Manchester Development

[rjp212]

27 minutes ago, eandslee said:

This is a great start to the new week after the Thanksgiving holiday:  preliminary plans for a 12-16 story apartment tower with...[drum roll please]...a grocery store in Manchester!  Check out the article here (rendering included):

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/11/30/manchester-may-at-long-last-be-getting-a-grocery-store-as-apartments-stack-up/

[whw53]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

This is a great start to the new week after the Thanksgiving holiday:  preliminary plans for a 12-16 story apartment tower with...[drum roll please]...a grocery store in Manchester!  Check out the article here (rendering included):

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/11/30/manchester-may-at-long-last-be-getting-a-grocery-store-as-apartments-stack-up/

a 2 for 1 really - note the update on the Southern State silo site to the bottom of the article

Something new may also be in store for the dormant Southern States silos, one of Manchester’s long-time skyline landmarks. Hourigan Development is planning a mixed-use project at the site of 2-4 Manchester Road. Hourigan’s early drawings for the project show a mixed-use building reaching 16 stories and totaling 575,000 square feet.

Looks like this project will be high-rise as well,- we didnt necessarily know this right? I remember from the prior article on this that covered the land sale and rezoning initiative a spokesperson for Hourigan had dropped the term 'mid-rise' but the plans were very preliminary then. Looks like concept is still evolving there but we now have a floor count and a estimated square footage. Would love to see those 'early drawings' referred to. 

Also, can the twin Rivers Edge 2 towers please break ground already?

[eandslee]

No, I don’t think we knew the height until now.  I just hope it is an attractive building as it is very close to the interstate.  Would be nice to see something eye-catching in a good way!

[I miss RVA]

5 hours ago, whw53 said:

a 2 for 1 really - note the update on the Southern State silo site to the bottom of the article

Something new may also be in store for the dormant Southern States silos, one of Manchester’s long-time skyline landmarks. Hourigan Development is planning a mixed-use project at the site of 2-4 Manchester Road. Hourigan’s early drawings for the project show a mixed-use building reaching 16 stories and totaling 575,000 square feet.

Looks like this project will be high-rise as well,- we didnt necessarily know this right? I remember from the prior article on this that covered the land sale and rezoning initiative a spokesperson for Hourigan had dropped the term 'mid-rise' but the plans were very preliminary then. Looks like concept is still evolving there but we now have a floor count and a estimated square footage. Would love to see those 'early drawings' referred to. 

Also, can the twin Rivers Edge 2 towers please break ground already?

This is Christmas come early to be sure!! Wow - 12-16 stories right on Commerce Road... and other highrise projects as well. I agree with you on all points - I wish Rivers Edge 2 would just go on and break ground and get started. And I'd LOVE to see the 'early drawings' for a possible 16-story building on the Southern States silo site. Wow, wow, WOWWW!!!

[eandslee]

4 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

I wish Rivers Edge 2 would just go on and break ground and get started.

Yeah, so what's the hold up?  Last I checked the real estate market was still very strong and probably will remain that way as we slowly edge our way out of COVID (hopefully)...certainly in 2 years when the project would be ready for renters.  I hope they don't have cold feet and back out now.  That would be devastating!

[I miss RVA]

It just occurred to me: with this new project - and if the Southern States site comes to fruition (and is indeed 16 stories) - that of all the new large-scale highrise residential projects planned or underway (including The Opus, the 12-story building in Scott's Addition, and the 15-story building planned in Monroe Ward) - that the tallest of the new crop of forthcoming residential buildings won't be in downtown or the midtown/VCU areas (or farther west in Nimbyville) - they'll be in Manchester. How ironic is that!

Just imagine over the next few years ... cranes dotting various parts of town as the Opus is built... the building in Scott's Addition rises... the Grace Street site in Monroe Ward... and then all the cranes in Manchester as buildings rise one-after-the-other-after-the-other...

And all of this doesn't even take into consideration the 12-story PortRVA2 building at 6th & Hull - if it ever gets off the ground. It's starting to get the 'feel' of playing City Skylines as Richmond keeps going vertical and keeps bringing in more residential projects. I love it!

[eandslee]

A cool video from RBS of a construction update of The Current in Manchester:

https://youtu.be/8etf9rMpQbA

Edited November 30, 2020 by eandslee

[rjp212]

What grocery store do you think it could be?  Aldi and Lidl tend to do stand alone store and the article mentions they would be coming from out of town.  Doing a quick google search, the new Amazon Go Grocery stores run about 18,000 sf. and plan on expanding throughout the States.  Seems like it’d make a good fit for the area. 

[whw53]

 

14 minutes ago, rjp212 said:

What grocery store do you think it could be?  Aldi and Lidl tend to do stand alone store and the article mentions they would be coming from out of town.  Doing a quick google search, the new Amazon Go Grocery stores run about 18,000 sf. and plan on expanding throughout the States.  Seems like it’d make a good fit for the area. 

I'm thinking Aldi. Aldi is more adaptable and has stores in suburban strip centers - I was first introduced to Aldi in Falls Church\Merrifield when they came in fast and opened 2 stores in existing shopping centers. Lidl is only beginning to explore that flexibility - I know a new Lidl store will go into a strip center in Sterling being vacated by a Shoppers Foods.  We know Aldi is on an aggressive expansion right now while Lidl is still figuring out its strategy which is sporadic at the moment.  Trader Joe's isn't going to happen and the only other chain grocery that might be interested in this size space is Save-A-Lot  which, while also planning expansion, only franchises in the Richmond area right now so I doubt a conversation with corporate ownership would have occurred.  

[I miss RVA]

Which ever grocer comes into this building, I hope it is very well supported - perhaps that could act as a magnet (plus the continuing population boom there) to draw other food/drug type retailers into the neighborhood. Everywhere I've been where there is this new wave of urbanization, the one constant that a place has "made it" so to speak is when there are grocery stores, drug stores, things like that - up and running in those specific neighborhoods. If everything that has been proposed gets built and the inflow of residents continues at the robust pace it has been thus far, I think a grocery, drug stores and other urban-neighborhood-oriented retailers will start materializing. Critical mass of people makes all the difference -and with so many big projects now in the pipeline, the next couple of years could be VERY exciting in Manchester.

[Icetera]

17 hours ago, whw53 said:

 

I'm thinking Aldi. Aldi is more adaptable and has stores in suburban strip centers - I was first introduced to Aldi in Falls Church\Merrifield when they came in fast and opened 2 stores in existing shopping centers. Lidl is only beginning to explore that flexibility - I know a new Lidl store will go into a strip center in Sterling being vacated by a Shoppers Foods.  We know Aldi is on an aggressive expansion right now while Lidl is still figuring out its strategy which is sporadic at the moment.

I would also bet on Aldi and would certainly shop there, though part of me hopes for an Aldi with Fulton Yards.  If Lidl drops their rather large footprints then perhaps that can be a hope in Fulton.

[Shakman]

It could be any grocery retailer.  A number of them, including Wegmans, have opened urban style stores in the DC area.

[whw53]

23 minutes ago, Shakman said:

It could be any grocery retailer.  A number of them, including Wegmans, have opened urban style stores in the DC area.

Exactly what I was thinking when the Shockoe plan was announced. The developer there mentioned 'big box' 'food related' and I pictured one of those urban Wegmans they are building in NVA in Tysons and Alexandria. With Wegmans moving a regional headquarters and distribution center here I think this makes them a strong contender for the Shockoe project. They have South side and far West End covered, I think a 3rd store for them to the East is due and that not only is East End but also is closer to center of metropolitan market.

Edited December 1, 2020 by whw53

[wrldcoupe4]

The incomes and population density don’t support a wegman’s there. Kroger or Publix. In Manchester, I’m not so sure these guys are that far along in any discussions. Would love to see it happen but don’t think it will. 

[whw53]

13 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

The incomes and population density don’t support a wegman’s there. Kroger or Publix. In Manchester, I’m not so sure these guys are that far along in any discussions. Would love to see it happen but don’t think it will. 

Maybe not in the traditional market area sense, but I always assumed Wegman's strategy was a bit different in that they factor in a destination market for their locations i.e. people may drive past a couple grocery stores to go to a Wegmans. And with that location at the intersection of 64 and 95 it would seem to open up that site to a short drive time from large portions of East End, North Side, Mechanicsville, and even near west end.

Edited December 2, 2020 by whw53

[wrldcoupe4]

[whw53]

Great pics coupe. That reminds me - I did decouple the City View Marketplace entry on the dev map into  2 phases. The first phase wrapped up earlier this year and since the second phase is uncertain i turned that portion back to blue. This was the potential grocery site b\w 4th and 5th but who knows what that really will be - no site plan filed and was recently paved over for a parking lot to support phase 1 as seen in the upper pic.

[whw53]

Thanks @georgeglass for finding the portfolio site - a page there includes some additional renderings for the Hydro project I had not seen yet.

http://www.nahumgoodenow.com/#/the-hydro/

[eandslee]

These renderings are great!  Thanks!

[rjp212]

Just bought myself a condo in Manchester and have been out exploring the neighborhood with my dog.  Feels like every vacant lot is in some stage of construction, from stakes in the ground to framing of walls.  Definitely an exciting sight to see.

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, rjp212 said:

Just bought myself a condo in Manchester and have been out exploring the neighborhood with my dog.  Feels like every vacant lot is in some stage of construction, from stakes in the ground to framing of walls.  Definitely an exciting sight to see.

Pics when you can, please!  Congrats on the new place - very exciting!

[rjp212]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

Pics when you can, please!  Congrats on the new place - very exciting!

Thanks.  I’ll definitely grab some pics on my next adventure. 

[whw53]

I'm sure some of yal saw this but reposting here for those who did not - 

Great roundup of new development announcements and land deals from the past year - for all that went on this year, gosh Manchester pushed through. We follow so closely here that sometimes development news seems slow but to step back and look at all that happened in one year it is obvious Manchester is booming. Pamunkey announcement feels like 2 years ago but that was January...

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/12/28/manchester-beckons-neighborhoods-development-stock-rose-in-2020/

Edited December 31, 2020 by whw53

[whw53]

Happy 2021 to my fellow urban planeters!

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[I miss RVA]

This bodes SO well for the future of Richmond! Manchester has become/is becoming Richmond's version of Brooklyn - and it is spectacular to see. That Manchester's development has, as RBizSense "stolen the show" in 2020 is fantastic, especially given all the headlines Scott's Addition has gotten over the last year or two in it's amazing metamorphasis from industrial/warehouse district to really hip, up-and-coming urban neighborhood. Manchester's is all the more impressive - and even though she has had a real head start on Scott's Addition - the fact that SO much new development on the table for ol' Dog Town will be of the highrise variety is wonderully exciting. I can't wait to see what Manchester will look like in five short years - much less 10 years - which it could well be the most densely populated part of the entire city. I'm often reminded of the opening montage in the '70s of "Welcome Back Kotter" - where there was a sign that said "Welcome to Brooklyn, America's Fourth-largest City" - which, if the borough were a separate city, it WOULD have been the country's fourth-largest by population behind the rest of NYC, Chicago and Los Angeles. Would it not be amazing in 10 years if Manchester was, by far, the largest district - by population - in all of the city of Richmond! If by 2037, we do get that projected city popultion of 340,000 - I can't help but wonder what Manchester's portion of that pie might be?

30 minutes ago, whw53 said:

Happy 2021 to my fellow urban planeters!

Sent from my SM-A600A using Tapatalk
 

Happy 2021 my good friend!! May 2021 be a good year for all of us - and especially a prosperous growth year for our beloved Richmond!