Kuttner cools on Lynchburg housing market

Click here for an interactive map of Oliver Kuttner's properties in Lynchburg

Standing in an almost deserted courtroom before a judge wrapping up a morning of traffic cases and misdemeanors, Oliver Kuttner declared he was cured once and for all.

“I am truly cured today,” he announced, his slight German accent tinged with fervency, “from ever buying a house in the City of Lynchburg again.”

“I can name other people who are cured from investing in Lynchburg,” he added, “and that’s really sad.”

This pronouncement failed to cause much of a stir in the still, grey atmosphere of the courtroom, but it’s succeeded in generating reaction elsewhere.

Developer’s land holdings
Oliver Kuttner and partners have spent more than $3 million to purchase more than 20 properties in Lynchburg, according to city real estate records. Most are found in key areas where the city wants to encourage investment.
- Fifth Street: properties include a block of new shops — Starlight Café, Folk clothing boutique, Diva’s Salon and Spa, Speakertree Records
- Kemper Street: formerly empty industrial buildings renovated to accommodate businesses ranging from Kemper Street Market to an auto repair shop to one of the state’s biggest distributors of restaurant supplies
- Riverfront/Jefferson Street: renovation underway to create loft apartments; hopes of adding new business as streetscape work progresses
- Other properties: Kuttner himself also owns a handful of old homes — primarily in the inner city — with plans for rehabilitation

Kuttner, a well-known developer famed for his offbeat style and frenetic energy, has been a presence in Lynchburg for about four years now.

Since arriving, he’s bought up rundown properties on Jefferson, Fifth and Kemper streets, restoring life and vibrancy to several of them.

He first came to the city after earning his stripes in his home base of Charlottesville, where he’s been a key player in downtown revitalization and gained recognition for his vision and passion — as well as his willingness to speak out when government mandates clash with his own wishes.

Not long ago, he publicly eschewed Charlottesville — “overhyped,” he called it — in favor of the less regulation-heavy Lynchburg.

His infatuation with the Hill City appears to have fizzled, however, after a court summons showed up at his office in early October.

“Never in my life have I been as mad as when I got that warrant,” he said. “Never. I didn’t sleep one whole night. I wrote a long letter to (city manager) Kim Payne.”

Kuttner, who owns several old homes in addition to his commercial properties, was hauled into court by the city for failing to fix up a condemned house on Monroe Street.

When he dutifully appeared in General District Court on Oct. 17, he told the judge the whole suit was a “waste of time.”

“We’re all on the same team,” he said. “I think all of us want to fix the City of Lynchburg.”

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While giving a tour of his properties, which include the Starlight Café and its neighboring shops on Fifth Street, Kuttner, 47, talks at a rapid-fire pace about his dissatisfactions with the city:

The quibbling over the pace of work on an empty house. The sending of austerely worded form letters he deems “rude.” And, perhaps most importantly, the lack of progress seen on promised streetscape work along Fifth and Jefferson streets.

“We’re talking about projects that were promised in 2003, 2004,” he said, describing the pledged improvements as crucial to his decision to invest in Lynchburg.

“This I would never have touched (otherwise),” he noted at one point, waving his hand at an old industrial building on Jefferson Street where he’s building loft housing.

The city has, for several years now, embraced the concept of private-public collaboration as a bedrock of its approach to downtown revitalization. Makeovers to cracked sidewalks and old streets are timed to coincide with private investment as a means of support and encouragement.

“This sets the tone for private investment,” City Manager Kimball Payne said during a recent debate about public spending priorities. “It tells them, I can be successful here, rather than somewhere else that’s not investing in their infrastructure.”

The city has drawn up master plans calling for major downtown upgrades. Money is allocated to begin certain phases of work — a traffic roundabout on Fifth Street and additions to Riverfront Park, including a stage area, on Jefferson Street.

Officials expect to able to break ground as early as this winter, but Kuttner is only guardedly hopeful about that news.

“I don’t even go (to the stakeholder meetings) anymore,” he said. “What’s the point? All they’re going to do is talk and maybe give an architect some money to draw up more pretty pictures.”

“Pretty pictures don’t bring in customers,” he said. “And citations don’t fix the essence of a city.”

Payne, who spoke with Kuttner as recently as last week, said the developer has some valid concerns.

“We’ve been talking about improvements to Fifth Street for, what, three years now?” he said, adding, “I don’t think it’s been abnormally delayed. That’s just how long the public process takes. … Everyone wishes it would happen faster, but this is the way government works.”

Payne added the city was committed to seeing these projects through to completion — a position reaffirmed by City Council during a meeting last week.

The city manager’s office continues to maintain an open dialogue with Kuttner, he said.

“The guy has produced results,” Payne said. “And I want to do everything I can, in the orthodox position I work in, to help him bring life back to this city.”

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Kuttner now plans to sell the house on Monroe Street, an aged property he bought for $2,000 with the goal of rehabilitation.

General District Judge R. Edwin Burnette Jr. gave him 90 days to resolve the matter, and applied some salve to his wounded feelings.

“I’m grateful,” the judge said, “for the visible change I’ve seen from some of your projects.”

Payne said the city often finds itself in a difficult spot in these cases, caught between the desire to encourage renovation and a legal deadline that forces it, eventually, to either file suit or lose the ability to enforce the housing code.

The city does plan to tweak at least one aspect of its policy as a result of conversations with Kuttner: letters sent to homeowners by building inspectors will now be worded in a “kinder,” more friendly manner.

“I think Oliver made a good point about that,” Payne said. “We can say the same thing in a nice letter.”

Kuttner himself appears to be ping-ponging between disparate assessments of the city — at times lauding its potential, then condemning its stagnation.

“I’m schizophrenic about it,” he acknowledged. “… I personally think the City of Lynchburg is at a crossroads.”

Kuttner, who has a stake in around 20 different Lynchburg properties, said what’s needed is a little more action from the city and perhaps a “little more sugar” from regulators.

“We have a big job to do. Collectively, we have a big job to do,” he said, stressing the importance of collaboration.

“I’ve always felt Lynchburg was a city on the edge. Now, I’m really invested in that edge.”

Less than a week ago, Kuttner showed up for a City Council meeting where debate took place about the future of certain big-budget items, including improvements to downtown.

His presence in the audience drew the attention of Mayor Joan Foster.

“I want to publicly thank you,” Foster said from her spot at the center of the council dais. “I think Fifth Street has a lot of buzz around it for the first time in many years. People are actually fighting over some of those buildings.”

“But now,” she said, “they’re waiting for the city’s next move.”