The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Payne Wants Affordable Housing At Landmark; Fifeville Residents Against Low Barrier Shelter

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

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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 a rainy and cold afternoon in downtown Charlottesville. A lot we're going to cover on today's program. We have residents in Fifeville, a transitioning, very much gentrified neighborhood, formerly a historically black neighborhood, now a neighborhood that is, frankly, searching for its identity as the old guard is being pushed out in real estate deals that are $400,000 and $500,000 for houses in a lot of ways that need to be completely gutted, torn down altogether, and McMansions being built in their place. As this neighborhood transitions, residents in Fifeville, their commentary, their perspective has changed. Mark Van Meter is with

the Salvation Army, the head honcho, and he floated a concept that many in the community thought was a great idea. Let's convert the thrift store on Cherry Avenue into a low barrier homeless shelter. Well, the media covered that story, including yours truly here on the I Love Seville show. And as we covered Mark Van Meter transitioning the thrift store into a low barrier homeless shelter, the residents of Fifeville and those that live along Cherry Avenue said, wait a minute, you're going to do what with what and put it where? A low barrier homeless shelter means those staying there can be fighting alcoholism and drug addiction and can in fact have sex crimes on their record, can, in fact, have sex

crimes tied to children on their record. And many in the community are like, hey, we don't want this shelter here in the Fifeville community. I want to unpack that story on today's program. I also want to unpack on today's program Michael Payne's comments. Judah says he's not surprised by this at all. The two-term city councilor, who's in the middle of his second term, Michael Payne, said, I don't want a hotel on the downtown mall. The landmark Dewberry Shell should be affordable housing. Its best use is not hotels. I'm surprised the counselor is offering commentary on real estate transactions, in particular transactions that have been around in skeleton and empty fashion for a long period of time. I want to talk about Payne's comments on today's show.

One suggestion, Judah, we're unpacking some camera technical difficulties, is you could use the Market Street cam for you. Transition the Market Street cam out on yours and make that the two-shot. Just a suggestion. And if you don't have time to move the banner, that's totally fine. Just an idea. I also want to talk on today's show, ladies and gentlemen, about Logan Wells, Claylow, thank you for watching the show. UVA raising prices on average. We touched on this yesterday. Bert Ellis on the Board of Visitors said,

hey, pump the brakes on those increases in a very boisterous manner on the record in open session. I think the Jefferson Council cut a clip of Bert Ellis, now just known as Bert Ellis on this program. We have since dropped his moniker, J-dubs. And he said, until we start slashing overhead, including the bloated payroll here at the University of Virginia, we should not be offering budget increases. I want to talk about that. We should not be raising tuition, the meal plan, the lodging on students like we're doing. I want to talk about that on today's show. I also

want to talk on today's show, UVA securing a transfer portal quarterback commitment, ties to Nebraska. Of course, we'll highlight this on the Jerry and Jerry show tomorrow at 10 15 a.m. And guys, we'll talk food on today's show. I had two fantastic experiences with my family, my wife and two sons, over the weekend. And maybe that's a good place to start. I don't know if your family is like our family, but we're always on the weekend looking for things to do as parents with kids.

And this particular weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, in particular, as it was rainy, snowy, sleety, we said, what are we going to do with the boys today? Our two boys are extremely active, rambunctious, you would say, a thousand miles an hour all the time. Well, we ended up walking grounds on Saturday at the University of Virginia. We went to Mellow Mushroom. Andrew and his family do a fantastic job on the corner. My boys love the pretzels at Mellow Mushroom on the corner. Mom and Dad enjoy the fact that they have a fantastic beer selection.

And we watched some basketball, walked grounds, walked the UVA corner with the boys. And we finished the night in fantastic merriment, with fantastic merriment. As we were driving home, we drove by Guajiros, the old Peloton station, and the Mayorga family has done a fantastic job of decorating Guajiros for the holidays. It is lit up, one of the best, I would say, curb appeal Christmas decors in the city right now, food and beverage wise, is Guajiros. They have reindeers that are lit up outside. They have a Christmas penguin lit up outside.

The inside, very festive as well. That caught my oldest boy's attention. My wife and I said, you know what, we'll finish with a nightcap here. We got some beignets for the boys, the beautifully sugar-dusted donuts, and Will, the bartender, made two fantastic jalapeno blood orange margaritas for the better half and I. The fantastic experience at Guajiros is something I wanted to relay to you. If you have kids, families, I think you would truly enjoy that experience. And we closed yesterday, guys, with another fantastic experience. This is the first time I've been there.

Eastwood Farm and Winery down, what is that, 20 south? I'm heading in the direction of Scottsville, not nearly as far as Scottsville, just past Avon Motors and past the high school. There's a winery called Eastwood that is just, it's magical. Eastwood is a charming, fantastic place. Eastwood Farm and Winery. Our boys got photos with Santa Claus. They had free photos with Santa. They serve cider, beer, and wine. They make the beer and wine on site. I'm not sure about the cider. Perhaps they do as well. They have significant open space, perfect venue for live music. Evidently, they do specials throughout the week, but if you have yet to try Eastwood Farm and Winery, the Miller family gives it a five-star

review. I hope it gets back to those folks over there. How are you feeling over there? Did you get the cameras worked out over there? Oh, fantastic, Judah. Why don't we give some love to Charlottesville Sanitary Supply? 60 consecutive years in business for the Vermillion family. Andrew and John Vermillion do an amazing thing. Charlottesvillesanitarysupply.com. East High Street. Support the businesses you want to see be around for another 60 years. That's one businesses you want to see be around for another 60 years. That's one we certainly want to see be around for another 60 years. If you want to go to the studio camera and then weave you in on a two-shot,

we can have some conversation on what you say is no surprise, that two-term city councilor Michael Payne, who pretty much is the reason the Dewberry is the shell it currently is in. Michael Payne politicked prior to getting elected to his first term in conjunction with the socialist organization of Charlottesville and said we should not be giving tax breaks and below-market parking spaces to white, wealthy, out-of-market developers, killing a deal on the bottom of the ninth inning that former Mayor Mike Signer had negotiated. Now Michael Payne is using the dais. Judah, he's not just using a platform where he's trying to get a spot on council.

He's legitimately using the dais as a councillor to say, this should not be hotel. This should be affordable housing. Yeah, but how much effect do you really think that's going to have? I mean, he's not pushing policy. It's not like his desires in this instance are going to affect who ends up buying the place? I respectfully, Judah, push back on that. What's the call to action? What's the date for the offers? January 9th of 2025. Dewberry's team has said, get your offers in by the 9th. We'll consider every single one. If you're considering making an offer, and one of the five counselors, the guy who's positioned the Dewberry in its current form

through politicking, Michael Payne, he says over the weekend, I don't want this to be a hotel. There's too many hotels. I want this to be affordable housing. Would you not be hesitant to purchase this when one of the five guys that you're going to have to work with that has significant influence of what the project is going to be or what the project could become is saying, I don't want it to be a hotel? I mean, and let's take it a step back here. How active a role should the city councilors be in the free market with private real estate transactions as they're transpiring in real time? Should city councilors influence real estate transactions as a seller is trying to solicit interest and offers

for his project, for his, for his position? Well, I mean, think about this. I'll, I'll weave you in here. If you're John Dewberry and you hear Michael Payne, you know, John Dewberry heard about this. If you're John Dewberry and you read that Michael Payne is saying, I'm going to use my influence to limit what this could be, aren't you frustrated? Are you angry? Are you like, enough already? How can I work with these people anymore? And are you concerned of what it can do from a deal flow standpoint in minimizing the offers that come across your broker's desk? I mean, I have sincere questions for you on that topic, Judah. Yeah, I would think that some people might be hesitant, but how far and wide do you think this Michael Payne statement is going? I think Michael Payne's statement is

assessed at what? 8.9 million. John Dewberry bought it for 6.2 million. We should rotate that lower third on screen so the viewers that are just tuning in can see this. We're saying that this is going to sell somewhere between 9 and 11 million is our prediction, right? We thought it would be between 9 and 11 million, somewhere in that regards. If you're thinking about spending 9 to 11 million dollars on a piece of property, I would imagine you're going to research the political temperature before you make an offer or try to acquire a piece of real estate. Right?

Sure. I mean, it would be like somebody buying a house in an HOA or an office condo in an HOA building and not reading the covenants and restrictions and the bylaws of the association. That's not the same thing. How is it not the same thing? It's

called doing due diligence. Explain to me how it's not the same thing, my friend. So somebody who's considering buying the landmark shell, you're alleging that they are scouring the uh the charlottesville uh newspapers and news outlets for the entire time that like whenever they started looking at the landmark to the date i mean june i i i'm, I want to do deals with you, man. Good night. If someone, I'm not trying to throw shade, I apologize. I could have positioned that in a different way. If you're spending nine to $11 million, we think it's going to go in that range. I would hope one of the first things that you're doing is assessing the political climate before you make a $9 to $11 million acquisition. Yeah.

Especially on a shell. But Charlottesville is a terrible place to build anyways. Is it? Yeah. Why is it a terrible place to build? It's difficult. Okay, I'll give you it's difficult. I was just talking to my dad.

I got much more of the story of what happened to their business. You want to tell? Pass it along. The city essentially stole $193 million. They stole how much? Maybe it was $193,000. You want to put in perspective what happened here? Essentially, the company had... I know nothing about what happened with your father's business.

You want to tell them what your father's business was? It was building houses. Okay. It was Dickerson Development. Is that what it was? Yeah. And your father? I do know some of it.

They were building a small, not neighbor. Subdivision? Yeah, subdivision. Whereabouts was that small subdivision? Your father was an investor or a partner of this development company? He was both, yeah. Oh, he was an investor and a partner. Sounds like he ponied up a lot of money.

Met his partner at church? I don't think so. I don't think that's uh relevant okay um essentially and i don't know all the details um i got a lot of them yesterday essentially uh the the city kept telling them that they needed to do more they'd say you got to finish this and uh and we'll we'll release your uh your bonds and then, okay, well, now you need to do this. And they kept adding more and more stuff. They kept pushing it further.

It got to the point where my dad was putting personal money in, trying to get these projects finished. And then they found out that the city had essentially called the bank and said, hey, we're going to take all that money. So they found out that all the money that was in escrow for the bonds or whatever it was had disappeared. And they obviously got a lawyer. The lawyer apparently was extremely milquetoast

and was not getting paid nearly as much as the city was paying their lawyer. Surprise, surprise when you've just taken $193,000. And that was the end of it. What are you going to do? Are you going to fight the city? Are you going to spend how much money trying to get your money back? And they essentially just closed up shop. What are you going to do? They just took all your bond money. They won't give you an accurate timeline for finishing your project and essentially tacking on more and more things that you need to do

in order to finish. Okay, I'm going to say this significantly unfortunate turn of events for your father and for the family company for this company your father was a partner of I would imagine that most of these developers as you said if they're doing their due diligence they know that Charlottesville is not a great place to do business that most of these developers, as you said, if they're doing their due diligence,

they know that Charlottesville is not a great place to do business. I think that's also the case. A lot of people know it's extremely challenging to develop in this city. I drove by the Lewis Mountain Rancher that sold for $800 and some thousand dollars earlier this year.

Evergreen purchased the property. This is where they were going to build the six expensive brownstones. Right. I got out of the car. This was before we went to Mellow Mushroom on Saturday. The kids were in the back seat. My wife was sitting shotgun.

I said, family, I need two to three minutes. Got out of the car, walked around the rancher in Lewis Mountain on Alderman Road, looked in the car, walked around the rancher in Lewis Mountain on Alderman Road, looked in the windows, was a little nosy. They haven't done a single thing of merit with that project.

Not a single thing of merit has been done with that project. You ask questions, what's going on? And I'll leave it at that And I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it at that. Not my place to reveal what's going on. I would imagine there's some carrying cost that's being incurred right here by Evergreen.

No doubt. I know multiple remodeling businesses that are choosing not to do work in the city right now. We've heard Oliver Kutner choose to pull out of doing work in the city. It's a challenging environment to do projects in the city. Jeff Levine, the New York City developer, just did a project in the city by University Tire, the Blue Moon Diner project, or he built luxury apartments around it. He wants to do a hotel project by the Omni, and he wants to do an apartment project by Violent Crown. He seems to have it figured out in some capacity,

right? The Woodard family, working on a deal right now with one of the Woodard properties, institutional type business, and one of the Woodard portfolios that's transitioning to new owners. They have a great team, the Woodard team. One of their team members was in the office this, was it Thursday, Friday? You were there, sitting right next to us. I don't remember what day it was. Okay. We were talking deal flow. They're doing projects all up and down Cherry Avenue. Anthony leading the team right now. They seem to have it figured out. Yeah. Okay. To say that it's difficult is accurate. To say that it's impossible is not. Right. I want to push back. I'll use a guy that you have respect for, John Blair. John Blair has tremendous respect for you as well.

He says, I think you know that I respect Judah. I would never say anything disrespectful to Judah. But on this case, he's wrong. Anyone that's making that large of a purchase would do a nexus search on the property involved. A hundred percent. I've purchased property personally that is a fraction of the cost of what we think is going to be $9 to $11 million, and I keyword search that property and enable to get pings or notifications, anything, anytime something's mentioned with that address or even the neighborhood. So I can assure you anyone who's considering making an offer on the Dewberry Shell,

is reading the room. And I think Michael Payne is stepping out of bounds here. I think he's stepping out of bounds. A politician should not utilize his influence and clout to kibosh real estate deals. And that's what he's potentially doing here. Especially a deal that's been an eyesore, like the biggest zit possible.

The biggest zit possible on the downtown mall is this show. And he was the one who caused this zit right he was the oil and the dirt that got in the poor that caused the massive white head on the downtown mall and instead of trying to pop the zit he's using oily and dirty tactics to clog additional pores next to the big zit and i don don't get it, Michael Payne. You caused this. What are you doing? I have to push back with him.

Everyone wants affordable housing. Okay, I get it. It's a political buzzword. Go ahead. But is that the spot for it? Just let the market do whatever it can possible to pop the zit and clear the face and turn it into something that's beautiful again. It's just the opposite of good business. I hope Ms. Counselor Payne, who listens to the program from time to time, hears this.

I sincerely do. And his fellow counselors, frankly, should put him in check in some capacity. And I'm looking at you, Counselor Snook, friend of the program. Counselor Snook, this is his last term. We know this man is probably not going to run for a third term. Right? Bill McChesney, how old is Lloyd Snook? Bill McChesney, I believe, did you go to school with Counselor Snook? How old is Lloyd Snook? Bill McChesney, I believe. Did you go to school with Counselor Snook?

How old is he? Counselor Snook, with this being his last term, has a level of freedom that he may not have utilized in his first term because he ain't going to run again. And with that freedom, he should say, he should do the proverbial finger wag at Michael and say, what are you doing here? Yeah.

And if anyone's thinking about doing a $9 to $11 million purchase, of any temperature read in the room they're going to do is the five people in the dais because they're going to have to work with them as they bring this to market. That's fair. Comments coming in quickly.

Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts. I'll relay them live on air. Deep Throat, number one in the family, put his comments on feed. He says, it's fine for paying to want more affordable housing in town that he would suggest it must be done on the Dewberry Middlefinger site shows how little he understands real estate or economics. Exactly, exactly. It's not efficient to build affordable housing on prime real estate. To say nothing of a site that is already occupied by a shell that was built to hotel spec,

it would cost at least five acts per affordable unit than affordable housing would cost on a site like the one CRHA sold to the city, which remains empty, by the way. Then he throws some shade at Michael Payne. And he says, go pick up a hammer and build the affordable housing if you really want it so bad. You don't build affordable housing

on a piece of real estate that is expensive to acquire. Yeah. You build affordable housing on real estate. That's affordable. Right? Yeah. This is, everyone knows this. Everyone knows this. Bill McChesney says, Counselor Snook is 71 or 72 years old. I believe Bill McChesney went to school with Counselor Snook. Bill McChesney also reminds the viewers and listeners that Keith Woodard dumped a bunch of money on Water Street and walked away because of the city's shenanigans.

I'll offer insight to that. Keith Woodard had about $1,200,000 in underground infrastructure as he was going to build the new home to the city market, a little bit of retail on the ground floor, and apartments over there on Water Street. This was during the Nakia Walker shenanigans. And eventually, Mr. Woodard, Keith Woodard, said, all right, washed his hands and walked away from a million, too.

I said, I'm done with this. I'm done with this. That's how frustrated he got with that project that would have been now a benefit for the community. Now the city market, oh, it's just on an asphalt black parking lot. Gets about 105 degrees during the dog days of summer. Burns the pads of your feet

if any of the, I mean, you're not supposed to have dogs there. But the most, that's why Ludwig and Alan have taken market share from the city with their market at Ickx. Their market at Ickx has grass and shade, parking and bathrooms.

The city market on Water Street has asphalt. No bathrooms. Tight and congested. Let us know your thoughts. Did Michael Payne step out of line with his comments to the media over the weekend was it cbs 19 he offered those comments to was it nbc 29 let me see it's one of the tv stations and you know what props to the tv stations to go to michael payne because they knew they would get the sound bite they needed to turn it into a legitimate story. They went to the one counselor who's going to make the claim that could potentially kibosh the deal, and they got it on their...

Michael Payne, if this... Who was it? I found it on CBS 19. Okay, CBS 19. CBS 19 is starting to win the battle with NBC 29, if you haven't realized that. There was a sale of the two TV stations within the last 12 to 18 months. And NBC 29 has gone downhill. And CBS 19 has gone uphill. Is NBC 29 now the gray communication?

Let me look. I'm going to the footer of NBC 29. I believe NBC 29. Yeah, that's why. NBC 29 is now a gray media outlet. Gray communications. That's the one that previously owned CBS19. And then CBS19 was acquired by, who acquired them? I should know this. I'm disappointed in myself that I don't know this. I'm so disappointed in myself for not remembering this. Now CBS 19 is more of a local community media group

where NBC 29 is the conglomerate corporate. And they are slashing all get out. My prediction is this. That building they own on Market Street. You think that's going to get sold? That's going to be put up. And then they're going to take an institutional brand, NBC29. They're going to bury it somewhere in the county in Class C type real estate as opposed to Class A that's right across from the police station and the courthouses, smack dab in the center of everything that's Charlottesville, City Hall, Downtown Mall, you name it. And when NBC 29 makes that move,

then they're going to be, that will be the death of the 1,000th cut. That will be the death. That's the next thing that's going to happen, the next domino that's going to fall. Mark it down. You heard it here on the I Love Civo show. Let's go to more comments.

Sandra McDaniel is watching the program. I respect her opinion. She says she agrees. I think Michael Payne needs to step back and allow the market to do what it needs to do. This is complete overreach. William Nielsen says, I feel the need to make an appointment with a dermatologist right now

after the zit commentary by yours truly. Oh, man. Let us know your thoughts uh deep throat he might have had the power to shape the parcel under the old zoning that gave him some discretion to counsel now he can't get bent by right baby you might need a band-aid for that bullet hole in your foot and then then he makes a reference to communism. Ginny Hu says, Eastwood Farm and Winery is on her list to try. Eastwood's fantastic. It is a charming, intimate setting with a stage, fire pits, place for kids to run and enjoy.

They do free photos with Santa. They did milk and cookie flights for $7 for the kids while mommy and daddy got wine. The other family that we were with enjoyed two, or mommy and daddy got beer, IPAs. The other family we were with, the parents got wine. It was a fantastic setting, very close to town. I sincerely mean this. Speaking of cookies, Ginny, I need more of those cookies. I think at that point you need to go to her website and buy them from her.

I couldn't find a website. Ginny who? When is your Ginny Delights e-commerce website coming online? The Miller family has also devoured the Christmas cookies that you left for us. I've got friends that I want to send them to. Oh, you've got customers. No, just friends. There we go.

But I would love to send them the best cookies that I've had all year. Ginny-who. We'll throw you some bones here on the I Love Seville show if you let us know where we can find that online. Kevin Higgins, the mayor of Greenwood. Mr. Payne made that comment because that is where his heart is. But I think he also knows it will never happen. Yeah, he does say later on that if it isn't possible, obviously, to turn that into affordable housing, there could be many other opportunities that open up. I don't think he was saying he was going to in any way stop the building of a hotel.

He should not make those comments. I get it. I'm just saying. Especially something that has been in the works for this long in that bad a shape. He should be doing what is best for the downtown and the city as a whole. And that's helping a shell become beautiful. A skeleton become not that. I am disappointed in the counselor.

And the guy who needs to put him in check is Lloyd, Counselor Snook, with the freedom he has on the dais because he ain't going to run anymore. All right. is Lloyd, Counselor Snook, with the freedom he has on the dais because he ain't going to run anymore. What's the next headline? John Blair, really interesting insight about the NBC29 building, Jerry. It would go well with one of your earlier thoughts. We're about to see a surplus of housing in downtown.

Look at the chamber building for sale as well. I have to think residential could be in the cards for that property. Someone has the chamber building for sale as well. I have to think residential could be in the cards for that property. Someone has the chamber building under contract. I'm curious to see what happens out of that. I looked at it briefly for the executive offices that we do. The problem was I could only get six to seven executive offices in that chamber building, six to seven of them. And that at what I thought was going to be an 850 to 900 K acquisition price, the six to seven executive offices, the rent roll from them would not cashflow, would not cashflow that space for me. But think about the re reimagining of that corner as a whole. I'm curious of this. I'm curious of this.

The Renaissance School is on, is that, what street is that? I always get my streets confused. That's Fifth Street, right? Yeah. The Renaissance School is on much of Fifth Street and also facing Court Square, and the Renaissance School is expanding.

They bought more of the buildings that face Court Square. I could see one day the Renaissance School owning much of the block that is Market, 4th, 5th, and Court Square. I'm curious if the Renaissance School was one of the folks that kicked the tires on the chamber building as they were playing Monopoly to build a campus for an expanding environment for the Renaissance School. I couldn't see them getting a whole lot of 4th Street. Because that's largely connected to... This. The Enterprise Center. Have you been in the Enterprise Center, which is across from our studio? No. You know, the Daily Progress used to be in the building next to the Enterprise

Center. But the Enterprise Center, you walk in the Enterprise Center, it's significantly vacant. Significantly vacant. Enterprise Center. But the Enterprise Center, you walk in the Enterprise Center, it's significantly vacant. Significantly vacant. Morgan Stanley used to have an office here at the Enterprise Center. Eric Parker, one of the best racket players, squash, padel, tennis, pickleball, a member over the Borset and at Greencroft, he had the corner office at Morgan Stanley. And I believe that Morgan Stanley branch or division moved over to the Water Street, South Street side of the downtown mall. And much of that is vacant in the Enterprise Center.

Much of it is vacant right now. James Watson. He says, I got no beef, no problem with Mr. Payne suggesting his concern about affordable housing. In the end, though, they can build a hotel by right, I believe. Any organization that has 19 million to buy the site can likely hold onto the property as elected officials change. Still likely to be many years before anything is actually built, and it's still a good investment for an organization with super deep pockets. I respect James Watson. James Watson knows the town extremely well. I first met James Watson when he was at the University of Virginia. I was

at the University of Virginia. He was bartending at Orbit and we bonded over UVA Sports. Now a business owner, James Watson, a successful one. I think the acquisition is going to be somewhere between nine and 11 million for the Dewberry shell, Mr. Watson. And I think whoever buys the Dewberry for nine to 11 million is going to develop that into a hotel sooner than later. I don't think this is going to be a buy for a nine and 11 million hold and do nothing with it. I think this will be buy for nine9 to $11 million and materialize something. Ginny Hu says it's up. And of course, I'll deliver to you all if you like.

If you want them shipped, here you go. Ooh, Ginny Hu's got a website. Excellent. What can we direct them to URL-wise, Ginny Hu? I see it's a Shopify website, but is there a clean URL that I can send them? That might be worth the upgrade, the extra pay that you have to do with Shopify to get the clean URL. Because right now it's

kind of like a test site URL. You know what I'm talking about, Judah? Yeah, I think so. Where it's like 5tshkj-17.myshopify.com. That's where to get the clean branded URL, it's a slight upgrade with what you pay them, I believe. Just a suggestion. And we would love to promote your cookies because they were dynamite. And we love you, Ginny. 100%. We sincerely enjoy your – you make the program better.

I will literally be placing my order this evening to hopefully ensure that those bags and bags and bags of cookies. Oh, she's commenting with us. She said, yep, I'll add it to my website. Give me a few minutes and I appreciate the help, fellas. We're here to encourage. This is fun. I think you have a small business here that could take off here, Ginny. I sincerely mean that. Next headline, my friend. What do you got?

Next we have the Fifeville residents being against the low barrier shelter. Bill McChesney said he used to enter from Fifth Street side of the Progress Building to pick up his papers for his delivery route on Jefferson Street and Altamont, in the Altamont area. Jerry Ratcliffe has told us many stories of when he was working in this building on Market Street. I mean, imagine this. At one time in Charlottesville, Virginia, when legacy media was stronger, Judah, you had the Charlottesville radio group in downtown Charlottesville on the mall yeah you had nbc 29 on market street across from the police station and you had the daily progress on market street right next to nbc 29 what a wonderful time for media to have the local newspaper the local television station

and the local radio group all within a half swing pitching wedge of each other all in the heart of Seville. James says it will be interesting to know if the frame of the existing structure could still be used. We know that. That information's out, Mr. Watson. The concrete and the steel is usable. The mechanical equipment,

like the electrical wiring and the HVAC stuff, all has to be ripped out and replaced. But the folks that are brokering the deal, representing Mr. Dewberry in this transaction, had a structural engineer and they have the report ready to give for anyone who's willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. And with transactions like this, there are varying degrees of non-disclosure agreements. For somebody like this, you can't have a Tom, Dick, and Harry sign an NDA and then they provide you the specs of the structural engineering report

and the nuance of the deal. For a deal like this, you're going to sign a non-disclosure agreement and show some kind of proof of funds that you're not just kicking the tires and can't afford to purchase it. So they have had a structural engineer study the property and say that the concrete and steel is salvageable. So whoever buys this project has a head start on developing a 98-key hotel, a 98-room hotel. And they also had a study done, business model-wise, that suggested during peak time, this hotel, because of its positioning in downtown Charlottesville,

could charge $600 to $800 a night in rates. That's effing insane. What does the plaza in Manhattan charge a night? Just out of curiosity, what's the entry point for the plaza in Manhattan? There's a fantastic 47-minute documentary. It's about 47 minutes long on, uh, on the Plaza hotel on Amazon prime right now. If you have a chance to write it to a chance to watch it,

it is just a wonderful, wonderful documentary on one of the most iconic hotels in the world. I suggest that you watch it. The next headline Judah is, is Fifeville. Do you want to set the stage on this one? Fifeville residents are pissed. I mean, anybody. I think we all have to honestly say that any of us would be. I caught flack. Come on. I caught flack.

Mr. Jim Hingley gave me flack on this. I hope Mr. Hingley is watching the program. Jim, we've got to get you back on the show. Mr. Hingley gave me flack when I said Belmont. Belmontonians would get frustrated when Sam Sanders, the city manager, floated a shelter in Belmont, in Tony Belmont. And that's what Belmontonians did. They got rankled

that a shelter was being floated for their neighborhood. And he highlighted, Mr. Hinchley, on the show, that said a shelter's not necessarily bad for neighborhood vibe. And here we have Fifeville where

a Salvation Army leader, Mark Van Meter, who was on the downtown spotlight this past Thursday with Greer Achenbach talking about this thrift store. He wants to take the thrift store and convert it to a low barrier homeless shelter. The low barrier is key here. You want to explain why? The problem that Charlottesville currently has is that we no longer have a decent sizable

shelter that is not low, what is it called, low entry. And what that means is that, and the reasoning that i didn't really understand okay you want me to say this specifically sure okay 207 ridge street is a high barrier shelter that's the one the salvation army runs it's at capacity and because it's high barrier

the people that go to that shelter cannot be high on drugs, cannot be drunk. They cannot be on the sex offenders registry or have been convicted of violent crimes. Because it's also a women and children's shelter. Right. So they're very cautious of who utilizes that shelter. The shelter that's being planned for Cherry Avenue, where the thrift store is located, is a low barrier shelter. That means the people that stay in this overnight shelter can be battling drug and alcohol addiction, and the day they're choosing to use the shelter, can be on the sex offenders list,

including child sex crimes, and can be convicted of violent crime. So the neighborhood, Fifeville, which is gentrifying quickly, one of the last affordable pockets, if you call four to five hundred thousand dollar homes affordable, one of the last affordable pockets in the city for housing, these residents are like, dude, pump the brakes. You're telling us that you're going to create a shelter where pedophiles and drug addicts and alcoholics and folks convicted of violent crime can sleep here overnight? We don't want that. And they voiced that commentary in a meeting that happened on Thursday

in town hall format. Mark Van Meter, the Salvation Army skipper, the head honcho was there. Chief Mike Kotchis was there. One of the people that spoke in the Fifeville Neighborhood Association asked Chief Kotchis, do you think this shelter should be here? Chief Kotchis handled it like, of course, the George Clooney of policing would. He handled it effortlessly and very well and the George Clooney of policing said it's not my place to comment on whether a low barrier shelter should be here it's my place to comment that if a low barrier shelter does come here we the Charlottesville police department will offer protection and keep it safe then one of the residents in the meeting asked the George

Clooney of policing, will you have a car permanently parked here at night? And he says, I can't commit to that. Right. I mean, how could he commit to that? He's not in the business of, of, uh, over promising and under delivering. Right. So we handled it extremely well. Now FIFIL's gut is going to do this. The FIFIL Neighborhood Association is going to strategize, organize, and rally against this effort. It's funny. Everyone says we need shelters, but they don't want the shelter next to their house. That's hardly surprising. And not only is it, it's actually not near very many houses where it is, but it is right next to a park.

It's really not next to a lot of houses, any houses at all. No. It's not next to, I mean, if you think about it, any place that you're going to put a shelter, that's a pretty damn good place for a shelter. Besides the park bit, but I mean. What do you mean? The park? Have you seen, have you seen Townsend Park at night?

I have not. Take a walk at Townsend Park around 11 o'clock or 12 o'clock, midnight, 1 a.m. Tell me if you feel super safe. Okay, but there are not going to be any kids playing in the park at 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock in the morning. If there's any place in the city for a shelter, that seems like a pretty good place to me. It's on the bus line. You're not wrong. It's on the bus line. It's not wrong. It's on the bus line.

But. It's close to UVA. It's close to downtown. It's close to the food pantries downtown where you can walk to and from the food pantries. It, in a lot of ways, could get folks from sleeping on the downtown mall. I think it's a great spot. I think it's a great spot for it. But.

But we don't live there put it in the perspective of if this was going in next to a park near your home and I don't just mean you or me I mean everybody and it's easy to see how pretty much anyone in Charlottesville

regardless of what they say they believe could easily become a NIMBY. Because there are some things you just don't want. And there it is. And there's a battle right now in Crozet. There's a battle in Crozet. There's a petition circulating. There's development happening in Crozet there's a petition circulating there's development happening in Crozet what is it

Oak Bluff is that the project that folks are trying to build and Crozet is like nah dude residents are like we don't want Oak Bluff 130 homes 20 of which will be for folks at 80%, making less than 80% area median income.

We don't want 130 more homes at Oak bluff. We don't want that. We want the project to be the 20 to 30 single family detached homes that are a million plus. If it's the 20 or 30 single family detached homes that are a million plus, that's good for our property value. It's going to raise the values of our homes, and it's going to keep congestion from happening. And right now you've got the Gilligan gang, Livable Seville, going toe-to-toe against Crozations. That's no more development.

We'll see how that plays out. I can't think of a better spot in the city of Charlottesville for a low barrier homeless shelter though. It's really not bad. Can you think of a better spot? In the city specifically? I can't. I haven't driven every square inch of the city so there may be a better

spot. But it's fairly central. It's extremely central. It's not far from the bus, from a lot of stuff. I don't think it's a bad spot. But everybody would probably say that until someone came along and said, well, hey, we're going to build it in your neighborhood. There it is.

What's your next headline? Next up is UVA raising prices, and I was really surprised by this. And then use that slash spending to make it more affordable for more people to go to UVA. I respect it. I do too. I respect it. I wish more people were like that. University of Virginia. Go to the University of Virginia.

It's a school of one percenters. It's a school of one percenters. When I went to the University of Virginia it wasn't like that when I went to the University of Virginia there was a significant middle class population were there wealthy kids? absolutely were many of those wealthy kids

out of staters? absolutely but there was a large portion of the student body that was lower class, middle class. Two working parent families. Now, out-of-state, you're at 80G+. $320,000

to send your kid. And it's going up. What's it going up? 3.6%? On average, 3.6%. And dude, you know how they're doing it? The highest is for law graduates. I think the highest was the data science school. The highest was the data science school.

And they're crafty how they do this increase. They do the increase where it's the meal plan increase. They do the increase where it's student housing increase. Like you mentioned last time. They do the increase like it's tuition. And everything increase. Yeah. They do the increase. I'll take the everything increase bagel with cream cheese and lox. Yeah. They do the increase on all their profit centers. And they do it in what is perceived to be a nominal way when you realize it's compounded year over year over year over year.

It's the same as, or at least very similar to inflation where the talking heads on the TV will say, oh, well, inflation is only at 2.4%, but when you add it all up and when you see that you're paying a lot more than that for eggs, when you're paying a lot more than that for eggs when you're paying a lot more than that for certain other things. And then you're also paying the minimum of 2.2, 2.4 on everything.

It just becomes absurd to pretend that this is just a tiny, normal uptick in your cost of living. Bananas. Next headline. What do you got? Lower third on screen if you could, please, sir. Best thing I ate all year.

This is Charlottesville 29. Simon doing this, right? Yeah. What's the winners for that? I don't know. Well, Smyrna is the clear takeaway from a lot of the chefs who wrote in giving their opinions. I believe Smyrna showed up four times, maybe five times from different chefs for different reasons. And Smyrna gets a lot of props.

I can't disagree. It's pretty good. You've been? I've been there. Oh, that's when you went with your family. Your family left and you're like, I'm going to stay here a little bit longer and then cleaned all the plates off. Finished all your family's food. Isn't that what happened?

That may have been, yeah. I remember you telling that story. Oh, man. I have yet to try Smyrna. I've got to go to Smyrna. There's some good stuff there. I love the calamari. We got a bunch of stuff

that we could pass around and all pick off of. And there wasn't really anything that I didn't enjoy. High praise right there from Judah B. Wittkower. Guajiros is a place that I absolutely love. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Guajiros is a place that's a must try. Definitely. I had the beignets on Saturday. I was hoping the boys didn't finish the beignets. They didn't finish them. I've only been there for lunch. For daddy tax. We just have an abundance of quality restaurants.

Have you had the spicy calamari at Vivace? Spicy calamari at Vivace is off the chain good. I haven't had that. Off the chain, the spicy calamari at Vivace. What does it come with? Spicy calamari and dipping sauce? Yeah. Yeah.

It's calamari. It's squid on a plate. Well, the best calamari I ever had was in Charleston at a place that served the calamari with like an orange marmalade rather than the fairly standard marinara sauce. And it gave me a new appreciation for calamari that I think I'd gotten a little tired of. G. Milo. This is great, what G. Milo just sent to us via Facebook Messenger. I'm assuming I'm able to share this on air. 1982 UVA semester bill. Oh, wow. to us via Facebook Messenger. I'm assuming I'm able to share this on air. His 1982

UVA semester bill. Oh, wow. 1982 UVA semester bill. So 42 years ago? This has a flex meal plan on it, dorm charges for McCormick Road,

and tuition. How much do you think it was? Hmm. I mean, you think it was? Hmm. I mean, it's... What was it for? 1982. UVA undergraduate. An entire semester? For him.

For G. Milo at a semester. Yeah, the fall semester. And... You got fall tuition, dorm rent, and a meal plan. God, this is amazing. This is great. I mean, I, you have no $1,300. Very good guess. Very good guess. $1,455. Oh man. $1,455 in 1982. Literally sent the bill. Thank you for sharing this with us. My family, we didn't grow up wealthy. My parents, my dad worked his tail off.

We grew up in the household of a small business owner. My brother and I grew up in the copier room of an accounting firm. Time when you still needed an entire room for a copier. They wouldn't have been able to afford to send my brother and I there now. Spananas. You become, the university is so punch drunk with its own brand and its pursuit of Ivy League stature that it does not realize this Ivy League pursuit, this Ivy League stature it wants to become, embody, is making it so exclusive to attend the university.

It's like the antithesis of what public education is about. It's the University of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It should be as inclusive as possible. And it should not be a one-percenters club because they're pursuing this new Ivy moniker and brand. It's doing the opposite of what a public university should do. Frustrating. Is the last headline the UVA one?

Are we at the last headline already? I guess we are. UVA secures transfer portal QB commitment. The University of Virginia, we have some... We could still ask our viewers... They got another one just a moment ago. They've eaten all year. They got another one just a moment ago. They've eaten all year. They got another one just a moment ago. North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris

has transferred portal to the University of Virginia. Morris is the son of former Arkansas and SMU coach Chad Morris. Morris is the son of former Arkansas and SMU coach Chad Morris, who was Clemson's offensive coordinator from 2011 through 2014 when Tony Elliott held the title of running backs coach for Clemson. Wow. Wow. Now UVA has two transfer portal quarterback commitments.

They signed former Nebraska signal caller Daniel Killeen on Sunday. Killeen has four years of eligibility, and Morris has one. Morris is going to be the older veteran quarterback, and the Nebraska transfer is going to be the protege that learns from the veteran. So Tony Elliott, in the last 24 to 48 hours, has secured two transfer portal commitments, one of them from Nebraska with four years of eligibility, and one of them from North Texas who has one year of eligibility. The North Texas transfer portal commitment is the son of former Arkansas and SMU coach Chad Morris,

who was Clemson's offensive coordinator from 2011 to 2014 when Tony Elliott was the running back's coach at Clemson. Tony Elliott had to make a splash in the Transfer Portal at the quarterback position, and perhaps he's done that. But all quarterbacks throw the same when they have no protection from the offensive line. If you want Virginia to be successful in 2025, the key spot for Virginia is fortifying the offensive line with talented blue-chip prospects. The offensive line.

We'll talk about this on the Jerry and Jerry show tomorrow at 10.15 a.m. blue chip prospects. The offensive line. We'll talk about this on the Jerry and Jerry show tomorrow at 10.15 a.m. Judah Wickauer did an exceptional job today. Exceptional job. Philip Dow, he says development has already killed Crozet. A good example for Scottsville where developers

have their eyes on our town. There's a lot of folks in Crozet right now that are like, dude, the quality of life is starting to suffer. That's the show. Thank you kindly for watching the I Love Seville show.

For Judah Wittkower, my name is Jerry Miller. So long, everybody. Thank you.