Richmond City Council is scheduled to consider ordinances for the proposed Navy Hill downtown redevelopment in late February. (Image courtesy NH District Corp)
Five of the nine Richmond City Council members are calling on Mayor Levar Stoney to withdraw plans for Navy Hill.
Those council members introduced a resolution at the conclusion of Monday night's meeting, petitioning the mayor to "withdraw the existing Navy Hill ordinances and conduct a new request of proposals process."
They are: 2nd District Councilwoman Kim Gray, 4th District Councilwoman Kristen Larson, 5th District Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch, 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell and 3rd District Councilman and Vice President Chris Hilbert — who also announced on Monday plans to leave council at the end of his current term. The resolution is scheduled to get its first airing at City Council’s Organizational Development Standing Committee meeting on Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.
At least seven of the nine members on Council will need to vote in favor of the downtown redevelopment plan for it to pass. Trammell said Monday that she will not be one of them.
“I am not going to support Navy Hill because I know my people; they know right from wrong, and they know the good from the bad, and this is a bad deal,” she said.
Stoney, meanwhile, remained defiant at an impromptu news conference in the lobby of City Hall, emphatically saying that his administration doesn’t plan to withdraw the 10 Navy Hill ordinances. He called the five council members who oppose the plan selfish and urged them to “do their jobs.”
“I’m not concerned, because it will remain on the docket, so there will be no withdrawal,” he said. “They’re going to be asked to do their jobs just like anyone else would. I’ve heard more concerns from just everyday residents about how we can improve and perfect the project, not from the City Council."
In the resolution, the five opposing council members call for a new request for proposals (RFP) to be issued, saying the process should engage public feedback from the earliest stages of its development, something they say was not the case in the development of the deal that's on the table. The city also should appraise the value of all city-owned parcels in the development area, Gray said.
The resolution’s patrons said their own doubts about the project have been amplified by negative feedback they’ve received from their constituents.
“The overwhelming sentiment [is] that the voters are unhappy with this untransparent and seemingly disadvantageous deal for Richmond,” Lynch said of 5th District residents she’s spoken with while campaigning and since joining Council. “I think that there are some great things as a part of this proposal, but I think that largely, the process has been flawed and should have been slowed down from the get-go, and we should’ve done a thoughtful, community-forward development.”
Project developer NH District Corp fired back in a scathing statement issued during Monday’s meeting, saying the council members backing the proposed resolution “could discredit the city of Richmond’s business reputation for years to come.”
“It’s unfortunate that instead of looking for ways to improve the Navy Hill proposal, these Councilmembers are putting their heads in the sand and hoping that the City’s problems resolve themselves,” it continues. “We proactively sought to sit down with each of these five members to ask them for their ideas, amendments and recommendations to make this the best possible deal for Richmond, to which they have offered nothing.”
Stoney, likewise, criticized the opposing council members for introducing the resolution before C.H. Johnson, the firm that City Council hired to conduct a second independent review of the proposal, could present its findings to the board.
“I think it’s laughable — irresponsible — that they would propose such a resolution even though currently they’ve spent over a quarter of a million dollars, roughly, of taxpayer dollars for a third-party study and [are] not even waiting for the results,” he said. “That’s like ending the game right in the third quarter. ... It’s ridiculous.”
He also pointed to recently announced amendments to the development agreement between the city and the developer that would shrink the tax increment financing (TIF) district used to repay arena construction debts from 80 city blocks to 11, pending the passage of legislation sponsored by Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond).
Bourne's bill, HB 1345, would allow Richmond to keep 2.025% of state sales and use tax revenues collected in the city that are not specifically set aside for statewide education and transportation costs to repay arena debts. The altered TIF district would encompass the 10 downtown blocks slated for Navy Hill development, along with two new Dominion office towers.
In a letter to City Council, Richmond Director of Finance John Wack said the bill would allow the city access to over $55 million in revenues available to repay arena bonds over their lifetime, and that by slashing the size of the special tax district, $172 million of incremental real estate tax revenue that would be set aside to repay the bond debt could flow into the city’s general fund.
Stoney on Monday also announced that his administration would "hold [Richmond Public Schools'] funding harmless by budgeting for RPS based on the same formula City Council adopted in 2019, inclusive of properties in the increment financing area.” He has also said that 50% of the revenue generated by the Navy Hill project, an estimated $500 million over 30 years, would go to city schools.
Lynch, though, compared the recent alterations to late-game Hail Mary passes, while Gray said amendments to the plan should have been presented in time for the City Council-appointed Navy Hill Development Advisory Commission to weigh in.
“It’s concerning to me that now, all of a sudden, they want the consultant to review those and not the commission, and I think they waited until the commission’s work was done to throw all of these additional things on the table,” she said.
Gray also sparred with Stoney and NH District Corp over claims that council members were asked for input on the development proposal as early as 2017, saying that weren’t made aware of details in the plan until its unveiling last August.
First District Councilman Andreas Addison, who did not back the proposed resolution, declined to comment after Monday’s meeting.
Fred Festa announced his intent on Monday to be the owner of new minor league hockey team in the Navy Hill arena, should the $1.5 billion downtown development be approved by Richmond City Council next month. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
The resolution’s introduction capped an eventful day in Navy Hill news that began with a press conference where former W.R. Grace & Co. Chairman and CEO Fred Festa announced his intent to locate an ECHL minor league hockey team in the 17,500-seat arena central to the Navy Hill plan. Festa also was the former owner of the NCHL’s Greenville, South Carolina, team.
The as-yet-unnamed team would play in the Navy Hill arena at least 36 times per year, Festa said, and would need to draw an average of 5,000 attendees to each game to be viable. If the Navy Hill plan is approved, Festa said its inaugural season could kick off in October 2023.
No members of City Council were present for that announcement.
The 10 Navy Hill ordinances are slated for City Council consideration on Feb. 24.
