Category Archives: Economic development

Deep Dive: Casinos, Highways, and Ignoring RVA Voters

Posted on October 13, 2023 by | 3 comments

Downtown Richmond

by Jon Baliles

Republished with permission from RVA 5×5.

They say the past is prologue and that if you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it, among other famous quotes that have stood the test of time. And they have a factor of truth and lesson in them. And so is the case with next month’s casino referendum, the second one we have had the chance to vote for because the first one was ignored by city leaders in 2021.

This Deep Dive is a look back at the last time Richmond faced two referendums on one topic in short succession — the people were asked to vote to register their voice and they said no to the city leaders, planners, and business leaders. Both times, the people’s voice was ignored, and both times the city leaders overruled their vote and their voice and pursued their plans irrespective of the results — with disastrous and long-lasting consequences.

This may be starting to sound familiar. Continue reading →

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Posted in Business and Economy, Economic development, Elections, Ethics, Gambling, Money in politics, Politics

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Incapable at Least; Incompetent at Worst

Posted on October 10, 2023 by | 6 comments

by Jon Baliles

The Richmond casino referendum this week was once again in the forefront of the news but not because of the impending vote or the discussion of the numerous proposed “benefits” the casino advocates have promised every group under the sun. No, this week it was made known that the company driving the effort to approve the casino referendum (again) is facing the possibility of being delisted by NASDAQ.

Nevertheless, the casino advocates assure all of the potential voters that they will be able to pay the city the $26 million up front payment within 30 days of the approval of the referendum (as spelled out in the agreement), AND build their proposed $562 million casino, AND provide $30 million to the city tax coffers every year from here to eternity, AND still pay off all the organizations and groups and investors they are promising largesse to win approval of the second casino referendum.

No promise is too big, no cost is too high, and no vote is too expensive. Continue reading →

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Posted in Economic development, Elections

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Whose Water Is It?

Posted on September 25, 2023 by | 101 comments

The Rappahannock River. Photo credit: Va. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

There are some issues that seem to be baked into public policy and, because they affect sensitive and important areas, tend to lead to controversies periodically.

Many years ago, one of the hottest controversies was the “inter-basin transfer of water.” Because Virginia is a “riparian rights” state, folks who live next to rivers can withdraw water from the river, but are not supposed to divert it to use by other people who do not live on the river. To do so would diminish the water available for those other riparian landowners. The Virginia Supreme Court in the 1942 case of Town of Purcellville v. Potts declared a per se prohibition against inter-basin transfer:

While a riparian owner is entitled to a reasonable use of the water, he has no right to divert it for use beyond his riparian land, and any such diversion and use is an infringement on the rights of the lower riparian proprietors who are thereby deprived of the flow. Such a diversion is an extraordinary and not a reasonable use.

The field of water law is a very complex one and that is as far as I am willing to dip my toe into it. Suffice it to say that inter-basin transfer of water is an important concept. For a more in-depth discussion, see here. Continue reading →

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Posted in Economic development, Infrastructure, Land use & development, Property rights, Water-waste water

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“Blessed“ Is the Second RVA Casino Referendum

Posted on September 23, 2023 by | 18 comments

by Jon Baliles

Early voting has begin in Virginia and the Richmond casino advocates have gone all-in with the mayor and City Council to make sure the referendum got back on the ballot and now are betting the house with an absurd amount of money to make sure the referendum passes this time.

Jimmy Cloutier at Virginia Investigative Journalism has an interesting piece on the all out effort by the casino advocates to buy their way to a victory at the polls  this time around. He points out that two out-of-state companies (Urban One, based in Maryland and Churchill Downs, based in Kentucky) have already raised $8.1 million which “dwarfs the amount of money raised in every Virginia legislative race and ballot initiative in state history, according to an analysis of campaign finance data by OpenSecrets.” Continue reading →

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Posted in Economic development, Elections, Gambling, Money in politics, Open Government, Politics, Public safety & health

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Virginia’s “Runaway” Budget Negotiators

Posted on September 14, 2023 by | 4 comments

by Derrick A. Max

(This column was first published by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy)

Fear of commitment is a common theme in Hollywood — where romantic comedies are replete with characters that sidestep long-term commitment primarily out of fear that someone better may come along. Think of Runaway Bride, where Maggie, played by Julia Roberts, keeps running away from her betrothed at the altar out of such fear.

The budget amendments passed last Wednesday with bipartisan support and praise from Governor Youngkin are replete with commitment issues. The approved tax cuts and new spending were written to have very little impact beyond the current budget cycle. Like Maggie, both Governor Youngkin and the Senate Democrats are clearly standing at the budget altar hoping for better options after the November elections. Continue reading →

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Posted in Budgets, Business and Economy, Economic development, Elections, Finance (government), General Assembly, Politics, Taxes

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Short Term Rentals — Long Term Impact

Posted on September 2, 2023 by | 1 comment

by Jon Balilies 

The City of Richmond has been discussing altering and revising regulations about short-term rentals (STR’s) and the next action will take place at the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday afternoon (September 5th). It is an important decision because it is entirely possible the decision by the Commission and ultimately City Council could have a tremendous impact on housing availability, high sale prices, and neighborhood character.

For the last few years, the city has done a good job of holding public meetings and soliciting feedback through various methods and gathering information about short-term rental properties (like AirBnB and VRBO, etc.). Until 2020, they were technically illegal and unregulated but they did exist (they rose to a more visible status when the UCI 2015 Bike Championships came to town).

In gathering information and developing the first ordinance, the city said it wanted to find the right balance to allow property owners to take part, but also make sure it was done right to protect neighborhoods. Some other cities dove in head-first with few, if any, regulations, which led to adverse, if somewhat predictable, effects. Richmond smartly agreed to revisit the ordinance after having some time to evaluate the initial regulations. Currently, in residentially zoned areas, the city requires that owners must claim primary residence at least 185 days (just over half the year) to rent out as a STR. If the property owner has a converted garage, etc., then they may rent that out all year. In commercially- zoned areas, there is no residency requirement being proposed in the new legislation. Continue reading →

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Posted in Business and Economy, Economic development, Housing, Leadership

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Virginia Has Lost Its Mojo — Appalachia Edition

Posted on September 1, 2023 by | 24 comments

A new report, “The Future of Appalachia,” outlines economic development strategies for one of the most intractably poor regions in the country. Drawing a distinction between “southern” and “northern” Appalachia, the study observes that southern Appalachia has achieved far more economic success than its northern counterpart. Unfortunately, for purposes of this analysis, Virginia is deemed part of “northern” Appalachia.

The difference in dynamism can be seen in the map above, which shows net in-migration between 2021 and 2022. Each dot represents 100 people. The mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama are experiencing significant in-migration — Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky almost none.

Alas, I do not have the time to explore this study in any detail. I’ll settle for filing this under, “Virginia has lost its mojo.” I invite readers to dip into the study and report their observations. — JAB

24 Comments

Posted in Demographics, Economic development

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Schools Shouldn’t Open Before Labor Day

Posted on August 30, 2023 by | 41 comments

Oceanfront, Virginia Beach. Photo credit: Kerry Dougherty

by Kerry Dougherty

Better sit down, youngsters. Did you know you’ll only get OUT of school two days earlier than last year? Yep, your last day of classes is June 14, 2024. Last June you finished up on June 16th.

Joke’s on you. Oh, and the teachers who pushed for the new schedule believing they’d get an early start on summer.

Until 2019, Virginia’s public schools were prohibited from beginning before Labor Day. The law, nicknamed the “Kings Dominion Relief Act” was passed in 1986 to boost Virginia’s tourism industry, giving teens with summer jobs a chance to work through the traditional end of summer. Continue reading →

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Posted in Economic development, Education (K-12), General Assembly, Labor & workforce

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Virginia Beach’s Bad Habit: Reckless Spending on Wasteful Projects

Posted on August 7, 2023 by | 2 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Feckless leadership, wasteful spending and escalating taxes have plagued Virginia Beach for decades.

Despite new faces on city council, the game of spending tax dollars on insane projects that “will pay for themselves” continues.

But let’s back up.

Here’s one prescient story from The Virginian-Pilot in 2007. The headline: “Virginia Beach Sportsplex Misses Its Goal” soft pedaled what was going on. It was yet another pricey project, dreamed up by developers and approved by their political puppets.

And it was failing. Continue reading →

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Posted in Business and Economy, Economic development, Government Oversight, Land use & development, Leadership, Politics

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How Did VCU Miss the Red Flags?

Posted on August 4, 2023 by | 24 comments


by Jon Baliles

The unravelling saga of a failed development proposal downtown a block from City Hall that was supposed to rise out of the ashes of the failed Navy Hill project is still smoldering. The failed deal has come with a price tag of about $80 million so far (and growing) for VCU Health. They were supposed to be the main tenant of the project and, by all accounts, approved and signed a deal in July 2021 in which VCU accepted heavily one-sided terms that have become so expensive it could still ripple throughout the city, the university, and the state.

Eric Kolenich has peeled back the latest layer of the onion in an eye-popping article in the Times-Dispatch this week, with emails that revealed grave concerns with the deal that would leave VCU Health holding the bag, and also emails that showed more concern to close the deal than what was in it. The emails show both bad communication and miscommunication among those at top levels of VCU’s administration at both the Monroe Park campus and the medical campus. They were sent in a flurry in the weeks leading up to VCU inking and approving the deal, and ignored warnings that were raised in favor of a closer analysis or alternative parachutes that would offer a way out.

After the Navy Hill project failed in early 2020, Capital City Partners, the developers who led that attempt, returned to the city with a proposal for a development for the city’s dilapidated old Public Safety Building at 500 N. 10th Street (aka the Clay Street Project because it is at 10th & Clay Streets). The proposal was for a 17-20 story building that would be leased by VCU Health for office use. They would pay $650 million in rent over 25 years that would produce close to $60 million in tax revenue for the city.

VCU would have to pay rent starting in 2024, whether or not the building was completed, as well as pay for repairs and maintenance. If the project faced cost overruns, VCU would also be on the hook for those.  And strangely, since it was office space, it would not generate any revenue for VCU Health like other facilities they had recently built (e.g. the Children’s Hospital). Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Health Care

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Virginia No. 2 in Latest CNBC Ranking, 16th Worst in Real-World Performance

Posted on July 12, 2023 by | 18 comments

by James A. Bacon

Virginia has risen to the No. 2 spot in the CNBC Top States for Business ranking, up from #3 the previous year. The cable business channel gave the Old Dominion high scores for access to capital, business friendliness, workforce, and — No. 1 in the category — education.

What a farce.

First, let’s talk about the correlation between CNBC’s rankings and real-world economic performance. CNBC ranked Virginia No. 3 last year. Its economic performance measured by GDP growth, according to Wikipedia? Thirteenth worst! Tied with West Virginia.

Adjusted for inflation, Virginia GDP growth was 4.0% last year. The national average was 5.7%. So much for CNBC’s predictive value. Last year was not an aberration. Growth has been sluggish for years.

Second, let’s look at the No. 1 score for education. Continue reading →

18 Comments

Posted in Economic development, Education (K-12)

RVA 5×5: Referendum Waiting In The Wings

Posted on July 8, 2023 by | 5 comments

by Jon Baliles

Three weeks or so ago, the regurgitation of the casino referendum got a round of approval from almost everyone on City Council in a meeting that was filled with unearned righteousness about how it was going to save the city (kudos to Councilwoman Katherine Jordan for the lone no vote).

Richmond BizSense reported that:

Councilmembers contended that misinformation about the project the first go-round warranted putting it to the voters a second time. They stressed that the development (no longer being referred to as a casino), would not involve funding support from the city and would create jobs and economic opportunities for Southside and the rest of the city.

Of course, most people knew this the last go-round because the advocates of the casino spent $2.5 million on billboards, mailers, and ads telling us ad nauseam about the “benefits” of a casino and how it wouldn’t cost the city anything. Now, they want to pretend we were too stupid to know that the real reasons they were pushing the first time around weren’t what they spent $2.5 million promoting.
Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Economic development, Efficiency in government, Gambling, General Assembly, Uncategorized, Virginia Law

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Check Out Which New Virginia Laws Go Into Effect July 1st

Posted on June 30, 2023 by | 11 comments

by The Republican Standard staff

The Virginia General Assembly passed several small bills due to the split between the Republican-led House of Delegates and the Democratic-controlled Virginia State Senate. Yet the areas where they did find co-operation could matter to many Virginians as we head into Fourth of July weekend.

Enhanced Penalties for Fentanyl Manufacturing or Distribution
Reeves SB1188 Senate 35-5 House 50-42
Provides that any person who knowingly and intentionally manufactures or knowingly and intentionally distributes a weapon of terrorism when such person knows that such weapon of terrorism is, or contains, any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

Universal Occupational License Recognition
McDougle SB1213 Senate 40-0 House 99-0
Establishes criteria for an individual licensed, certified, or having work experience in another state to apply to a regulatory board within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and be issued an occupational license or government certification if certain conditions are met.

Police Chiefs May Enact Local Curfews during Disturbances
Norment SB1455 Senate 27-12 House 53-45
Enables the chief law-enforcement officer of a locality to enact a curfew under certain circumstances during a civil disturbance.

Making Sure Every District has a Legislator
Suetterlein SB944 Senate 39-0 House 99-0
Requires special elections to fill a vacancy in the membership of the General Assembly be held within 30 days of the vacancy if the vacancy occurs or will occur between December 10 and March 10 which coincides with time right before and during the General Assembly session. Continue reading →

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Posted in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime , corrections and law enforcement, Economic development, Elections, Finance (government), General Assembly, Governance, Government Oversight, Government workers and pensions, Law enforcement, Politics, Regulation, Uncategorized, Virginia Law

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Light Rail: Idiotic Idea In 2016. Idiotic Idea Now.

Posted on June 16, 2023 by | 4 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Virginia Beach voters THOUGHT they drove a stake through the heart of the absurd plan to bring light rail to the city after an overwhelming vote in 2016 against the nutty, developer-driven boondoggle.

But never underestimate cultists with an agenda. You know, developers who believe taxpayers have a duty to open their wallets to help THEM get rich. Or climate kooks who don’t understand a cost/benefit analysis.

No surprise, then, they’re back. Some shadowy online group is beginning to push a bad idea that was buried in a landslide 7 years ago.
Continue reading →

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Posted in Economic development, Finance (government), Infrastructure, Money in politics, Uncategorized

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The Song’s Not New Just Because You Haven’t Heard It Before

Posted on May 23, 2023 by | 1 comment

by Joe Fitzgerald

When I was a younger man and indulged in that lowdown southern whiskey, I would sometimes sum up the next day by saying, “I don’t remember church bells.”

Astute observers will immediately recognize literary allusions to Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken,” one of the great rock-and-roll story songs.

Now, 41 years sober, I hear the song differently. It’s the story of someone finding out that an experience may have been unique to him, but wasn’t unique.

Which leads me back, to the surprise of no regular reader, to Bluestone Town Center. BTC is an ill-advised development based on empty promises, misguided good intentions, and governmental obtuseness. Those wishing to know the other side of the story are welcome to Google it.

I was struck during the discussions of the project by how often supporters of the project fell back on baseless accusations of racism and privilege or answered objections that hadn’t been raised. I also noticed things in the city’s deeply flawed housing report that had little to do with building or selling housing.

Come to find out, any discussion of housing faces an underlying set of assumptions. And as any student of left-leaning politics knows, many of those assumptions lead to the expectation that anyone opposing any housing issue must prove their motivations and intentions are not racist, classicist, ageist, or ableist. Continue reading →

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Posted in Economic development, Efficiency in government, Governance, Housing, Land use & development

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