Maritza Pechin has joined Thalhimer Realty Partners, where she’s working on the Diamond District project with principal Jason Guillot, left, and development manager Mike Gaza, right. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
The City of Richmond’s onetime manager for its ballpark-anchored Diamond District project is back in the game, but this time on a different team.
Maritza Pechin, who left City Hall last year for a job with the U.S. Department of Transportation, has joined Thalhimer Realty Partners as director of development with a sole initial focus on the Diamond District, the mixed-use portion of which TRP is developing with Chicago-based Loop Capital.
Pechin, who starts with TRP today, said she had no intention of leaving her federal gig when TRP principal Jason Guillot threw out the idea.
“It was one of these things where the idea presented itself and I was like, ‘Huh, let me think about this,’” Pechin said.
Guillot said the idea came to him while he and Pechin, who has remained based in Richmond, were catching up over a drink one day.
“It was one of those things that was serendipitous: we’re just sitting there having a beer and I was like, ‘This may sound a little crazy, but what do you think about this?’” Guillot said.
While she’d planned to stay on with the USDOT, the department led by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and where her mother had worked and retired from, Pechin said the commute and travel involved and the time away from her family had begun to wear on her.
Pechin leading a tour of Jackson Ward for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, right, and other officials in 2021. (File photo courtesy Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam Flickr)
“I have two little kids and I was traveling a lot for the DOT, and I wanted to be here,” Pechin said. “I wanted to do more project work, I wanted to be here more, and Richmond is the place where I’ve lived the longest in my entire life. I really like it. I want to be part of helping it continue to grow in a beautiful, equitable and sustainable way, so I’m excited to be on the developer side and get to do that.”
While she’s most known in Richmond for her time at City Hall, where she started as an embedded consultant with national planning firm AECOM before joining the city’s planning department as a deputy director, Pechin’s background includes a stint in private development with Fulton Hill Properties, the local development firm led by Margaret Freund.
That varied experience, along with Pechin’s familiarity with Richmond and the Diamond District, put her at the top of a list of candidates that Guillot said TRP was considering to expand its team.
“We have a number of projects at various stages of development across the city, so we always knew that we would need to expand our team as the (Diamond District) picked up steam, and this really is the right time to do it,” Guillot said, noting the approval of the project’s development agreement and pending land purchases for the mixed-use development’s initial phase.
“One thing that has tremendous value is her institutional knowledge of the project, the process, how we got here and what the future is supposed to look like. There’s really no one else out there who could really match her,” he said. “This project needs to move quickly, so having someone who can hit the ground running is incredibly valuable.”
Pechin addressing prospective developers at a 2022 site tour for Richmond’s Diamond District project. (BizSense file photo)
As the project manager for the Diamond District, Pechin helped lead the city’s solicitation process that drew submissions from 15 development teams. While that work included seeing the process through to a selection, Pechin noted she was not part of the project’s selection committee and said she did not have a say in the selection of TRP’s team.
“I oversaw the process. I was more the person that made sure a selection was made, regardless of who was selected,” she said. “In many respects, I wasn’t even really part of the negotiations. The negotiations were really led by others in the city.”
Noting her work in developing and then implementing the Richmond 300 plan that envisioned the Diamond District, Pechin added, “Now I get to help build it.”
Pechin’s hire brings TRP’s team to eight, half of whom are focused on the Diamond District specifically, Guillot said.
The development arm of commercial real estate brokerage Thalhimer, TRP is juggling multiple projects in town, including the Westhampton Commons development where it is headquartered, the Regency mall redevelopment with co-developer Rebkee Co., and the Novel Scott’s Addition apartments it’s developing with Crescent Communities across Arthur Ashe Boulevard from The Diamond.
A recent conceptual rendering of the Diamond District planned along Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
While her focus for the foreseeable future will be on the Diamond District, which is expected to take shape over several years, Pechin said she’s excited about getting back into private development after years on the public sector side, where Guillot noted she’s maintained relationships at City Hall.
“The whole idea of a public-private partnership is you’re working day-in and day-out with these people at the city. She already has a great relationship with people at the top and at the bottom,” Guillot said. “Before we put things into place, we checked with the city, and they were thrilled. They were like, ‘This is awesome. This is great for the project.’”
A groundbreaking for the Diamond District is expected this month, with site work on the stadium to start in the fall and TRP and Loop’s work on the rest of the development’s first phase to start early next year. The Richmond Flying Squirrels’ ownership group is leading development of the stadium.
Last month, TRP and Loop were hit with a $40 million lawsuit by their former partner on the project, D.C.-based Republic Properties, which alleged that they cut it out of the project. Thalhimer’s CEO has called the lawsuit “baseless.”
The city is aiming for the stadium to be open in time for the 2026 baseball season, to satisfy facility standards required by Major League Baseball for all pro baseball venues.
Having watched the Diamond District evolve since last year in terms of its design and financing approach, Pechin said she comes into the project confident that it will be a success and she’ll get to see it through.
“It’s going to happen. The city sold two separate bonds to make this happen; it’s moving,” she said. “We’ve already gotten this far on this project; significant milestones have passed. This will happen. It’s going to get done.”
Maritza Pechin has joined Thalhimer Realty Partners, where she’s working on the Diamond District project with principal Jason Guillot, left, and development manager Mike Gaza, right. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
The City of Richmond’s onetime manager for its ballpark-anchored Diamond District project is back in the game, but this time on a different team.
Maritza Pechin, who left City Hall last year for a job with the U.S. Department of Transportation, has joined Thalhimer Realty Partners as director of development with a sole initial focus on the Diamond District, the mixed-use portion of which TRP is developing with Chicago-based Loop Capital.
Pechin, who starts with TRP today, said she had no intention of leaving her federal gig when TRP principal Jason Guillot threw out the idea.
“It was one of these things where the idea presented itself and I was like, ‘Huh, let me think about this,’” Pechin said.
Guillot said the idea came to him while he and Pechin, who has remained based in Richmond, were catching up over a drink one day.
“It was one of those things that was serendipitous: we’re just sitting there having a beer and I was like, ‘This may sound a little crazy, but what do you think about this?’” Guillot said.
While she’d planned to stay on with the USDOT, the department led by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and where her mother had worked and retired from, Pechin said the commute and travel involved and the time away from her family had begun to wear on her.
Pechin leading a tour of Jackson Ward for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, right, and other officials in 2021. (File photo courtesy Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam Flickr)
“I have two little kids and I was traveling a lot for the DOT, and I wanted to be here,” Pechin said. “I wanted to do more project work, I wanted to be here more, and Richmond is the place where I’ve lived the longest in my entire life. I really like it. I want to be part of helping it continue to grow in a beautiful, equitable and sustainable way, so I’m excited to be on the developer side and get to do that.”
While she’s most known in Richmond for her time at City Hall, where she started as an embedded consultant with national planning firm AECOM before joining the city’s planning department as a deputy director, Pechin’s background includes a stint in private development with Fulton Hill Properties, the local development firm led by Margaret Freund.
That varied experience, along with Pechin’s familiarity with Richmond and the Diamond District, put her at the top of a list of candidates that Guillot said TRP was considering to expand its team.
“We have a number of projects at various stages of development across the city, so we always knew that we would need to expand our team as the (Diamond District) picked up steam, and this really is the right time to do it,” Guillot said, noting the approval of the project’s development agreement and pending land purchases for the mixed-use development’s initial phase.
“One thing that has tremendous value is her institutional knowledge of the project, the process, how we got here and what the future is supposed to look like. There’s really no one else out there who could really match her,” he said. “This project needs to move quickly, so having someone who can hit the ground running is incredibly valuable.”
Pechin addressing prospective developers at a 2022 site tour for Richmond’s Diamond District project. (BizSense file photo)
As the project manager for the Diamond District, Pechin helped lead the city’s solicitation process that drew submissions from 15 development teams. While that work included seeing the process through to a selection, Pechin noted she was not part of the project’s selection committee and said she did not have a say in the selection of TRP’s team.
“I oversaw the process. I was more the person that made sure a selection was made, regardless of who was selected,” she said. “In many respects, I wasn’t even really part of the negotiations. The negotiations were really led by others in the city.”
Noting her work in developing and then implementing the Richmond 300 plan that envisioned the Diamond District, Pechin added, “Now I get to help build it.”
Pechin’s hire brings TRP’s team to eight, half of whom are focused on the Diamond District specifically, Guillot said.
The development arm of commercial real estate brokerage Thalhimer, TRP is juggling multiple projects in town, including the Westhampton Commons development where it is headquartered, the Regency mall redevelopment with co-developer Rebkee Co., and the Novel Scott’s Addition apartments it’s developing with Crescent Communities across Arthur Ashe Boulevard from The Diamond.
A recent conceptual rendering of the Diamond District planned along Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
While her focus for the foreseeable future will be on the Diamond District, which is expected to take shape over several years, Pechin said she’s excited about getting back into private development after years on the public sector side, where Guillot noted she’s maintained relationships at City Hall.
“The whole idea of a public-private partnership is you’re working day-in and day-out with these people at the city. She already has a great relationship with people at the top and at the bottom,” Guillot said. “Before we put things into place, we checked with the city, and they were thrilled. They were like, ‘This is awesome. This is great for the project.’”
A groundbreaking for the Diamond District is expected this month, with site work on the stadium to start in the fall and TRP and Loop’s work on the rest of the development’s first phase to start early next year. The Richmond Flying Squirrels’ ownership group is leading development of the stadium.
Last month, TRP and Loop were hit with a $40 million lawsuit by their former partner on the project, D.C.-based Republic Properties, which alleged that they cut it out of the project. Thalhimer’s CEO has called the lawsuit “baseless.”
The city is aiming for the stadium to be open in time for the 2026 baseball season, to satisfy facility standards required by Major League Baseball for all pro baseball venues.
Having watched the Diamond District evolve since last year in terms of its design and financing approach, Pechin said she comes into the project confident that it will be a success and she’ll get to see it through.
“It’s going to happen. The city sold two separate bonds to make this happen; it’s moving,” she said. “We’ve already gotten this far on this project; significant milestones have passed. This will happen. It’s going to get done.”
Serious win for Pechin, Richmond, and TRP. With her hire, the potential for success of this project has finally tipped in the right direction.
This sounds great for all concerned, nice to read
Tale as old as time: the civil-servant/contract awardee revolving door.
“… had no intention of leaving…” Uh-huh, sure, let me buy some muni bonds while we’re at it.
This is a great hire for TRP. She’s one sharp young woman. She knows the City and she knows this project.
Amen to that, Bruce!! I’m SO glad she’s back in the mix of RVA development. This is a HUGE win for the River City.
Sounds great! I hope she advocates for density and tall buildings!
You and me both, Ted. When she was deputy director in the planning department, she was a strong advocate for density and height.
Love of all the praise but a general ETHICIAL rule is you do not work on project as a private developer you managed, created, or oversaw as a public official for at least a year. But hey with Richmond government officials and professional ethics codes of conduct (and the law), they are rarely followed.
According to her Linked In profile, she worked for the US DOT for 11 months after she left the City.
That is not a year and AICP/APA professional ethic rules state one should “avoid a conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of interest in accepting assignments from clients or employers” especially projects in which you were an previous approving member or manager. Oh yeah and the expose corruption and waste wherever discovered. Not saying she did any but I am sure some p-card violations occurred and as far as I have read the only internal complaint was from an election office employee.
There is no conflict of interest here – that is if you read the article correctly — as most other readers probably have.
Conflict of interest that goes against us taxpayers. Awesome.
Idk why, but all of a sudden I’ve got John Sebastian’s 1976 song “Welcome Back” (the theme song from “Welcome Back Kotter”) stuck in my mind now. 😊
I’m very glad she’s back. As Bruce said – she’s as sharp as they come.
I’m surprised more people doesn’t see the Conflict in this hire.
This is a brilliant hire and huge win for RVA. Maritza’s reputation walks about a mile in front of her, and from everything I’ve ever heard about her- she is just what this project needs. I’ve worked with Jason Guillot- and he’s a stand up guy. He is also just as respected in multiple circles- and if there was truly any sort of conflict he wouldn’t have even entertained the hire. Something tells me we will look back 20 years from now and point to this project as a launchpad when Maritza is doing bigger things in bigger cities. Everyone… Read more »
Yeah it is a conflict of interest when one deputy planning director who was in charge of selecting a developer for the project is now working for the developers. The people quoted in the article are pretty much confirming it. Great for them hope they’re successful.