Monthly Archive for May, 2009

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Regal vs. Hillsdale Drive Extension

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 5, 2009 in Business, Development and Transportation. 13 Comments

The news of the Regal Seminole 4 expanding presents some problems for the planned Hillsdale Drive extension. The planned road will go right along the edge of the theater, and Regal’s expansion will push the theater right out into the proposed route. Brian Wheeler, with Charlottesville Tomorrow, broke that story a few days ago, and today Rachana Dixit and Brian McNeill provide the city’s response to all of this, which seems to boil down to annoyance. It’s Regal’s land to do with as they see fit, and there’s certainly nothing stopping them from expanding their theater into the path of the road.

The trick here is that there’s just not room for both uses. Either the theater can expand, or Hillsdale Drive can be extended clear down to Hydraulic, creating the first of what the city and the county intend to a series of roads paralleling 29 North, to take traffic off of the main drag. The two are headed towards an eminent domain showdown, and I’d bet that Regal will lose that particular game of chicken.

Planning Commission Members Explore Metered Parking

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 3, 2009 in Government and Transportation. 22 Comments

Some members of the Charlottesville Planning Commission think the city should examine metered on-street parking, Rachana Dixit writes in the Daily Progress today. Cheri Lewis, Mike Osteen, and Mike Farruggio all think that it’s worth looking into moving away from providing free on-street parking in the core of downtown, and switching to using meters. City Council, on the other hand, is opposed to the idea, with the exception of David Brown. At this point there’s no planned path forward to making this happen, just interest expressed by planning commission members.

Landmark Hotel’s Bank Fails

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 1, 2009 in Business and Development. 11 Comments

The FDIC has seized Georgia’s Silverton Bank, Matt Andrejszak writes for Marketwatch, which is notable here because they’re the bank financing the Landmark Hotel. How will this effect the hotel? Well, it’s not like it could get any worse than remaining as-is. Thanks to Bob for the tip.

By the way, if you’re curious about how the FDIC actually seizes a bank, I highly recommend listening to the recent This American Life episode about this very topic. It’s actually pretty bad-ass. At 6:00 PM on a Friday, dozens of covert agents converge on the unsuspecting bank simultaneously, lock it down, and spend the weekend doing a full accounting of its assets, merging those assets with those of another bank in the area, and opening it again for business under its new name on Monday. They try to do that on a three-day weekend (this Monday, for instance, is a bank holiday), but it’s still a pretty amazing accomplishment.

Regal Seminole 4 to get 5 More Screens, Stadium Seating

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 1, 2009 in Business and Entertainment. 18 Comments

Every media outlet in town is reporting that Regal Seminole 4 behind KMart is becoming a nine-screen stadium-seating behemoth. They’ll have digital projectors, retractable armrests for seat-sharing, and the ability to project live broadcasts. The plans are on display in the theater’s lobby. There’s no word on when the project is scheduled for completion.

The demise of the Terrace Triple left the Seminole 4 as the skeeziest theater in town. Looks like they’re about to become the best theater in town. I see a movie in the theater about once annually; one of these years, I’ll make it the Regal Seminole 9.

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