Government

Marking a change of course, the county’s goals for the racetrack property are to “return auto racing to Southside Speedway with sustainable business operations.”

The venue management company has signed a five-year contract to oversee the nearly-open Henrico Sports & Events Center, just months after signing on to operate a planned regional arena at the nearby GreenCity development.

As the regional transit authority gets ready to christen a new bus-route nexus in downtown Richmond, it’s also gearing up for a route expansion south of the river.

As its downtown headquarters is being readied for an apartment conversion, the agency is trading the city for Innsbrook.

The new 0.8-mile roadway includes a new signalized intersection where Nash Road is planned to meet Iron Bridge Road, a roundabout on Nash and Beach roads and a 600-foot-long bridge over a portion of Swift Creek.

The draft plan hinges on the selection of a developer to transform Gilpin Court from a public housing complex to a mixed-housing, mixed-income community.

“Public housing was never intended for folks to live in it generation after generation and generation … You have people with that mindset, and in part they have that mindset because there’s no hope,” said RRHA CEO Steven Nesmith.

Construction is underway on a new 281,000-square-foot headquarters for the Virginia Department of Forensic Science and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia.

While not one of the commission’s official recommendations, the change back to a council-manager form of government could put the mayor on City Council and reduce its membership to seven.