Manchester Development

[I miss RVA]

27 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

It was being vacated by Truist so backfilling with a few hundred daytime workers will be great for the neighborhood. 

Fully agreed, Coupe. It's a real plus for that part of town.

[rjp212]

On 3/1/2022 at 7:12 PM, rjp212 said:

Another drive-thru in what should be an urban corner.

https://www.thalhimer.com/sites/default/files/listings_files/418CowardinAveUpdated.pdf

The Drive-thru will be a Starbucks.   While nothing exciting, the addition of Starbucks and Chipotle to the neighborhood show that national brands are willing to venture into the neighborhood.  Hopefully that means a grocery store isn't too far behind.

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, rjp212 said:

The Drive-thru will be a Starbucks.   While nothing exciting, the addition of Starbucks and Chipotle to the neighborhood show that national brands are willing to venture into the neighborhood.  Hopefully that means a grocery store isn't too far behind.

Hopefully over time we'll see those kinds of food vendors transition from drive-thru to storefront as Manchester grows and densifies. Once lower Hull Street (north of Commerce Road) is REALLY packed with apartment buildings and hopefully more commercial/office/mixed-use development takes place in the northern portion of Manchester as well) we'll start to see places like Starbucks, Chipotle, etc., opening up storefronts on Hull or perhaps in a high-rise residential building nearer to the riverfront. Recall the discussed/proposed (there was a rendering in RBS I believe in Novemberish of 2020) 16-story residential building at 701 Commerce Road was the location discussed for a ground-floor-level grocery store with residential/mixed use above. That's the direct in which I hope and pray Manchester will trend in the coming years.

[wrldcoupe4]

Chipotle is going into a storefront on Hull w/o drivethru.

[I miss RVA]

25 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Chipotle is going into a storefront on Hull w/o drivethru.

REALLY?  Where? At The Current?

[whw53]

15 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

REALLY?  Where? At The Current?

I believe its one of the bays across the street - the City View Marketplace development.

[whw53]

plans filed today to demolish structures on the silo site.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/294be033-6fd9-4064-bedc-919c603c7710

[wrldcoupe4]

36 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

REALLY?  Where? At The Current?

That’s correct. 

[eandslee]

44 minutes ago, whw53 said:

plans filed today to demolish structures on the silo site.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/294be033-6fd9-4064-bedc-919c603c7710

Whoa!  This is the first movement we've seen on this project and is the only news we've heard in a very long while.  Could this mean that an announcement of their plan is coming soon?  Certainly hope so!  Exciting!

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, whw53 said:

plans filed today to demolish structures on the silo site.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/294be033-6fd9-4064-bedc-919c603c7710

Oh HOLY MOLY!! This is certainly a huge step forward. Makes me wonder if we'll see/hear something in the relatively near future about what may be about to enter the pipeline.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

Whoa!  This is the first movement we've seen on this project and is the only news we've heard in a very long while.  Could this mean that an announcement of their plan is coming soon?  Certainly hope so!  Exciting!

I had started wondering about this one - lots of radio silence for just about a year. SO good to see this is finally moving forward.

As a reminder, here are the last major articles published about the site and potential project:

RBS from May of 2021:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/05/17/hourigans-southern-states-silos-rezoning-heads-to-planning-commission/

Richmond Times-Dispatch - From June, 2021

https://richmond.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/so-long-silos-hourigan-plans-high-rise-where-southern-states-building-now-sits-in-manchester/article_86b9f60a-31fc-5390-9c27-0fc624824f0e.html

Finally, a really cool article on the Explanders website from this past March. It makes mention of the fact that the silos are soon to be demo'd in favor of a mixed-use project - and references the Hydro as "an adjacent residential building, a prelude to Southern States Silos' ultimate destiny."

https://explanders.com/north-america-the-caribbean/usa/virginia/richmond/southern-states-silos/

 

 

[whw53]

According to RTD Chipotle is opening at City View Marketplace.

https://richmond.com/entertainment/dining/chipotle-is-coming-to-richmonds-manchester-neighborhood/article_dd5e58d1-d0be-5b97-9395-d9f7cb3a178f.html

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[blopp1234]

Some bad news. Port RVA second phase has been downsized from 12 to 6 stories.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/05/04/portrva-developers-about-to-construct-downsized-mixed-use-building-next-door/
 

 

Edited May 4 by blopp1234

[whw53]

2 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

Some bad news. Port RVA second phase has been downsized from 12 to 6 stories.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/05/04/portrva-developers-about-to-construct-downsized-mixed-use-building-next-door/
 

 

Yea we caught the amended POD docs few months - it may have been pushed off the top page quickly due to the fallout  - i've come around though and am glad to see this breaking ground soon . When I saw the headline tho it did feel like RBS scratching at old wounds for a minute. Actually, surprised this wasn't reported earlier.

[DowntownCoruscant]

21 hours ago, rjp212 said:

The Drive-thru will be a Starbucks.   While nothing exciting, the addition of Starbucks and Chipotle to the neighborhood show that national brands are willing to venture into the neighborhood.  Hopefully that means a grocery store isn't too far behind.

Drive thru Starbucks ain’t exciting, but a) that’s all Starbucks is building these days, and b) that’s what outside the downtown core neighborhoods  have everywhere from LA to Las Cruces and anywhere in between. Besides, the drive-thru on the Boulevard takes up a small footprint and feeds from/to a side street. It can be done.

[Icetera]

On 5/2/2022 at 3:39 PM, I miss RVA said:

It really would be great to have him onboard. Hard to know if he's here or not - most folks play things really close to the vest - but since he's  very public on both RBS and the RTD commentaries to real estate and development stories, perhaps he would be less veiled here. 

Un fortunately, I do not think he is over here.  I can tell most of your RBS/Reddit accounts based on comment style.
  

On 5/3/2022 at 7:10 AM, eandslee said:

Really, I wish CoStar had taken the money they used to buy this new building in Manchester to add height to their tower. Just think what 117K sq ft added to the top of their tower would do?  So glad they all in for Richmond though!  What a huge deal for downtown, Richmond, and those that will work there.  Hopefully, they will help attract other companies to come to Richmond and do the same. 

I see this as them purchasing the building to use as a temporary home while the tower is under construction.  This allows them to ramp up staff rather than the new tower sitting nearly empty for a while.  They can then sell or lease out once completed.

[wrldcoupe4]

35 minutes ago, DowntownCoruscant said:

Drive thru Starbucks ain’t exciting, but a) that’s all Starbucks is building these days, and b) that’s what outside the downtown core neighborhoods  have everywhere from LA to Las Cruces and anywhere in between. Besides, the drive-thru on the Boulevard takes up a small footprint and feeds from/to a side street. It can be done.

very accurate.

[I miss RVA]

On 5/4/2022 at 9:15 AM, whw53 said:

Yea we caught the amended POD docs few months - it may have been pushed off the top page quickly due to the fallout  - i've come around though and am glad to see this breaking ground soon . When I saw the headline tho it did feel like RBS scratching at old wounds for a minute. Actually, surprised this wasn't reported earlier.

I'm guessing RBS waited until groundbreaking was more of a sure thing. I've been really upset about this project for quite some time - ever since we got word that it was being butchered. I still consider it a butchery - not just in that it shaved about 58.3% of the height (12 stories down to 5) but about 2/3 of the apartments are jettisoned (trimming 188 units down to 65 is a 65.4% reduction - two thirds of the total). Mind you, in this case, I honestly don't fault the developers - as the RBS story pointed out, COVID did a number on them - and the bank pulled the rug out from under them. They (the developers) were ready to go - and just got slammed by the pandemic and the banks. But this is something that goes to show how/why we need BIG, out-of-state developers to come in here and build. Local yocals often don't have deep enough pockets to withstand something like this -- and as has been pointed out in the community here in other threads, projects in places like Charlotte and Nashville have been less vulnerable to downsizing or cancellation in LARGE part because many large-scale project in those cities are being built by BIG, NATIONAL developers who have uber-deep pockets and who can keep a project on track even in shakier economic situations like changes in financing due to the pandemic or exorbitant increases in the cost of construction materials, etc. This is EXACTLY why I'm SO glad the development firm buying the River's Edge II property is a heavy-hitter from NYC with big assets and big projects in the Big Apple and elsewhere under their belts.

I honestly feel bad for this developer at 512 Hull - they wanted to go big and "the fates" just wouldn't let it happen. But JEEZ - what a huge loss for Hull Street. I saw Bruce's "rah rah" comment in response to the story - and, I'm sorry - he's a great guy and a fantastic cheerleader for the city, but what I read actually made me upset - it's putting lipstick on a pig. I felt sick reading the article, quite frankly - and his commentary just magnified it. And in all honesty, I really don't want to hear the trope of "well, having this building is better than what's there now - an empty lot" ... ordinarily I'd say that's true - but in this case, we're settling yet again - something RVA is becoming quite expert in doing. Check out our wonderful recent track record:

• We settled with the debacle that was supposed to be the beautiful 21-story 321 Locks tower three or four years ago. What's there now is a nice building with good density (aside from the rather weird architecture) but it is MUCH better suited for Manchester or Scott's or along W. Broad Street near the Opus - NOT for the downtown riverfront!!!
• We settled in the recent construction of a five (six?) story apartment building on the site of what was to be the GORGEOUS and SIGNATURE towers of Centennial Place on E. Main Street.
• We're settling with the butchery happening with Block D.

I'm sick and tired of settling. Charlotte doesn't settle. Nashville doesn't settle. Raleigh is proving capable of not settling. And please spare me the "we don't want to be like..." It's not about that. It's about RVA CONSTANTLY having to settle the minute the economic or developmental apple cart gets upset in the slightest - and it makes EVERY delay and pause in a project (and I'm talking to YOU, Admiral and Bakery Lofts and Locks 7) a cause for tremendous stress and anxiety, wondering what will be the fate of THOSE projects. I get SICK of RVA developers/development seemingly having to walk a very defined economic tightrope that developers/development in other cities just don't seem to have to contend with. We need to get bigger as a city and as a metro region and get out of this world of limitations. Enough of it, already!!!

Okay - I've kvetched enough for one day & my BP is through the roof right now.

Edited May 5 by I miss RVA

[skinsfan]

My daughter and I drove downtown a little bit yesterday and I noticed a massive hole across from The Current.  I scrolled through a few pages of post’s but wasn’t successful on finding the project. Anyone know what is coming up across from there?

[wrldcoupe4]

Pretty sure you are referencing the Commodore. They are doing underground parking but it sure is a big hole!

https://capcityre.com/our-portfolio/commodore/

 

[skinsfan]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Pretty sure you are referencing the Commodore. They are doing underground parking but it sure is a big hole!

https://capcityre.com/our-portfolio/commodore/

 

I bet you’re right.  I did the cctv at Benchmark brewing last month and things are changing big time down there.

[I miss RVA]

Wait - isn't the Commodore going up at 7th and Hull? the Current is at 4th & Hull. There's another BIG project going up directly across Hull from the Current but there are so many projects being built right now, I don't recall which one that is.

[skinsfan]

19 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Wait - isn't the Commodore going up at 7th and Hull? the Current is at 4th & Hull. There's another BIG project going up directly across Hull from the Current but there are so many projects being built right now, I don't recall which one that is.

It may have been a little passed  The Current.  But definitely on the opposite side of Hull.  I wasn’t expecting to see it , so it caught me off guard at first.  Great things are happening. 

[wrldcoupe4]

The Box is going up across 5th from the current. And directly across Hull a big one is starting soon. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

The Box is going up across 5th from the current. And directly across Hull a big one is starting soon. 

Right - and the Box is going up on the Decatur Street side, no?