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Dominion Resources: New High-rise Building Planned for Downtown


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31 minutes ago, drayrichmond said:

Yeah I noticed that too, it's a cost saving thing. Top floors are probably mostly for execs and big wigs, not a whole lot of those so no need for three elevators going all the way up, not as much traffic heading that high.

That was my suspicion, but I didn’t know for sure.  Thanks!   Also, from what I can tell, the top portion of height for this tower will be quite a bit of “crown” to be built above the 20th floor. 

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These are great!  Thanks for going out if your way to take them and post them here! Love to see this project from different perspectives.  Hard to tell in these photos how much taller the crane got or how much taller it will go, if any.  A photo taken from a distance would help determine that (hint). ;)

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On 11/7/2017 at 10:11 AM, meegwell said:

The crane was supposed to go up 100' according to someone working on the project (forget who but back when I posted that it came from some in-depth review with a site manager or something like that).  I haven't measured it :)

 

 

Well I'm on the 17th floor and looking up at the crane, so I'm thinking your guy misspoke.

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It looks as if they will probably raise it one more time but not by too much.  Maybe another 30 feet or so.  If you look at the most recent pictures that jonfin posted you can see that they anchored the tower crane into the existing steel structure to help with center of gravity.  This anchor is placed at the highest possible current floor so they probably can't go much higher anyways.  They also have to be mindful of the operator that has to climb the structure every day.  They probably don't want to add unnecessary time onto his day if they don't need to. 

Based on the current position of the crane there is enough room for the last two floors of the elevator shaft to be installed (need to allow room for the concrete boom to extend).  However when you factor in that the mechanical penthouse and peak of the building will be well above the top floors it would almost be certain that they will need to raise the crane at least once more.

If you watch this OxBlue video of an Atlanta tower complex  of a similar height you can see that they raise the cranes multiple times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO03uehnfAw

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I don't meant to get off topic but has anyone heard anything more about the replacement for one james river plaza? Is 700 Canal Place still happening and also is it still going to be just 16 stories or will it grow at all to be even taller? I don't know how I feel about tearing down a taller building to replace it with an even shorter building.

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1 hour ago, Downtowner said:

I don't meant to get off topic but has anyone heard anything more about the replacement for one james river plaza? Is 700 Canal Place still happening and also is it still going to be just 16 stories or will it grow at all to be even taller? I don't know how I feel about tearing down a taller building to replace it with an even shorter building.

I know what you mean, I felt the same way at first, replacing a taller building with a shorter seems counter to what we want in our skyline. But, after sitting on it for a while and really digging into the renderings, I think the sacrifice in height is worth it. The street presence, the approach to the street, the density looks better. Right now the current dominion tower has a huge raised, empty plaza, concrete walls lining the sidewalks, not very inviting or conducive to having a good, dense, street level presence. I'm not saying I wouldn't like a few more floors tacked on top, but the 16 story tower they have designed will be much better for the feel of the city than what is currently there.

P.S., I got stupidly excited driving home the other day and seeing the crane! I come into the city from the east and I can see it over the Altria buliding!

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1 hour ago, Downtowner said:

I don't meant to get off topic but has anyone heard anything more about the replacement for one james river plaza? Is 700 Canal Place still happening and also is it still going to be just 16 stories or will it grow at all to be even taller? I don't know how I feel about tearing down a taller building to replace it with an even shorter building.

I'd be lying if I said I would rather they build on one of the large parking lots than tear down an existing skyscraper. And my general rule (I should say preference) for towers is if you're going to tear it down, it better be replaced with something taller, not shorter, that's just a waste.

That being said, One James River Plaza has absolutely garbage street presence and if they redeveloped it to have a more pedestrian friendly base I'm all for it. 

Edited by RVA-Is-The-Best
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I know the "tower on a plaza" modernism has been discredited, but aesthetically I can't help but like the current James River Plaza. The materials and proportions are beautiful. The verticality of the lines and small windows make the building feel taller than it actually is, something the replacement building won't do. Pickard Chilton has a great track record for contributing to the street, so I hope Dominion lives up to the imagination and commitment of their past clients in that regard. 

Here are some pictures of the current plaza. Unused, but not entirely unattractive. And we should remember that this podium is covering a parking garage. 

https://tclf.org/landscapes/one-james-river-plaza

The front view of the new Dominion tower will undoubtedly address the street well, but what about the north side of the block on Cary Street? Will that be a dead zone with a parking structure? If so, we would be better off with a plaza like this. 

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