Oregon Hill neighbors continue to investigate the private, non-profit Venture Richmond. What they are finding may be of interest to all Richmond citizens.

Venture Richmond is (allegedly) leasing the city property at Brown’s Island and the city property at ‘Tredegar Green’ each for $1/ year. The wording of the lease obligates Venture Richmond to pay to the city an amount equal to the city real estate taxes unless exempted. Even if exempted, Venture Richmond is obligated to pay to the city the city real estate taxes that would accrue by any sub-lessee, such as an entity sub-leasing the canal boat concession.

The city’s Finance Department has confirmed that they have no documents relating to the payment of these real estate taxes by Venture Richmond for the Brown’s Island or Tredegar Green leases nor do they have any documents relating to an exemption. The Finance Department has been in contact with the City Attorney on the issue. The real estate taxes for Brown’s Island alone would be over $70,000 per year. This appears to be similar to the situation encountered with the Redskins Training Camp deal:

“In a statement, city spokeswoman Tammy Hawley said the finance department was unaware that Bon Secours required an invoice to meet the payment as the terms were set in the signed agreement.”

This comes at the same time that Venture Richmond has applied to City Council for an exemption from real estate taxes for the property owned by Venture Richmond at Tredegar Green. The catch is that Venture Richmond is making this application for exemption during a moratorium on exemptions by designation. They are in fact seeking an exemption from the moratorium on exemptions. The assessor’s committee that examined Venture Richmond’s application for exemption unanimously rejected the application over a year ago, citing, among other issues, the high salary of Venture Richmond employees. Collectively the top four employees of Venture Richmond make over $640,000 annually.

It is even questionable if Venture Richmond has a valid lease on the city Tredegar Green property. State code requires that any city lease with a term of five years or more to be put up for bids. The City Clerk could provide no documentation that the Tredegar Green lease, which is for a term of over five years in length, was ever advertised for bids (in the same vein as the recent Monroe Park situation).

This is all coming to a head next Monday, March 17, 2014, when Venture Richmond’s proposed Tredegar Green amphitheater, which would do great damage to the historic James River and Kanawha Canal, is on the agenda of the Richmond City Planning Commission. The Planning Commission is supposed to review Venture Richmond’s lease of the Tredegar Green property, when it appears that this lease may not be valid. Equally strange would be for the Planning Commission to consider this item if Venture Richmond has not honored its (alleged) lease by paying the real estate taxes or by showing an exemption.

The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) has asked that the City Planning Commission exclude the city property above the canal from Venture Richmond’s proposed amphitheater because that property is not zoned for an amphitheater. OHNA also points out that the city Tredegar Green property will be the logical location for the eastern terminus of the canal when the canal is rewatered. If the property above the canal is removed from the proposed amphitheater there would be no cause to damage the historic canal.