Local developer Gammino interviewed

From RichmondBizSense.com:

Gammino practiced law for more than a decade but left the legal profession to start his contracting business, which he grew a knack for after buying and fixing up homes in Oregon Hill. A native of Providence, R.I., Gammino has lived here since 1989, when he moved here to attend law school at the University of Richmond.

BizSense caught up with Gammino on the site of his first project as a developer and asked him what it’s like getting started as a developer and also about his next project he is planning in Jackson Ward.

Richmond BizSense: Tell us about your first project as a developer.

David Gammino: I’m working on the IVNA (Instructive Visiting Nurses Association) buildings at 223 S. Cherry St, which was most recently a law office for attorney David Baugh. It is 16,000 square feet over two buildings. The architect is Johannes Design Group, and my company, City & Guilds, is the contractor and developer.

RBS: What about the financing?

DG: The acquisition and construction is a total of about $2.8 million. First Market Bank is financing the project. The tax credit proceeds are secured by the bank at the front end of the deal and held by the bank until it is rented and stabilized and you meet a certain debt service ratio. The proceeds from the state and federal tax credits on this project are approximately $600,000.

RBS: Why did you decide to start doing your own development projects?

DG: I wanted to diversify the company and client base. Doing so in this environment is very difficult. There is a dearth of new development and what new business that is out there is being very aggressively bid by a multitude of players.

Growing the company within the traditional general contractor model is very difficult to do under the circumstances, so I realized one way I could continue to grow is by doing my own development. By virtue of having the existing business, I have the infrastructure in place to do so.

Article continues

Editorial: Filling in the Gaps in Historic Urban Neighborhoods

Bryan Green, a Pine Street resident, wrote an editorial that recently appeared in the Times Dispatch newspaper:

One thing advocates of “smart growth” and supporters of historic preservation agree on is the importance of concentrating development where existing infrastructure is already dense — and where houses, businesses, schools, hospitals, and public transportation are already located.

Each time a new housing development is located in an outer-ring suburb or on outlying rural land, local government is burdened with the responsibility to construct and maintain new roads, utilities, and public services. For example, only 25 percent of these “exurbs” connect with existing public transportation systems — the remainder clog roads with more automobiles (and the air with more toxic exhaust). In stark contrast, 60 percent of existing urban neighborhoods are already served by public transportation and have schools, hospitals, and other community services already in place.

Concentrating new construction and rehabilitation in our existing downtowns is the most environmentally and economically sustainable development possible. Much urban building stock is historic, and one of the greatest economic engines driving the rehabilitation of these areas is historic preservation.

Building and rehabilitating in historic contexts requires sensitivity, however, and can be expensive. Recognizing this, the federal government first established a rehabilitation tax credit in 1976, acknowledging that rehabilitation, while beneficial for urban areas, was an added cost to owners.

A 20 percent tax credit was established to provide incentives for careful rehabilitation of income-producing (commercial) historic buildings, incentives that prove ever more attractive to property owners and developers.

For example, in fiscal year 2008 (the most recent year for which figures are available), the National Park Service approved 1,231 projects representing a staggering private investment of $5.64 billion — all of which cost the Federal treasury less than $1.128 billion in tax credits. This powerful financial engine has been so successful that 30 states have added complementary rehabilitation tax credit programs, and 25 have extended their programs to non-income-producing properties (i.e., private homes).

The tax credit program leverages private money to rehabilitate historic buildings, returning them — and the surrounding area — to productive use. Because state and local tax incentives can often be attached to the federal credit, the program leads to greater public awareness of the benefits of historic preservation, which, in turn, provides incentives for private investment in historic neighborhoods.

The federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit program, on average, draws five private dollars for every public dollar invested for historic preservation and adaptive reuse — an especially compelling ratio in today’s economic climate.

Rehabilitation of historic buildings alone, however, is not enough to rehabilitate entire neighborhoods. What about the “missing teeth” in our urban fabric? How do we fill those gaps?

Nationwide, there are some 14,000 historic districts, many of which are plagued by two separate problems: demolished buildings and vacant lots, and inappropriate infill.
According to the Urban Land Institute, by the year 2050 the U.S. urban population will grow by 100 million people, all requiring housing, schools, and places for business — needs that cannot always be met by the existing historic building stock. In these cases, infill construction may be necessary.

Examples of poorly planned and poorly designed urban infill can be found in every city. Astute in crafting public policy to promote the re-use of historic resources, we are lousy at guiding what is built next door, and the urban fabric as a whole suffers badly.

To further stimulate our economy, state and local governments should consider expanding the existing historic preservation tax credit programs to include new, compatible infill development within existing state historic district boundaries. This could be accomplished through complementary state legislation in the form of a Historic District Infill Tax Credit (HDITC) that would further focus development within successful historic districts and encourage the completion of empty blocks.

Read the rest of the piece by clicking here.

How Far We Have Come…? Hollywood Rail, 1900

From The Times, November 25, 1900,

(The article is entitled, “Pushing Work On Hollywood Line”).

It is claimed by friends of the Passenger and Power Company that the placing of this additional line from Hollywood and Oregon Hill down Main Street all the way to Fulton will give the public better facilities not only through the business and residential sections of Main Street, but will enable a great many people who reside in the southwestern part of the city to reach the factories in the lower part of Main and Fulton without changing cars.

General Superintendent Calvin Whiteley, Jr., of the Passenger and Power Company, who is also engineer for the company, stated yesterday that he had been able to considerably increase the service already on both of the lines- Clay Street and Main Street- and that he was now giving on Main Street a four minute schedule, which is increased to a three minute schedule during the busy hours of the early morning and afternoon. He added that on the Clay Street line he was giving a schedule ranging from four to five minutes, according to demands of traffic.

Four minutes! Think about that next time you are stuck at the light at Idlewood and S. Cherry.

I would like to dedicate this post to my friend, Peter Bain, who is no longer teaching at VCU and is now living in Louisiana.

Richmond’s Hills, In 1904

This column appeared in The Times Dispatch, on November 23, 1904:

Editor of The Times-Dispatch:
Sir, -Please answer in your query column what per cent. of grade are the hills in and about Richmond, and oblige,
B.W.

….
Oregon Hill – Albemarle and Pine Streets, elevation 170.6.

These elevations are above mean high tide.

Editor’s note: to see the other hills’ elevations, go to article in link above. Oregon Hill has the most elevation for hills next to the river.

OHNA Meeting Tuesday; Location Jacob House

The next Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) meeting is
scheduled for Tuesday, November 24, at 7 pm. Because some of the
William Byrd Community House staff are on vacation then, I am moving
the location of the meeting to the Jacob House, at the corner of S.
Pine and W. Cary.

Lt. Baltz from Richmond Police Sector 413 has indicated that she plans
to attend.

Thanks,
Scott Burger
President, Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association

Byrd House Renegade Market This Week

From announcement:

It’s that week when we feast til we burst! OK, almost burst. As we prepare to grace family and friends by sharing great food and warm company, remember the RENEGADE Market is open this week –Tuesday from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm– to make available the freshest produce, meats and baked yummies available for your holiday convenience. Join us!
Brussels Sprouts – Cabbage (New Jersey Wakefield & Flat Dutch varieties) – Cauliflower – Broccoli – Spinach – Kale (Red Russian, Siberian and Tuscan) – Swiss Chard – Radishes – Beets – Broccoli Raab – Locally grown apples (Granny Smith, Red or Yellow Delicious, Jonagold, & Fuji varieties) – Eggs, Chevre Cheese, Chicken, Honey – Get free-range Turkey for the Holidays – Applesauce – Apples with Cherries and Raisins –
Cranberry-Apple Relish – Homemade Egg Noodles – and MORE!

Shop with a wild bunch!
BHM’s Renegade Market
Shop at the Byrd House Market’s Renegade Market, every Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. Corner of S. Linden St. and Idlewood Ave (same as BHM) where vendors sell autumn and winter vegetables, meat, chicken, pork, eggs, preserves, baked goods, and holiday greens.
For more information on vendors, go to www.byrdhousemarket.blogspot.com