City, Eggleston Hotel owners disagree over collapse
Richmond's mayor is trying to calm an escalating war of words between the city and owners of the Eggleston Hotel over the collapse of the long-blighted landmark in Jackson Ward.
Mayor Dwight C. Jones declined to respond in detail to a statement by the owners yesterday that they got no help from Richmond in financing the planned $1 million renovation of the building, which was renowned as a magnet for illustrious black entertainers and athletes during decades of racial segregation.
"I hope that the property owners are successful in restoring the Eggleston Hotel," Jones said in a statement late yesterday.
"For decades, it has been one of our city's historic treasures -- right in the heart of Jackson Ward. We will continue to work with the property owners, and provide any available assistance during the construction and restoration process."
The 99-year-old building fell early Saturday, two days before crews were scheduled to begin reinforcing the walls. The owners decided to demolish the remainder of the building later that day.
Developer Kelvin G. Hanson, who planned to restore the hotel with apartments and retail space, said yesterday that the demolition cost will be paid as part of the redevelopment project.
The building had been vacant for more than a decade at the intersection of North Second and East Leigh streets. It had lost its roof and stood open to the weather, but the owner, Second Street Renaissance Associates, said yesterday that city officials should be thankful that no one was injured in the hotel's collapse instead of publicly blaming the owners for not acting sooner to stabilize the building.
The partnership said the city had not given it the same financial help as other imperiled historic landmarks in Jackson Ward and had delayed private financing of the development project by a tax-refund error that had clouded the property's title. Jones and other city officials did not respond to the allegations.
The Eggleston partnership issued the statement yesterday after a top Richmond planning and building official blamed the building's collapse on the owner's delay in responding to years of city pressure to save the structure from ruin. Rachel O. Flynn, director of community development, said Monday that the owner had waited too long to begin stabilizing and restoring the structure.
The owners responded yesterday that they had spent more than $50,000 to prepare for the hotel's restoration, including the removal of more than three stories of debris from the building in the past two months.
Richmond code enforcement records show that the city had cited the owner for hazardous conditions in 2005 and had begun pushing hard in September 2007. City building officials met that fall with the owner and developer to produce a plan to stabilize the structure. An unsigned memorandum in the city file warned on Oct. 17, 2007, that the building's exterior wall could collapse if debris shifted inside the structure because of weather or human action.
The city set a deadline of April 1, 2008, to begin construction for stabilizing the building but said the owner did not meet it.
The Eggleston partnership said yesterday that it had submitted monthly reports to the city to document the status of the project, but those reports are not part of the records released this week by the city.
The records also did not include a letter written by the project's structural engineer, Klaus J. Worrell, on March 18, 2008, asking the city to close one lane of Leigh Street and move power lines before the stabilization work could begin. The letter was copied to Art Dahlberg, then Richmond's building commissioner, but Worrell said yesterday that he never got a response.
Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or
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Reader Reactions
So where is Preddy Ray and THE TASKFORCE FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND THE MINORITY COMMUNITY when you really need him..oh wait…he got caught scamming Richmond and the Feds years ago.
Well, at least we’ve smoked AnonE out.
The fact is that it is the owner’s responsibility to comply with the codes. How many times do you think that the City hears the “good faith”, “we’re working on it” story? In the case of this building, 10+ years is pretty good patience, if you ask me.
If you have a property that is run down, you don’t have to wait for a court to order you to comply with safety codes, and neighborhoods shouldn’t have to wait through year after year of blight waiting on the right “market opportunity.“ The law is the law, and that’s it.
Sorry to learn that you have an axe to grind, and hope that you are a responsible developer.
ravencottage - great idea. DickTracy: right on the money. Anon. E. Mouse8 - letting a building sit and rot for 10 years is not “working in good faith.“ You uare indeed disgruntled and seem to have a bone to pick. princessESQ: you encourage people to do research before commenting and then ramble on about nothing. Kumbaya.
Well I am a disgruntled developer that has watched the arbitrary nature of Flynn’s decision making. I completely agree it is a property owners responsibility to deal with their property. However, if a property is working in good faith and the government intentionally throws roadblocks in the way of progress - or extends help for one project but not another - it certainly adds nuance to a situation. I do not think the property owner is without fault by any means. However, I have been on the receiving end of Flynn’s ire and she can stop a project dead in its tracks. I do not know the full story here, but the fact that she came out of the gate swinging makes me think she has a bigger hand to play in this than is obvious. That is how she operates. Property owners have responsibilities, that goes without saying. At the end of the day it is absolutely the property owners responsibility to take care of the property. But do not underestimate the governments ability to interfere with that.
While everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding this matter, I strongly encourage everyone to do some form of research before making random and uninformed statements. There is a tremendous amount of negoiating, planning, and budgeting that takes place behind the scenes on these type of projects that most of us will not ever have any knowledge of. It is likely that all parties involved could have done some things differently, however hind sight is always 20/20. Instead, everyone should come together and first be thankful no one was injured or worse and use this experience as learning tool and everyone involved should work on establishing or revising policies and procedures as it relates to this matter.
DickTracy has it right. AnonEMouse sounds like a disgruntled former employee, developer or property owner.
There are funds for spot blight budgeted, but they are small in comparison to the problem. So, you have to have capable and funded private developers who can do the rehabs, and not just dreamers or opportunists.
The bottom line is that the owners of the building have the responsibility to deal with their property. 10 years without a roof? That isn’t Rachel Flynn’s fault, or the City’s. What did the owners think would eventually happen?
Odd that the collapse happened a day before work was to start. Think about that angle.
I think this is another example of Rachel Flynn running at the mouth in an effort to obfuscate the quagmire she has created in Community Development. Yesterday she suggested this property should have come under “spot blight” - a tool whereby the city takes the property and restores it or hands it over to another developer to restore. What she doesn’t say is where that kind of money comes from in this economy. Jobs are being cut, infrastructure is collapsing and she thinks the city should spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to rescue a privately held building. If she had deemed the property owner “worthy” of the project you can guarantee he would have had smooth sailing in moving forward. She has made government arrangements for “friends” financing, no matter how questionable it may have been (look at track record in Lynchburg). I suspect if this property had gone “spot blight” and she had gotten into hands of someone she “approved” we would be looking at the Eggleston grand opening, not cleaning up the debris from the collapse.
This is a typical example of owner neglect & ignorance resulting in the ultimate collapse of the building; and then taking no responsibility and blaming everyone but themselves. Typical of people who always have their hands out looking for taxpayers to give them something for nothing.
This is judgment time for those who let their property go to pot—and then expect restoration monies from tax-coffers—-bail outs to make them
look better than they really are in a time of economic crisis. Certainly, they had fantasies about all
the dollars they would make after it was done…If certain individuals had cared so much for the historic nature of the place they would have at least cleaned it up. There is an element of sloth and self-indulgence here. The collapse proves the City was correct in its citations. The time of easy street
for slum lords is over.
How about a nice plaque on the sidewalk…ON THIS SITE STOOD etc…and let the taxpayers of Richmond and the Commonwealth keep their money.
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