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A question I have, that I might just be blind to... where is all of this land for developers to set up shop? I know we have all of these dilapidated houses and what not, but in my experience every dilapidated house has two houses developed next to it. Are they just going to develop here and there? I wish we had space for modern subdivisions, but that's where Barboursville will flourish in my opinion.
I think Barboursville is going to boom even more with this new Build District and study to back it up. I 100% get what you're saying, and I agree. But, I think a growing developed suburb like Barboursville is good for Huntington... IF we can get and keep more jobs in Huntington.
All of the buildable land in Huntington is mostly already built up. Essentially, for most projects you would have to tear something down to build a new development, which makes a lot of potential projects fiscally unviable. I think the idea is to tear down the old dilapidated houses and replace them with modern homes. I think any subdivisions would need to be built up on the hills to the south.
I think the city needs to keep being aggressive with demolition. I was disappointed when I saw the city's demolition budget was reduced. While they need to take down the dilapidated homes, they also need to get after the dilapidated commercial buildings as they have much more space. That can open enough space for larger residential project like modern apartments and condos.
This afternoon Brad and Alys Smith donated $1 million to the Keith Albee PAC for renovations that are currently under way. If I'm recalling correctly, this is a massive undertaking and the KA is planning to be down for almost two years for it (started in December).
I'm excited for this to get done because the KA has a record of getting some pretty bad ass shows with prominent names. Also, it just might be one of the most beautiful theatres I've ever been in.
A question I have, that I might just be blind to... where is all of this land for developers to set up shop? I know we have all of these dilapidated houses and what not, but in my experience every dilapidated house has two houses developed next to it. Are they just going to develop here and there? I wish we had space for modern subdivisions, but that's where Barboursville will flourish in my opinion.
I think Barboursville is going to boom even more with this new Build District and study to back it up. I 100% get what you're saying, and I agree. But, I think a growing developed suburb like Barboursville is good for Huntington... IF we can get and keep more jobs in Huntington.
In Huntington, I feel like there are three ways that new housing can be brought into the city. 1) Renovation of existing housing/buildings. You have a lot of houses and buildings with good bones that can be purchased relatively cheaply and given a full renovation. I’ve seen several house on the Southside undergo this in the last few years and more need it. Not to mention the buildings downtown like the coal exchange building. 2) Dilapidated properties torn down and new buildings going up in their place. Developers have already started this to some extent but there needs to be incentive for more. There are sections that half a block could be torn down and new houses or apartments built. Even stuff on 9th and 10th Aves in the Southside that would be easy to flip. 3) There’s plenty of land on the outskirts of Huntington that could be developed into subdivisions. The city could work with a developer who could petition land to be annexed into the city and then houses built. There’s lots of land south of I-64, down route 10, route 2 and route 52 that would fit the bill. I don’t think the city has done any major annexation in 30+ years and this should be considered. I feel like all 3 of these need to be pursued, not just one.
What I was saying about the benefit to the area, if this happens in Huntington we start to look better on paper with our statistics. Like it or not, this is how companies see us. If we start to have population growth, median income growth, home value growth, education attainment growth. Then we look better to these companies and jobs will come with it. Then this brings more people, more jobs, etc and even the other areas of the county grow. If the housing growth happens mostly out in the county, it doesn’t improve those statistics and therefore we don’t see the job growth. You catch a few people from Nucor, etc but the full potential isn’t realized for the area. You mostly just get people moving within the area just like you’ve seen for the last 50+ years. All kinds of housing developments have been built but we’ve seen no real growth.
Unfortunate news, Stellar Noodle on 4th Ave will be closing permanently in two weeks. A little confusing, I know tons and tons of people that eat there and any time I go by it seems busy. Seems like another Corner Hoagies and Hops situation, going out of business although it seemed they were doing well.
Unfortunate news continues, Apex Beverage Company will be closing in May as well. Sounds like their closure has more to do with the state not allowing them to do what they had hoped, opposed to lack of business.
For Stellar, I haven’t heard anything specific but I almost wonder if it was increasing costs making business unsustainable. That’s what happened with Charlie Grainger’s. The costs were increasing and rather than try to same a product at a higher cost than he could, the owner decided to close.
For Apex, that’s always the risk you take when you open a business that requires state law to change for optimal operation. That’s especially true in WV. Our state government works so slow on things that actually help and matter to the people. Hopefully the owner can resurrect the idea later. It seemed like one that would be successful.
For Stellar, I haven’t heard anything specific but I almost wonder if it was increasing costs making business unsustainable. That’s what happened with Charlie Grainger’s. The costs were increasing and rather than try to same a product at a higher cost than he could, the owner decided to close.
For Apex, that’s always the risk you take when you open a business that requires state law to change for optimal operation. That’s especially true in WV. Our state government works so slow on things that actually help and matter to the people. Hopefully the owner can resurrect the idea later. It seemed like one that would be successful.
Luckily for the Apex owner, he owns Summit which is extremely successful.
Regarding Charlie Graingers, I actually spoke to him when he was getting ready to close. The franchise actually went bankrupt and told all of the original owners that they could continue to operate but they were on their own. They were doing pretty good, but then the pandemic hit and like you said it was either raise their prices much higher or close - they chose the latter.
It appears that something is about to happen at the old Ritzy’s and Ranchito. The parking lots to both are being blocked off and a work truck is there.
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