City & Guilds

Pipeline: Commercial Real Estate Round Up for 2.18.11

Ross leased 32,302 square feet at The Creeks at Virginia Center and Personal Chef to Go leased 6,843 square feet in Mechanicsville. Extra Special Parents, Inc. leased 4,900 square feet in Chesterfield. Plus a few multi-million dollar sales.

French pleads guilty to fraud

Developer Justin French’s downward spiral finds him facing up to three decades in prison for abusing state and federal tax credit programs.

French tax credit records raise red flags

State records obtained by Richmond BizSense show that developer Justin French has received an unusually large amount of tax credits for renovating historic buildings. Several contractors said that the rehab costs reported by French in his tax credit applications are close to double the typical range.

Architect on French projects sued

The lender on two of Justin French’s troubled properties has filed suit against the projects’ architect for allegedly misrepresenting the progress of the rehabilitations, but it’s not clear yet where the money went, as one local contractor filed liens becuase he wasn’t paid.

Universal Leaf building under contract

A former lawyer-turned-developer is getting more ambitious in the historic tax project, apartment conversion game. This time he has his sights on turning an office building in Richmond’s near West-End into 88 apartment units.

Green building and adaptive reuse under one roof

Developer David Gammino has moved onto his next apartment project—a historic property in Jackson Ward. Gammino isn’t making it easy on himself by using green building and historical preservation techniques at the same time.