Melissa Loughridge Savenko

Well, the dust had barely settled (literally), and everyone seems to have an opinion about whose "fault" it is that the Eggleston Hotel collapsed. Seriously. Here's an article the day after the collapse titled "Richmond Official Blames Hotel Collapse on Owner's Inaction." Today the headline is "City, Eggleston Hotel Owners Disagree Over Collapse." City officials, the owners, newspaper columnists, and just about any Tom, Dick or Harry on the street is rushing to lay blame at the OTHER guy's feet.

Why do we care who shot John? It's not going to magically resurrect the Eggleston Hotel, like a phoenix from the ashes, if we can properly affix the blame.

Here's the reality: The "truth" about who is to blame is probably pretty complicated. The family that owned the property may not have had the resources to maintain it. It appears they were unable to secure financing to do something with the building. The City appears to have investigated the building for building code violations on several different occasions, dating back years. Why didn't the City move more quickly to enforce? The private developer who was to redevelop the property had been negotiating with the City and trying to determine what was required to stabilize the building. Perhaps that process could have gone faster. Did all these different processes either not work at all, or work too slowly? Clearly, because the Eggleston Hotel is gone. BUT, why does any one person, or persons, or any particular agency, need to be "blamed?"

From the standpoint of physical history and the importance of place, the loss of the Eggleston Hotel is nothing short of tragic. It was a mecca for African American entertainers, athletes, and stars back in the days of separate and decidedly not equal. Even many Richmonders don't know that Jackson Ward in its heyday was often referred to as the "Harlem of the South."

Here's what I think matters. On the issue of blame, I say WHO. CARES. There's probably a little bit to go around for everyone, and the gracious thing may be just to all acknowledge that what needed to get done, didn't. Just let's make sure it doesn't happen again. Stop wasting time pointing fingers and laying blame, and come up with a plan. Inventory all the endangered historic structures in the City. Then prioritize the "needs" and make sure resources get delivered to the most distressed properties. Stabilize first. Figure out an appropriate use second. If you need to use tools like spot blight ordinances to preserve important historic structures, then use them.

Who is to blame for the Eggleston - well, that's in the past. What matters now is what we do to make sure there is no similar situation in the future. Stop wasting time pointing fingers. The time is much better spent solving the problem. And here's one woman who is willing to put her money - well, her time at least - where her mouth is. I'd be happy to be a charter member of whatever group the City wants to put together to address this issue. I'm definitely not the most qualified, but I do have the courage of my convictions. Mayor Jones, Rachel Flynn, are you listening?

I just got around to flipping through my most recent copy of the "Fanfare," the Fan District Association's bi-monthly newsletter. There is a lot of cool stuff coming up in the Fan, so I thought I'd list the activities, in case people who aren't "Fanfare" subscribers aren't aware. So here they are, in date order:

Saturday, April 25: The "Binford Bash," celebrating the visual and performing arts. The Bash will be held behind the Binford Middle School, located at 1701 Floyd Avenue, from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. For more details check out www.binfordpta.org. I haven't been before, but I certainly plan to wander right on around the corner. It looks to be great fun for the entire family.

Sunday, April 26: The 69th Annual West Avenue Garden Tour. Children's events begin at noon, and gardens are opened at 1:00 p.m. The event goes until 5:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. For additional details, check out www.westave.org.

Saturday, May 2: Spring Neighborhood Improvement Event from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Fittingly, Fan neighbors are going to go out and clean up the alleys and streets adjacent to the Fan Kitchen & Garden Tour homes, in preparation for the big Tour the following day. Bring your own gardening gloves, and meet at 10:00 a.m. at 2518 Hanover Avenue for instructions.

Sunday, May 3: The Fan Kitchen & Garden Tour, sponsored by the Fan Women's Club. From 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., 10 different Fan homes are open for viewing. Tickets are $15 per person in advance and can be picked up at Tabernacle Baptist Church on the day of the tour. Check out www.fantourrichmond.com for all the details.

Saturday, May 9: An event near and dear to my heart, the William Fox Strawberry Street Festival, 2300 Hanover Avenue. 2009 is the 30th anniversary of this charmer, and both the young and the young-at-heart will find plenty of activities to amuse and entertain. The event begins at 12:00 noon and goes until 4:30 p.m. Bring money for that strawberry shortcake and the annual Strawberry Street Festival T-shirt, it all goes right back into the William Fox PTA budget for even more great programs for the kids. Check out www.richmond.k12.va.us/schools/fox/straw_street/ for details.

Saturday, May 30: The 2009 Woofstock Festival, sponsored by the Richmond Animal League, located on Monument Avenue between Allen and Lombardy. The Fanfare describes this event as "an all-day, family-friendly dog festival with live music, adoptions, games, food and drink." The "Strut Your Mutt Walk" is at 9:30, and Woofstock proper is from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Dogs must be leashed, and current on all shots. For additional information check out www.ral.org/woofstock.

Phew! That's a lot, but that's not even a scratch on the surface. One of my absolute favorite things about Richmond generally and the Fan/Museum District/Carytown specifically is all the wonderful outdoor festivals and activities. And if there isn't an event, and the weather is nice, I can always wander down to a friend's for a glass of wine on the patio. Richmond al fresco rocks.

Another great thing about all the events above is they are either free to attend and/or benefit great causes - Binford's PTA, the Richmond Animal League, the Fan Women's Club (which does wonderful things in the community with the money it raises), and the Fox PTA. So get out there, enjoy the weather, and spend some money for a great cause!

There have been several times in the last several months, when I have driven by the Eggleston Hotel at the corner of Second and Leigh Streets in the heart of Jackson Ward, and I have thought to myself "What a handsome building that is!" Now it is no more. In the early morning of Saturday, April 11, 2009, the Eggleston Hotel partially collapsed. By the end of the day, the remainder of the building was deemed unsafe and demolished.

The Eggleston Hotel was about to be redeveloped by a private development group into apartments and retail space. Restoration work was to begin THAT DAY. By Easter, the day of resurrection, this important piece of history in the Jackson Ward experience, a neighborhood that was called the "Harlem of the South" and was one of the most progressive and successful independent African-American centers in the entire country during the unfortunate days of segregation, was forever gone. Oh, the irony, and the tragedy.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the building had been empty for over ten years. In its heyday, it was one of three Richmond hotels that accepted black guests. Just a week or two ago, in its piece on John Pierpont Morgan and the bank runs of 1907, Style Weekly referred to the hotel, then known as the Miller Hotel, as the accommodations of Bishop Samuel D. Ferguson, a Kenyan bishop attending the tercentenary celebration of the Episcopal Church being held right here in Richmond, Virginia.

It's tragic that a building so part of Jackson Ward's history, a building that was literally on the eve of restoration, should collapse and be lost for all time. I commend the private development group that had stepped in to give the building a new life. Shades of Miller & Rhoads, as well.

But where are the private preservation groups that are supposed to be doing this important work? Why was this building vacant and deteriorating for ten full years? Why aren't the City and not-for-profit preservation groups stepping in to identify and stabilize important structures in imminent danger, or at least raising awareness about the potential loss of these critical pieces of the City's architectural "story," until appropriate new owners and new uses can be found for them?

PROPOSAL: I know Preservation Virginia (f/k/a Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, or APVA) maintains a "Most Endangered Sites" list for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. Why doesn't Richmond have a "Top Ten Most Endangered" sites list for the City? The members of the review committee could be made up of appropriate people from the City administration, architectural historians, academics, individuals from the preservation community, real estate professionals, architects. Maybe if we did something like this, we could raise awareness about these endangered structures, and save other significant buildings from the same fate as the Eggleston Hotel.

Here's the other reason to do it, beyond just the inherent value in historic architecture: It's good business. EVERY single report, of the five zillion or so that have been commissioned to help Richmond "re-vision" itself, has identified Richmond's rich architectural history as one of ts unique and valuable assets. If we won't take responsibility for preserving these unique assets in a systemic and thoughtful way - well, shame on us then.

Eggleston Hotel, R.I.P. May something wonderful rise from your ashes.

Wow. The last few days have been azy-CRAY. I'm exhausted, truth be told. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Being busy in this - per the media - "AWFUL" market is a good thing. It's hard to predict if the trend is going to last, but based on the current activity, at least in the sub-markets I specialize in here in Richmond, maybe things are turning around. Here's what I've personally done in the last five days:

• Written an offer;
• Received two more;
• Had multiple showings on each of my listings;
• Held two well attended Agent Previews;
• Attended the VCU Housing Fair, where we signed up over fifty potential buyer contacts; and
• Had SEVEN showings at the Windsor Court Condominiums between Friday and Saturday, with four of those potential buyers scheduled for a second look on Sunday, either before, during or after our scheduled Open House, which will be from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Phew! I'm ready to put head to pillow tonight, and to get up and start over tomorrow. But first a few thoughts on the possible drivers behind this activity:

1. Historically low interest rates, hovering around and even under 5%;
2. The first time home buyer tax credit of $8,000;
3. Fairly high amounts of distressed property inventory, mainly foreclosures and short sales, meaning great deals for buyers looking for a bargain and willing to do some work; and
4. The traditional Spring market spike.

The reality is this increase in activity is quite likely a confluence of all these factors, to some degree. But I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I hope the sales activity continues, because it's good for the broader economy. And of course I hope it will be good for me. [:)]

D*mmit. I hate it when someone writes a piece on a topic I wanted to address, AND does it better than I could have. That exact circumstance occurred in today's Commentary section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, in a piece titled "More Must Be Done to Revive Homebuilding" by Russ Parker, the past president of Parker & Orleans Homebuilders and the past president of the Home Builders Association of Richmond.

Now, personally, I think the title of the piece would more accurately have been "More Must Be Done to Revive HOME BUYING," both because that seems to me the focus of his suggestions and also the real crux of the issue with the economic meltdown. I personally don't think we should be encouraging any more new home construction until such time as a good chunk of the existing inventory is under contract and/or sold. [Sorry, Mr. Parker. It might make you feel better to know that my Dad, a general contractor, will probably want to K-I-L-L me for that opinion!]. But I do absolutely agree with his two incentive suggestions:

1. A $15,000 tax credit for the purchase of a home this year, regardless of income level or previous home ownership; and
2. Fixing the interest rate at 4% for any home purchase.

Both of these incentives would be time-limited and capped at a total dollar amount, to incent buying NOW.

You can read Mr. Parker's piece for yourself, he succinctly sets out the reasons the current home buying and anti-foreclosure incentives aren't enough. First, the first-time $8,000 home buyer tax credit is stimulating a segment of the home sales market that's already seen good increases in activity. Second, it will take some time for that "flow through" from the first-time home buyer sales to work its way through other market segments of higher priced properties. And third, saving homeowners in danger of foreclosure, while perhaps a morally correct thing to do, doesn't do anything to stimulate sales.

But read Mr. Parker's piece for yourself. He said it better than I can. D*mmit.