Manchester Development

[Richmond98]

Here is an article from a friend at the Dogtown Dish about the PortRVA expansion. 

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

[TBurban]

2 hours ago, Richmond98 said:

Here is an article from a friend at the Dogtown Dish about the PortRVA expansion. 

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

Love it! Manchester is Richmond's little Williamsburg. Only a matter of time till a grocer is announced for the neighborhood. Wouldn't be surprised if its two between Cityview Landing and Manchester Town Center.

[drayrichmond]

I think this looks awesome! I hope this moves as fast as it sounds like they want it to do, 12 stories there (9 residential, 3 parking/retail) is really going to move Manchester's little skyline southward, and with the 10 story one already under construction it's really just a waiting game on the announcement for a grocery store.

[Shakman]

20 hours ago, TBurban said:

Love it! Manchester is Richmond's little Williamsburg. Only a matter of time till a grocer is announced for the neighborhood. Wouldn't be surprised if its two between Cityview Landing and Manchester Town Center.

Oh gawd no.  Please don't mention that word "Town Center".  (puke)

[Wahoo 07]

http://richmondbizsense.com/2017/05/15/12-story-tower-proposed-for-manchester/

Here is another article on it.  I like that they are building micro apartments.  They can be a rather economical way to live, especially if young and single.

[jbjust]

5 hours ago, Wahoo 07 said:

http://richmondbizsense.com/2017/05/15/12-story-tower-proposed-for-manchester/

Here is another article on it.  I like that they are building micro apartments.  They can be a rather economical way to live, especially if young and single.

I lived in a 580 square foot 1 bedroom apartment in Boston.  Didn't realize it was a "micro" apartment. 

[drayrichmond]

11 hours ago, jbjust said:

I lived in a 580 square foot 1 bedroom apartment in Boston.  Didn't realize it was a "micro" apartment. 

Haha yeah, these must be on the large end of "micro", I know my last place in NYC was about 700 square feet and that was huge for what it was

[eandslee]

Haven't heard a whole lot about it too recently, but according to this article, construction should be starting soon...unless someone knows anything different. 

 

http://richmondbizsense.com/2016/11/18/beacon-to-manchester-takes-big-step-forward/

[drayrichmond]

I've been thinking about that lot the last few weeks, glad to see something on it.

Hope everything goes smoothly and construction on something does start soon!

[Wahoo 07]

14 hours ago, drayrichmond said:

I've been thinking about that lot the last few weeks, glad to see something on it.

Hope everything goes smoothly and construction on something does start soon!

That site has a lot potential and the right project could realize it.  If the canal (unsure of its name) could be upgraded to the same standard as the Canal Walk, it could be a great place for restaurants, bars, etc.  That would be a major plus for the neighborhood and turn it into a regional draw.

[eandslee]

14 minutes ago, Wahoo 07 said:

That site has a lot potential and the right project could realize it.  If the canal (unsure of its name) could be upgraded to the same standard as the Canal Walk, it could be a great place for restaurants, bars, etc.  That would be a major plus for the neighborhood and turn it into a regional draw.

I wholeheartedly agree.  I would imagine that the developers would make canal improvements in the vicinity of their development as part of their project.  It's all about creating a space where people will want to live and be aesthetically pleasing.  I just hope they break ground on it soon.  The article suggested (back when the article was published) that the developer was in the design phase ("Papa said next steps include designing the project – they have yet to select an architect – and submitting plans of development that he expects will be received well by the city").  I haven't heard about any permits or design approvals being submitted to the city yet, so something tells me that they may be a little behind getting their ducks in a row before they can break ground.  I know Coupe on this board said their was a design already (looked like white Legos stacked on top of each other), but I'm beginning to think that was just a conceptual design.  I'm looking for the REAL, no kidding design to come out.  I would imagine they would release a real design before they broke ground as well.  With that in mind, I just don't think they are there yet.  Just hope they are getting close.  I wish RichmondBizSense would do some good follow-up articles on projects such as these so that we can stay in "the know." 

Edited June 6, 2017 by eandslee

[drayrichmond]

Four story low income apartment building coming to the eastern part of Manchester

http://richmondbizsense.com/2017/08/28/fountainhead-readies-land-for-14m-apartment-expansion-in-manchester/

[cbl1]

New café and market announced

http://dogtowndish.com/2017/08/27/the-butterbean-market-cafe-coming-to-manchesters-hull-street/

 

[rjp212]

Development rights have hit the market for the lot near the new townhomes on 7th.  I like the placeholder they have put on the marketing material. 

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/20508094/401-421-West-7th-Street-Richmond-VA/

[tparkerzut]

9 hours ago, rjp212 said:

Development rights have hit the market for the lot near the new townhomes on 7th.  I like the placeholder they have put on the marketing material. 

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/20508094/401-421-West-7th-Street-Richmond-VA/

That rendering looks like a commercial building. With that said I agree it looks decent, and I wouldn't mind more commercial in that area.

[Wahoo 07]

https://www.styleweekly.com/ShortOrderBlog/archives/2017/09/29/the-butterbean-market-and-cafe-is-coming-to-hull-street

A little more Manchester development news.

[rjp212]

A few updates around the neighborhood:

Richmond Christian Center seems to have a bidding war going on by developers for redevelopment.  https://richmondbizsense.com/2017/10/09/developer-eyes-manchester-church-property/

Another new gallery is set to open this weekend along Hull St.  That's 2 in the past 30 days.  http://dogtowndish.com/2017/10/20/new-manchester-gallery-opens-today/

In addition to Butterbean Market, and Hot Diggity Donuts, there are also plans to turn 1209 Hull St into a yet unnamed brewery and restaurant, with apartments on the top two floors.  https://richmondbizsense.com/2017/10/17/brewpub-donut-shop-market-anchor-couples-growing-manchester-gamble/

 

 

[georgeglass]

The shell of the new apartment tower in Manchester nearing completion and 7West condos have made a lot of progress. Also saw some goats that were clearing vegetation near the climbing wall. These were all taken this afternoon. All the Manchester development is great, but I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before the area between the floodwall and development is cleaned up and repurposed. I know that is a long range plan, but wonder how close we are to seeing something happen. I cannot imagine someone paying near a million dollars for a condo at 7West without some kind of reasonable expectation that something is on the horizon.

[rjp212]

New Brewery coming to Hull St with a rooftop bar!

http://dogtowndish.com/2017/12/11/dogtown-brewing-patio-views-coming-hull-street/

[tparkerzut]

Hoping it will be good. Legend and Twisted Ales don't really bring me down there. However there is a lot of momentum in Manchester, I like it! 

[eandslee]

As this year comes to a close, I found myself rummaging through some old RichmondBizSense articles and stumbled on the one involving the envisioned 16-story residential towers ("South Canal") that came out last November (over 13 months ago).  It looks like they were about to move into the design phase of the project back then.  If everything went smoothly, construction would have started on the first tower by mid year 2017.  Well, that didn't happen, so I guess there was a snag somewhere preventing this project from moving forward.  They appear to be taking great care about what they put on that property given that “This is the best piece of property, perhaps, in the city of Richmond....Where else do you have riverfront property that’s also canal-front, that is in the entryway to Manchester, which is the greatest growth opportunity location for the city of Richmond?”  Somehow (without a design), they've come up with a tower of 16 stories (not sure how you do that without at least a concept), but they say that it will be "a beautiful structure visible from all parts of downtown” and “a beacon to the Manchester side of the river.”  I wonder if demand has decreased (seems improbable, but possible) or whether they haven't settled on a design yet (seems like it's taking a very long time)?  Perhaps they are on the verge of making an announcement.  Either way, all negotiations with the city are done, so the city shouldn't be holding this project up (unless it's due to permits - ha!  That can't be though because they haven't even submitted a design yet).  Anyway, I wanted to revisit this article to make sure I wasn't missing something as to why construction hasn't started yet.  It's a good read and is interesting, knowing what we know now about everything else going on:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2016/11/18/beacon-to-manchester-takes-big-step-forward/

[georgeglass]

I have been wondering about this project as well. My assumption has been that they may be waiting for the City View Landing apartment building to be completed and see how the market absorbs those units before going ahead with construction. In the event that absorption is slow, that could be bad news for this project. I hope that isn’t the case, but it’s all I can think of.

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, georgeglass said:

I have been wondering about this project as well. My assumption has been that they may be waiting for the City View Landing apartment building to be completed and see how the market absorbs those units before going ahead with construction. In the event that absorption is slow, that could be bad news for this project. I hope that isn’t the case, but it’s all I can think of.

Good call...and it makes sense.  Sounds like when they finally move forward with this project, they will want to ensure it will be successful.  All the news I’ve read or heard lately indicates that absorption is still pretty brisk, but things might be slowing down a bit giving rise to some hesitation to start this project.  To me, the worse that could happen is that they build something there, but due to slow absorption rates, build at only 5-8 stories (reminds me of the Locks at 321) and then miss the opportunity they had once envisioned.  I’d hate to think that downtown Richmond’s growth rate (population wise) is slowing down, but it could be possible (don’t know where to look to get some real stats).  I really hope that the population growth wave has enough momentum to ride for a long while.  I’d feel better about it if I saw more companies moving downtown.  Although quite a few have moved, it seems like it’s been a while since I’ve heard of any more (just my imagination?).

[georgeglass]

8 hours ago, eandslee said:

Good call...and it makes sense.  Sounds like when they finally move forward with this project, they will want to ensure it will be successful.  All the news I’ve read or heard lately indicates that absorption is still pretty brisk, but things might be slowing down a bit giving rise to some hesitation to start this project.  To me, the worse that could happen is that they build something there, but due to slow absorption rates, build at only 5-8 stories (reminds me of the Locks at 321) and then miss the opportunity they had once envisioned.  I’d hate to think that downtown Richmond’s growth rate (population wise) is slowing down, but it could be possible (don’t know where to look to get some real stats).  I really hope that the population growth wave has enough momentum to ride for a long while.  I’d feel better about it if I saw more companies moving downtown.  Although quite a few have moved, it seems like it’s been a while since I’ve heard of any more (just my imagination?).

I really hope to see something about this soon. I have been here 7 years and seeing this dilapidated property all this time in such a prime spot is just agonizing. Perhaps with the building of Dominion’s tower, the General Assembly Building, and the construction around VCU Med Center there is still enough growth. That being said, there will be a lot of apartments coming online around the same time...the City View Landing tower, the apartments at the foot of Jefferson Park are moving right along, and the apartments in Shockoe on Franklin are wrapping up. I don’t know the exact totals, but it has to be adding  a total of somewhere in the range of 600 new apartments. I’m not trying to sound pessimistic...I am just hoping we keep it up!

[tparkerzut]

On 12/30/2017 at 11:46 AM, eandslee said:

Good call...and it makes sense.  Sounds like when they finally move forward with this project, they will want to ensure it will be successful.  All the news I’ve read or heard lately indicates that absorption is still pretty brisk, but things might be slowing down a bit giving rise to some hesitation to start this project.  To me, the worse that could happen is that they build something there, but due to slow absorption rates, build at only 5-8 stories (reminds me of the Locks at 321) and then miss the opportunity they had once envisioned.  I’d hate to think that downtown Richmond’s growth rate (population wise) is slowing down, but it could be possible (don’t know where to look to get some real stats).  I really hope that the population growth wave has enough momentum to ride for a long while.  I’d feel better about it if I saw more companies moving downtown.  Although quite a few have moved, it seems like it’s been a while since I’ve heard of any more (just my imagination?).

As for population growth you can look at census estimate data year by year. We've been pretty consistent since 2010 adding somewhere around 3k people a year. We should get another estimate in early 2018 for 2017 population and I'd be looking at around 226000. I really like how manageable our growth has been while still being quite significant for a city of our size. I don't believe we will see our growth slow for at least a few more years. I'd look into the 2020's before we start seeing smaller growth but we could just keep going!