Development

Richmond’s New Skate Park

West Contra County’s only skateboard park opened in Richmond’s Nicholl Park last week. Plenty of skaters, and a few BMX bikers and rollerbladers, turned out to enjoy the new park on Sunday, Oct. 25.

Land trusts: conserving homeownership

In an attempt to stop the exodus of foreclosed-upon homeowners, both the city’s redevelopment agency and a coalition of advocacy groups have decided to implement a tactic new to Richmond: the land trust.

Nevin Park filling the bill, so far

It’s a sunny Labor Day afternoon at Nevin Park, and Hassan “Perkins” Muhammad is sitting at a picnic table, bouncing his young son on his lap. The rest of the family is busy tending the grill. It is, in many ways, a typical American barbecue. But at Nevin Park, leisurely family gatherings like this are quite novel. The park, which sits almost directly in the heart of Central Richmond, had for years been an ugly reminder of the decay and…

All Backed Up: Plans to widen San Pablo Dam Road interchange stuck in neutral

The original plan was to widen one confusing and congested interchange off Interstate 80, San Pablo Dam Road, at a cost of $30 million in 2006. Now it’s not so simple. The current plan involves two other interchanges – El Portal to the north, which would move, and McBryde Avenue to the south, which would close. The cost of the project has ballooned to $114 million, with an $87 million shortfall. Construction can’t begin until 2012 at the earliest. And…

History to make way for housing

Richmond’s Japanese nurseries were mostly purchased before passage of the Alien Land Law in 1913, which barred Japanese immigrants from owning property. During WWII, the Japanese families who owned the Richmond nurseries were forced from their land and moved into detention camps. Today, the vestiges of these once great enterprises are targeted for redevelopment.

In Transition: Transit Village still a work in progress

Nearly a decade after the city broke ground on the Richmond Transit Village, much this development project that is key to the revitalization of downtown is still in the works.
While 132 units have been sold, unoccupied retail space has been available for months, and a $34 million garage and 99 units on the east side have yet to be constructed. For some of the residents, the village is taking shape slower than they hoped.