A Cool Place to Live

By Tom Butt

Making Richmond a "Cool Place to Live" will change the image of our city and attract economic development.

I recall an article I once read by a highly successful real estate investor, Leland Speed, who described a philosophy that I have embraced for a long time (see http://www.tombutt.com/forum/2007/070605a.htm). If you want a city to be successful, you have to make it attractive and focus on quality of life, not just bringing in new business. Speed advised communities to deal with their "cruel realities," "quit worrying about what you don't have," and "focus on what you have." Speed concludes, "Cities aren't just competing for companies anymore; they're competing for workers. For inhabitants. For those people who make a house -- or a city -- a home." In fact, Speed thinks the defining factor is whether a city is cool or not. "We need to use our creativity and culture as an asset."

In Richmond, the City government and the majority of the City Council obsesses over bringing "economic development" (jobs and taxes) to Richmond while too often taking for granted or ignoring what we do have, such as a national park (Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park), 32 miles of San Francisco Bay shoreline, the most Bay Trail completed of any city on the Bay, an extraordinary arts community, lots of historic resources, some unique and attractive neighborhoods and the Richmond Greenway + to name a few. At the end of the day, Richmond will make it if our city is a "cool place to live." WalMart and Target are not a critical part of that coolness. Nor is developing pristine shoreline open space, expanding the capacity of a refinery, diminishing citizen participation in the Design Review process, or increasing truck and train traffic to serve the Port of Richmond.

Let's look at ways Richmond is using its rich historical assets to create jobs, increase the tax base and become a cool place to live:

• The Ford Assembly Building was damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake and almost written off by a skeptical City Council many times. Before completion of rehabilitation, the building was carried on the Contra Costa County tax rolls with a value of about $9 million. After rehabilitation, the value zoomed to about $35 million, and it is still growing. Because it is in a redevelopment area, the increase in property taxes accrues totally to Richmond. Instead of getting about 10% of property taxes, Richmond gets 100% of the "tax increment," which in this case is worth about $300,000 a year. There are about 600 employees in the building, and the number will eventually grow to about 800. If it were a single company, the Ford Building would be among Richmond's top ten employers, and currently, it has fully half as many employees as Chevron, Richmond's top employer. The gross payroll of employees is about $30 million annually, eventually growing to over $40 million. Because the building is listed on the National Register, the developer was able to tap into substantial historic preservation tax credits, estimated at over $5 million to help make the rehabilitation economically feasible.
• Another building, given up for dead by the Richmond City Council more than once is the former Santa Fe Reading Room, also known as the Trainmaster Building. It now graces an attractive Gateway Plaza at the entry to Point Richmond and serves as a Mechanics Bank where a dozen people work. The bank spent nearly $1.5 million rehabilitating the building and building the plaza.
• Across the street from the Gateway Plaza, the Richmond Plunge is under reconstruction. Because of its historical importance, the building has attracted well over $3 million in grants that helped take the funding burden off the City and make the project possible.
• The Bay Trail, which knits many of Richmond's historical assets and waterfront parks together, is getting increasing use from not only Richmond residents but also from a large number of people from other places. It is an image changing experience for most of them.