CRHA is competing with the real estate market. How much is CRHA supposed to be involved in the real estate market? Philip Dow, his photo on screen.

It's obvious that we want the mall to be a friendly public and small business environment spot. This is all on Sean Tubbs' reporting on a Charlottesville community sub stack. He does a great job. Sean Tubbs, please support him. I see the argument that the building has been for sale for an extended period of time, so having any kind of bodies or humans in the building

is better than its current state, which is an empty building. Yeah. But I also see the argument, Judah, that having a housing authority purchase the building... I mean, the housing authority purchased the building. Does the housing authority, this is a fair question for the viewers and listeners. It's a fair question, the people that know this extremely well.

Neil Williamson, John, Deep Throat, key members of our family. With CRHA purchasing this building, does it then take it off the tax rolls? That's a good question. Serious question for the men I just mentioned here. If CRHA purchases this building, which Sean Tubbs is reporting that they're going to purchase, and Sean Tubbs has got this on the lock, does it take it off the tax rolls?

If it takes it off the tax rolls, doesn't that increase the tax burden for citizens? Is CRHA using taxpayer resources to purchase the building? If it is using taxpayer resources to purchase the building, what could that tax money have gone to that could have been spent in a better way? Another question for you. Managing and maintaining a building, dude, I know firsthand here with the Macklin building. Managing and maintaining a building is effing costly. That elevator in that building is old.

Elevator, soup to nuts, replacement, you're talking 150 Gs. Flat roofs, cleaning, electric, stuff breaks. It's expensive. Where's that money going to come from to maintain the building? All questions we should be asking as taxpayers. And perhaps the most important question is, what is the opportunity cost of a redevelopment and housing authority buying a building in the premier dining, shopping, music, and entertainment district in a very small city? Vanessa Parkhill, where does CRHA get its money to operate? 100% city tax funded?

Deep throat. Every property CRHA owns in the city is listed as tax exempt. So I assume this would be one as well. This is akin, this is worse than the University of Virginia buying a building in some capacities. Want to know why?

Go ahead. When the University of Virginia buys a building, what does it do? It takes it off the tax rolls, right? But UVA pays to maintain it. Yeah. They pay if the elevator breaks, it needs to be replaced. If there's foundational issues, if there's electrical issues, if there's plumbing issues, window issues, any kind of issues, the university is paying for it. CRHA is getting that money from us. If the property is off the tax rolls and something goes wrong with it,

do we also pay to fix it? There, there. That's why we have to ask ourselves if the city's spending four million dollars with CRHA to buy a building on Avon and a building on Levy to turn it into a homeless shelter in Tony Belmont and then having to staff it and maintain them moving forward, is that a good use of taxpayer resources? Because when they maintain those buildings, who's paying for it? On the other side of things though, when they maintain those buildings who's paying for it on the other side of things though if they're buying a building does it matter where they buy it they're going to take it off the off the tax rolls i don't follow well i i agree with what

you're saying but if they're planning on buying a building anyway, wherever they buy the building, that building is coming off the tax rolls, correct? If the city buys a building. If CRHA is buying a building, whether it's that one. But they could rent. Fair enough. They don't have to purchase. Okay, fair enough. They could just rent it from a private owner.

Right. And the private owner is still paying the taxes on it. By buying it legitimately cannibalizes a $2.7 million tax roll. Yeah, those are good points. Carol Thorpe, her photo on screen please. Queen of Jack Jewett, she's watching the program. Carol Thorpe is... What's your rank in Carol?

You're a key member of this family. Number nine in the power polls for Carol Thorpe is... What's your rank in Carol? You're a key member of this family. Number nine in the power polls for Carol Thorpe. As I attempted to allude, Carol Thorpe says, when I first raised the issue of the off-designation sped of excessive COVID funds following the pandemic, followed the political trail. The millions of dollars were funneled from a Democratic president and administration through to Democrat-controlled state and city governments as a small part of the greater effort of wealth distribution.

She also says, understand that this phenomenon of millions unspent COVID monies in largely Democratic cities is not limited to Charlottesville. It is happening all over America. Kelly Jackson, how will this affect the value of homes in the area and will people still want to go to all the restaurants close by at night? It's a damn good question. Kelly Jackson's photo on screen, number eight in the family, put her photo on screen. It's a damn good question. I raised this question about the, and Jim Hingely who watches this program, Jim Hingely needs a ranking. We need to get Jim Hingely in the power pole. He watches the program. He routinely offers great commentary. Mr. Hingely, if you're watching the program right now, I respect your commentary tremendously on the show.

He made the comment of, I believe it was the, was it the shelter in Fifeville? In fact, I can look at my text. I can read my text. So I make sure I'm getting it 100% correct. Ridge Street and Fifeville have $500,000 plus homes close to the Salvation Army, a 58-bed shelter. That shelter has been there for decades while values in that neighborhood have gone up.

So he's making a very convincing argument that the Salvation Army in Ridge Street and in Fifeville have not impacted the values with the shelter being next to homes. I made the argument last week that if a shelter opens in Avon and Levy and in Belmont, that the home values will be impacted in Belmont. I think the difference, and I wish he was watching the program so he can offer some commentary here, the difference is this. The homeless shelter opening on Avon and Levy, the prices of Belmont are already sky high.

The Salvation Army opening on Ridge Street and Fifeville, Ridge Street and Fifeville were gentrifying neighborhoods, so the price points of those units were not sky high. They were destined to go up because it was one of the last affordable pockets in the city, Ridge Street and Fifeville. Belmont is not affordable. Belmont's six, what would you say the entry point for Belmont?

$500,000 conservatively, and that's probably a teardown, going all the way north of a million? I mean, Karen Kehoe's got a tear down on Chesapeake right now for half a million dollars. Certainly goes over a million. I would say that having a homeless shelter on Avon and Levy is going to, in some capacity, and this is a conservative statement, diminish the buyer demand for the homes around the shelter in some capacity is that fair to say it's probably fair to say right KJ great comment right there she says I would not buy a house close by to the shelter it's a mom speaking Janice Boyce Trevelyan, I don't know if those commissioners are being paid.

James Watson said, what would you put in a building that size in a Zoom town? I mean, I have 29 executive offices lisa costolo is crha increasing the gap between haves and have-nots in charlottesville those in crha units are by necessity low income cr CRHA expanding means more low income people and remaining private units increase in rates. So either very low income or very high income. We are losing middle class Charlottesville. Here's a fair question. Here's a fair question. You ready for this one? Yeah. CRHA, the 2.65 million, $2,650,000. Was that $2,650,000 better spent building $2,650,000 divided by $400,000?

Let's say they get some subsidies. I'm sure they have the opportunity to get some subsidies. Let's just call it $400,000. Was that better spent building seven $400,000 houses? How about apartments? $2,650,000 divided by $250,000. Was that better spent building 11 apartments or acquiring 11 apartments as opposed to building, doing whatever they're going to do on the downtown mall. It can't be housing. Right.

Has there ever been housing on, I mean, besides some of the. There's housing on the downtown mall. There usually. There's apartments on the downtown mall. There's penthouses on the downtown mall. Penthouses on the third floor of this building. Right. But not like entire buildings that are housing.

No, normally it's mixed use with retail and commerce on the first floor and housing above it. Right. Many of the buildings have housing above it. Yeah. If it's a redevelopment and housing authority, isn't its primary goal to do redevelopment and housing?

Is the primary goal of a redevelopment and housing? Is the primary goal of a redevelopment and housing authority to buy one of 100 buildings on the downtown mall for $2.65 million? That's a good question. Shouldn't we be asking that question? I think we should be asking what they plan to do with it and whether it's worth the money that they're spending. So frustrating.

You'll see this in the news tonight. Ginny Hu says, I believe Jim's point was also that the Salvation Army has a positive branding image that people have faith in and trust. 100%. Albert Graves says the same thing with Jim Hensley. I'm going to retweet both of these. I'm going to retweet Albert Graves and Ginny Hu. Let's get Albert Graves' photo on screen, please. Number 10 in the power poll.

Today we've had number one comment, Deep Throat. Number two comment, John Blair. Number four, Ginny Thompson. Number five, James Watson. Number six, Vanessa Parkhill. Number eight, Kelly Jackson. Number nine, Carol Thorpe. Number 10, Albert Graves.

Oh, and I can't forget the other comments that are coming in. I'm going to get to in a matter of moments. I completely need to reiterate what Ginny and Albert have said. The Salvation Army is a worldwide brand, Albert Graves says. What's the brand of the new homeless shelter? And Ginny says, I believe Jim Hingely's point was also the Salvation Army has a positive branding image that people have faith and trust in. The one that Charlottesville's going to do on Avon and Levy, what is the brand going to be? The Charlottesville Homeless Shelter?

Charlottesville City Hall Homeless Shelter? Local government and the homeless shelter? Local government in the homeless shelter business? What's the positive branding image of that? All right. Olivia Branch. When she comments, I've got to read it. I've just got to find it.

The comments are coming in fast and furious. We've got to talk Fashion Square Mall. And Judah, we've got to talk your restaurant review. What do you got? What are you looking up there? I'm just taking some of the house prices around the area of the Levy and Avon potential purchase. And what did you find? Some of the places, very close to it.

I saw a mix between about $420,000 to $700,000, depending on how much you believe in Zillow. $420,000 to $700,000? I'd be shocked for you to find a $420,000 house that isn't a tear down. It was a smaller house, so that may account for it. $420,000 in Belmont, I would be shocked to see the livable conditions of that one. Remember, we are talking about on the other side of Avon. No, I get that, and I understand why you're emphasizing that. You're saying it's not exactly Belmont proper. That's why you're emphasizing that, right? Yeah. I mean, I was

just taking a look at some of the prices of the places across the street from, as you said, Belmont proper. And I give you some props on that. It's not the heartbeat of Belmont, but I would still characterize that as the Belmont neighborhood, wouldn't you? Sure. Well, you know, just sincerely mean that. What else, how else would we be able to characterize it? I mean, it is, but I think Avon is a pretty large divide. No, 100%. 100%, it's a large divide. I totally agree with you. Like for instance, once you get on the other side of 250, are you really in the park locust neighborhood? Right? Right. Like once you cross that bridge, 250, you're going to see a massive drop in price points. Yeah. And if you head down, like say Hinton is right around the corner. And Hinton's great. Yeah. And if you head down, like say Hinton is right around the corner. Uh, and Hinton's

great. Yeah. But that block from Avon to sixth street basically, basically, uh, points downhill directly towards a friendship court or, uh, um, what are they calling it now? Kindlewood. Yeah, Kindlewood. And that may have some effect on the tone of the neighborhood as well. You're on point today. Olivia Branch, I can't find your comment. I wish I could. I wanted to read it.

She was talking about what her comments are coming in Fast and Furious, what her vision is for the downtown mall. Kelly said, I would like to see money going to mental health and drug and alcohol help, more resources for the unhoused, as opposed to them getting into the real estate purchase game. Yeah, I think we've discussed in the past

the problem with building for the houseless, not that we don't want to support them and give them a place to sleep but at what point do you become an epicenter a magnet yeah people say oh charlottesville is building housing for the homeless and that brings in the possibility of more and more and more. It's like what's happened with San Francisco. In San Francisco, if you basically tell the entire world that we're not going to do anything at all from a policing or accountability, you're going to help me put these words into perspective. Please. You know exactly what I'm trying to say.

Yeah, I mean, it's similar to saying you're not going to arrest people if they steal less than $500 at a store. Yeah, great. The number's $700. So, uh... Let's steal $675. Everybody out there, just make sure you keep your...

Your theft. Your theft down below a certain amount. There it is. God, you're doing great today. There it is. And I agree with the... Was the last statement from... Was it Kelly?

Yeah. I agree that I'd rather, you know, I think that money would be better spent on facilities to help transition them out of houselessness. Hand up instead of a handout. Yeah. We want, you know, we want to help them.

But at some point you say, look, we can't just build and build and build and build housing. We need to give them a hand up and get them out of that position so that we don't need the housing. Oh, man. Philip Dow. Seville's already become San Francisco.

I don't know about that. Jennifer, who's watching in Belmont. The comparisons to San Francisco are applicable. Deep Throat. This is San Francisco. Allow homelessness to fester and your mall goes from being full to being 75% empty

and worth $25 million. San Francisco, a billion dollars to being 75% empty and worth $250 million. If you guys follow the commercial real estate, and you don't even have to be an insider to follow this, with the commercial real estate trends in San Francisco, the buildings are trading for pennies on the dollar.

Building owners are just giving the keys back to banks, to lenders. All right, it's 1.28. We have other topics we need to get to today. Bring up the Fashion Square Mall topic, if you could. Set the stage. There's a new restaurant in the downtown mall. Fashion Square Mall. Fashion Square Mall.

Tolia African Cuisine. And I wish them nothing but success. They've, I've seen. We wish them all nothing but success. Yeah, I've seen some reviews and people say their food is fantastic. But I wonder about the feasibility of starting a business in the downtown mall. I

mean, the downtown mall website directory is... The Fashion Square Mall. Fashion Square Mall. What do I call it? Downtown Mall. The Fashion Square Mall website looks like it hasn't been updated in quite a while. Whoever's managing the website of the CRHA website, whoever's managing the website CRHA that says they don't currently have an office, it's closed because of COVID, might be managing the website for Fashion Square Mall that has a directory that's...

Still listing Red Lobster? Still listing Red Lobster and businesses that are not actively there and forgetting to list the businesses that are paying them rent and are currently trying to keep their lights on. Yeah. And I wonder, I mean, how much how much do you how much the money that you pay in rent for the Fashion Square Mall is is with the expectation that the Fashion Square Mall will be bringing people in? A portion. You know what that's called? That's part of your CAM, your CAM charges. Common Area Maintenance.

Part of CAM and Common Area Maintenance is having up-to-date signage. And up-to-date signage is digital signage as well, which you can make a legitimate argument is more important than actual signage is digital signage as well, which you can make a legitimate argument is more important than actual signage because more people are utilizing the internet than seeing a tiny sign inside Fashion Square Mall that lists the vendors in the mall. Right. 100% great point due to Wickhour. So if the Fashion Square Mall isn't doing any advertising, they're not updating their website. I mean, I can't even remember the last time I went actually into the Fashion Square Mall. I've been to... It's been at least a decade for me.

I've been to Red Robin, which you don't even have to... Red Robin. You don't have to enter the mall to get into, but that too is going to be closing soon if it hasn't already. And so I, you know, I, I really hope they are getting a great deal and, and I hope that, uh, people that hear about them go and try them out. And what's curious to me is that there's a lot of opportunity to position restaurants elsewhere. We were just talking about open spaces on the downtown mall. That's what's curious to me.

So it must be either a fantastic deal. I hope it's not poor decision making. But I just don't see the feasibility of success. How would you characterize it? I mean, I would love to see numbers for how many people are going through the Fashion Square mall on a daily basis. But anybody that's been there can attest to the fact that five, ten years ago, you'd go and see, you know, packed...

I'd say more than ten years ago. Packed, well... Food court? No, no, no. I'm talking about the parking lot. Just rows and rows and rows of cars all parked. Sometimes you had to search long and wide for a good parking spot. And now, I mean, you've basically got one section of a gigantic parking lot that is pretty much the only place that you're going to see many cars. Devil's advocate. If you're launching, would you go farmer's market or fashion square mall? If you're what?

If you're launching a food and beverage business, a restaurant, where would you have greater feasibility or long-term success? Doing the three to five farmers markets a week or Fashion Square Mall? I think visibility-wise, definitely the farmers markets. I 100% agree. If I had the manpower, I'd try to do both. That would be difficult, especially just launching.

I 100% agree with your last statement, though. The three to five farmers markets I'd try to do both. That would be difficult, especially just launching. I 100% agree with your last statement, though. The three to five farmers markets that charge you minuscule amounts for a stall are going to give you way more brand visibility than being 24-7, 365, in a restaurant space in the food court of Fashion Square Mall. Yeah. And we've seen many restaurants birth from the farmer's markets. I may have to go to the Fashion Square Mall and check things out. All right.

Judah's going to go. Tell the viewers and listeners, are you willing to go this week? Yeah, I think I can probably make it this week. Go check it out. Let us know what you find. Photos and notes would be amazing. And that's a perfect segue into your restaurant review. Well, pretty much given some of it,

it's a great place. Same wonderful people and same amazing food. It's a delicious spot. I hope that they are successful enough that they can stay open later. Did you say the name of the business for those that are just tuning in? Desayuna Con Gomez. Sister restaurant to the Tacos Gomez food truck. What'd you order? I got the breakfast burrito.

Was it delicious? How much was it? It was cheap. It was like, I think $5 before tax. That's extremely affordable. Yeah. Was it large? It was decent sized. What was in the breakfast burrito? It's got eggs, cheese, and you've got a choice of, let's see, I think it was ham and hot dog and chorizo. I got the chorizo. I can't imagine getting hot dog in a breakfast burrito. But it was wonderful. I'll definitely go back. Great breakfast spot.

There you go. Good review. I'm going to try it out. We're going to try it out based on your suggestion, Judah Wicar. Last topic of the show, don't look down. The Virginia men's basketball team is on a win streak, a four-game win streak. We'll talk about this on Tuesday's edition of the Jerry and Jerry Show with Virginia Sports Hall of Famer Jerry Hootie Ratcliffe.

Tuesdays at 10.15 a.m. right here on the I Love Seville Network. He is the publisher of JerryRatcliffe.com. We're on his website every single day. Just two weeks ago, folks were calling for Coach Tony Bennett's head and asking the question, will this man's system work in college basketball in the new era of college sports that's tied to pay-to-play, name, image, and likeness, NIL?

And four games later, Virginia basketball is riding a four-game winning streak with a potential rematch against Notre Dame at the John Paul Jones Arena this Wednesday at 7 o'clock. The Hoos are in a firm grasp of their destiny, a destiny that could include the ACC Tournament Championship and an NCAA Tournament invitation. Four-game winning streak cures all and it silences naysayers. And that's exactly what Tony Bennett and Virginia men's basketball have done. Notre Dame hammered Virginia and South Bend.

And now the Wahoos have an excellent opportunity to get a little bit of revenge and to take this winning streak to five as we head into the meat and potatoes portion of the 2023-2024 ACC regular season schedule. I'm looking at the schedule right now, and ladies and gentlemen, the Wahoos are in a very good position

to finish in second place. North Carolina is 9-0. They have yet to lose a conference game, number three in the country. Duke is 6-2 in conference play. UVA is 6-3 in conference play. The Wahoos are a half a game back from the Duke Blue Devils, who are 7 in the power polls in the national rankings.

Tony Bennett is a Hall of Fame coach, and we should never doubt this man. Put the man's name on the court and give him an opportunity to take the season from start to finish before you start questioning the pack line defense, you start questioning his management of the transfer portal, and you start questioning if the game has gone beyond him. It has not. TJ Miner, Jordan Miner, excuse me, Jordan Miner and Dante Harris give this team a different dynamic, and Ryan Dunn is starting to play some NBA lottery pick basketball. Very pumped for this.

That's the Monday edition of the I Love Seville show. Judah Wickauer hit a grand slam today. My name is Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us tomorrow, 10.15 a.m., the Jerry and Jerry Show with Jerry Hootie Ratcliffe. So long, everybody. Good job, Jerry. Excellent job. Jerry Hoody Ratcliffe. So long everybody.