Christie’s Greenspace has been an unofficial park in Scott’s Addition for nearly a decade. (Mike Platania photo)
In a neighborhood where land can sell for upwards of $5 million per acre, two Scott’s Addition property owners have decided to buck that pricing trend in the name of extra green space.
Christie and Kevin Barry have entered into a pending deal to sell the former home of their Christie’s Fine Gardening & Creative Landscapes at 3420 Norfolk St. to the Capital Region Land Conservancy, which plans to ultimately turn the half-acre site into a public park.
The Barrys, who retired in 2023, ran Christie’s Fine Gardening at the Norfolk Street property for about 20 of the 30 years it was in business. In the late 2010s, they turned the parking lot next to their building into a small gated green space with the type of landscaping features the company typically designs for clients.
Christie Barry said given the lack of parks in Scott’s Addition, the refuge was quickly embraced by locals.
“People just have been so grateful. We get stopped in restaurants and told, ‘Thank you so much for that,’” Barry said. “We got a letter from two women that said they go out there and dance in the moonlight. I mean, I cried over that one.”
Christie Barry (Courtesy Christie’s Fine Gardening & Creative Landscapes)
As Scott’s Addition has remained a development hotspot, with new per-acre sales records getting set nearly every year, the assessed value of the Christie’s property has skyrocketed.
Barry bought the property for $250,000 in 2012; it was most recently assessed by the city at $1.8 million. The 1,700-square-foot building Christie’s used to run out of was valued at only $158,000, with the lion’s share of the value, $1.6 million, coming from the land.
The related rising property taxes that have coincided with that led Barry to explore selling the site last year. She said they’d opened discussions with CRLC, but couldn’t make the numbers work initially. They then explored a deal with an unnamed would-be buyer that would have seen the property sell closer to its assessed value, but that deal fell apart.
After that, and some introspection, Barry said they contacted CRLC again and were able to reach an agreement.
“This is where (we thought), ‘What’s good for everybody’s soul?’ And I know that sounds kind of stupid, but you know, what’s good for people? What does humanity need most?’” Barry said.
“We’ve always done landscaping and people loved it, and it changed how they felt. And it’s hard to deny that to a whole group of people that have thanked you and are grateful to you. It’s hard to say, ‘Well we’ll sell it to somebody that wants a parking lot.’’
Parker Agelasto
The pending deal between CRLC would have an unusual structure. It would be a part-sale and part-gift transaction in which CRLC would pay $600,000 to the Barrys for the property and the remaining appraised value would be given by the Barrys to the CRLC as a tax-deductible gift.
CRLC would preclude the site from future development either through deed restrictions or a conservation easement, and said that they might someday explore transferring ownership of the property to the city’s parks and recreation department.
While CRLC has worked to preserve other properties around the region and elsewhere in the city, executive director Parker Agelasto said the organization has had Scott’s Addition on its radar for a while. In particular, he said the group has sought to address the “urban heat island” effect that makes the neighborhood hotter than other parts of the city.
“We try to be creative and come up with solutions for how to fulfill the need for green space,” Agelasto said. “We’re just lucky a private landowner understands what we do and values it.”
Agelasto said $250,000 of the $600,000 has been raised from the city, and that the CRLC is fundraising for the remaining $350,000. Interested donors can make donations that are restricted to only be used for the Christie’s Garden acquisition.
The Barrys, meanwhile, are staying busy beyond working on the land deal. The couple are preparing to move to Colorado to be closer to family, while Christie is also working on publishing a children’s book, “Across The Meadow”.
Barry, who’s used a wheelchair since 2019 due to a rare nerve condition called schwannomatosis, said her book centers on a little girl in a wheelchair who gains self-reliance through spending time in nature.
“What it’s about is that if you believe in nature, you’ll always have a friend. Nature is what can help these kids and their families: grow some flowers, go out and sit in the sun,” Barry said. “And it relates to the same thing. The nature in Scott’s Addition is going to help people, it just is.”
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