The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Stefan Friedman House Of Cards Is Crumbling; Friedman's Ace Biscuit & Barbecue Gets Eviction Notice

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Stefan Friedman House Of Cards Is Crumbling Friedman’s Ace Biscuit & Barbecue Gets Eviction Notice Also Closed: Bonny & Read, Littlejohn’s, Old Met, Draft The Wine Guild, Vitae Spirits, Omakase Next To Fall? Is Stefan Friedman Hunter Smith 2.0? Seven Vacant Storefronts & Eight Shuttered Businesses… The Most Important 3 Minutes Of News Today (2/6/26) If You Need CVille Office Space, Contact Jerry Miller Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com. #cville #charlottesville

Welcome to the I Love Seville Show, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on a Friday in downtown Charlottesville. It's a pleasure to connect with you guys through the flagship show on our network, the I Love Seville Network. All we're trying to do is figure out what's going on around here. We crowdsource ideas and stories and content. We do not need to originate the stories, the content, the content, the ideas. We do vet stringently the content we receive, make sure it's credible. And then, if we're given the permission to talk about it on the show, we do it. That's what a water cooler is. It's a meeting place for people to talk about things that are important to them. That's what this show embodies. Today, we had a number of different topics that we were going to cover. We were going to talk the plan to make Water Street a one-way passageway in downtown Charlottesville. from my standpoint, I think it's a poorly timed idea. Why would we make Water Street one way go through remodeling and construction and perceived hardship, actual hardship, create a perceived literal and perceived roadblock on Water Street, one of the entry points to downtown Charlottesville, when downtown is already struggling right now? Why would we consider doing this at the 50-year anniversary of the downtown mall?

2026 is the 50-year anniversary of one of the only pedestrian malls in the entire country. It just makes no sense. It's terrible timing. I was going to talk about that on the show. That topic we're going to put to the side for now. I published something last night on the I Love Seville Network about the homeless shelter, the $6.2 million the city invested to purchase a 27,000 square foot commercial building on Holiday Drive. You could see it from the 250 bypass, folks. 3.8 acres, 6.2 million and taxpayer money. This is our money. This is not the city's money. Never let a jurisdiction tell you we're spending city money. We gave this to the city through tax

allocation. Now we find out, I think it's the first the community heard the I Love Seville show that this homeless shelter is going to come online two to three years from now at the earliest. the reality is Charlottesville moves at the speed of quicksand. It's going to be longer than three years for that shelter to materialize. They're saying minimum, we need an additional $5 million of our money to bring this online. They initially said that this 27,000 square feet homeless shelter was going to be home for 200 beds for the house list. 200 beds. Now they're saying that number's down to somewhere between 85 and 115 beds.

So let me get something straight. Hear me out for a second. In November of last year, the storyline from City Hall is we need $6,200,000 from you, Charlottes, to buy an office building on holiday drive. And our plan is to solve a houseless crisis that is clearly plaguing Charlottesville, Virginia. the storyline, we bought it hook, line, and sinker. Yours truly bought it hookline and sinker. This is a great way to give the houseless a hand up, not a handout, but a hand up.

This is a great way to position the houseless into warm, HVAC, climate-controlled, state-of-the-art, shelter with wraparound services, addiction counseling, drug and alcohol. alcohol, computer labs, showers, resume building, laundry. This is great. This is a great idea. It's on a bus line. It's next to the Rivana Trail. It also helps transition the houseless from the downtown mall, the Rivana River, and our little pockets of commerce in the city that are currently attracting the houseless. This is win-win. We bought this hook line and sinker. We drank the Kool-Aid. Then we hear this week, Charlottes needs an additional five million million dollars at minimum and is not going to bring the shelter online for two to three years at minimum.

That was a gut punch for me. I felt betrayed. Betrayed by government. Betrayed by the city. Again, I felt betrayed. Again, I felt betrayed. And I was going to comment and pontificate and offer my thoughts on that for an hour today. You saw what I published last night.

It's gone viral. roll. We've had nearly 200,000 people see what I published last night. We have the metrics. And then I wake up in the morning and I get on the Charlottesville subreddit, a forum that loves to talk about the I Love Seville Show and yours truly. And I'm scrolling down the Charlottesville subreddit and I see a thread gaining momentum on Stefan Friedman. And as soon as I saw, all Freeman, his name, and Ace Biscuit and Barbecue, I knew immediately what was coming. We've seen the cracks emerging in Stefan Friedman's restaurant empire, an empire that at one time, goodness gracious, was the most prolific in Charlottesville. Only Kit Ashy could rival

Stefan Friedman's prolific empire from a restaurant standpoint. This man at one, time had, goodness gracious, had Bonnie and Reed with Chris Humphrey at the helm. He purchases Vite spirits from chemist Ian Glamski. He opens a sushi joint in the back of Vite spirits with the freshest seafood and sushi you can find. He has Little Johns. He reincarnates Little Johns. reincarnates little Johns. He buys Ace Biscuit and Barbecue in the bottom of the ninth inning

as Brian Ashworth and his family were about to close the beloved barbecue joint. He has the Wine Guild. He has draft tap room and the conversation he said this to the media.

Stefan Freeman said this to the media. We're on the cusp of opening draft tap room again. He told all of us, we're going to open this beloved sports bar where you, the customer, can pour your own beers. It's like 60 or 70 taps on the downtown mall. I fucking love beer. I fucking love beer. I love pouring beer. I love drinking and trying different beer while watching sports. I love the fact that he was opening draft again. I again bought the narrative hook line and sinker. I bought the narrative hookline and sinker in what Stefan Freeman was selling, just like I bought the narrative from city council and city hall that this homeless shelter on holiday drive was going to immediately solve a houseless crisis and put men and women in shelter. And in turn helped the downtown mall with its revitalization as we headed to a 50 year anniversary for one of the only pedestrian malls.

I bought the narrative hook, line, and sinker, and drank the cooling. Now, Stefan Friedman, after Chris Humphrey and Bonnie and Reed close, after draft tap room never opened, after Little Johns opened with 18 and 19 and 20 and 21 and 22 and 23 and $24 sandwiches. Remember when Little Johns came to market and sandwiches were north of $20? and people were like, what is going on here? I'm going to buy a nuclear sub. I'm going to buy a ranch hand.

I'm going to buy a Samson sub, a Chris Long, a wagon wheel, and it's going to cost me after-tax, drink, and a bag of chips, nearly 30 bucks. This is a kick in the nuts. This is robbery. Remember that, ladies and gentlemen, with Little John's open? Remember when Draft Tap Room? They started remodeling the place of Draft Tap Room.

I talked to the remodels in Draft Tap Room and said, said, we're very close to opening. He's pouring a boatload of money into remodeling the space, and he's got all this new equipment here. It's on the cusp of opening. Remember when he made a deal with Travis Wilburn to purchase Old Metropolitan Hall? He had a deal in place with Travis Wilburn. The deal materialized, small down payment up front, seller finance deal with Travis Wilburn to take old Metropolitan Hall and put it under the Stefan Freedman umbrella. Remember when he opened a sushi joint with a beloved husband and wife, OGs, like the OGs type of people that you want to support that are making made-to-order sushi,

like a menu of their choice for that day, and you're going to try it and you're going to have the fish, and this is going to be some of the best you've ever had. And now there's eviction notices. Now there's unpaid vendors, staff who've not been paid, staff who've been pimped, a rebranding tail at Ace Biscuit, a rise from the ashes at Ace Biscuit under a new moniker? Is that new moniker Rose Hill Barbecue only to show up to work with an eviction notice on the door? This is Hunter Smith 2.0. And on the Friday edition of the I Love Seville show, on the 6th of February and in 2026, we're going to highlight the catastrophic crash of an entrepreneur that media in this community, yours truly, the daily progress to name a couple, championed and celebrated. and if we are going to champion and celebrate individuals,

we must also hold them accountable for the misery that they create, the collateral damage that follows them, in the wake of despair and destruction that lingers in the shadow behind them as they walk head hung low down the streets of our homes and our community. And that's where we are right now with this individual. Studio camera, and we give some attention to Conan Owen of Sir Speedy of Central Virginia. Conan Owen and Sir Speedy of Central Virginia is who I suggest you contact for anything logo related.

He is working alongside my firm and the 24 tenants in our real estate portfolio with their signage needs. The banner that's directly behind me is a Conan Owen and Sir Speedy of Central Virginia special. The lettering on our storefront window, the vinyl lettering, Conan Owen and SurreSpeed of Central Virginia, direct mail, merchandise, uniforms, you name it. Man's got it. Two shot, Judah Wickhauer, trusted voice in Charlottesville, Judah Wickhauer. Help me understand. And I'm going to be...

I was hoping you'd help me understand. Straightforward. Is this Hunter Smith 2.0? Yeah, it appears that way. My question is, is it a mental illness? What is it that pushes these people, Hunter Smith, Stefan Friedman, to over-extend themselves to such an extent that they essentially ruin people's lives? Because I don't think anybody is fooled into thinking that either Hunter Smith or Stefan Friedman will be, you know, negatively impacted by their own actions.

It's only other people. It's the people that rely on them that are negatively impacted, sadly. This is what I don't understand. And help me understand this, viewers and listeners that are watching the show. The food and beverage community, the restaurant industry, is all over the feed right now. I'm asking the restaurant industry,

the F&B community that's watching, to help me understand this. Okay. Stefan Freeman is a retired venture capitalists. Stefan Freeman is not a restaurateur. Stefan Friedman has a experience in pursuing businesses that are down on their luck, revitalizing them, and driving revenue and margin for himself and his partners. he has no restaurant experience.

When he came on the scene and purchased Ace Biscuit and Barbecue in the bottom of the ninth inning, that's the first I heard of him. I saw this almost as if it was a passion project for him. He was a man of what appeared to be wealth and means, buying a business that Brian Ashworth and his team nurtured, birthed, nurtured, sweated and bled within.

Fantastic business. The old dirty bastard, fantastic sandwich. My wife and I love Ace Biscuit and Barbecue, loved past tense. Yeah. The quality diminished significantly since Ashworth and his team

exited Ace. I'm like, okay, this guy's doing a solid. This guy's doing a solid for Charlottesville. Keeping something good going. Yeah. Keeping something good going. He's doing a solid. solid. Okay. Then I started hearing

Stefan Freeman with a sit-down restaurant and Bonnie and Reed. And he's basically buying Brazier-Sais-Sazon. Stupid effing name, Hunter. Brazier-Sazzo. Always thought the name was stupid. Sincerely, can you tell I'm being to the point? Okay. Why name it some Belgian brand that no one knows how to say? Brasserie. Okay. Exactly.

We called it BS. And that's what it materialized in being. He buys BS for pennies on the dollar. Because Hunter is robbing Peter to pay Paul and screwing people left and right. I'm not going to get into the 1.0 story. This is about Hunter Smith 2.0. And I'm like, this doesn't make sense, man.

It's Ace Biscuit and Barbecue. It's counter service. it's, you know, a much easier model in food and beverage than a sit-down, seafood restaurant, that's high dollar in a downtown dining district that's got headwinds in front of it post-COVID. But he attracts a chef that I love and Chris Humphrey that's extremely talented. I believe Chris Humphrey at Mount Ida right now, running the kitchen at Mount Ida. I'm like, all right, I'll give him a shot at this. Then I hear through the grapevine that he's purchased

Vite spirits from Ian Golomsky. I'm like, what? The guy's buying a distillery and spirits company from a man who birthed the company, Ian Glomski, who's a chemist that is so incredibly passionate about Vite spirits. It was his entire life. Ian Glomsky's come into this studio multiple times on air and off air with literally bottles of booze.

Studio camera. Oh, man. Let's see. Legitimately. Glomsky comes into the studio, gives us this damn sun, gin liquor. You can see it's basically gone.

Yep. Gives us this maple syrup, barrel finish rum. I mean, it's pretty much gone. This barrel champion collab. I think this is a collab with 1.0. With 1.0's. Oh, yeah, it's a collab with Champion Brewing

company 1.0. I'm going to fucking throw this on the ground right now. You think I should shatter this right now in front of the people? Should I fucking shatter this? Language. Who's going to clean it up? And I'm like, he has no business buying this. He doesn't know the distillery business and he's already extended himself with Bonnie and Reed and Ace Biscuit. Did he already own draft Taproon at that point and was just sitting on it?

I don't know what the ties are or the timeline with Stefan Freeman and Rick Wompler at Draft Tapperum. What are the ties with Stefan Freeman and Rick Wompler at Draft? That's a good question. But Draft is a model that makes sense. Self-served beer. When Draft Taproom was open pre-COVID, the kitchen was outsourced to Craig Hartman of Barbecue Exchange fame. They were like, we don't want to run the kitchen. Let's find somebody to run the kitchen.

We want to serve beer and have more. at beer and have people serve it themselves and have very little staff up front. Genius model. Yeah. Okay. Then he starts getting into little Johns. Yeah. Then he starts getting into what?

The Wine Guild? Then he starts creating a sushi joint in the back of Vite spirits. Then he starts, then he buys Old Metropolitan Hall from Traverse. Travis Wilburn, a seller finance deal? At a time when downtown clearly was a shelf of its former self, like the decision making just was not intelligent. It was the definition of over-leveraged in robbing Peter to pay Paul. I don't know if the concept is let's start creating margin by buying additional brands.

And if we buy this additional brands, we can use our food vendors like the Cisco's or the performance foods. and we can just leverage some economies of scale to drive some more margin with our vendors. But that would be absolute idiocy because these leases are often triple net where you're responsible for not just a monthly rent payment, but the insurances, the insurance, the taxes, and the upkeep of the building. HVAC's break. Shit happens at buildings.

Clearly I'm fired up. I apologize for the four-letter use today. It's not normally like this, but I'm angry because I see a wake of destruction. literally ravaging a community that I love dearly. What of my business is called I Love Seville. I clearly see an individual that's going to be tied directly to seven vacant storefronts, empty storefronts in the city, and eight shuttered businesses. I'm told that staff are unpaid and have been for some time,

that vendors are unpaid and have been for some time. And I'm told that staff found out about this with an eviction notice, and not from the man himself, which is the definition of diminished character at best. And it infuriates me because I've been in business myself as an owner for 18 years. And yes, you have to have difficult and hard conversations. But as an owner, you have those difficult and hard conversations face to face, despite them being difficult and hard, as opposed to people you count on finding out about difficult and hard circumstances by a piece of paper that's on a door and locks being changed.

That's scum. Scummy. All right. So here we are in the 50-year anniversary of the downtown mall, 50, one of the only pedestrian malls, and this individual has Bonnie and Reed vacant, old Metropolitan Hall vacant. Yeah. draft tap room vacant three and is vitae spirits the next brand and business to crumble and collapse in this wake and if you're ian glomski ian glomsky are you watching the show today sir the man who birthed

vete spirits who created the brand do you consider buying vete spirits is it snowing right now It is. It's literally snowing right now. What is going on with the world? The temperature on Saturday has wind gusts that are minus 5 degrees and 55 miles an hour potentially at its peak tomorrow Saturday. Minus 5 degree temperature with the wind gusts, 55 mile an hour winds, and it's currently snowing in downtown Charlottesville.

If you're Ian Glomsky, do you consider purchasing Vite Spirit? for pennies on the dollar? Buy it back. You literally buy it back. Now the problem is if you buy it back and there's any debt tied to the brand, can you use the brand? I'm very curious of what the collateral is tied to, what kind of collateral is tied or assets that are tied to any of this debt that's out there.

I'm extremely curious if the debt is that out there tied to Stefan Freeman, which I've been told through the grapevine that it's north of $500,000 across these businesses, if any of this debt is floating debt. I've been told that there's an extremely prominent business that's on the downtown mall, has not been in business for a long period of time, but it is a prominent, located business on the downtown mall that is not in the Stefan Friedman umbrella. It's not one of Friedman's fallen children. Fallen, what's a synonym for? children. Fallen Fellows. It's a business outside of the umbrella that is on the cusp of also closing. Extremely prominent, extremely visible to the point where the owner is passing around

a hat asking for survival. And now we're left here as a community that prides itself in the food and beverage. You consider the moniker that is Charlottesville, the brand that is Charlottesville, right? The brand that is Charlottesville, right? The brand that is Charlottesville is a brand that is built or established woven into the fabric of the brand is, is restaurants. I remember, I've been in this community for 26 years, 26 years. First arrived as a first year at the University of Virginia. Dabany 101, old dorms, right next to Bonnie Castle and Bonnie Council Circle. Got put in a dorm with a gentleman named Shannon, who grew up in Williamsburg with me, but we didn't know each other. We went to different schools.

Met for the first time the summer before we moved to Charlottesville and UVA. Great guy, fantastic human. One of the best human beings I've ever met, Shannon. Sincerely mean that. Like six months into my first year at the University of Virginia, I literally said to my family, this is where I'm going to live long term. This will be my home for maybe the rest of my life, six months into my first year. I remember hopping on a trolley and taking the trolley from the crosswalk that is right across from the Bank of America on the corner. That's where the trolley picked us up.

It was me and Shannon and Tom and Dave, the four of us. We had made fake New Jersey IDs. We purchased a laminate paper. What's it called? Is it laminate paper? I don't know. We purchased holographic ink, a paintbrush, glossy printing paper. Glossy printing paper.

Bought a laminator. And we made fake New Jersey IDs because New Jersey was the easiest license. to fake in the year 2000. It was just so easy to create this fake ID. And we used these fake New Jersey IDs and hopped on a trolley and went downtown in the year 2000 because Agents of Good Roots was playing Millers. The frontman for Agents of Good Roots was playing there.

We liked Agents of Good Roots. We walked into Millers initially heckled and the folks that Millers looked at us and said, students aren't welcome here. and then the bartender and some other people say, come on now, pour him a beer. Let's listen to, was his name Andrew, the front man of agents of Good Roots? And we had the best time ever and took the trolley home. There was this period of time prior to COVID, long period of time prior to COVID, where Charlottesville was nightlife and live music at so many different venues. and 50, 60 bars that stayed open to two in the morning and people walking everywhere,

students and tourists and locals alike walking everywhere. You had vibrancy and you had a palpable, positive energy that was even up to 2019 pre-COVID. Hasn't recovered since COVID. No. It hasn't recovered since COVID because of, poor decision making associated with governance. I cover that closely on this talk show. We continue to elect people that continue to prioritize the very small, small group of people, very small minority group of people. I'm not talking about skin color or race. I'm talking about

the number of people. This houseless population is a perfect example. I'm tired of being vilified. by saying the houseless, the epicenter for the homeless should not be the Rivana River or the epicenter for the homeless should not be the downtown mall or the epicenter for the homeless should not be the public library on Market Street or the epicenter for the homeless should not be the medians of our roads. Yeah. Or they're panhandling. I get vilified and stigmatized because they say I'm insensitive for saying that.

No, it's not insensitive. it's reasonable. It's intelligent, it's common sense, it's practical. We can figure out a solution. Sam Sanders and City Hall and City Council and Michael Payne and Nakaya Walker and West Bellamy and Kristen Zakos. We can figure out and Bob Fenwick.

We can figure out a solution that does not have houseless in the epicenter of commerce. It's governance that's put us in this position. And I want to be very frank with you. When one individual takes down seven storefronts and eight businesses, this has a significant impact on you. And I'm not just talking about IPAs and lobster and trout and fresh sushi and barbecue and biscuits and pimento

cheese and wine and wagon wheels and ranch hands and nuclear subs and Samson's. I'm just not talking about, you know, enjoying an evening on the mall after a wedding. I'm talking about tax revenue collection. You want to hear a not-so hush, hush secret that no one is talking about but the I Love Seville Network. tax collection in the city, meals tax, sales tax, lodging tax, it's flat if not heading in the downward direction. You throw a Stefan Freeman crumbled house of cards into what was already flat tax collection and headwinds with the revenue being collected by Charlottesville City. You, the viewer and listener, me, Judah, will face more tax collection and other forms of taxes.

And that's real estate and personal property. They've got to make the money up somewhere. God knows they won't stop spending. They're not going to cut. The city is already saying, goodness gracious, collective bargaining, look at what's happening with the teachers in Charlottesville City. I'm all for the teachers in Charlottesville City having a union. and have it more benefits. Teachers are heroes. Teachers deserve to be compensated more. They

deserve to be compensated much more. They deserve better quality professional life. But with a union and collective bargaining and increased benefits and compensation comes more pay for Charlottesville City. How much money has Charlottesville City dug into its coffers or dug from its coffers just for the management of this snow and ice store? how much of the reserve was burned for this generational snow and ice storm how much headwin and tax collection is the city facing with the entire month of january and now into february impacted small business wise and meals tax and sales tax and lodging tax with people just unwilling to come to the city because the roads are i mean put it into perspective what you're seeing here

on the on the the sixth of february when it comes to ice and snow around the city. I mean, you and I park in two-hour parking spots often, and from my own experience, it's deplorable. You go two blocks off the downtown mall. You've got parking spots that are either covered in, you know, what, there's one spot over by Hinkle citizens that's, the spot is covered in a mound that's probably three feet tall plus covering the entire area of the parking spot. You've got, I mean, other spots. I don't think I've found a spot unless it's like literally on Market Street where you're not, you don't have half your car on ice.

The city doesn't have sidewalks cleared in Charlottesville. They don't have street parking cleared in Charlottesville. Yet the city is full. finding property owners for not clearing the sidewalk directly in front of their businesses or their homes. This is the definition of hypocrisy at best. Malpractice, governing malpractice more likely. Finding your base for not clearing roads and sidewalks when the city hasn't done it themselves. It is nauseating.

You walk around the downtown mall and try to find a parking space, or I walk to Truist Bank today, literally today. It's in court square. We're in the corner of 4th and Market Street. And I literally had to go down 4th Street to Court Square on one side of the sidewalk, cross over from the right side of the sidewalk to the left side of the sidewalk, because the sidewalk that was already at the end of the road. right sidewalk had a mound that was four feet tall of ice blocking the crosswalk of the sidewalk. I crossed the middle of 4th Street in between cars coming my direction, got on the left side, and had to jump over a mound of ice that was more manageable than the right side to go to my bank. And I'm a capable and able 40-something male.

Imagine if you're a mom with two young children. Oh, yeah. Or in a wheelchair or elderly or disabled or hurt. My dad's fallen three times in the last week. You fell. And I fell just a few days ago. And this guy's got the balance of a billy goat. And I'm still feeling it.

It's not fun. You fell outside of work, right? Not right outside of work. It was over on, over on what, like next to the new quarter. courthouse was where I fell. Half my car, again, was on ice in the street. I wasn't parked on the sidewalk, and I got out of my car, went to go across the ice to the portion of the sidewalk that actually was cleared and just busted. So here, help us understand this, okay? I want you to consider the first quarter of 2026 if you're a Charlottesville taxpayer, okay?

In the first quarter of 2026, you had a financial consultant who strategizes with city council, instruct city council or advise city council during a retreat. Hey, guys, you may have a revenue issue here. The assessments with houses and real estate in the city are not upticking like they've traditionally upticked. You're talking flat or a point or two in a state. assessment increase at best. And that's your top revenue driver. The same consultant,

financial advisor tells counsel in City Hall your meals tax and your sales tax and your lodging tax are flat at best. They're down really more likely. Then you got hit Charlottesville City with a

generational snow and ice storm that is crippled Charlottesville. Judah and I were walking the downtown mall yesterday. remember in the morning. There was, it was, it was me and Judah and three or four other people, depending on how long you walk on the mall, you'd see one or two people every five blocks. During the middle of the day. Yeah.

Okay. So then you have that headwind. You have the headwind associated with how deep did they go in the coffers and reserves for this snow and ice storm? how much money was spent on maintenance here? City owns its roads. It's not Virginia Department of Transportation. You have the headwin of the entire month of January, now bleeding into February,

with diminished sales tax collection because there's just not much commerce going on. You have the news of Stefan Freeman, seven businesses, seven vacant storefronts, and eight businesses now potentially affected. No one had more business ties in this community, maybe corn and caps shawl. Right? Maybe Kit.

I was going to say Kit's got a lot, but Kit's got a lot in Almorel County, too. Yeah, that's fair. And Kit does it the right way. She's watching the show. She's honest and does it the right way. Get a business up and running. If it's doing well, then start thinking about another business. And now they're letting us know that we need an additional $5 million for the Holiday Drive homeless shelter. it's not going to be open for another 24 to 36 months. And the bed count went from 200 to 85 to 115 beds for the houseless.

When do we look, and don't forget what Virginia Democrats and Abigail Spamberger are trying to push with 50 plus tax bills in front of the General Assembly, 50 plus tax bills. Tax bills. Not all, not hers. Haven't been approved yet. Still to be determined. It's a democratic-controlled Commonwealth. Those are facts.

Everything I just said was facts. A campaign that was run on affordability for Virginians. That's facts. All I'm saying is facts. Not getting political. And you wonder why I used a handful of four-letter words that I most certainly will be chastised by my wife when this show is over. Oh, already got the text.

Multiple ones from her. I'm sorry, sweetheart. Ray Cadell says it's Andrew Winn, the front man of agents of good roots. Thank you, Ray. Big Ray and the Cool Cats. I have three city councilors, City Hall watching our program,

two Almaro County Board of Supervisors, a Nelson County supervisor, a handful of delegates, a handful of state senators. God knows how many business owners. And you know what? it reminds me of the saying that I will

always reiterate on the show and then we'll get to your comments, viewers and listeners. You know what it is, Judah? When elephants fight, only the grass loses. It's the grass that suffers. When elephants fight,

it's the grass that suffers. And the men and women that suffer in the wake, the despair and destruction that's following Stefan Freeman, are the dishwasher, the line cook, the cashier, the prep cook, the man or woman that takes out the garbage, the waiter or waitress, the barkeep, the vendor, the sign company, the window cleaner, the locksmith, the restaurant cleaner.

Stefan Freedman will be drinking his very wet, expensive, and cold beverage at Keswick Hall this evening or this weekend. He'll still be traveling. You do it in a way where each of the businesses is in a new LLC. All the debt service is tied to that company, that limited liability company. You fold it. You give back the key and say, take the assets. you don't do the lease in PG fashion. Has he PG'd any lease?

Has he personally guaranteed a lease? Is he taking over leases for other vendors and basically sub-leasing capacity where the previous vendors are still on the hook in PG capacity? Sincerely have that question. I don't know the answer. Sincerely want to know that. This is Hunter Smith 2.0.

This is Hunter Smith 2.0. Let's get to comments. Number one in the family, deep throat. Have you seen anything concrete on Stefan Freibin's venture capital career? I have not. Quick Googling doesn't turn anything up. The same sort of reality distortion field that can allow entrepreneurs to power through the inevitable of getting a business going and is also a psychological feature that can lead him or her

to ignore the warning signs of impending failure. I have had the experience of my professional life more than once of providing funding to an entrepreneur for a new venture, and that venture is not developing in line with projections, and the entrepreneur is like, what we really need to do is think bigger. Here's an adjacent business we can buy on the cheap that will solve everything. On a separate issue, Deep Throat says, is Seville simply over-restranted? Relative to the size of customer-based and availability of labor, maybe having 10% fewer restaurants would leave the rest stronger and more viable.

I admit this was a tough snowstorm that it would have been difficult for the city to fully mitigate in a day or two, even though I have lived in places fully capable of doing that. But it has been almost two weeks. With that amount of time, even a lightly resource snow clearing team should have been able to make progress. It seems like the city mostly just gave up after a couple of days. And he also says something with the homeless shelter. let me get something straight. 6.2 million plus an additional 5 million,

which is probably more than 5 billion. Let's call it 12 for 85 beds. That's 140,000 per bed. Are you effing kidding me? One of the elements I'm not highlighting in my commentary is the city took this building off the tax rolls by purchasing it. And in 2025, when the city purchased the 27,000 square foot building on holiday drive, The assessment prior to purchasing the tax collection assessment on that building was $6,437,500.

Do you understand the decision-making and how piss poor it is, that the city has done this. They've done this. They've said, give me $6.2 million of your money taxpayers to solve a homeless problem. But once we close the deal and took your $6.2 million, we're going to need minimum and additional $5 million. And what was initially 200 beds is really $85 to $115. We're not going to open for 24 to 36 months. And in the meantime, we're going to take $6,437,500 in real estate value off the tax rolls because we own it. So not only City of Charlottesville taxpayers, are you going to get kicked in the nuts at $6.2 million? Not only are you going to get kicked in the nuts at $5 million. Let's cut to the chase. That $5 million is light.

We all know that. If they're talking 24 to 36 months to finish this project, the cost of goods and labor are only increasing. That 5 million is light. Let's call it 5 to 10 million. So 6.2 million to purchase, 5 to 10 million to remodel, 24 to 36 more months of dealing with a business community in a pocket of commerce that's being crippled by the houseless.

That's not villain commentary. That's reality commentary. That's analysis. and we're going to take $6,437,500 of assess real estate value off the tax rolls. And guess what? You guys are going to like it and you're going to take it and you're going to do nothing about it. Open up your fucking wallets and pay us the money. That's where we're at.

That's where we're at. What was wrong about that? I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm amazed that they made the purchase and then decided to do nothing for two years. Yeah. And in the meantime, throw Chief Kachis and Greer Ackhamback under the bus in the city council meeting. Yeah. We're not going to do anything about the houseless population until we have a shelter.

That whole situation, that whole situation is imploding. and before our very eyes, which also impacts meals and sales and lodging tax collection. Get ready and giddy up Charlottesvillians for a real estate tax rate increase. Because how else? How else are they going to cover it? How else are they going to cover it?

Because they know you have to live somewhere and you've got a 30-year fix that you can't get out of. That's called leverage. Number two in the family, John Blair's got some comments. Is that called leverage? Or is that called extortion? Number two in the family.

I was told that business on the downtown mall was going to close the second week of January. They're still open, but I agree if it closes, that's going to be a blow to the mall. I hope it doesn't come to pass. I also think that you're looking more and more like a profit. Ivy Road is really becoming a showcase for the area as the mall seems to struggle. 100%. Thank you, John Blair, for the kind words. I also think you're a man of tremendous vision.

no secret that sugar bears opening a second location on ivy road no secret that grit coffee is opening a second location or excuse me i don't know what location that is for grit on ivy road salvage is always busy carolp watching the program i wish the three city counselors monitoring your show today would have the cahones to comment on your assessment of the shelter situation and deep throats numbers speak up counselors Carol Thorpe, I did not hear a single person complain about the snow hypocrisy at Monday night's city council meeting, not one. So many are outraged yet silent where it matters. Nothing will change until the people show up in mass to complain and pressure the powers that be. Connie Salvestor watching the program. Well, I hope the BOS, the Board of Supervisors watching are feeling shame for the property assessments. Seems like they decide how much money they think they need for projects and then assess accordingly.

It's shameful. Amen, Connie Sylvester. Ray Cadell, I had takeout from my office from there just the other day. Ace Biscuit and barbecue. Expensive, lots of unavailability, bad enough quality that I never go back, but I guess that's not a problem anymore. He also says, don't discount the two longstanding locally owned restaurants and walking distance of that shelter, Aberdeen Barn and Sey Swan, both of whom paid lots of taxes of different kinds and how they will be

impacted by the shelter. Yeah. And as anyone had the conversation of if you build it, they would come. A state of the art, 27,000 square foot shelter with wraparound services. If you build it, it's like filled of dreams. They will come. One would hope, but there's no guarantee. But you want the shelter to service the houseless from the community.

You don't want the shelter to service the houseless. are nomadic that are traveling to the city because a red carpet is rolled out for being houseless. It's two very distinct clientele. You want to service and hand up the marginalized within your community and not hand up the marginalized that travel to your community to exploit the generosity, goodwill, and red carpet treatment that's offered. Two distinct scenarios. You see that plaguing West Coast cities like Portland or Bend, Oregon, Seattle, plaguing them. I have a 130 real estate tour. Client considering three different locations.

That's in five and a half minutes. Philip Dow, the mayor of Scottsville. The city council hasn't made a competent decision in a long time. It consists of nothing but socialist. If you don't try to clean house, Charlottesville will continually continue to go to the dogs. I also want to highlight that. Michael Payne was living with his parents just a short time ago. Will you let our 130 in?

Put me on a one shot and then just have them sit there in the waiting room. Thank you very much. I'll give some love to Charlottesville Sanitary Supply. 62 consecutive years in business, Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, online at Charlottesville Sanitary Supply.com. Charlestful Sanitary Supply guys and its sister company, Charlottesville

Swimming Pool Company, are the type of businesses we need to support and keep in operation. Charlottesville Sanitary Supply has the ice salt that you need, the salt for the snow and ice removal and anything sanitary vacuum, swimming pool, water testing related.

124 on a Friday in downtown Charlottesville, this is the water cooler of content and conversation. we're unfiltered, unabashed, unafraid, and unaffiliated with our commentary. I genuinely think it's the only medium or media locally that cuts through the BS here. And to Stefan Freeman, when you watch and listen to this show, I almost beg you, if not implore you, to minimize the collateral damage, the despair and destruction that's following you around this community.

please because it's livelihoods and it's rent payments and mortgage payments it's it's compensation its salaries it's electric bills and grocery bills that you are are absolutely nuclear bombing and that's the type of legacy that will follow you not just to your grave but will follow you as generations of free men search your name online sir Judah Wickhauer and Jerry Miller The I Love Seville Show