The original developer went bust during the 2008 financial crisis. In 2012, Dewberry Capital won an auction to buy the half-finished structure and promised to complete it in 2013.
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Work has not resumed. The only work done was to secure the facility for safety reasons when graffiti appeared on it. Dewberry tried saying it wasn't their responsibility.
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Last year, pieces started falling off it.http://www.nbc29.com/story/31925402/new-safety-concerns-for-landmark-hotel-site …
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Dewberry claimed work would start once their Charleston property was done. It's now finished, and Dewberry is now posturing for incentives that were not part of the original plan.
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This incentives include discounted parking at a partially City-owned facility, and tax breaks. Mind you, these incentives were not structured to compel construction to resume.
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This was literally "throw money at the developer in hopes that they start working." Dewberry's only track record in Charlottesville is not fulfilling any of their promises.
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There's nothing to suggest taxation is the barrier between continued blight and a completed project. Either Dewberry has the capital or it doesn't.
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Charlottesville has a hotel shortage and the Dewberry would only be the second major hotel Downtown. The profit model is there. The tax incentives were a needlessly bad deal. Enter the DSA.
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The DSA held a demonstration against the deal before City Council. And they've been doing groundwork to convince residents to oppose it, using the bad state of public housing as their catalyst.
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This worked. And two of the votes against the deal were from outgoing Councilors. This sends a message to those incoming: we won't stand for this.
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This has been part of a long running campaign to get the city to provide more resources to its low-incomw housing projects. There are places where elderly people have no AC in the summer.
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This is what grassroots activism looks like. Boring details, wrestling a few million here, a few million there away from bad deals made by craven politicians.
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Proud of Charlottesville's activists for doing this work.
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