Pictured is one of the groups on a walking tour during the April 30 Developers Forum in the city. Submitted file photo

The developers forum held in the city at the end of April was met with a big success.

During the latest city council work session and housing committee meeting, director of development Crystal Surdyk reported that the Developers Forum, which took place on April 30 at Wicked Warrens, had well over 100 people attend.

Councilman Bill Reynolds, R-Ward 5 and chair of the housing committee, said the attendees came from a variety of places and jobs, including real estate bankers, architects, and construction workers.

“It was just very well done and operated on Wicked Warrens restaurant,” Reynolds said. “The walking tours, trolley rides and checking out the neighborhoods was very favorable for many of the attendees.”

During an April City Council work session, the BPU’s Ellen Ditonto came to present to the council on the Developers Forum, which the BPU was helping to hold. During that work session, Ditonto said the main focus of the forum was to look at infill housing projects and some of the historic buildings in the city in the downtown area. The specific areas that attendees visited on the walking and trolley tours included Fluvanna Avenue, Spring Street, Fulton Street, Vega Street, Eagle Street, Johnson Street and Cross Street. The historic buildings that were visited include the Willow Bay Building, the Bank Building, the Worsted Mill Building, Blackstone Ney, the Mayflower building and the Furniture Mart.

Surdyk provided council members with a packet of information from the forum that was shared there, highlighting a number of properties that are already currently listed, which Surdyk said can change on a daily basis.

“I guess the most important one is this packet, and the properties that we highlighted specifically during the Developers Forum that we talked about and that we actually got to tour a number of them,” Surdyk said.