Manchester Development

[Brent114]

I just spent the weekend in Philadelphia and spend a lot of time in Denver.  Buildings just look like this in 2019.  There’s a Walter Parks in every city lol. 

[rjp212]

Agreed, the building is a copy/paste is every city. Our argument, is nearly EVERY building in Manchester looks like this.  The skyline of Manchester is visible from the interstate, river and downtown.  We should demand better products and not just be happy with the status quo for the sake of Density.

[eandslee]

Honestly, I’d much rather see a taller, thinner residential tower be built in the Central Business District.  Wonder if that will ever happen?

[eandslee]

41 minutes ago, Hike said:

That and a taller office building too.  I noticed that in Tyson's they're building a 25 story spec office building, will RVA ever be the benefactor of a spec office development, it could happen, someday.

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/25-story-tower-planned-for-tysons/

Yep! And I’m jealous for Richmond.  This is a SPECULATIVE build too!  Wish Richmond’s economy was doing that well!

[eandslee]

A shoutout and congratulations to one of our own here in this article.  Make this Development a good one!  This is a nice update on this Manchester development.  Too bad there aren’t any big cranes there, but it makes sense being that it’s only a 5 and 6-story building. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2019/12/11/developers-of-the-current-in-manchester-strike-management-deal/

[Brent114]

Look Ma!  Manchester has a skyline!

...and other shots of Manchester (the Current).

 

 

[eandslee]

16 minutes ago, Hike said:

I've been asleep,  poof, a tall building, I've got to get out more. What's that taken, a month,  6 weeks, the one at the flood wall? I was in this area October and never noticed,  now 8-10 stories? It all is amazing, unbelievable really! 

It certainly has gone up fast!!  Makes me think it is cheaply built. 

[Brent114]

The Empire State Building was built in 18 months (or was it even fewer?).  Just sayin:) 

[CitiWalker]

Watching the progress of South Falls , The Current, and cleared space for what appears to be McRae & Lacey townhome development.

Edited December 23, 2019 by CitiWalker

[Icetera]

On 10/17/2019 at 9:41 PM, Hike said:

The glass front of the South falls looks decent. 

I wonder if it is possible to bump the height of this to 18 office floors (22 total) to accommodate CoStar?  We really need this kind of development in downtown but maybe a feasible update since the space is currently speculative.

Would also need to account for the equivalent of 8 more floors of parking, especially since it is not any where near the Pulse.  if they could acquire air-rights over NS yard then a garage could be built over using this lot ($500k assessment).

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/111-Hull-St-Richmond-VA/15302368/

Edited February 14, 2020 by Icetera
Forgot about parking

[Icetera]

There we go!

[rjp212]

75-unit apartment complex being proposed next to the community garden.  Design is severely lacking,  but it’s easier to redevelop an apartment building in 30 years then a condo/townhome development.  So we can chalk it up as a filler project. 
 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/02/27/75-unit-apartment-building-planned-beside-community-garden-in-manchester/

[I miss RVA]

Interesting design! Very reminiscent of the long blocks of row houses in Baltimore. With off-site parking behind the buildings, here's hoping the fronts come right to the sidewalk like the row houses of old in the Northeastern cities.

[rjp212]

Watched the Manchester Alliance Zoom meeting today.  There was a Real Estate Attorney for the landowners of 400 and 401 Maury (parcels north and south of Maury adjacent to the on ramps)  Seems they want to unify the zoning to TOD to better market the property. They mentioned the reconfiguration of the Maury St exit and how it is taking some of the land.  The land left over would be ultimately redeveloped into something more dense.  No plans in place yet, but talk about a potential gateway project!

[Brent114]

The Current from the flood wall.

 

[Icetera]

On 5/14/2020 at 7:56 PM, rjp212 said:

Watched the Manchester Alliance Zoom meeting today.  There was a Real Estate Attorney for the landowners of 400 and 401 Maury (parcels north and south of Maury adjacent to the on ramps)  Seems they want to unify the zoning to TOD to better market the property. They mentioned the reconfiguration of the Maury St exit and how it is taking some of the land.  The land left over would be ultimately redeveloped into something more dense.  No plans in place yet, but talk about a potential gateway project!

TOD zoning seem odd at that spot.  It is several blocks from any potential Pulse routes and at a vehicle focused intersection with immediate access to I-95.  I suspect these properties want dense but would also build a lot of parking with commuters in mind.

[I miss RVA]

I may have missed something along the way -- but I'm guessing any plans related to this proposal (from 3 years ago) to build a 12-story residential building at 6th and Hull long since fell off the rails? I was hoping there would be a high-rise building farther up into Manchester - so that the verticality wouldn't be limited to just the riverfront.

https://dogtowndish.com/2017/05/13/portrva-phase-2-plans-to-go-vertical-on-hull-street/

 

[eandslee]

46 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

I may have missed something along the way -- but I'm guessing any plans related to this proposal (from 3 years ago) to build a 12-story residential building at 6th and Hull long since fell off the rails? I was hoping there would be a high-rise building farther up into Manchester - so that the verticality wouldn't be limited to just the riverfront.

https://dogtowndish.com/2017/05/13/portrva-phase-2-plans-to-go-vertical-on-hull-street/

 

Yeah, haven’t heard anything about that tower in a long while. I think it’s safe to say that one is dead...unfortunately. 

[I miss RVA]

8 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Yeah, haven’t heard anything about that tower in a long while. I think it’s safe to say that one is dead...unfortunately. 

I've thought the same thing. It's a really bummer - I wanted some height along Hull Street and for height to start sprouting up in "inland" Manchester. Mind you, I'm happy as can be with every tower that rises along the riverfront (hoping we hear news soon about groundbreaking for those twin residential towers slated to go up down by Legends, closer to Semmes and the Manchester Bridge) -- but I also would love to see height sprinkled deeper into Manchester. It's cool because it's starting to take on more of that Brooklyn, Baltimore, Boston feel there (interesting alliteration there!) with the beefing up of density and the real, "true" urban feel. Getting some "inland" height over there would add to it all the more.

[georgeglass]

I had read in more recent articles that the 2nd component of South Falls was to be another residential building vs the previously proposed office building. Found this today that appears to show an adjacent building of about 10 floors!

 

https://www.cite-design.com/south-falls

[rjp212]

I really hope not. I know the commercial market is iffy, right now, but that would be a huge bummer. 

[eandslee]

6 hours ago, georgeglass said:

I had read in more recent articles that the 2nd component of South Falls was to be another residential building vs the previously proposed office building. Found this today that appears to show an adjacent building of about 10 floors!

 

https://www.cite-design.com/south-falls

Can someone here confirm this?  I also agree that this would be not as good as having the office component to this project. 

[Icetera]

13 hours ago, georgeglass said:

I had read in more recent articles that the 2nd component of South Falls was to be another residential building vs the previously proposed office building. Found this today that appears to show an adjacent building of about 10 floors!

 

https://www.cite-design.com/south-falls

Do you have links to the recent articles?  The images linked still look like an office building and the office component has been 10 floors.  The second image has been included for the past few years (reusable with office component not solidified) so that may actually be an older rendering.  Loopnet still has the leasing information up with updates as recently as yesterday.  Who is potentially developing the residential across Hull?  Perhaps that is the reference from the articles in question?

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/111-Hull-St-Richmond-VA/15302368/

Older articles had planned for residential with plans for offices changed later:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2018/05/21/100m-manchester-riverfront-project-begins-summer-14-story-tower/

The image from Cite-Design (landscaper) was created June 2018:

Edited May 19, 2020 by Icetera
Confirmed image date

[rjp212]

On 12/2/2019 at 7:40 AM, Brent114 said:

More density for Manchester...

Two 11 story buildings planned for the lot below Legend...
 

.https://richmondbizsense.com/2019/12/02/twin-11-story-towers-planned-for-manchester-riverfront-sky-bridge-included/

I secretly hope this project dies with the recession.   I still hate it so much!

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by rjp212

[eandslee]

7 hours ago, rjp212 said:

I secretly hope this project dies with the recession.   I still hate it so much!

 

No...I like it.  The couple things that might improve it would be ground floor retail and maybe more height.