The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Swannanoa Country Club Is Under Contract; Swannanoa: $3.5M Asking - What's Next?

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Swannanoa Country Club Is Under Contract Swannanoa: $3.5M Asking – What’s Next? Degrees Being Withheld With 4 UVA Protesters Is Holding Degrees Hostage A Smart Move? Sony Pictures Buys Alamo Drafthouse Which CVille Movie Theater Is Best Draw? JPA Home Sprayed With 41 Bullets In Drive By Why No Hot Dog Eatery In CVille Area? 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.

Thank you. get rocking and rolling right around 1230 each day. Our goal is to be with hot mics by 1230. Sometimes that's not always the case. So thank you for your patience. Today's show, content that's local to you as we try to do each day. We'll talk the Swannanoa Country Club news that broke in yesterday's program. I've asked around with the folks in the development and real estate circles, and the rumor mill is the chitter-chatter that was on yesterday's program, Old Trail heavily involved with the future of Swannanoa. I want to get some more confirmation for you, and I'm working on doing that. In the meantime, I'm going to relay a Swannanoa

Country Club story for you on today's program. I want to talk about the University of Virginia withholding degrees for four students, four that participated in the protests, the pro-Palestine, what do we call it? What was the alliteration, Judah? The pro-Palestine pepper spray pickle. Something along those lines. Why the university is holding the degrees hostage for four UVA students is just absolutely, I find it to be absurd. We'll talk about that on the program. We'll talk Sony Pictures buying Alamo Drafthouse. We'll talk which Charlottesville movie theater is the best draw, maybe the best anchor tenant is the best description of what we're trying to discuss.

Basically, Stonefield, Downtown, and Alamo and Fifth Street Station. Which of those three is most appealing from a draw standpoint that would create trickle-over positive impact for the other businesses next to the movie theater. I want to talk a Jefferson park Avenue house being sprayed by 41 bullets and a drive by shooting 41 bullets in Jefferson park Avenue, a neighborhood that is absolutely crammed with families and kids and locals. And we'll talk hot dogs. Who doesn't like encased meat? I'm a big fan of encased meats.

We'll talk hot dogs and the Charlottesville area, and why is there no Charlottesville-focused eatery in the Charlottesville area? Sam's Hot Dog is no longer in Crozet, Judah. The Downtown Hot Dog Company is no longer in York Place. Downtown Hot Dog Company at one time owned by Eric Saunders. There are hot dogs that are very good. The Riverside Lunch Hot Dog is good. The Jack and Jill's Hot Dog is very good.

The hot dog that is at Martin's is very good. You can get hot dogs at butcher shops that are very good. The hot dog question, as John Blair has said, I'm curious of why there's no hot dog-focused business in this area. I want to unpack that today. Let's weave Judah Wickauer into the mix. Judah, any Swannanoa Country Club memories for you?

I got one that I played. I played Swannanoa Country Club memories for you? I got one that I played. I played Swannanoa golf course as a student at the University of Virginia. I'll relay this memory. It was me, Connecticut Dave, Tall Tom, and Rope Ladder Shannon. My four buddies roommates first year Dabney left Dabney 101 Rumi

brother from another mother Shannon climbed the rope ladder in our rental in Belmont we've talked about that on today's program Connecticut Dave friend for life

tall Tom still in this area we're at Swatanoa Golf Course as UVA students. Dave was just getting into golf. We were doing a lot of things together. And the four of us decided to make the trip to this golf course mainly because of price. We had no money. We were broke college students. We wanted to play golf. We heard SWANA know it was affordable. So we get out there. We're second or third years. We're wearing khaki pants,

buttoned polo golf shirts that are tucked in our khakis, looking relatively sharp, had our own clubs. A couple of us had golf gloves on. We're trying to play the part of respectable golfers, pretty much smoke and mirror the fact that we are not, the fact that we're just college students looking to have a good time out there, probably cutting class, skipping Ken Elzinga's economics class or Larry Sabato's class or Lou Bloomfield's class. And we head to Swannanoa, and immediately we realized that Swannanoa was unlike any course that we'd ever played. I grew up in Williamsburg in a neighborhood called

Kingsmill. Grew up playing golf, whether it was the plantation course, the river course, the woods course, or the Bray Links, the par three. We'd always show up to the golf course and essentially try to fake it until we make it look like we were golfers we get to Swannanoa and as soon as we get to Swannanoa golf course I think we were third years at UVA

we realized this was going to be an experience like no other and I'm not talking Jim Nance and the Masters I'm talking Swannanoa experience there were dogs running around the golf course chasing the Canadian geese off the fairways.

Their solution for keeping Canadian geese from essentially defecating on the fairways was to have a few dogs chase them off the short grass. In the group directly in front of us, four good old boys, all four of them dressed in

jean shorts. Two of them had cut off, buttoned down, plaid shirts on, their biceps showing. I guess it was summer or close to it. It was spring, so sun out, sun's out, guns out. They had a cooler of a beer in the back of their golf cart, drinking Bud Heavies. On the other, it was a foursome on the... Were you guys jealous? I mean, we were just taking it all in. We were taking it all in. We were social voyeurs.

And the other golf cart was a stereo, a boombox. They were playing honky-tonk music of some kind. So in the foursome in front of us, four guys in cut-off plaid shorts, pounding Bud Heavies, shotgunning Budweisers on the course, blasting, you know, Blake Shelton, you know, Shania Twain, Reba, Dolly, whatever you want to call it, having a good old time.

There were dogs chasing Canadian geese off the course. I think it cost us less than $10 to play. And that was our Swannanoa experience. On yesterday's program, as you're getting lower thirds on screen we figured out in happenstance because someone asked us deep throat via direct message what's the deal with Swan and Noah Golf Club I do a random Google search of Swan and Noah during the show and I see the course is now under contract 236 acres a three3,500,000 asking price under contract. Kevin Higgins, Mr. John Blair, two men I respect tremendously through this program.

Mr. Blair in real life. I believe Mr. Higgins I've met a couple of times. Mr. Blair I've met a handful of times. He's got a wonderful family. They say in the comments section that the scuttlebutt is Old Trail potentially involved in this purchase. I then post show yesterday, start asking around with the real estate circles I'm in. That seems to be a common denominator about Old Trail with Swannanoa. So we could see 236 acres become what could be very beautiful housing. Housing that's needed, housing that may be more affordable than the housing that's being offered in Crozet and in Old Trail.

If you're buying something new in Old Trail right now, it's a very good chance it could be a million dollars or more. It's very, it's without certain $800,000 or more. And you're getting a post stamp for a lot. So if you're watching the program again or you missed yesterday's show, the Swannanoa Country Club, under contract with a $3,500,000 asking price.

I'll ask you this question. How far is too far for you to drive? You at this job, downtown Charlottesville, would you go from Swannanoa, you buy a home on half an acre, maybe it's an acre, maybe that piece of new construction is priced in the $600,000 range. It's new construction. It's going to be at least six. Would you make that trip? Go in a one shot while I get this water. Let's see. Would I make that trip? That's a tough question.

I'd have to see the house. I'd have to see the neighborhood. I certainly wouldn't want to. How far is toooux Falls for you, then? How far? I would say half an hour, maybe. I don't know. Would you make the drive from Waynesboro to Charlottesville for work? That's even farther.

No, probably not. Waynesboro to Charlottesville is what? 35, 40 minutes? Yep, 35. You would not make the trip from Waynesboro to Charlottesville's what? 35-40 minutes? Yep, 35. You would not make the trip from Waynesboro to Charlottesville? My calculation is from my house to my friend's house in Waynesboro.

Is he downtown Waynesboro? Yeah, he's pretty close. Tree Streets? I think so, yeah. I can find it on a map, but I don't remember the name. Okay. But yeah, they're like like when you get off 64, it's pretty much just a straight shot down the road and, you know, take a right after, you know, three or four minutes. So how far is too far?

You're saying the Waynesboro trip would be too far for you? I think it would. It depends, though. It depends on the job. I mean, there are a lot of different considerations to take into consideration. How much you're getting paid, how much... Crozet to

downtown Charlottesville, I would bet, is darn near close to the same commute from Waynesboro to downtown Charlottesville. Because of traffic? Yeah. And the way you have to get in. Yeah.

So you would say, you would take Crozet off your list. Possibly. I'm doing the trip from Keswick. Keswick to downtown Charlottesville is 22 minutes. One of the reasons we're moving is driving convenience, in particular for my wife and her time spent in the car with our two boys, which is significant from the Keswick side of Albemarle County. What is the threshold for you driving to this job downtown Seville time-wise for you? Because right now, what are you, eight minutes from work? I mean, it's... You're right off Park Street. Yeah, it's not very

far. Eight minutes. Then there's a walk. Eight minutes from work? Yeah, give or take. And then you walk four blocks to get here? Three blocks with your dog? Four or five blocks, yeah. What is the threshold that's too far? Like I said, probably 25, 30 minutes. Well, then that would, Waynesboro would fall in there. What? Waynesboro would be pretty close for that.

I'm not sure how you get that. We said it's 35, and you're saying you would go 25 to 30. We're talking 10, less than 10 minute-minute difference. Yeah. My point is this. If you have an opportunity to get a piece of new construction on an acre of land,

new house on an acre of land, would you make a 45- or 50-minute commute? Because that's pretty much what the bet's going to be with the development of Swannanoa, if it, in fact, is Old Trail. Okay. Would you make that trip? A 45-, 50-minute trip? No. Not for the – no. want to know if it in fact is old trail okay would you make that trip a 45 50 minute trip no not for no i wouldn't make that trip maybe the concept is the uh opportunity for folks to work you know maybe you're targeting more remote workers i'm just trying to see who this uh potential buyer is i mean there may be a lot of people that are potential buyers for that,

but it certainly wouldn't be worth it for me. I would end up paying a lot in gas. And I mean, there are a lot of things that I obviously can't foresee right now. Kevin Yancey said the roads will need major improvements ahead of time for those commuting. You're still talking Charlottesville City, the epicenter of employment. Janice Boyce-Trevillian highlights the autumn olive hot dog at Salvage Brewery.

That hot dog I've had, Janice, and it's absolutely fantastic. Judah, what was that? How much longer is Charlottesville going to be the center of? I mean, UVA's here. Yeah. UVA's here. Yeah. UVA ain't moving anywhere. As long as UVA's here, Charlottesville's always going to be the epicenter of employment. I can't ever imagine a time where even hybrid remote work is going to supersede UVA's impact as epicenter of employment.

Do you? I mean, UVA is definitely never going to go to uh to that kind of a work environment but yeah but i mean what are you alluding to is how much longer would uva be the epicenter of employment like what's your take on that i mean i'm not talking about uva uva is always going to be uva that's its own thing um i they'll they'll do their thing and and but far as Charlottesville goes, I mean, we've been talking about cities expanding outside of Charlottesville. We've been talking about whose fortunes,

what counties' fortunes are going up. We've talked about right-leaning school boards leaving the VSBA and what that's going to mean for the areas around them. Are you still at a one-shot? Yeah. Good night. I never go on a one-shot. I don't even know why you had me go on a one-shot. Because I was coughing and stepped off the set to get my water. Okay, now we're back on the two?

We are. Okay, finish your thought. Thank you for including me on the shot there. I'm just saying that as people move to places they feel more comfortable, whether it's a school board that they politically align with or a place, you know, Louisa getting money from Amazon or, you know, whatever it is. I feel like Charlottesville can't expand, but there are so many areas outside of Charlottesville that can. And how long before one of them starts becoming more of a center, more of a – how long before one of those places has stuff like Stonefield and barracks.

I think you will not see that in your lifetime. You don't? No. Okay. I don't think our sons would see it potentially in their lifetime. Wow. You're talking another jurisdiction challenging Charlottesville for density of employment

opportunity for employment opportunity basically what you're saying another jurisdiction being able to compete with Charlottesville in central Virginia for employment opportunity upside yeah I don't think my kids will see that they're six and 18 months old. Okay. Fair enough. I, I, the only one that could potentially rival it is, I mean, obviously Almore, Almore County, curious to see what Rivana futures, um, with what they're doing in Northern Almore on the green County line, the impact that's going to have. Um, I think the Amazon investment with the data centers, 1,400 direct and indirect jobs is a lot, but it's not going to come close to rival what Charlottesville

has upside employment-wise. Crozet, I can't imagine... Anybody living in Crozet right now has got to be worried about any kind of more additional density with the infrastructure they have.

Louise is not going to take that off the table. Okay. Albemarle County may be Albemarle County, where you take from Stonefield to the northern part of the county, where Rivanna Futures will be. Technically, UVA is in Albemarle County. That's a technicality, though. I'm curious to see who the potential candidate is to live in Swannanoa if the rumor that I've

now heard from five people is a reality, that this is going to be a housing development with half acre or an acre lots, new houses, and an old trail reincarnated at Swannanoa. Will the Charlottesville, Albemarle County traditionalist make that drive? Because this is a drive that's further than Spring Creek, a drive that's further than Lake Monticello, a drive that's further than Keswick and Glenmore, a drive that's further than Old Trail. That's what I'd like to know. Viewers and listeners, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

We're going to get to comments here. Let's go to number one in the family. Kevin Yancey, you're on deck as well. Number one in the family, Deep Throat says, SWATA NOAA is not for Charlottesville working Joes. The pitch is people coming from outside, the retirees, the remote workers, live someplace beautiful, not in the city, but close enough to city amenities, plus Stanton, Waynesboro amenities, Shenandoah National Park, Wintergreen,

close to the action but far from the nonsense. That would be my pitch. Nobody raining bullets into your house, no incompetent Seville public services, no high taxes. The amenities center will be shifting out of Seville over time and will be more diffused. Stanton has so much potential. Dr. John Shabe of Pro Renata, this is me talking here,

John Shabe of Pro Renata has also highlighted the potential of Stanton. Deep Throat also says this. I think another jurisdiction could challenge Seville for amenities, but not for employment. The speed with which the secondary towns around Bozeman, Montana have developed high-end shopping and restaurants has been head-spinning. Kevin Yancey, I'm curious of what your thought of what Deep Throat just said right there. Kevin Yancey lives in Waynesboro. Kevin Higgins is watching the program. Very curious of your thoughts, both Kevins. Kevin Yancey in Waynesboro and Higgins in Greenwood, a fantastic Crozet suburb.

Yancey says this, I drive to Waynesboro to Crozet every day and it's 15 to 17 minutes tops. He also says don't sleep on Augusta County, especially with UVA becoming more involved with Augusta Health and hundreds of acres around it that are currently undeveloped. Higgins, I'm curious of what your thoughts are on this, Kevin Higgins, as someone that lives in this area. Logan Wells-Claylow, welcome to the broadcast. Janice Boyce-Trevillian says, Northrop is moving to Waynesboro. Those people will be interested in a Swannanoa Golf Club. The Northrop Grumman, what is it, a quarter million, a quarter billion, excuse me, a quarter billion dollar roughly new facility in the Waynesboro area, Northrop Grumman. The average salary, now you need security clearance.

You're going to have to have experience to get these jobs. The average salary for those working there, $94,000. I've asked the question on this show many times, the folks that are going to be working at this quarter billion dollar, quarter billion with a B facility, Northrop Grumman, $94,000 average salary, where are these folks going to live? I've asked that question. Are they going to live in Waynesboro? Are they going to commute from Crozet? Are they going to be a perfect target for this Swannanoa development? If you're spending $3.5 million, that was the asking price. I'm not saying that's what it sold for. The asking price was $3.5 million for

Swannanoa Country Club. You got serious acreage here, 236 acres, on top of a mountain. Literally, on top of a mountain. 20 minutes west of Charlottesville, they say. That's a bit ambitious from my standpoint. If you're spending this kind of money on this property, you're going to want to start cracking ground fairly soon. Who is the targeted buyer of these houses once ground is cracked? How will they pre-sell the houses? How will

the marketing be? Will the marketing be as deep-throated as outlined? You are close enough to Charlottesville, but far enough away that you're going to avoid the politics, the potential crime, the craziness, and the nonsense? You have the views with the convenience of the amenities less than half an hour away. Is that how it's going to be marketed? Is the potential buyer a remote hybrid worker that's primarily focused on ISP connection? A lot of houses in this area with people working remote and hybrid, one of the first questions they're asking their realtors is tell me about the internet.

That's only going to become a more popular question. Is this a second home community for people? Are these vacation homes? Are these people that are wealthy that are looking to buy an additional house? What is the buyer profile of the house, the houses that will come in Swannanoa Country Club? Kevin Higgins, Greenwood's finest. It may seem like a longer drive from Crozet, but I would argue driving time it may be close from Crozet to Charlottesville, Swannanoa to Charlottesville. Once you

take the Crozet exit it's a nightmare from there because the Crozet to Charlottesville, Swannanoe to Charlottesville. Once you take the Crozet exit, it's a nightmare from there because the Crozet roads were never equipped for this density. If you hit school traffic, you better pack a lunch. 100%. 100%. Eventually, if you're a stakeholder in Crozet,

if you're an Ann Malick, or if you're a stakeholder of some capacity in Crozet, you're on the Crozet Community Advisory Committee, you have to put up the red sign, your hands up in the air, and say, stop building more housing here. You have multiple schools that are beyond capacity. You have two entry points into Crozet. When one of them is backed up or has an accident on it, you have a snarl, and that's an understatement.

Quality of life you clearly see being impacted in Crozet right now. And they continue to build. Yancey says, any drive from the west is 20 to 25 minutes faster, and you skirt all the county city craziness to get to work. One of the reasons we like the Ivy portion, which we're moving to, is because of the proximity to my work, the proximity to school, the proximity to amenities, the ability to get on the bypass in either direction, the ability to get on the interstate in either direction, and the ability to cut through town if need be as a third route as a backup solution.

You can also go the back ways in Ivy with Old Garth and some of those side roads that can get you places if you know how to snake through the Almarill County back roads. What's the buyer profile of Swannanoa? Janice Boyce Trevelyan. She's making the show better. Let's get her photo on screen. There's talk of moving Charlottesville into the D.C. pay rate for government employees. If that happens, those salaries are going to go up.

John Blair, the real estate is so much more affordable in the Valley. He talks about it from a hot dog standpoint. How many hot dogs would you have to sell in a day to be profitable with Charlottesville and Almaro real estate prices? It's a great question. Sam's Hot Dog, a Crozet staple out of Crozet. Where are you going to get a good hot dog in this area? I want to talk about that today. John also says this. A big question for this property, I believe, that is in Augusta County. If that's correct, where are the kids

zoned for a high school? There's a big perception on this side of the mountain that Wilson Memorial is the best school in Augusta, sort of the equivalent to Western Almaro. Great question. Another question for you. Whoever buys in the

Swannanoa Golf Club when it's developed, what is the closest private school for those that are looking to buy there? What is the price point that is going to come to market? Is it unrealistic to think a piece of new construction on a half acre to one acre of land could be priced in the $600,000 range? I doubt they're going to be cheap, especially not if they all have great views. Would you consider $600,000 range cheap?

I would say in central Virginia, new construction on half an acre to a full acre, $600,000, whether people want to hear this or not, is extremely affordable. The new cheap. Is extremely affordable. I would, you know, if I had a bet, I would say that would be the price point. Spring Creek new construction is what, $600,000 to $700,000? Maybe you can get one of the tiny ones on an unfinished basement in the high fives. There's a needle that needs to be thread with price point, lot size, and the type of buyer that's going to live that distance from an epicenter of employment. And amenities. Yeah.

And amenities. Yeah. And amenities. They're in a lot of ways going to have to market and brand a completely new... Calling it a neighborhood would be doing a disservice. Calling it a region would be an exaggeration. It would be a completely new territory. Yeah, it depends on the plans. I mean, if all they're going to do is build houses, then yeah, they definitely have to, they have to market to where you can get to from there.

If they include some amenities, then they may have an easier time drawing people there. What would be the amenity they would need to include to draw you? Probably a gas station, some type of grocery store. It doesn't have to be a full-size grocery store, but maybe something associated with the gas station. You know, maybe a restaurant or three or five. That's good. I like that. Gas stations, a grocery, and some restaurants.

That's good. That's legit. The worst would be coming home and realizing you need to get food or you need to stop at the grocery store or you don't have enough gas to get back to Charlottesville the next morning and realize you're stuck. You either have to leave right away or just... That would be a pain to me.

The Deep Throat says, with nice land views and an average of 350 to 400 per square foot for new construction, with sizes ranging from 2,000 to 3,500 square feet. I'd bet it'd go from 700,000 to 1,000,003. You add a clubhouse with a gym and pickleball courts and people would move there. And he highlights Miller School as a private school for consideration for those that choose to go to that area. That's true. James Watson, welcome to the program.

Maria Marshall Barnes, hello. Kevin Higgins says the amenity should be a helicopter to get you off that mountain in bad winter weather. Dude, no joke about that. I got a buddy that I play squash with that lives atop Afton Mountain, and he, when weather is bad, routinely is stuck at his house atop Afton Mountain. No doubt. We'll see what happens. Okay, here's a question for you viewers and listeners. This is a great one for Yancey and Higgins that are watching. A great one for you, John Blair.

A great one for you, Maria Marshall Barnes. What is a development that's already happened, that already exists right now, a neighborhood development that's been done, that Swannanoa would want to model itself after? I don't think they're going to create another old trail at Swannanoa. Densely packed lots. You could basically touch your neighbor's house while standing on your deck. I don't think that's what they're going to create. What's a good example

of a neighborhood that they would try to bottle after in central Virginia at Swannanoa? Would they go the Spring Creek route? Would they go the Glenmore route? Would they go the Spring Creek route? Would they go the Glenmore route? Would they go the Forest Lakes route? I think you're probably looking at, and maybe I'm wrong on this,

I'm just spitballing and having some fun on a topic here. I think they would go more of a Glenmore route, where you're talking half acre to acre lots, new construction. I would think you want to start something in the sixes for the Bunkalows or the 2,000, 2,500 square foot house with an unfinished basement on top of a basement. Georgia Gilmer says an Edna or a Farmington. Edna or Farmington, the price tag would be a little steep. I respect the comment, George.

I appreciate your comment significantly. I would think the Ednam or Farmington price tag would be a little steep for the Swannanoa Club. Kevin Yancey says the original Lake Monticello route. That's not a bad suggestion, Kevin Yancey. The original Lake Monticello is not a bad one, Kev. Original Lake Monticello or a Glenmore route would be my suggestion. Where the rubber meets the road, or where, what's the phrase, where the rub lies?

Where the rub lies is this. Can you sell upper sixes to a million three product in an area that is starving for the amenities Judah outlined? Are we thinking that all these houses are going to be on a golf course? I don't think the golf course is. I might be wrong on this, but I don't even think the future is a golf course here. You don't think it's going to do anything with the golf course? I might be completely wrong with that. I don't think the future is a golf course here.

If the houses were on the golf course, I would say that they would be sold. Do you guys think the future is a golf course there? Kevin, is the future of this? Both Kevins. You guys know this place inside and out. Is the future of this, both Kevins, you guys know this place inside and out, is the future of this development golf course centered? I'm very curious of your take on this. Or do you think the golf course is what is going to be developed?

Because it's already set up. Yancey says the amenities Judah and Higgins are saying the amenities Judah is outlining are there. I would say yes and no, Kev. Is the future golf, Caitlin Pearson likes the Glenmore comparison. That's what I think it would be, Glenmore comparison. Kevin Yancey says he doesn't think it's going to be golf course at all. He thinks it's going to be housing. That's what I think, too, Kevin Yancey. And Deep Throat says the golf course is a mess.

The golf course is a mess, 100%. I think you take the golf course land that has upside with development, you forget the golf course, you build the housing there, and then you figure out to do some walking trails, some biking trails, nice swimming pools around the neighborhood. I like the idea of pickleball courts and tennis courts, a workout facility with some clubs. Maybe you have some kind of membership you offer that's around a social or tennis membership in the area. I don't think the future is golf course there. Time will tell. Curious to see how legacy media responds to this storyline.

Anything you want to add to this, J-Dubs? I love the feedback from the viewers and listeners. This is a topic that a handful of viewers and listeners in this audience, for example, the two Kevins, have way more insight than I do on. You want to offer anything, J-dubs? No. And Higgins says there's already $700,000 to $1 million houses in this area that are capitalizing on the view. All right, what is the next headline, my friend? Next, we have the degrees being withheld by UVA.

This one is so frustrating. Get that lower third on screen if you can. Is it four UVA students, Judah? Yeah. There's four UVA students that protested the pro-Palestine protests where UVA is holding their degrees hostage. Yeah. Help me understand that.

Despite the charges being dropped. Trespassing ordinances dropped. Charges dropped. UVA doing its best to try to put this situation behind it. Eleven students were arrested. These four are graduating fourth years and apparently are now facing internal disciplinary charges from the Judiciary Committee. I wonder, I mean, I don't know much about the Judiciary Committee. UJC.

That's the UVA Honor Police. Yeah. Yeah. It's the students that are the Honor Police. What do you make of this story? It's as crazy as everything else that's come out of this entire debacle. Why would UVA allow the storyline to continue? They have bungled this thing entirely.

Why would you continue the storyline or allow it to have more legs by withholding the degrees from four students? They've bungled it in ways that are, like, I mean, almost creative. Bungled it in ways that are creative? Yeah. Infamous? Memorable? I wouldn't utilize the word creative. I would use...

No, I mean, there are, like are obvious ways that you can mess something up, like by accident, and these almost seem purposeful. Some of this is just like somebody who's saying, how can we... Junkin behind the scenes pulling the strings to change the culture of UVA. First step, Board of Visitors.

When his new Board of Visitors comes on, he's got four coming at the end of June, new ones. They will coincide ideology-wise with the razor blade Burt Ellis contingent, completely change the mindset and dynamic of the board of visitors. That new board of visitors with a populist and a common ground mindset

will take the Commonwealth's flagship university and reimagine it in ways that are more Jeffersonian than woke. And they're going to utilize as leverage to make those changes the handling of this protest. They're going to utilize as leverage the management of the three UVA football players that were murdered pre and post, an audit report that still hasn't been released. They're going to talk about the, utilize the Zianna Bryant Water Street example. And they're going to talk about how some UVA tenured professors are entirely too, what's the phrase I'm looking for?

Extremely confident and not towing the company line with their communication and their speech. But, you know, it's just one hypothesis or theory because as judas highlighted it's been a comedy of errors yeah and the comedy of errors continues by punishing four students that are done with college and keeping them from getting a paper that they could hang on their wall. Yeah. To commemorate four years in Charlottesville. Despite the charges of trespassing being set for dismissal, the university dropping all the charges, no trespass orders. Can you say on your resume that you're a UVA graduate? These four, could they say that they're legitimately UVA graduates? I don't see why not.

If their diplomas are withheld? I mean, are you asking about legality? Or, I mean, I would. I'd be like, look, I spent four years at UVA, and I was arrested by... Okay, would you bring this up in your job interview? Not unless somebody asked. I would imagine it would show up on search. Where?

Do you know the names of any of the people involved, except for the 41-year-old photographer who was charged with assault? I don't. But if someone was... I got this question for you. If someone was interviewing for a job and they were one of the protesters, human resources at whatever job they were interviewing

would search their name on Google. Wouldn't that show up on search? If there's a single article that names them, possibly. But I haven't seen anywhere where any of the students' names have been listed. So I don't know. I don't even know if it would show up in court records from when they were taken in by the cops. I honestly don't know. But, I mean, if I was one of these students, I would 100% say that I was a graduate of UVA.

And anybody that questioned that, I'd be like, you're kidding, right? Deep Throat says when he was doing more hiring at his firm, he always verified degrees with institutions. Any mid-to-large company hiring for elite jobs will check degrees. That's fair. That doesn't mean that as a student who basically graduated... Are the four that are having their degrees withheld, are they graduates?

Four graduating fourth years. Graduating. It does not say graduated. It's graduating as in it's still happening. Are these four officially graduates, even though their degrees are being withheld? That's a good question. I would really want to know that question. If your degree is held hostage, if you were one of the four fourth years that protests and your degrees are being held hostage by the university, are you officially a graduate of the University of Virginia?

I suppose that would depend on whether they walked with the rest of the graduating class. I don't think the walk is indicative of graduation. I mean, that's where you get your diploma. You can't get it later. You can get the degree mailed to you. Genuine question. So what's your criteria? If your criteria is that you need the diploma, then what else are, what are you actually

asking? I'm, I want to know if by holding these grad, these four students' diplomas hostage, have they kept them from graduating? That's what I want to know. I'm pretty sure that's the implication right that they are not graduates right so the university then with these four students if that is the

implication I agree with you the university then with these four students is legitimately impacting their chances of getting a job I would put money on the fact that we're going to see a headline in the next week or two saying four students are suing UVA. Right. That's a great follow-up question.

Wouldn't that be the base of a lawsuit? Yeah. Another lawsuit? I'd be like, if I was a parent, I'd be ticked off. My parents at a heartbeat would do that. I'd be like, look, we just sunk quarter million dollars. Yeah a quarter million dollars into this school. And because my kid was, what, sitting on the grass? Well, we don't know the extent of what these four are. They're not charged with anything. What are they charged with? They were charged with trespassing? Are we really, even if And that's been pulled. Are we really?

Even if they hadn't been pulled. Are you really going to stand by the school for holding someone's diploma because they were trespassing? And by trespassing everybody knows we're talking about sitting on the grass and possibly

having a tent. There it is. That's a great argument. You've made the point yourself that people have put up tents for, you know, Beach volleyball. Decades. Beach volleyball. Yeah. We pitched a tent outside the University Hall to camp for basketball games

when Pete Gillen had the team in the top five. And I don't think they've. Outside UVA tailgating for football, there's tents outside the Sand Volleyball Court. I don't think anyone's even been charged because what are you... Are you going to figure out who owns which tent? I doubt they did that. So I'm sure it's not like they're charging anyone with actually having a tent. It's just trespassing.

And, yeah, it's just the whole thing is trumped up and a crazy joke. Like, is it still, are we all going to wake up and it's actually still April 1st? I feel for the four students. Yeah, no doubt. I may have seen their actions as virtue signaling with the protests, but I'll tell you what, as a student, I did a lot of stupid stuff. Yeah, I may not agree with their actions either but the response has been far outside the realm of... Throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I don't know if that quite fits the situation. The response does not indicate or meet or reflect the action. Yeah. Follow that one. Bananas. What's the next one? Next up,

we have Sony. Sony Pictures buying Alamo. What do you make of this headline? The Alamo movie theater, as we've covered on previous shows, is a franchise. So it's not a parent or corporate-owned location. Right. So Sony Pictures buying the Alamo chain or brand may not change a whole lot.

I saw an interesting, I think... There's a great thread on this on Reddit. Yeah. I think I saw that somebody made a good point about basically there may be some trickle-down changes in the menu may end up flowing from the chain to the individual franchises like ours. I mean, one would hope, and you never know with these big corporations. Sometimes they're just run by idiots. One would hope that they see what makes Alamo Drafthouse so popular and will leave largely well enough alone. All right, here are the questions I have.

Sony Pictures is the owner. Are the Alamo movie theaters going to be shills or shells or pipelines for only Sony movies? I think people would see through that so quickly that you would basically devalue your investment. That's the first question. Within a year or two. you would basically devalue your investment. That's the first question. Within a year or two. Is Sony Pictures buying Alamo to monopolize the Alamo screens with Sony product? First question I have.

Next question I have. What is the add-on that Sony sees? Are they buying what they see as a distress asset that they can improve? Alamo is not, I would say, no movie theater right now is performing like it did pre-COVID. COVID changed human behavior and human behavior still has not returned to 2019 form. 2019, movies was much more of a thing than it is now. And as technology improves, in particular technology at home, TVs, streaming, internet, the robust streaming of titles. I mean, I was looking on, I was sitting at bed last night next to my wife,

and this is what I did. I flipped through the movie library on HBO Max. I flipped through the movie library on Amazon Prime. I flipped through the movie library on Amazon Prime. I flipped through the movie library on Netflix. I flipped through the movie library on Paramount Plus. I flipped through the movie library on Showtime. And I flipped through the movie library on Peacock. Before we settled on

what was the George Clooney movie? It was a very good movie. George Clooney director boat. What was it about? The Boys in the Boat. Fantastic movie.

American biographical sports drama filmed and directed by George Clooney. It's about a generation of students at the University of Washington utilizing the crew, the sport of crew rowing to make their way through college because they didn't have the finances to do otherwise. And next thing they know, they went on to win gold in the Olympics, an Olympics that was hosted in Nazi Germany.

Fantastic movie. My point is this. If a husband and wife laying in a bed can go through Prime, Netflix, Peacock, Max, Showtime, and Paramount Plus before settling on a movie, can utilize a gig up and a gig down of internet to not have any buffering issues, can watch it on a television that is 4K, most beautiful color ever, while I'm drinking a Minuteman from 3 Notch, and my wife is drinking a Basic City Six Lord, sitting in our bed, pausing it whenever we wanted, why would we ever go back to the movies again?

You talk about Alamo, Alamo has, oh, they have beers at your seats. I'm drinking a beer in my underwear in my bed. They got delicious popcorn. I got popcorn in the middle right next to us. They got great seats and great views. I'm sitting on a California king with my back propped against a headboard

watching a screen that's 60 inches, six feet in front of me, six feet in front of me. Ten feet in front of me. Why would we ever go to a movie again? So what can Sony do? Were you ever a big movie goer? I just don't see that. My father and my mother

I talk about this. My brother and I are sons of entrepreneurs. And I saw my dad pretty much on Friday night and on Saturday morning. And on Friday night, he took us to the movie theater. Every Friday night. And on Saturday morning, he coached our soccer team. That's when we saw our dad when he wasn't working 80 hours a week.

Every Friday night, we would go to the movies. When's the last time you've been in movies? You're a movie diehard. Not too long ago. What did I go see? I went and saw, what was it? It's right on the tip of my tongue. Okay, so there's my point right there.

There's my point. A guy in 2019, Judah Wickauer, who would go to the movie theater once a week. I never went to the movie theater once a week. Three times a month easily. No. Oh my gosh. I'm sorry, but...

How often? You would go a lot. You're saying pre-COVID, I probably went once, maybe twice a month. Okay, twice a month. What can Sony Pictures do to change human behavior? That's a good question. They're not going to make the food better than the food we're getting at our house. They're not going to make the price more affordable. They're not going to make the viewing situation better than what we getting at our house. They're not going to make the price more affordable. They're not going to make the viewing situation

better than what we get at our house. They're not going to give people more titles to watch in a movie theater than what we get at our house. The Dobie surround sound, who cares? We all have Dobie surround sound now. We all have surround sound. We all have Lazy Boys. We all have chairsie surround sound now. We all have surround sound. We all have lazy boys.

We all have chairs that go back. What are they going to do differently? I'm not sure that everybody has the lighting chairs and... Okay, go ahead. This business model is the... What's an antiquated business model that was in the beginning

of its end are you asking about what is a business model that we can compare movies to that's in the beginning of its end

from yesteryear water parks water parks are still strong that's in the beginning of its end from yesteryear. Water parks? Water parks are still strong. Are they? Yeah. This is like the Friendly's ice cream. This is like the newspaper.

This is like the sitting around and listening to the radio around the fireplace. This is like everyone waiting for friends to come on, friends or Seinfeld to come on on Thursdays at eight o'clock or Thursdays at 9 p.m. This is like all of us staying up to watch SportsCenter at 11 p.m. so we can watch Dan Patrick and Stuart Scott talk about today's happenings in basketball and football and baseball. That's what movies are right now. They don't realize it, but the theater is in the beginning of its end.

And then the next question you have to ask yourself is, if it's in the beginning of the end, how does that impact the three locations where the movie theaters are around? Downtown, Stonefield, and Fifth Street Station. Which of those three provides the most draw for its respective shopping district and dining district? I'd probably say Stonefield. Stonefield and that movie theater has the most significant impact on the shops of Stonefield? I'd say probably in the two slot is what? Alamo? It's definitely not Vinegar Hill. It's not downtown, right? We're in agreement

there, right? Vinegar, I don't know why, but Vinegar Hill has just not been. That's not Vinegar Hill. It's Violet Crown. Violet Crown, that's what I meant. Sorry. Violent Crown has not lived up to expectation. Sadly. Right? It was a nice little spot. So because we're in agreement there that Violent Crown has not lived up to expectation, if the movie falls flat,

if the theater business falls flat, like we're saying it's going to do, then that one's the most protected, Downtown Mall, because it's less reliant on the movie business for economic traffic. Yeah. Stonefield.

Zero reliance. Right. Stonefield, significant reliance, I would say. Fifth Street Station, significant reliance. I don't know how much Fifth Street Station, I would say, relies on Alamo. What is there to do in Fifth Street Station? You have Wegmans. You have Alamo. You have an ABC store. I mean, you got a mattress store. Okay. You got three hair salons. You got dicks. You got a furniture store.

You caught a couple of cell phone stores. You got a boatload of parking lots. What is Fifth Street Station if you take a movie theater out of it? Right? I mean, you just said it. It's a mattress store, and if that's how you see it, then fine. How am I wrong? You've got a popular grocery store, an ABC store.

We love Panera Bread. We love a Kelly Jackson. We love Timberwood Tap House. But there's not a whole lot there. I mean, I'd argue it's like any shopping center. Like, I don't go to barracks for, like, every store in barracks. I go to barracks for a purpose, whether it's grabbing an expensive burger at Five Guys or getting my...

You go to Barracks for an expensive burger at Five Guys? I was saying whether I go for a burger or go for a haircut at the hair cuttery or go because I want to stop at Michael's or get a book at the book place. I'm not going to like walk up and down the sidewalk and stop at like five or six different stores. I go there because there's something I need there. And the same is true with Stonefield. I don't go to Stonefield to like walk around the entire place and check out all the i know what stores are there i stopped there to go to a movie

or i stopped there to get a burger at uh burger back burger batch or you know i stopped there to get a torchy's taco i think we're gonna see so many Pictures try to pop more Sony titles into the Alamo chain. Okay. And when Sony does that, it's going to further diminish the theater experience. A hundred percent. If they do that, yeah, I would say that they've essentially wasted their money on the investment. My friend, last headline. What do we got there?

Let's see. Let's see. We've got the 41 bullets. Oh, my gosh. We're going to spend 30 seconds on this. And hot dogs. A Jefferson Park Avenue house was sprayed by 41 bullets in a drive-by shooting. That's crazy.

And not a single person was injured that was inside the house. Praise God. Praise God. You're doing a drive-by shooting. You have an AR, was it an AR-15 that was used? It sounded like two of them. You've got AR-15s and a drive-by shooting, and you don't hit a single person in the house.

I mean, who knows? Maybe they knew that there was nobody in the house, and this was a message. There was people in the house. There were? Yeah. I didn't see that part in any of the... There was people in the house.

Okay. He says in the article, chief, that no one was injured. 41 bullets. That's crazy. In Jefferson Park Avenue. Guys, this should worry all of us. This is a neighborhood. 41 bullets, I think it really is an act of God that nobody was hurt.

Because not only anybody who may have been in the house, but property and people around the house. I mean... A trusted viewer of this program said, names are in court records, and they definitely can be searched in regards to the four students. Ask not to be... His name to be used with this concept.

I'm going to respect his anonymity. I don't, before we go to the Huttall concept, this is a legitimate question. Are those four students graduates of the University of Virginia right now? It doesn't sound like it. I don't think they are.

To respond to that though, wouldn't you have to assume that somebody was one of those people in order to go looking for the court documents that would name them? No. But if you're applying for a job, the very astute and experienced human resource team here at I Love Seville and V&V Brands did this with you due Judah Biewicauer. I'm just joking. We did not. We used the eye test when hiring you 14 years ago. But if you're going to an employer, Media General did this when I worked at the Daily Progress. They are searching your name. And it shows up in all the court documents that they're involved in? I don't

have an answer for you. That's what I'm curious about. I will say this. The four UVA students that are having their degrees held, that's another piece of media tied to their name that's going to show up in search. Okay. What do you call that, metadata? I mean, I honestly don't know how you think that's supposed to show up, but... Because their names are going to be mentioned. Where? I get that they may be in the court documents, but the court documents, I don't believe, are just, you can't just Google court documents, can you? I think you

can. That's nuts. I think you can. That's absolutely crazy. I think you can Google the court documents. Okay. I honestly don't know. I know. I'm pretty sure you can't alright last topic before we get off air just a friendly fun topic here there at one time was the downtown hot dog company in York Place owned by Eric Saunders Eric and Jenny Saunders

I think they had some questionable creations there. They try to be creative. But that's true of any haute couture hot dog place. I'm not singling them out. They try to be creative. Yeah. And Deep Throat said to you,

there are search services that scan court documents. You would have to pay, but many employers do, and it's not expensive. And the individual that's sending the text to me, I'm respecting his anonymity, says, yes, court documents are public and very searchable. Okay. So, the hot dog topic we'll spend very quick time on because we're up against the gun. We have a 2.15 show. What UVA is doing with these four students is proverbially tarring and feathering them. They're scarlet lettering these students. Yeah, and to what purpose?

I know. We're in such an agreement there. What do they hope to gain by this? They're screwing these kids. It almost seems, what, spiteful? It seems extremely spiteful. And malicious? Yeah.

Like, oh, we don't like that you protested. I mean, this was one of the mildest protests that I can imagine. Until the militant state police got involved. Yeah. I mean, it was what? When the police got involved, it was 27 people, 28 people. Why are they being so spiteful to these kids? It's crazy.

I don't get it. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I mean, they're 22-year-olds. It's like if my sister was still 13 and she was mad that I took her Barbie doll and so she's going to put gum in my bed so it gets in my... It's like, what are you doing? Are you angry?

Are you like... You and your sisters get in fights with taking Barbie dolls in gum in beds. My brother and I would get in fights. We're close to Irish twins. Playing basketball in the driveway. Heated boxing out. I boxed him out too hard.

He fell down the concrete driveway. The fight spilled from the basketball court in the driveway to the kitchen where he grabbed a butcher knife from the butcher block, from the knife block, and tried to stab me. True story. My younger brother in the kitchen. My mom jumped in between us and kept him from stabbing me. We still talk about that to this day. I understand the time. All right. I'll close with this. There's not a hot dog concept in central Virginia right now. Yeah. There's restaurants that sell hot dogs, but there is not a hot dog concept in central Virginia. I find that odd. You would think one would specialize in this concept. Hot dog and fries, hot dog and chips, hot dog and milkshakes, hot dog and sweet potatoes, hot dog and tater tots. You know, we've

talked about the walkability of Charlottesville. In fact, I think we even were going to make that a serious topic for one of our shows, which we never did. But I think hot dog stands and the like are just... The place for them is in a city that has great walkability. I'll give you that. Hot dogs are synonymous with walkability, But they're not sold to walkability.

I'm just saying that I feel like they go hand in hand with the type of city where it's easy to just walk around and people can stop at some place and grab a quick bite and Charlottesville just doesn't have that feel. Not even a hot dog cart. easy to just walk around and people can stop at some place and grab a quick bite. And Charlottesville just doesn't have that feel.

Not even a hot dog cart. I know. Not a hot dog stand. I know. We used to have a hot dog cart on the downtown mall. Yeah. Why? Unbelievable.

A city that has such an eclectic calvary seed. You don't think this city definitely has an eclectic calvary seed. Eclectic. And we don't have encased meats. Okay. Anyway, that's today's show. I appreciate the viewers and listeners that sent us texts

to hold us accountable and offered some insight. We'll do better next time. It's a live program. We thank you for your grace and your empathy as viewers and listeners. We are back on air on Friday at 1230 with the I Love Seville Show. So long, everybody. Thank you.