The incomplete Landmark Hotel is going up for auction, Henry Graff reports for NBC-29. A federal bankruptcy court will sell it off, to satisfy $2.8M in construction costs unpaid by Halsey Minor, who ran out of money shortly after the steel framework of the building went up a few years ago. Minor’s one-time partner, former Charlottesville developer Lee Danielson, claims a billionaire backer is going to help him win the structure at auction, presumably to finish building the boutique hotel. The auction, if it happens, would likely be held in three months.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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It somehow seems unfortunate that a luxury hotel may, at long last, actually be built there. All this time I had been entertaining the idea that some other, more creative use of the structure would come to fruition.
Such as….?
Gray, hard and “rock”-like = concrete, not “steel” framework.
Just sayin’…
This is all happening way way too fast.
I mean, its just not charlottesville if we dont fight over what to do for the next 20-30 years no? Maybe dump a few million into studies? Maybe listen to a few mouth breathers whinge on about irrelevant personal tangentials at a few city council meetings? Maybe let the cville or hook do a hard hitting exposé or six? Maybe let the newsplex release its army of elven newscasters for on the scene reports?
Just sayin… has the right idea. We need to come up with eleventy billion options to endlessly entertain in every forum imaginable. I mean, otherwise, someone might come in and just build a hotel or whatever there, and we would stop noticing the building, and maybe even realize that it has very little real impact on our day to day lives. And then what would we do?
We’d probably have to go back to fighting about dredging the 250 bypass or something.
Come on Yo, then we would not be the Peoples Democratic Republic Of Charlottesville.
Sheezoman! I wasn’t saying I wanted years of study or endless debate, but rather that I was hoping for a more creative use of the space.
Some ideas: An office/apartment complex that utilizes alternative energy, organic clothing retail shops, underserved artists studios, organic vegan restaurants, non-profit workspace, alternative music rehearsal spaces, a minority youth center, a yoga center for the elderly. These are all just off the top of my head.
Belmont Yo and Danpri sound like humorless curmudgeons, crankily parked on their front porches, bemoaning the artsy types that have invaded this fine burg….
To them, Lee Danielson and Halsey Minor are visionaries whose vision could not be improved upon. I apologize that I respectfully disagree.
For what its worth, just sayin, myself and my good man danpri, I believe, are coming from opposite ends of the political spectrum. I would describe myself further left than anyone I know. Fact is, the political spectrum has shifted so far to the right since St Reagan made love to the evangelicals, that Im not sure there’s any place on it for me anymore. Also, anyone that knows me, knows the legendary dilapidation of my porch, and also knows that no one may sit upon it and judge anyone or anything. Further, I have been a professional artist in one form or another my whole adult life. I was one of the artistic infantrymen who fled the cost of living in california and colonized this outpost 12 years ago. I helped drive the property value in Belmont up. I offer these personal notes both because I find your assessment of me hilarious and, more importantly, so that you know where the following thoughts come from.
“I wasn’t saying I wanted years of study or endless debate, but rather…”
You may not want it, but the paths you are suggesting lead precisely there. I mean, the aggregate of your extemporaneous suggestions sounds like you want to build a hive for the rainbow gathering. While I may be sympathetic to some of the suggestions, I can guarantee that those needs do not represent the desires of the greater community. And when you pinpoint your suggestions, which I would argue are more personal desires, from a narrow ideology, at the very least you are going to get discussion. A lot of it. Too much of it.
What if someone felt the community needed to put a youth shooting range on one of the floors? You know, to serve the community with gun safety knowledge? Sounds absurd, but certainly no more absurd, in terms of serving the most community members, than a vegan restaurant. How about a slaughter house? How about a John Birch Society office? How about even, god forbid, a church?
You see, everyone has desires about what they want society to be. Some I agree with, some I dont. I think this is perfectly natural. The problems begin when those desires are translated in one’s brain to become something that one thinks everybody *else* needs, “whether they know it or not”. Should I be openly armed? Should I do yoga? Should I give to the homeless? Should I find Jesus? Should I stop wearing leather shoes? Should I make my kids say the pledge of allegiance? How should I solve my perceived problems? Those are questions I have to sort out for myself, and the answers I get are only really applicable to me. Would I like a tax subsidized art studio? Hell yeah, I’d be on that like white on rice. Do I think that that would serve best the most members of our community? Yeah, probably not.
I have always thought of it as a vastly complicated venn diagram, and the sweet spot where most people’s subset of personal desires overlap is what we call our community. The best part about this is that we do not need complicated studies to define precisely what the boundaries of that central set is. Hell, we’re herd animals, we’ve been sorting that out without even knowing it for ages. Here it is, you live in it.
Ive never stayed at the Omni. Would a luxury hotel four blocks up serve me in any direct and personal way? Not really. But when I step back, I realize that this thing is mostly built in the direction of a hotel, and as a fully finished hotel, it would bring a variety of tax revenue to our community. Im no economist, but it would certainly bring in more than it does as a cement husk, or dare I say it, a rehearsal studio. And those funds that come in might have a chance to start subsidizing the bending of the elderly into downward dog or whatever flight of fancy we as the community land upon. And most importantly, whatever this behemoth becomes, and whether I personally like it or not, it will not be the end of the world. Seriously. It wont. And I don’t think it helps to act like it might be.
I could get in to the fact that its private property, and whomever ends up owning it can pretty much do what they like with it within the standards set by the community, but those arguments have been had a million times before.
Lastly, and for the record, the only thing I find visionary about Halsey Minor is his prehensile hair. Well, more supernatural than visionary, but in the same league. I have never met or seen Lee Danielson, but with a name like Lee Danielson, he better damn well have an extremely aggressive seventies mustache or well, its just a total waste of a name.
So. No apologies needed, but I in turn respectfully ask that you not presume to know where I come from or what I think. I will return the favor.
“bemoaning the artsy types that have invaded this fine burg….”
What planet do you live on? The artsy types (non trust-funded) have for the most part been priced out of town and moved to Staunton or Lynchburg if they stayed anywhere close to the area. They’ve been replaced with the sort of guys who work at dull office jobs so they can buy the houses that the artists used to live in and who think they’re hipsters because they listen to twee folk rock, ride “fixies” (in a hilly town the fools), and/or sport tattoos or other external signifiers of cool that are at odds with their inner boringness.
Someone put Yo and me in the same political spectrum? Now THAT is funny.
Now that you mention it…
Also:
This HAS to be a joke, right? I mean, no one’s THIS granola.
I am concerned that liberals are now asking us to begin shooting at youths in range of the downtown area. All the other suggestions already are available. But shooting at youths?
I was actually (*gasp*) a junior member of the NRA. Wa-a-ay back when they did silly things like teaching people how to safely use rifles. Now back then they would NEVER have advocated shooting at youths….I’m completely unsure about their current stance on that concept.
Michael, yes, it was an absolute joke, nice catch. I tried to fulfill the stereotype Mr. Yo had apparently cast upon me after my remark of mild chagrin that there would be another luxury hotel on the downtown mall. Mr. Yo ran with that hook in his mouth as hard as he could. Some people are more easy to set off than others. Clearly Mr. Yo is in this first category.
I was think I would come back and continue the joke by then suggesting a number of right-wing or otherwise equally ridiculous businesses. The shooting range actually crossed my mind, as did an open air skating rink on the top floor, and a John Birch Society indoctrination center. I was thinking the shooting range could be for children under 17 and they would be cranking the Marilyn Manson non-stop.
Alas, I did not get the chance to continue the ruse before Mr. Yo published his epistle. I respectfully suggest that he might be taking himself a tad bit too seriously.
Can the revised “whatever” it becomes have a statue of Mr. Huja in the lobby? That would be cool.
@Just Awww. Does somebody need a juice box?
Look, I was just stating a sincere opinion, not taking the piss out of you personally. I am truly sorry if I did not “catch” your “humor”. Although, truth be said, it was pretty easy to miss as it wasn’t at all funny. I also regret not taking the time to read all the things you were ‘going to say’ before jumping right in with a comment germane to the topic at hand. That kind of context, as it turns out, is invaluable. If I only knew that two of the three facetious ideas you were ‘going to suggest’ were ones that I did (I know right? What are the odds?), perhaps I could have been more succinct.
@Danpri “But shooting at youths?”
My understanding is cville will not implement the youth shooting range up here until they work all the bugs out of the system down in Sanford Florida. We are sending the entire city council down there at lavish expense for a “fact finding mission”.
I’m all for lobby statues, but instead of Huja I’d rather see one made of the faces of all the folks that were interviewed in the six month process of finding a new city spokesperson.
http://www.schillingshow.com/2012/03/21/fraud-misfeasance-and-cover-up-special-prosecutor-investigates-charlottesville-spokesman-barrick/#comments
http://www.charlottesville.org/index.aspx?recordid=145&page=635
I’d have reworded that a bit if the edit function worked.
I might have clarified that much like our current city manager, the current spokesperson (Barrick) was hired while he was “acting” in the same role he was hired for and that there was a similar sham search for someone to take the position permanently.
Holy crap Boss…dig this…it looks like the Barrick-meister is leaving…
http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/mar/21/city-spokesman-stepping-down-investigation-reports-ar-1784308/
If only it were Jones making that announcment…
Damn, I’m going to have to start reading my posts BEFORE I push that button. At least until the edit thingie gets fixed.
add one “e” to my comment above
He’s ensconced. I don’t think he would be ousted even if they found $90,000 in his freezer. The “cult-of-personality” rules!
I saw that. Where are these reports of an investigation? (The Progress just says that they “surfaced.” Huh?) I want some more information before I write about this, because I just don’t understand what’s going on.
Also, I don’t know what the deal is with the edit function. When I get a few minutes, I’ll figure it out.
Listen Yo, if some kid starts walking on my lawn, with a bag o’ skittles…well… he better be white or I am coming out banging. Pathetic wanna be cop living in the rents basement seems like a good judge of character to me.
As to Barrick, leaving for a less stressful job. 95K to simply describe what other people are doing? Yeah, that would put worry lines on my face. Really, seems like something any second year PR student could do for about 30K.
The other 65K we could…. say…. NOT SPEND!
Yeah, that’s a good one danny. $95-K can buy a lot of stress relief.
Money in the bank. My kind of stress relief.