The city of Richmond is considering a massive handout to Virginia's political kingpin

Tom Farrell decided Richmond needed a new arena. Local government leaped to his command.

Richmond Virginia.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Davicl2/iStock, Tarzhanova/iStock)

The city of Richmond, Virginia, is in the process of approving one of the largest redevelopment projects in its history.

The "Navy Hill" project, according to its website, will redo a 10-block chunk of downtown Richmond with new development worth about $1.5 billion — replacing the aging Richmond Coliseum with a new 17,500-seat arena, a huge new hotel, dozens of new stores, and much more. It promises to be a "revitalization of an entire neighborhood where one was lost, creating jobs and opportunity, affordable homes, and new tax revenue for the City."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.