See below for video and tweets about the Richmond City Council’s meeting last night, at which they voted to kill the massive, $1.5 billion Navy Hill “proposal to redevelop the Richmond Coliseum and surrounding neighborhood.” As Virginia Public Media reports:
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the development group, NH District Corp., had negotiated a $1.5 billion redevelopment deal that would create a new, publicly funded arena and more than $1 billion in private apartments, offices and retail space. The deal failed to gain enough support from the City Council to be approved, with a majority of members expressing skepticism over the need for a new arena and lofty revenue projections…
Council members Chris Hilbert, Kristen Larson, Stephanie Lynch and Reva Trammell also voted against the project.
Hundreds of people both for and against Navy Hill flooded City Council chambers Monday night. Richmond City Council suspended its normal rules to allow people to be heard shortly before the deal was voted down. A common theme from anti-Navy Hill residents were the dire need for better school facilities and affordable housing, rather than subsidizing a new arena. Those in favor touted the $300 million in minority construction contracts and new tax revenue as reasons to move forward with the project.
For more background on this project, also see Richmond’s Navy Hill Development Advisory Commission Report Released, in which a majority of the commission found that the “proposed, publicly financed $300 million arena” is NOT “a sound and reasonable public investment in the redevelopment of Downtown [Richmond].” Also see Jeff Thomas’ take on this project.
The $1.5 billion #NavyHill proposal to redevelop the Richmond Coliseum and surrounding neighborhood is officially dead after a five-member majority of #RVACouncil voted to reject the deal. More here @MyVPM: https://t.co/QyDbfMo08D pic.twitter.com/NK2wyOfeP1
— Roberto Roldan (@ByRobertoR) February 11, 2020
Here is @navyhillrva’s response to tonight’s #RVACouncil vote to kill the #NavyHill proposal. @myVPM pic.twitter.com/naPb327sj0
— Roberto Roldan (@ByRobertoR) February 11, 2020
Hats off to the badass, tireless Richmond activists for this win, and the council members standing up to corporate greed and corruption. https://t.co/Yaxr3NnDvX
— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) February 11, 2020
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