VCU Developments

[eandslee]

22 minutes ago, Hike said:

 Will try to get more info to look at on this one,  the VCU Outpatient facility between 10th and 11 th on Leigh.  Looks to be 18 floors and a similar look to the VCU children's hospital on Broad. Demo starts on the existing structures in may 2018.

Great information Hike!  Can’t wait to see the rendering.  Also, 18 stories is respectable for a hospital!  20 would be better, but I’ll take 18...and all glass - I’ll take it.  With this, looks like there will be another tower crane in the skyline too!  What are we up to now for current tower cranes?  I’m thinking that there are currently 3, soon to be 4 with the Marshall St. development. 

[eandslee]

7 minutes ago, Hike said:

found these on the dean's blog post - article linked below and images from it here.

https://blogs.vcu.edu/dentistrydean/2017/09/05/new-outpatient-clinic-approved/

 

 

 

Wow!  I like it!  It's going to make quite a statement when traveling from North I-95/I-64 to south heading toward downtown!  Only problem is that I only see 16 floors, not 18.  Are there two floors not accounted for in the rendering by chance?  Thanks for the find and for posting!  This is just going to look great in Richmond's skyline!

[eandslee]

1 minute ago, Hike said:

Plans have 17 as a penthouse and  18 as roof but mostly looks like 16 actual floors.

Ah, got it!  So really, it will have the height of 18 floors, but the first 16 floors will be where all the business takes place.  Okay!  How is it that we've missed the renderings that came out in September of last year?!  Gee, we are slacking off - I thought we were much better than this and always on the quick, cutting edge! 

[drayrichmond]

Wow this and the new GAB will really help dense up the skyline around city hall

[eandslee]

On 3/13/2018 at 9:02 AM, Hike said:

found these on the dean's blog post - article linked below and images from it here.

https://blogs.vcu.edu/dentistrydean/2017/09/05/new-outpatient-clinic-approved/

 

 

 

I'm surprised only a couple of us has commented on these renderings.  Did everyone else get to see these before me?  Where is everyone?  What are your thoughts regarding this new tower (don't like it, love it, don't care)?

[wrldcoupe4]

Architecture is good. Doesn’t blow me away but his will add a ton of density to that part of downtown which is awesome.  Soooo much parking but they need to make parking easier down there for the suburbanites. It’s a pain.

[Brent114]

I like it.  The view from I 64 is dreadful. This will certainly help.  At this height and elevation, it should show up nicely  from I 95 too. 

It can’t get build soon enough, IMO. 

[wrldcoupe4]

Here are some more details from HDR... this is a pretty massive structure at 1M s.f.

VCU Health System Adult Outpatient Facility

The new Adult Outpatient Facility will consolidate the majority of adult ambulatory services into an approximately 1 million square-foot facility on the downtown VCU Health Medical College of Virginia Campus. The project includes an integrated parking garage for approximately 1,200 vehicles. Located at the corner of East Leigh and North 10^th Streets on the western side of the VCU Health MCV Campus, the facility will serve as a gateway building to the campus. The project is multi-phased and set to an aggressive 26-month construction schedule. The building program includes multi-disciplinary clinics, VCU Massey Cancer Center’s outpatient services and the VCU School of Dentistry clinics.

“The 18-story ambulatory tower will not only allow patients to have all of these services integrated in the same location for easy navigation, but also change the Richmond skyline and the face of the city,” said Sandy Tkacz, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, health principal in HDR’s Richmond, Virginia, office.

[tparkerzut]

My company is doing the engineering for this (WSP) and from what I can tell this thing is 18 stories including the penthouse. According to the architectural drawings there is a garden level and then then 1-17 floors with the 17th being the penthouse. I unfortunately am not personally working on this project, I was kind of disappointed by that  but am glad the renderings got released. I've wanted to put them on here but didn't know if posting a clients work from our personal documents was a good idea haha. I think it looks good though! Fits in well with the Children's Hospital. I do know that they are working quick on this. I think we are looking to finish our drawings by the end of the summer so demo and construction started definitely by the end of the year.

Oh also it looks like it will b 275' to the top, so should make quite an impact at that point in the skyline.

Edited March 15, 2018 by tparkerzut

[eandslee]

Thanks for the new information.  Another poster above said that demo of the area would start in May, but you are saying sometime by the end of the summer.  I guess it would be safe to say that sometime between May and August demo will begin with construction beginning right after.  This is great news!  Also, it's good to hear that it is definitely going to be 18 stories, but 275' seemed short to me at first, but then I did the calculation of 15 feet per floor X 18 stories = 270'.  At that height it should stand out pretty nicely in that part of downtown.

tparkerzut - Do you have other renderings that are not the ones above that you can share since the cat is out of the bag?

[drayrichmond]

I'm hoping all the parking included will free up some of VCU's parking lots else where (eg shockoe).

275 is pretty good for that location, should make a good impact, especially coming from I64. Quick reference, City Hall is about 300-315 feet and you can see that from pretty much every angle because of the location.

[Shakman]

What block is this in?

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, Shakman said:

What block is this in?

This will be at the corner of Leigh Street and N. 10th Street, so it will be in a fairly prominent place in the northeast skyline!

[evanf]

On 3/13/2018 at 9:02 AM, Hike said:

found these on the dean's blog post - article linked below and images from it here.

https://blogs.vcu.edu/dentistrydean/2017/09/05/new-outpatient-clinic-approved/

 

 

 

 

Guys, if my sources are correct, this is not the final design for the project. Another architect was chosen. Apparently this is supposed to be a 6 year project and around $900 million. 

[eandslee]

What?!  I think some of the guys on this board work for some of the companies working on this project and they are saying this design is the correct one.  So now I’m confused. Can someone clear this up?  $900M is a lot of money...for a much larger building!

Edited March 17, 2018 by eandslee

[evanf]

8 minutes ago, eandslee said:

What?!  I think some of the guys on this board work for some of the companies working on this project and they are saying this design is the correct one.  So now I’m confused. Can someone clear this up?  $900M is a lot of money...for a much larger building!

I was told that HKS was awarded this project. As far as budget,  I thought my source possibly meant $90 million, but checked with someone else too. It's supposed to be a huge project.

[eandslee]

20 minutes ago, evanf said:

I was told that HKS was awarded this project. As far as budget,  I thought my source possibly meant $90 million, but checked with someone else too. It's supposed to be a huge project.

Let us know what else you find out.  This sort of news could throw a wrench into all of what we “thought” we knew!  For now though, I’m sticking to what I’ve got.  We have a rendering from a very credible source saying this this the design and height.  We also have a timetable (May- Aug demolition and construction work to begin by the end of the year).  I’d love to see if you can uncover anything to the contrary.  I like what you’re saying, but I’m not sure there is enough right now to back it up.  Please continue keep us updated!

[wrldcoupe4]

There is a press release from last week on HDR’s website about this project. 

[eandslee]

Thanks Coupe!

An excerpt regarding this project:

VCU Health System Adult Outpatient Facility

The new Adult Outpatient Facility will consolidate the majority of adult ambulatory services into an approximately 1 million square-foot facility on the downtown VCU Health Medical College of Virginia Campus. The project includes an integrated parking garage for approximately 1,200 vehicles. Located at the corner of East Leigh and North 10th Streets on the western side of the VCU Health MCV Campus, the facility will serve as a gateway building to the campus. The project is multi-phased and set to an aggressive 26-month construction schedule. The building program includes multi-disciplinary clinics, VCU Massey Cancer Center’s outpatient services and the VCU School of Dentistry clinics. 

“The 18-story ambulatory tower will not only allow patients to have all of these services integrated in the same location for easy navigation, but also change the Richmond skyline and the face of the city,” said Sandy Tkacz, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, health principal in HDR’s Richmond, Virginia, office.

https://www.hdrinc.com/news-and-events/news/2018/hdr-selected-partner-two-major-healthcare-projects-virginia

Edited March 17, 2018 by eandslee

[evanf]

4 hours ago, eandslee said:

Let us know what else you find out.  This sort of news could throw a wrench into all of what we “thought” we knew!  For now though, I’m sticking to what I’ve got.  We have a rendering from a very credible source saying this this the design and height.  We also have a timetable (May- Aug demolition and construction work to begin by the end of the year).  I’d love to see if you can uncover anything to the contrary.  I like what you’re saying, but I’m not sure there is enough right now to back it up.  Please continue keep us updated!

It's possible this is a separate project, but it's also supposed to be on Leigh. Maybe it will be a collaboration between the firms. I feel like if this was the final design, we would have heard about it on bizsense or another news source in September when it came out.

[skinsfan]

Long time lurker, first time poster. My close friend is an architect at HKS. He told me that they did not win this particular building. He has sent me a rendering of their design and it’s definitely different.  It incorporates a lot of the MCV buildings around it. He has also told me that they are working on another massive VCU/MCV project. I believe he has called it a bed tower. I wish I could share the image but I am unsure if he would get in trouble for doing so. 

[blopp1234]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for he info. Maybe they could be planning 2 towers at the same time!

[eandslee]

8 minutes ago, skinsfan said:

Long time lurker, first time poster. My close friend is an architect at HKS. He told me that they did not win this particular building. He has sent me a rendering of their design and it’s definitely different.  It incorporates a lot of the MCV buildings around it. He has also told me that they are working on another massive VCU/MCV project. I believe he has called it a bed tower. I wish I could share the image but I am unsure if he would get in trouble for doing so. 

Whoa!  This could be what Evanf was talking about!!  If you are afraid to post a rendering, would you at least know the timetable?  Oh, and welcome to the group!  Post freely and post often!

[skinsfan]

HDR definitely won the Ambulatory Building he confirmed.  The bed tower won’t be constructed for some time he also said. But for those wondering ; their proposal  seems like its 18-19 floors as well. So no real loss in height with the HDR design. And I like the mostly glass structure that was chosen vs the hks. Just my opinion of course. 

[drayrichmond]

1 hour ago, skinsfan said:

Long time lurker, first time poster. My close friend is an architect at HKS. He told me that they did not win this particular building. He has sent me a rendering of their design and it’s definitely different.  It incorporates a lot of the MCV buildings around it. He has also told me that they are working on another massive VCU/MCV project. I believe he has called it a bed tower. I wish I could share the image but I am unsure if he would get in trouble for doing so. 

Welcome to the forum!