The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Virginia Basketball Sneaks Into March Madness; UVA Class Of 2028 Admissions Data Updates

Episode Date: March 18, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Virginia Basketball Sneaks Into March Madness UVA Class Of 2028 Admissions Data Updates Homebuilder Sentiment Positive: 1st Time 07/23 Applications For Tax Relief Must Be In By April 1 $13M Going To 3 Affordable Housing Projects Northern Virginia Is Getting A UVA Expansion Attempted Replacement Of Pear Trees In Virginia 2024 Governor’s Cup For King Fam Vineyards Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Monday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. It's great to be with you on a day when the men's basketball team, Tony Bennett's boys, are dancing in March. Perhaps a backdoor invitation, as one of the first four. They play Tuesday evening. But still, I'm sure you were like I was when watching Selection Sunday last night. Maybe you saw it on social media that the Hoos were in fact dancing in March in the NCAA tournament. And that is much to the delight of Wahoo Nation. And frankly speaking, just about every bar and restaurant in this community who is going to get a boost in business at least Tuesday night. And if the who's win potentially into Thursday, we'll talk about that today.

We have the nitty gritty of University of Virginia class of 2028 data, what they're doing with admissions. It's another record-setting year. And we've talked about this a few times on the program, but this information just was released on Friday because they had another round of admission invitations that were sent out, and they were sent Friday evening where UVA made 1,991 more offers of admissions to the class of 2028. Listen to this. In totality, the University of Virginia has made 9,665 offers for the class of 2028. Their target enrollment is 3,970. So they offer 9,665 with an expectation of taking or getting yeses for 3,970. So if they get more yeses, that number may go up. This is a record-breaking year for applications

with 58,995 students applying to attend Thomas Jefferson's University. We'll unpack that on today's program. We have St. Paddy's Day to talk about. I just got back from Charleston, South Carolina. In fact, specifically Folly Beach, South Carolina, where I had some R&R, enjoyed some fantastic food, some revelry, very little sleep, some tomfoolery and shenanigans, and just a great time with some friends, new and old. I want to get some insight into my colleague Judah Wickhauer, a family member, on what he did over St. Paddy's Day. I did get a number of messages

from, and it's a compliment, but some disappointing fans for you not doing the show on Friday. I heard from roughly a dozen people, hey, what happened? We thought the show was going to happen. That is a testament to them liking you, J-Dubs. We have some news that we're going to cover with Judah, who he has sourced the news, including tax relief. It's the threshold. It's the window. Closing quickly. Applications for tax relief must be in by April 1. That's April Fool's Day, and that's no joke. You missed that deadline.

You're going to feel the pain in your wallet, ladies and gentlemen. We'll talk about that today. I want to talk about opportunities this week, as Sean Tubbs reports, to speak before council on the potential tax escalations on the horizon, tax increases on the horizon. We heard on Thursday's show from one of the top hotel years and food and beverage aficionados and or ops directors, managers. I mean, he's essentially C-suite with the foundation now and Russ Kronberg, that we should all utilize our voices to oppose these increases. And he mentioned specifically lodging and meals. And I concur with Mr. Kronberg on that. It's becoming concerning. In fact, while I was in South Carolina having adult beverages, some cocktails, and eating out, I noticed how considerably more affordable

South Carolina was in Folly Beach. And this is a resort beach area. It is noticeably more affordable to go to bars, to go to restaurants, to wine and dine and entertain in Folly Beach, a beach town, when compared to Charlottesville. And that really makes a statement. When a beach town is more affordable than a city in Charlottesville, Virginia, in central Virginia. Today's program is live from downtown Charlottesville on Market Street in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia, less than two miles from the Rotunda, the John Paul Jones Arena

and Scott Stadium. We're a block away from the police department, a block away from the Albemarle County and City of Charlottesville courthouses, a block off the downtown mall, and smack dab in the middle of central Virginia, a 300,000 person market that has many different dynamics to it. I want to talk as we welcome my esteemed colleague, Judah Witkower, to the show. Happy St. Paddy's Day. I know it's Monday here. I'm wearing green. Did you mention that your BVDs are green? Your Fruit of the Looms are green? Your socks are green over there? I wore green yesterday.

Oh, okay. Fantastic. I mentioned it to my wife. She said St. Paddy's Day was yesterday. You don't have to wear green today, as you know. I'd like to rebel a little bit. How did you enjoy the weekend? Did you have a good one?

You had a three-day. I mean, when I'm not in the office on Friday, it's basically a three-day weekend for you over there. Not really. Not really. Not really. How was the weekend? What did you do? Why no show on Friday? I just didn't feel like it. I didn't feel ready for it.

So I apologize to my adoring fans. I'm sorry if I let you all down. You had some broken hearts. It was the Broken Hearts Band over there. You and Liza have a fantastic St. Paddy's Day. It's one of my favorite holidays, frankly. Yeah, we had a good time. I didn't really do anything to celebrate St. Patrick's Day specifically.

I had a busy day. After church, I had a busy day. After church, I had a delicious lunch with my parents at Chickadee. Oh, Chickadee. Fantastic. What sandwich did you get, my friend? We loved the balcony. Okay. I mean, not the balcony.

The patio area. I didn't get a sandwich. My mom and I split the two of the breakfast plates. So we had eggs. We had waffles. We had fruit. We had bacon.

We had a delicious brunch. And it was great. I got to bring Liza out on the patio with us. So she got some love from fellow patrons, got a big bowl of water, and had a great time getting some of the extras off my plate. But after that, I went home, took a little nap, and then went back to church for our church is currently hosting a bunch of the Pacham men. And so

I helped out yesterday evening with that. And then went home and relaxed. While some of you are pounding green beer and shooting Irish whiskey, while eating your favorite Irish cuisine, and I just had some leftovers today. Did you see it? I didn't really get a good look, but I saw you eating. Oh, it was good. My wife is a fantastic cook. Judah was moonlighting as an angel. I don't know if I'd go that far.

Moonlighting as a Mother Teresa, if you may. He's got a heart of gold, ladies, and he's single and ready to mingle. All right, let's get to some topic matter of note. I try to save sports, Judah, for the one o'clock hour and the bottom of the rundown. If you put me on a one shot for about five or ten seconds, they can see the headlines, and then we'll go back to you on it, too. If you're looking at the screen now, I usually put sports right there at the bottom of the list, right above read viewer and listener comments live on air. As this program has, while my background is sports, sports journalism, sports broadcasting, sports television, sports writing, I've tried to evolve this network into one that features kind of like a newspaper of news where you

have a front page story that's above the fold, another item that might be above the fold on the front page, a couple below it. Then you have some content, some news that maybe characterizes education or politics or real estate or business or commentary. And then you got your sports section here. We're trying to utilize that background of journalism while putting the rundown together for this show. But today's lead has got to be Virginia men's basketball sneaking or backdooring their way into March Madness. I don't care what you want to call it. I call it fantastic news. I call it news to celebrate and news to revel in. Tomorrow night, Virginia has got an opportunity to play basketball,

and they got an opportunity to play basketball in a tournament that is not the NIT or one of those lower-tier tournaments. And fans should celebrate that. I still do not understand some of the shade that's being thrown out there to this team. I understand the loss to NC State in the ACC tournament was a devastating loss. I get that some fans say that Virginia basketball should have called timeout. They said that they should never have allowed NC State to bank in a three-pointer in regulation to tie the game. I understand all that. That was yesterday, and tomorrow the boys are playing

in the NCAA tournament against the Colorado State team that is pretty much a pick-em here. Colorado State is a slight, very slight favorite. The only challenging aspect of this game for fans should be the fact that it tips off at 9 10 p.m and it's going to end well past many of our bedtimes this is a ball game that Virginia could win and if Virginia gets this victory against a Colorado State team they have an opportunity to potentially ride the madness of the NCAA and make some more noise as they have done in the past. So for the fans that are throwing shade, chill. For those of us that are diehards, what a pleasant surprise.

I was shocked and screaming at the television in Selection Sunday. Texas is beatable. The potential opponent, if they beat Colorado State tomorrow night, and the bars and the economic ecosystem that we call Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Central Virginia will benefit from this. Fans will go out tomorrow to watch the Hoos play, and if Virginia wins, they'll go out again to watch the Hoos play until they lose. This time of year, one of the most important for small business owners

that are in the food and beverage space because you have action with fans drinking and watching the televisions that are hanging around. And something that happened over the weekend that I want to highlight on today's program Hold on, I I got to respond to, I cannot do earlier.

Responding to a client here. The Biltmore, Annie McClure's The Biltmore. Did you see it sold? I did not. The Biltmore has been sold. Wow. The Biltmore, speaking of bars, speaking of places to watch games, on the Ellywood Avenue on the UVA corner has a new owner. Andy McClure has owned the Biltmore for years. In fact, we worked with Andy about 10 years ago building a new website for his beach bar on Ellywood Avenue. It's going to get rebranded to Ellie's Country Club. And Ellie's, E-L-L-I-E apostrophe S,

is a play on Ellywood Avenue. So first I'd like to give some props. We're in the business brokerage business. To Annie McClure, friend of the program. The buyer of the Biltmore. A staff member of the Virginian Restaurant Company. Her name is Ashley Major. She's a UVA graduate and a longtime manager with

the Virginian Restaurant Company. She bought the Biltmore earlier this year, and she's rebranding it, repainting it, resigning it, and going to open as Ellie's Country Club on Ellywood Avenue. I'm surprised with the rebranding yeah i think annie mcclure is a genius when a guy like annie mcclure um sells a beloved brand like the biltmore he probably sees some potential headwinds on the horizon for food and beverage uh he's exited a couple of positions in his portfolio of late. I think he made a genius move, Mr. McClure. The UVA corner scene is not what it was when I went to UVA.

The younger demographic, I'm talking, what is that, young Gen Zers are not boozing like older millennials were doing. I am surprised that Ashley Major, the new owner, chose to rebrand the Biltmore and change the name. Why do you think I'm surprised you to work out? What do you make of this move? It just seems like you're throwing away a lot of history. There it is right there. Perfectly said.

Keep going. I mean, that's it right there. When alumni return, they're going to wonder where the Biltmore went, and I think a lot of them are just going to go to other places that spark that bit of nostalgia.

Yeah, nostalgia. There it is right there, ladies and gentlemen. I think that's feels a little bit like throwing away some easy money. I think the

opportunity to continue a historical brand like the Biltmore was potentially priceless. Yeah. And a market advantage. And distancing yourself or not utilizing the brand equity that was created over decades of running this bar and restaurant was potentially a strategic business mistake. Yeah. I respect any entrepreneur who wants to get into food and beverage or any business at all. And I understand the concept of making it your own.

Yeah. But sometimes if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Still, I would love to see tremendous success for Ms. Major with this new endeavor because it's one of the few locally owned businesses on the corner. And it's institutional. No doubt. So Mr. McClure is down to one holding on the UVA corner. Do you know which one that is? The Virginian?

What is it? The Virginian? Yes, sir. The oldest restaurant in the city of Charlottesville for not calling Timberlake's a restaurant. Something that is near and dear to his heart and the first

restaurant that he had ever owned. A restaurant that he worked at while he was in college. A restaurant where as he was transitioning into restaurant ownership, he held pretty much every job in. Nice. So props to Mr. McClure on the sale of this beloved brand.

Good luck to Ms. Major on the purchase of the Biltmore that is now being rebranded to Ellie's Country Club, a play on Ellie Wood Avenue. Next headline I want to get to, and we got a lot to cover from a real estate standpoint, we'll talk about home builder sentiment turning positive on today's program. We'll talk National Association of Realtors and this settlement agreement that happened on Friday while I was driving down to Charleston. I get buzzed by a handful of colleagues and a handful of realtors setting me this link.

Got buzzed by a couple of the viewers and listeners, including Deep Throat, who sent me the link. We'll talk about that today. First, I want to talk about the admissions and the popularity of the University of Virginia. Guys, these numbers are startling. The University of Virginia for the class of 2028 has set a new record for applications. 58,995 students applied to attend the class of 2028. Last year, which was a record-setting year, the class of 2027, 56,538 applied. In 2022, 50,942 applied. So Judah, from 2022 to this year, we've seen an uptick of 8,000 students applying to UVA. Yeah.

16% from 2022 to this year. UVA has made 9,665 offers for the class of 2028, and the school has a first-year enrollment target of just under 4K. You have more people applying to attend the University of Virginia than there are actual citizens in the city of Charlottesville. You have more people applying to attend the University of Virginia. let's see, Albemarle County population, what is that, about 120,000? What's the population? 113,535 as of 2021. You have more than half the Albemarle County population applying to attend the University of Virginia. To say that this school is coveted is an understatement. To say that this school is a global brand is an understatement.

To say that this school is landscape changing for Charlottesville and Albemarle County is an understatement. To say that this school is the population driver for Charlottesville and Albemarle County is an understatement. To say that this school is the population driver for Charlottesville and Albemarle County is an understatement. To say that this school is not a business and they won't try to maximize as many applications as possible if more say yes is ridiculous. Virginia UVA is a business, and if they get yeses, they will expand admissions. They will expand enrollment if the students are qualified and meet the rigorous requirements that they are looking for. I'm surprised by this data, but not surprised of how high it is. I'm surprised by the amount of yeses that were extended or invites that were

extended. Extending 9,665 offers and thinking you'll get 3,970 yeses, I was surprised by that data. What jumps out to you about this? What's the storyline you're following? Well, I'm just not really surprised. Like you said, they're a business and this ties into the fact that Northern Virginia is getting an expansion from

UVA, which shows that they're looking to stay abreast in today's schooling world. Put the Northern Virginia expansion into perspective. I don't think many of the viewers and listeners know about this. They are setting up a Fairfax campus. It seems like it's going to be more dedicated

to people working, people looking for to increase their knowledge, maybe get into a degree program while they continue to work. I think it's obviously less about young new college students the way the UVA grounds will be and more about just expanding their reach and being able to draw in more people. Probably set up some systems as well for online and schooling away from actually being there.

So UVA is definitely 100% expanding. And you're right, it's business. I don't see them stopping anytime soon. John, if you want to get lower thirds on screen, John Blair says this, for guys our age, Jerry, the Biltmore cell is really the end of the old corner. Greenskeeper, St. Martins, Orbitz, and the Biltmore cell is really the end of the old corner. Greenskeeper, St. Martin's, Orbitz, and the Biltmore.

The only bar left from that era is Coop's. Do you consider the Virginian a bar? There is a bar in there, but it was always thought of as a restaurant first, in my opinion. Then we've lost Collagen and Little John's, which were where you went to sober up after the bar crawl. John Blair, strong comment right there. He knows the corner inside and out. The old corner in my old stomping grounds was Greenskeeper where I used to go as a first year. Used to get in with a napkin

as the doorman was IDing me there. Made quite a bit of money on the pool and foosball tables there while George and Teresa, the owners of the Greenskeeper, maintained a divy bar on the UVA corner. George routinely pounding maker's mark at the bar before driving to Louisa County where he lived. That was where I started falling in love with the UVA corner. Coops, easy to get into ID-wise. At least it was back then.

I don't know the standards now, and I'm not trying to throw shade, but from 2000 to 2004, it was easy peasy, Sunday breezy. The Biltmore, more challenging. Orbit's more challenging. St. Martin's, more challenging. I do consider the Virginia a bar. I did go there quite a bit.

Remember standing on the bar quite a bit as things got a little crazy in that very narrow and thin bar. But John's point is exactly right. The old corner, or the corner of yesteryear, is now, with the rebranding of the Biltmore, I don't want to say eradicated, but close to erased. Orbit's Boylan Heights. St. Martins with Frank throwing the change at the register.

Oh, excuse me, at Little John's with Frank throwing the change at the register. Yes, they're reopening again, and we hope they have success. But reopening in very limited capacity from a menu standpoint, a narrow menu or a menu of not many items, which I think is a smart move by them because they want to do things well, and by doing too large of a menu, that could be challenging. But the old corner or the corner of yesteryear

was some of these bars that he mentioned. St. Martens is gone. Greenskeeper, which turned into what? Was it Jabberwocky and then three, or was it three then Jabberwocky? That's now like a student hangout area. Orbitz is the Biltmore, or Orbitz is Boylan Heights, excuse me. St. Martens is closed. Coupe de Ville took a few year hiatus because of a fire. It is reopening or has reopened. College Inn is no more. The last owner of the College Inn, I believe, was a friend of the program, Stu Rifkin.

Little John's, we hope it reopens. Michael's Bistro, the upstairs bar, what's going to happen to the bistro? That was a place where grad students would hang. And as we reported on Thursday, and I'm surprised I haven't seen Legacy Media in Central Virginia report this, Deep Throat sent me this news first, Hilton has purchased the franchise rights

to the Graduate Hotel. You're seeing what we've called many times on this program the big boxification. Oh, and Albert Graves. Oh, and Albert Graves. Thank you, Albert Graves. Appreciate you. He says on Twitter, don't forget the Buddhist biker bar.

Good times. I used to have plenty of many good times at Buddhist biker bar, especially on Monday evenings for $5 steak and potatoes. Monday nights, you could spend five bucks and get steak and potatoes at Buddhist biker bar, now owned by Jordan Brunk,

Crozet Buddhist biker bar on Hollywood Avenue. We talked about this on Thursday before I went to Charleston, the big boxification of the UVA Corner. And that's only going to continue. Baja Bean, Ginny Hu makes a strong comment on the corner. Baja Bean was fantastic, owned by Ron Morris. In fact, Baja Bean on the UVA Corner, owned by Ron Morris. In fact, Baja Bean on the UVA Corner, owned by Ron Morris, his wife, Heidi Morris, was my third grade teacher in Williamsburg. Wow.

At Williamsburg Christian Academy. She was my third grade teacher. Ron Morris' general manager, a corner superstar, friend of the program, now her name is Stacy Reed. Stacy used to make beautiful Stacy Reed. My friend Shane, who was a Phi Kappa Psi, fell in love with Stacy while she was bartending at Baja Bean. And she had the talent and skill set

of making cocktails, bartending, while singing karaoke. Baja Bean was the epicenter for karaoke. She would make cocktails, pour drinks for customers, work a full bar while singing karaoke beautifully. And I remember Shane, who was my year, she's older than Shane, he walked into Baja, we were underage, and immediately fell in love with her, and now they have three sons. They live in Florida. Nice.

Fantastic family. So thank you for that, Ginny Hu. Let's get some photos on screen. Let's get Albert Graves' photo on screen. He's made the show better. He said the NCAA did not do UVA any favors with their first game matchup against a physical Colorado State team, and if the Wahoos win, they also win a matchup with the Texas Longhorns. But good luck to the Wahoos. It's definitely going to be a road

to climb. No question about it. But UVA as a team, if they get hot with the jump shot, especially from downtown, they can beat a lot of teams and surprise some clubs because their defense keeps them in contests. Let's get Ginny Hu's photo on screen. Love when Ginny watches on Twitter. These are key members of the viewer and listener family, which you can find at ilovecebal.com forward slash viewer rankings. ilovecebal.com forward slash viewer rankings. Ginny Hu's number four. Albert Graves number seven. Let's get John Blair's photo on screen. He had the fantastic reference of old UVA. old school UVA corner. Thank you, John Blair. We appreciate you.

Deep Throat, number one in the family. Let's get his photo on screen. He says, so Judah, on the satellite UVA campus, Lloyd Snook replied to several critics of the NZO by asking sarcastically, so what should we do? Have UVA moved to Culpeper? Deep Throat says, but the joke is on him. UVA is expanding to other places, and his own alma mater, Stanford, expanded to Redwood City. It's a great idea for UVA to distribute some of its programs to other geographies in the state,

no doubt about it. It's brilliant. UVA having these satellite, it's not campus in Charlottesville, it's grounds. Does that mean I have to call them satellite grounds? And what's the plural of grounds? Because grounds here is singular in reference to UVA, Charlottesville. Is it grounds-i, grounds-is? Grounds-is-is. Grounds-is-is? That's a mouthful. Yeah. No, I don't know what it is. Do I call it satellite campuses and risk the rebuff or the blasphemous attacks from alumni? Groundsize? Having the satellite campuses will just go with campuses for the sake of talk show is genius. and the true genius and granted she was ahead of her time

was when Board of Visitors chair Heather Dragas, the former chair said they should go satellite they should go prioritize more digital education through Coursera that's the true genius and that's the eventual

not the only path but one of the key paths for higher education. And then the brand goes global. Now, it doesn't have the same impact on gentrifying Charlottesville, but this record-setting amount of applications has an impact on gentrifying Charlottesville. Because you go four years of college, a lot of people call them the best years of your life. That's why we're seeing so many move here. I had somebody else in the neighborhood move to our neighborhood that are moving to our neighborhood now. They went to graduate school.

The husband and wife went to graduate school at UVA and said they were itching to get back to Charlottesville because of the fantastic time they had in graduate school. So now they're coming, both with MBAs, to Albemarle County with the ability to work remotely. And they cannot wait to set up shop and live here and raise their family. Fantastic news, but obviously a glimpse into the influence that Virginia has. Carly Wagner says, UVA Wise has been around a long time. Absolutely, Carly Wagner. Her photo on screen, key member of the

family. Carly, when she leaves a comment, I read it. Number three in the family. Get her photo on screen if you can. We've had one, two, three, and four comments so far, and seven. God, I love you guys. Derek Bond, watching the program, a restaur restaurateur Derek bond has withstood the test of time at the melting pot and it's a successful restaurateur there and he owns Moe's on Ivy Road and a deal that we helped broker and he's doing a fantastic job at Moe's he said you know I'll paraphrase these comments, Derek. He says, the restaurant industry is challenging. And that was in regards to the sale of the Biltmore.

The restaurant industry is challenging. And no doubt about it. No doubt about it, my friend. Logan Wells-Caleilo, welcome to the show. Keith Smith watching the broadcast. Logan Wells-Caleilo is... Man, did you get her photo on screen? Let's see. Number 43 in the family. Gosh, we should add Keith to the power polls. 49. Add Keith. 49, the star of Real Talk. He's going to talk about the National Association of Realtors settlement.

We'll talk about that on Wednesday. I do want to offer some perspective on it. The settlement happened Friday as I was driving down to Charleston. And it's got a lot of folks that are not in the real estate professional circles, now in tune with what's happening. And why that's happened is because mainstream media covered the settlement.

We are going to see a change in this industry. And we've covered this well on Real Talk with Q. Smith, airs Wednesdays and Fridays right here on the I Love Seville Network at 10.15 a.m. We'll certainly cover it this Wednesday with a man that's been in the business since 1987. But I think the settlement and the changes that are coming are for the benefit of the consumer. The decoupling of commissions is a good thing. The split between buyers and sellers, brokers.

The added level of transparency is a good thing. All commissions are negotiable. That should be something that is transparent and known. There's some speculation that it's going to make the first-time homebuyer in a more precarious position because the first-time homebuyer may have to pay out of their pocket to up front to have representation in a deal. The reality is the first-time homebuyer was always paying for their representation. They were just rolling that into a mortgage instrument

and financing the cost of the services provided. Now, the primary difficulty I see with this is that the first-time homebuyer very well could pay out-of-pocket up front along with their down payment for their buyer's representative, their buyer's realtor, making it more difficult for the first time home buyer to buy a house because they're going to need more money

up front, where currently or in the past, they were financing that by rolling in what they were paying their representative into their mortgage instrument saving them the money up front, that's opportunity cost there I think we will

see agents get out of this business. The reality is a lot of agents don't do a lot of business. Many agents do one transaction or less a year, and it's a hobby business, and this is going to make things even more difficult for them, which you could see the numbers drop. them which you could see the numbers drop and if you could see the numbers drop that may be beneficial to the ones that are doing this 80 hours a week around the clock that are the the the market share leaders at this point this settlement is

national news and it's going to be a conversation starter for a lot of people over a lot of deals, over a lot of contracts, over a lot of dinner tables in the future. Anything you want to add on the NAR settlement, Judah? I know you follow that closely. You read the information. We've been texting back and forth. No, no i don't want to i don't have anything to add um nothing to add no okay carly wagner says uva established wise in 1949 and it became independent in 1972 and she says that virginia tech has had a northern virginia campus for decades i also believe that GMU started as a satellite campus of UVA and split off as an independent university sometimes in the 50s or 1950s to 1970s.

GMU, George Mason University, not just a team that was known for that magical run to the final four years ago, but known as a transient suitcase type school where folks attending GMU are not necessarily those that live in the area, which is very different from, say, what the University of Virginia is, where those that attend UVA are living in Charlottesville and influencing the population and the surroundings around Charlottesville. One-shot me if you could, J-dubs. And then we're going to weave you in with some of

the suggestions that you provided. Oh, I'm following, I see three of your comments around here. Carly Wagner. You got me on a one there yep this is a good comment right here for Judah and I from right down the road from Grayson who's watching welcome back Jerry I missed you on Friday and so did my wife

Judah you should have hosted the show he says in regards to Virginia and so did my wife. Judah, you should have hosted the show. He says, in regards to Virginia and admissions and applications, you should also highlight that a hybrid or remote learning environment that, as you talk about with UVA, could also expand the reach of the university, which may further expand Charlottesville and change what Charlottesville looks like. I don't know if I agree with that as much,

because if you're taking classes digitally at UVA, you're not going to fall in love with the Charlottesville area as if you attend UVA in person for four years. I think the ones that are choosing to move back here professionally, either after graduation or years after graduation, are the ones that spent four to move back here professionally, either after graduation or years after graduation, are the ones that spent four years at school here and fell in love with it like yours truly, and then chose to stay or chose to come back. But I thank you for the kind words in your comment. This is a highlight that you want to go, if you want to get lower third

on screen for applications for tax relief, must be in by April 1. This is kind of a call to action reminder, Judah. Yeah, this is for anyone that our audience knows out there that may need something like this. These things are not always very well advertised, and for the people that really need the help of something like this, it can be a life changer. of anyone out there the criteria are that they have to be 65 or older or I believe permanently and totally disabled as of

December of last year and they need to get their information in by April 1st. So, like I said, if you know anyone out there that could be, that really needs this, let them know. That's only, what, less than two weeks away now. Yeah, and some viewers and listeners have highlighted this. The folks that need this tax relief often are the folks that don't have access to news in a market that's very much becoming a news desert. Yeah, exactly.

So, like I said, if you know anyone, get this information to them. A friendly call to action from our beloved colleague here, Judah Wittgower. John says, please tell Ginny Hu, John Blair, that I appreciate the Baja Bean reference. And he says, but you brought up a good point. How many UVA weddings came from the old corner? I'd wager hundreds. Great comment from John. I'd wager thousands, if not tens of thousands of weddings came from

the UVA corner, from the bar scene at UVA corner. Stacy and Shane Reed come immediately to mine. Patrick and Carrie Hopkins come immediately to mine, friends of the program here. I would say quite a few have come from meeting and interacting on the UVA corner, the old UVA corner. And interestingly, the two couples that I just mentioned both live in the area. Or no, the Reeds previously live in the area. They live in Florida now. They did live in Alamaro County. The second couple I mentioned lives in Alamaro County.

So that's a strong comment right there. Like, that's the influence that the corner has had on shaping the area around us. Next headline, my friend Judah, if you put it on screen and then read the headlines to the viewers and listeners. We've got... $13 million going to three affordable housing projects. These are... I believe these are all projects going to three affordable housing projects.

These are, I believe these are all projects coming out of, let's see, it's, oh, what? These are Piedmont Housing Alliance projects. And what I was, what I found interesting when I was reading about this is that, is that this is obviously only a part of what they actually need, but it's a process that doesn't just – it source of funding, then another source of funding, and they explain in the article how oftentimes it's a matter of, I guess I would say it's almost a matter of, what's the word I'm looking for? You build up a certain amount of headway, and by getting the funding approved from one source, it can help get funding approved from another source,

and that can lead to getting funding from, basically they're trying to get all their ducks in a row, and each one that they get set up can help with the next one. And this is great. This is money going towards 501 Cherry Avenue, Kindlewood Phase 2, and redevelopment of Monticello Area Community Action Agency site. That's a mouthful, on Park Street. And total is $13 million. So we hope that they continue to get the rest of the funding they need

and get to work on these projects. Judah Wickauer, appreciate that. I read Sean Tubbs his Charlottesville community sub stack. I think Sean does a hell of a job. And he's got some reporting out today that I found compelling that I will

get to in a matter of moments. And he talks about how Charlottesville is doing a number of social initiatives. Projects associated with social goals, affordable housing, funding of nonprofits is what he talks about early in his reporting today. And he mentions that in regards to how it could also drive tax increases because the money's got to come from somewhere. And he highlights that he's going to be the one that's kind of following or reporting on this,

which, let's cut to the chase, he is. And there's not a ton of options out there. And he does a fantastic job. So there is the double edge of every sword. Yeah, well, the good thing about this particular allocation of funds is that it's coming from outside of the community.

Glenn Young can, yep. Best kind of funding. He's releasing $129 million in affordable and special needs housing loans to... Still covered by Virginians, but not as direct to us in Charlottesville. Yeah, exactly.

Let's see. Let me see if I can read it. Oh, this is good. This is from Sean Tubbs. The region is experiencing a lot of transition. In one direction, you have an ambitious push in Charlottesville toward more government spending on social programs, as well as construction of housing. In another direction, you have Alamaro County that sees its purchase of land near the Rivanna Station as the beginning of a new golden age of economic development. All these things are happening at once as well as the urbanizing of Zion's crossroads.

And I unpacked it like this. You have this ambitious push of more government spending on social programs, but with that push to try to create affordability like this, you have this ambitious push of more government spending on social programs. But with that push to try to create affordability and equity and inclusion comes spending, which the double-edged sword is. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money? You spend money, not necessarily, you're not really making money there. You're spending money to create affordability.

You're spending money to create a well, a deep non-profit environment. Not necessarily making money there at all. The social push is causing money to be spent and taxes to be increased, is I guess the point I'm making right there. I appreciate you bringing that headline up. This from Deep Throat, he says,

the affordable housing story buries an important lead. The interesting thing to me is that most of the PHA projects, when you look at total costs, come out to above $500,000 per unit without considering land costs. Incredibly inefficient. He says this is a very inefficient situation. They have their heart in the right place, but is the brain in the right place? That's a good question. $500,000 per unit without considering land costs. Is that just...

Do we chalk that up to business in Charlottesville? I wouldn't say even business in Charlottesville is that expensive. Because we talked about that home last week, and I'm going to go to the headlines from Thursday, and I was proud of Thursday's show. On Thursday's show, we talked about 1112 Elliot Avenue, $488,000 for an 870 square foot house. Let's see, is that still active?

You made a note to keep tracking that, right? 1112 Elliot Avenue for your fans? Still active. $488,000 ask for an 876 square foot house. That's on a lot. That's 8,712 square feet. So not big. A postage stamp. Lot. We really should make a note to track that.

This house here. Please, sir. Thank you kindly. A couple other items out of the notebook that I want to get to. This is something for celebration. We talk housing a lot on this program. There goes Brian Holuska again. Brian Holuska, who was at one time a fantastic sports writer for the Daily Progress on the high school football beat.

U.S. home builders are feeling more confident about their businesses, if you put that lower third on screen, than they have since last summer. The U.S. home builder sentiment went positive for the first time since July, and it gained for the fourth straight month, despite the fact that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has hovered around 7% since February. Interestingly, there are some banks locally, now there are some strings attached to this, where you can find rates that are in the low sixes or potentially the high fives, even in jumbo criteria. But in that scenario, you're potentially moving financial assets and or business assets to that bank where they warehouse or portfolio loans for the opportunity to get your business in totality, whether it's your business accounts or your cash reserves as deposits. So an indication of the haves having and the nots not, where some are 7%, where you could get a two-point lower rate, potentially,

if you move your whole financial picture to a local institution. The home builder sentiment intrigues me. The sentiment rose three points in March to 51. The sediment also moved into positive territory for the first time since July. 50 is the line between positive and negative. It's hit its highest level since this past summer. Why this intrigues me is this is happening at the same time that rates are at 7%, a smidge above 7%. And it may be an indication that folks are considering

the new builds because they're like, heck, everything is expensive. Why don't we take something potentially newer? I think that's what's going on here. Carly Wagner says this. This is a response to Deep Throat and Judah. Cost of everything in Seville is not based on cost plus markup. It's more based on what's the most I can charge for this and still have a buyer. It's a market of scarcity with enough wealthy consumers. Scarce homes, scarce labor, scarce blue-collar services.

Also, same-time builders can stop offering buyer-agent commissions. Yeah, I was going to mention that. Carly, strong comments today. Interesting that the home builder sentiment goes up at the same time that they can stop offering buyer-agent commissions. And speaking of the settlement of the lawsuit,

a lot of the publicly traded companies like Zillow, Compass, and Redfin that specialize in homes and real estate down dramatically on Friday. Red today on Monday. Those three in particular. So you're seeing that settlement, that NAR settlement,

impacting potentially the home builder settlement, and you're also seeing it impact these publicly traded companies. I don't know if they're going to all drop to 3% by mid-July, Ms. Wagner. I think that some sellers, especially at the higher price points, are still going to go down that pay buyers broker commissions because they want to move houses. But time will tell. Time will tell for sure. Time will certainly tell.

Any other headline you have? You have two more, don't you? As you're updating lower thirds? Yeah. This is kind of an odd one. This is the first I knew that the pear trees, those white flowering trees that you see every spring, apparently those pear trees are one of the most invasive tree species around right now. Virginia Department of Forestry is trees. The odd thing is that there is a one-day exchange event on April 20th,

and you have to register for the one day event. And then I believe you have to cut down your pear trees beforehand and have photo evidence. I mean, it just sounds like a whole lot of insane hoops that they've set up for people to jump through considering the fact that this is an initiative on their part and i i don't see a whole lot of people jumping through a bunch of hoops just to get just to trade in some get some new trees it just seems a bit odd

it's a very very very strange way of going about things red tape yeah but red tape for something something that Virginia is actively trying to get rid of these trees and yet they make it they add hoops for people to jump through in order to help. It's just seemed very strange

and it caught my eye. Vanessa Parkhill watching the program her photo on screen. Vanessa, a key member of the family, she says and does all that government spending actually achieve the goal of creating equity and affordability? Look to West Coast cities with similar

policies for the proof of performance. I'm not sure it's there. I mean, that's the concern I have. That's the concern I try to highlight on this show here. Raising $80 million-plus for Buford School Reconfiguration, a reconfiguration project that takes years, if not a decade, to finish, while stinging the people in the short term with tax increases,

pushing them out of the community. Yeah. That's why all taxes are regressive. All taxes are regressive. Yeah. Raising the budget every year to fund affordability projects or nonprofits, considerably raising a jurisdiction's budget every year,

Charlottesville, I'm talking about you. Yeah. While not really having a marketing or advertising campaign for tax relief for the citizens that need it yeah i mean i let's spend spend spend spend but let's not spend on the tax relief program to let folks know that the first of april is the deadline right let's utilize the bill in the mail in the u.S. post office to notify people. I mean, it's I'd say backwards. Maybe backwards.

Maybe it's not backwards at all. Maybe that's the intent. And maybe this is the conspiracy theorist in me, where it's like, the conspiracy theorist is, maybe they don't want the relief program that much out there. I think it's just government. I think it's like the conspiracy theorist is maybe they don't want the relief program that much out there i think it's just government i think it's just it's inefficient yeah it's inefficient it

wants it's like what the restaurant owner that watches the program said we have many restaurant owners that watch the program one in particular said he had to go to three different departments at city hall to get light bulbs changed on a side street outside his restaurant yeah went into one department. They said to go to another department. Another department said to go to another department. And then he had to go back to the first department to get this done. And neither department knew who was supposed to change the light bulbs. Yeah, I think oftentimes government means very well, but in action, it acts more like a cat with a bag on its head,

just banging around, hoping that something goes right. And it's sometimes, I think, a little nuts. Deethroat says, Judah, a Bradford pear tree will straight up split. There goes Lloyd's note. A Bradford pear tree will straight up split. There goes Lloyd's note. A Bradford pear tree will straight up split and fall on your house. You should take up the state and fill out whatever form you need.

Those are dangerous. Will split and fall on your house? Yeah. Hmm. I don't know about mine, but... He's offering some arborist suggestions. Arborist? Arboringist suggestions. Arborist? Arboring, yeah.

Arboring suggestions? A Renaissance man you are. I enjoy running into you, Dutra. There is a pear tree near the entrance to my neighborhood. Well, the tree that's outside the I Love Seville studio. That's not a pear tree. No, I know it's not. It's massive, though.

Yeah. The hoops that you would have to jump through in a historic district, in a downtown district, to do anything to that tree. Yeah. Make it so cost prohibitive that you just basically leave the tree alone. I mean, that's not really very surprising. That is a big tree. It's a massive tree, but look at it. You could not...

Look at what it's doing. You would seriously need to cover your butt cutting that thing down because there's not really a direction it can go without hitting something. Right. And so, as a result, that go without hitting something. Right. And so as a result, that's what you get.

There you go. Anything else on the list? I think there's one more thing. Oh yeah. This is more just a congratulations. The King Family Vineyard was awarded the 2024 Governor's Cup. James King and his family, good people. Congratulations.

They're a great locally run business and got nothing but love for them. Neil Williamson is attending the Albemarle Architectural Review Board learning about the proposed Wendy's in North Point.

I think he's watching the program. Proposed Wendy's? Yeah, Wendy's in North Point. There you go. I will say this. I ate on the way to Folly Beach this weekend. Had a fantastic time at Folly Beach folks. Fantastic time.

I ate at Wendy's going down. Did you drive? That's right. I did drive. Wendy's going down because it was right off the interstate and McDonald's coming up which is right off the interstate. Yeah. I remember the quality being so much better. You sure that's not time and old memories?

Because I know what you're talking about. Perhaps. I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I know that... Both times disappointing. Both times over $12. Yeah. Both times disappointing. And you do it for convenience

because it's right off the interstate. Both times disappointing. I think fast food has become less convenient. The most appealing or enjoyable or tasty of all the fast foods, Chick-fil-A, I believe, the most appealing or enjoyable or tasty of all the fast foods, Chick-fil-A, I believe, the most expensive. Yeah, I think fast food has gotten, it definitely got more expensive,

definitely gotten less, just less, less fast. Return on investment. Yeah. just less... Less... Return on investment. Fast, yeah. Less return on investment. I think it's becoming a... It's probably becoming a hole

for lower income people who see it as a way of saving money when in reality you're really not anymore. Katie Cox says the Wendy's $5 Biggie Bag is elite. Let's get Katie Cox on the I Love Seville viewer and listener power rankings. Did you say $5 Beanie Bag? Biggie Bag. Biggie Bag.

We added Keef to the viewer rankings. We'll get Katie Cox. Thank you for watching the program on iloveseville.com forward slash viewer rankings. Mr. Smith, 49. Katie Cox in the 50 slot. Katie, we appreciate your commentary on the show. All right. That is the Rob Neal who woke up at 520 this morning and was on a treadmill over at the Borset.

Less utility and fast food now. Mr. Neal, I was very impressed, his photo on screen, with your commitment two years now to setting the alarm before the sun rises. Very impressive for Rob Neal, 29 in the family. On a treadmill at the Borset before the sun rises. Two years straight. Impressive, Mr. Neal. Less utility in fast food now, he says.

Yeah. Totally true. No doubt. 100% true. And I don't think you're necessarily wrong. There have been times when I've gone and thought, you know, I remember the first time I went to Taco Bell. Taco Bell.

And I used to love their taco salads. Tacos. And they just seemed to get, it seemed like they were getting smaller and smaller and smaller. And I was very disappointed because I used to love them. Same thing with their Mexican pizza. Those used to be pretty good. And it seems like they got smaller. Albert Graves says Arby's is his

go-to for fast food. Arby's. Who's got the beef? Where's the beef? Is that the tagline for Arby's? I think so. Who's got the beef is the current the beef? Is that the tagline for Arby's? I think so. Who's got the beef is the current one. We have the meats.

We have the meats. That's what it is. That's a great tagline. Who is it, though? It's some famous actor who does the voiceover for that. We've got the meats. I think it's... You know what I'm talking about?

I do know what you're talking about. Anyways. I don't know if we need to pontificate that long on the Arby's tagline. They have some good roast beef, but it's Arby's. Judah Wittkower, Jerry Miller, the I Love Seville Show. Tomorrow at 10.15 a.m., Jerry Ratcliffe is in the house to talk about Virginia's matchup against Colorado State in the NCAA Tournament matchup contest for the Wahoos.

Thank you kindly for listening to the I Love Seville Show on a glorious and gorgeous Monday afternoon in downtown Charlottesville. So long, everybody. Thank you.