Davis property taxes 09

Just got off the phone with the Assessor. We discussed the reasons why taxes went up as much as they did on various properties in Davis. Apparently, the county is compelled by law to revisit valuations every three years, and this year has been the year of one heck of an upward revision in values. Approximately 120% on vacant lots and anything from 20-100% on improvements.

The grid of Davis breaks down into 132x60' corner lots, 132x40' standard lots, and the occasional 30 footer. It appears that the typical 40ft lots more than doubled, from about $36 a year to about $85.

The Assessor told me that Davis has finally seen enough sales of lots (over the past year or two) to establish new assessed values for lots in the town...and they are way up. If you could find a lot to buy in Davis, a standard 40' lot would be about $22k, and a 60' corner lot would be about 42k. Unfortunately this was not lost on the assessor, and our taxes have doubled.

With these increases taxes are still low in Davis. The real challenge will be maintaining competitively low property taxes as we start to get more new home construction in Davis.

A White House Farmers Market?

From the Washington Post:
A White House Farmers Market?

President Obama spoke at the DNC about health care and healthful eating. (Alex Wong -- Bloomberg)
Michelle Obama may have planted a garden on the White House lawn. But she isn't the only one in her family pushing the benefits of fresh, local produce. At the Organizing for America National Health Care Forum on Thursday, President Obama said that improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a key part of reforming health care. He also floated another idea.

"One of the things we're trying to figure out is, can we get a little farmers market set up outside the White House," the president said in answer to a question about combatting obesity. "That is a win-win situation. It gives suddenly D.C. more access to good, fresh food, but it also is this enormous potential revenue maker for local farmers in the area."

Obama didn't say anything about how such a market would work, but Ann Yonkers, co-founder of FreshFarm Markets, welcomed the initial idea: "There's a lot of emphasis in the White House on health. So it's pretty consistent with that. It would be great if it happened."

Obama also stressed the importance of creating distribution systems that could link small, local farmers to public schools who want more fresh fruits and vegetables on their menus. (Look for my story on how this is already happening in Charlottesville, Va., in next week's Food section.)

Schools serve French fries, tater tots and hot dogs, Obama said, "because let's face it, that's what kids want to eat anyway." But he noted that the problem is exacerbated because "that food is a lot cheaper because of the distribution we've set up. … Getting local farmers connected to school districts: That would benefit the farmers delivering fresh produce. Right now they don’t have the distribution mechanism set up."

-- Jane Black

Life on Thomas Ave in downtown Davis

Behind Doc's Guest House, these south-facing homes will be built on Thomas. This is a Sketch Up rendering of the three structures.

Future spa interactive floorplan

Explore the interactive floor plan in detail at http://www.davisriverwalk.com/ifp-spa/
The spa at Riverwalk Shops will be the last of the 4 spaces within that building, but certainly not the least expensive. This interactive floorplan accurately reflects the layout and uses rather fanciful photos to give you an even better idea. Actual interior designs are not completed, but we anticipate stained concrete floors over radiant heating, stone and wood. When the spa phase is undertaken, we will add dozens of windows to the back of the building to expose views of the Blackwater.

Business models for the spa are still under consideration. It will operate as a separate business in a tenant relationship to Riverwalk Shops. It will likely require several equity partners to fund the buildout, furnishing and equipment. These will likely be private investors who know Davis and Canaan and who want to help make a quality day spa happen in the area.

We anticipate usual day spa offerings but also an annual membership option, providing further discounts on services along with yearlong access to the sauna, steam and lockers. The buildout and occupancy of the three retail spaces in the same building will precede the spa project. Themes for the retail spaces include dining, entertainment, wellness and general retail.

Riverwalk Shops update

Planning away here...we are carving out a project that would entail building out the exterior that is visible from William Ave (main street) and the 3 retail spaces totaling 5,000 square feet. Each space will have an office with a bathroom, a back entrance, glass storefronts with entry vestibules, high ceilings showing the steel beams of the old Shopnsave, rustic cement floors, separately metered gas and electric. The three retail spaces will share a 20ft deep covered veranda that is over 100ft long. We anticipate offering a solar powered option for early-signed tenants, where rent will be higher but electricity bills lowered by net metering (selling generated electricity back). We will also make extensive use of tubular reflective skylights for daylighting the spaces. Handicapped patrons will come up a ramp underneath the cool tower pictured at the corner of the building. The tower will use reclaimed barnwood and naturally oxidizing posts, beams and metal siding.

There is extensive custom metal fabrication in this renovation. Since the storefronts face the brunt of the weather they will be very high quality, but they are designed to open in strategic locations for cross ventilation in summer.

Retail suite 1 is the largest and has a 20ft wide garage door facing William Avenue. There will be a deck behind the garage door that stands a foot higher than the main store floor, allowing a separate display area or a performance stage (or both). Another advantage of this 2,600+ sft space is that it has William frontage as well as frontage along the new Riverwalk Shops pedestrian veranda. The space will house the anchor store of the center, which will be oriented toward the general public and offer dining, shopping and/or entertainment. The goal here is to have a store that is meaningful to a wide variety of customers spanning locals, second home owners and visitors.

Outside, the sidewalk west from Town Hall will be routed along the perimeter of the renovated building and will continue west at the front of the Spa section. BTW the Spa will not be built out in this project but is planned as follow-on to the retail buildout. Exterior materials will be a mix of rustic wood, stone masonry and sheet metal, with a variety of earth tone colors.

The objective is to deliver space that is competitive with local existing rates but that goes further to offer energy-efficient construction meeting WV building codes. We want to accomplish this while striking an aesthetic chord that harmonizes with the existing historic structures and nods to the industrial history of Riverwalk's location. Most of all we want the space to be effective for the intended tenants to maximize their retail success in Davis, and that means attractive, fun and community-oriented spaces for us all to enjoy downtown.

Sold out Davis farmers market 3 weeks running..

There is a reason and this new documentary underscores a few of them...

Standalone residence

Lot 91 on Thomas Avenue in front of the Wilfong apartment. Yes Cory, the one you live in. This may be the first one built but will most likely require a buyer to have committed before ground-breaking. The house will be Energy Star rated, which means much more than the appliances it contains. It will have required R values for all insulation, meet factory and on site tests, including blower testing for tightness. More on whole-house Energy Star certification in a future post!