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Council Preview: Five groups bidding for the old Salvation Army building on Commerce Street

Sean Jones
The Progress-Index
Petersburg City Hall at 135 N. Union Street.

PETERSBURG - City Council is beginning 2022 with a lighter work session agenda than in previous meetings. Petersburg is scheduled to hear from its offices of Economic Development, Finance, Public Works and Utilities.

The meeting will be held at the Petersburg Public Library Events Center at 5 p.m. on Jan 4. 2022. The meeting can be accessed digitally on its live meetings page.

Five Groups bid for the old Salvation Army building on Commerce Street

The old Salvation Army building at 835 Commerce Street was once a dedicated men's homeless shelter. The property has been vacant ever since the nonprofit shuttered its doors in 2017, citing a lack of funding.

More:Salvation Army Men's Shelter closes

Petersburg now has five proposals for the city-owned building. The bids come from a range of entities like a minority-owned business and nonprofits which are seeking to purchase the space.

The building was assessed at $431,000 as of Dec. 11, 2021. It was assessed at $827,000 in the four years prior. The property is 1.3 acres with a building size of 14,363 square feet.

Proposal 1 - Northside Gourmet Market Ecosystem

The local market opened with its first location in Richmond's Northside neighborhood in Nov. 2020. It's now looking to purchase a space in Petersburg as it expands. Its proposal says the market wants to open 10 stores within three years - the others targeted in places like Rocketts Landing, Manchester and Chesterfield.

The plan in Petersburg calls for a modular co-working space and business incubator that can be used by agricultural entrepreneurs. Producers, small businesses, freelancers, artists and creatives who are working in indoor farming, fermentation local food storage and distribution are the target market for these working spaces.

Proposal 2 - Southside Community Development and Housing Corporation

Southside Community Development and Housing Corporation is planning to use the building for a communal living space with 12 market rate studio apartments (approx. 40 sq. feet) and shared kitchen, dining, exercise, laundry and living space.

SCDHC plans for a lease amount of between $725 - $785 monthly for tenants on a Pathway to homeownership. This includes a Small Business Center, homeownership education and counseling for prepurchase, credit and employment.

The nonprofit recently purchased a building at 712 High Street to assist with homelessness. It expects to build 10 more units in that area.

Proposal 3 - Quality Trailers

The company says it is seeking to become one of the country's top trailer manufacturers through building a quality, durable and valuable product. It plans to open five retail stores on the East Coast within the next five years. The company's proposal says it has three steel suppliers and two wholesale dealers committed to purchase all of the manufactured trailers.

Proposal 4 - Habitat for Humanity

The property at 835 Commerce Street is adjacent to the current building used by Habitat for Humanity at 829 Commerce Street. The nonprofit is seeking to expand the Habitat ReStore to show new products. 

The current space has an inoperable elevator, meaning that its staff has to haul furniture up and down a narrow stairway. Acquiring the space would allow it to create a ground level showroom, with garage access for ease of transporting large items.

Habitat has so far completed 34 home renovations from dilapidated properties with help of its ReStore proceeds.

Proposal 5 - Paradise Trust, LLC

This minority-owned company specializes in the manufacture, assembly and transportation of death care products like caskets and embalming tables. It also offers services like casket delivery, cremation, and alkaline hydrolysis. 

They are working with casket and shell manufacturers from Ghana and the Dominican Republic. Its proposal says the company has commitments from firms in five other states. 

Utility Relief Funding update

Petersburg has been mulling over relief options for residential utility accounts since it announced a plan to reinstate water shutoffs in October. Outstanding balances totaled $7.9 million at that time.

More:Water shutoffs begin in Petersburg. City soon to allocate about $4.2 million in relief funding

The city has so far received $3.6 million in municipal relief funding from the Department of Housing and Community Development and has a further $520,000 designated through the American Rescue Plan Act as "community recovery funds," which could be used towards delinquent water bills during the pandemic.

A previous meeting to discuss ARPA was cancelled in late December. Updated information is expected to be presented to city council.

You can reach Sean Jones at sjones@progress-index.com. Follow him at @SeanJones_PI. Follow The Progress-Index on Twitter at @ProgressIndex.