All results / Stories / Jeremy M. Lazarus
New firm, CoStar, to bring 732 jobs to Downtown
Most people in Richmond probably never heard of CoStar Group Inc. before this week. Soon the 30-year-old company that is the No. 1 provider of information on commercial real estate will be a local household name.
Stoney’s $3B proposal
Funding designed to make Richmond more liveable, despite increased gas, water bills
Record pay increases for Richmond city employees, along with hikes in spending on youth programming, affordable housing, public education and street paving.
$1.1M needed for new voting equipment
Richmond is hoping to borrow voting machines to use in the upcoming June 9 Democratic primaries. At the same time, the city voter registrar is seeking more than $1.1 million from the city government to buy new voting equipment to use in the November general election. The city is one of 30 localities facing an emergency situation involving voting machines. The upheaval is the result of Tuesday’s action by the state Board of Elections decertifying the WINVote touch-screen machines that the 30 localities have used in their elections for 10 years. The board’s action essentially bans the use of the WINVote machines in any future elections, including the June 9 primaries that will be held in Richmond and nine other localities.
Burn notice: Council approves Fire training in park
The Richmond Fire Department won its fight to replace 2 acres of lawn at the Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side with a concrete pad and a fire training facility where recruits can get experience dousing blazes.
Preddy D. Ray Sr., longtime affordable housing advocate who sought to keep people in their neighborhoods, dies at 69
In 1971, Preddy Drew Ray Sr. was among a group of nine Richmond college students who packed their bags and went to a Cincinnati conference on af- fordable housing and the role community groups could play.
Construction of new city schools didn’t meet deadline, goal for minority participation
Richmond has built three new school buildings, but can teachers and students use them if the School Board decides to restart in-person learning?
Coffee shop business grinds to a halt
A combination coffee and bike shop was supposed to be a first step in breathing fresh life into a neighborhood business strip in North Side. But four months after the ceremonial, high-profile ribbon-cutting, only the nonprofit bike shop remains in operation at 10 E. Brookland Park Blvd. — and just a few days a week.
18-story apartment tower planned for Belvidere, Grace streets
Richmond is losing another gas station on the edge of Downtown, but is set to gain a $100 million apartment tower in exchange.
Health care cutback?
Bon Secours to close Richmond Community Hospital’s ICU, sources say
Is Bon Secours planning to close the small intensive care unit later this month at its 104-bed Richmond Community Hospital facility in the East End?
City could have saved $8M on 2 new schools
The new vice chairman of the Richmond School Board wants to end what he sees as overspending on new school buildings.
City employees will pay more for health insurance in 2022
City Hall employees will face an average increase of 17 percent in the cost of health insurance effective Jan. 1, with significant new limits on coverage for retiring workers, according to a report to City Council.
Council changes housing zoning policies
Richmond is taking a swing at boosting the supply of housing in hopes of stabilizing the soaring costs that are making it hugely expensive to rent or own.
Overcharged? 4 Richmond School Board members question surging costs to build new schools in city
The projected cost of the three new schools that Richmond is preparing to build has jumped an average of $107 per square foot in just five months, adding tens of millions of dollars to the cost, according to four members of the Richmond School Board.
11% tuition hike
NSU and U.Va. among state’s highest
Once again, the price tag to attend Virginia’s 15 state-supported colleges and universities is going up faster than inflation. In-state students can expect to pay at least 3 to 5 percent more in the fall, with a few schools going even higher. For example, Norfolk State University and the University of Virginia are posting a tuition-and-fees increase of 11 percent for incoming freshmen — among the largest tuition hikes in Virginia. U.Va. is imposing a $1,470 increase for new freshmen with the aim of raising money to reduce borrowing for students from lower-income families. The increase means new freshmen will pay $14,468 for the fall and spring semesters, not including room and board. Tuition for current students will rise only 3.9 percent from the current charge of $12,998.
City Council votes to acquire more land for slave memorial
Despite objections from the landowner, Richmond City Council cleared the way for Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration to buy 1.75 acres of private property in Shockoe Bottom to provide extra space for a proposed Enslaved African Heritage Campus.
High cost of defense
Everett L. Bolling Jr. tries to piece his life back together after winning in court but losing everything in a murder case
Eight months ago, Everett L. Bolling Jr., 37, seemed to have it all.
Moving on up
Creighton Court developer’s $300M plan may cost $410,400 per unit
The most expensive housing development in Richmond is headed to a neighborhood in the East End that has ranked high in poverty.
Altria Theater lights up with new acoustics, amenities
Revamped acoustics — including a new sound system and sound-absorbing materials — are among the biggest changes in the grand venue once known as The Mosque and Richmond’s Landmark Theater.
School Board mounts effort to contain school construction costs
The Richmond School Board is taking a series of steps in seeking to get a handle on the soaring cost of school construction. The ballooning cost is undermining any hope of modernizing city schools for $800 million over 20 years — the amount the city has promised to provide.
Room to grow
Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School seeks to expand with help from city
A private Episcopal school in the East End that currently offers a tuition-free education to l08 children mostly from low-income families living in public housing is working with the city to buy an acre of land for its first big expansion.
