Dominion Resources: New High-rise Building Planned for Downtown

[wrldcoupe4]

Call me crazy, but are we not rushing to judgement on this project (Style Weekly writer included)? How can so many assumptions be based on a single rendering shown from a substantial distance away? Perhaps we wait till more details are released before commencing the misery?

Edited June 29, 2016 by wrldcoupe4

[RiverYuppy]

That video of Devon tower really kind of turned me off from the building.  It is definitely a building that is apart from the city rather than a part of the city.

I think it would be much better if it was more integrated into the city, providing ground floor retail and enticing developers to build residential housing near.

Edited June 29, 2016 by RiverYuppy

[blopp1234]

12 minutes ago, RiverYuppy said:

That video of Devon tower really kind of turned me off from the building.  It is definitely a building that is apart from the city rather than a part of the city.

I think it would be much better if it was more integrated into the city, providing ground floor retail and enticing developers to build residential housing near.

I think that this would have made me like it more. After seeing how committed Devon is to OKC makes me wonder if dominion is planning more for downtown. Still wishing that they could have shrunk the size of the floors(a 908,000 square foot tower should be around 35-40 stories, not 20) and made the tower taller. I really hope dominion makes this tower very pedestrian friendly and doesn't follow the trend for towers in downtown Richmond and most of the United States.

[eandslee]

I may become very unpopular for saying this, but for me this whole debate revolves around this:  many of us (including me) were expecting something like this:

But we ended up with this:

Call me what you will, but this was a HUGE disappointment for me. I think Diminion could have done a lot better...and they could have done it without being too "flashy."  They could have done it taller. Integrating the building with ground level retail, public gathering spaces would have been nice too.  With all the time they took to put together a plan, the plan (to me) totally missed the mark.  But, I'm also not the CEO (probably a good thing).  I think the author of the article is right - this is hardly an enhancement to the skyline, like they promised.  Richmond needed an iconic building and...dud.  Similar to the wasted prime real estate the the Gateway Plaza is sitting on.  Just kind of tired of the lack of vision in Richmond.

I won't be a total ingrate though - I am glad that there is at least something new going up and it will be much better looking than One James Center. 

Edited June 29, 2016 by eandslee

[wrldcoupe4]

How can you guys tell that there is no ground level retail or public gathering spaces from this image? 

[eandslee]

2 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

How can you guys tell that there is no ground level retail or public gathering spaces from this image? 

They did say that there was going to be some ground-level retail (so I take that back), but if any more than that was planned they would have said so because it would be a feature you'd think would be attractive to the general public.  Other than that, this rendering gives one no indication of either (you're right about that).

[meegwell]

On 6/28/2016 at 8:13 PM, wrldcoupe4 said:

Call me crazy, but are we not rushing to judgement on this project (Style Weekly writer included)? How can so many assumptions be based on a single rendering shown from a substantial distance away? Perhaps we wait till more details are released before commencing the misery?

 

I agree and was thinking the exact same thing.  I usually enjoy Ed S. architectural articles, but it really came across as him having an ax to grind against Dominion.  Thats all fine, and his concerns are fine and I agree with them, if they actually existed.  It's just too early to make all the assumptions he is making.

[tparkerzut]

Yes there is a decent amount of assumption going on. However, I'd like to call it educated guessing. I'm sure people on this forum follow development all over the country and are somewhat familiar with the current state of popular urban design, I know I am. Based off the rendering, which I agree does not necessarily confirm these problems, I feel like I can generate a picture of what kind of street level impact that these towers will have. Hopefully I'm wrong. Also isn't this forum the place to make (maybe even jump to) conclusions and have discussions? Maybe the article was premature however since there isn't really any concrete evidence. 

[RiverYuppy]

Yeah, the huge space between the towers is worrisome.  If I recall correctly, it is supposed to have ground level retail.  Hopefully the setback is not too significant.

I can see room for surprise though.  Having a nice restaurant on the ground floor that uses the space between the towers as an outside dining area would be amazing.  

Hopefully they don't try to make it too much like a campus, but more so an integrated part of downtown.

[eandslee]

This photo was taken yesterday by a guy on Reddit.  I zoomed in to look at the Dominion site and me thinks I see a crane of some sort next to the Richmond Plaza. Can anyone confirm?

Edit:  just looked again and...nope, it's just the Crown Plaza hotel. Sorry. 

 

Edited July 2, 2016 by eandslee

[wrldcoupe4]

I think demo will need to occur before we see a crane. Can't wait to see it though. 

 

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

I think demo will need to occur before we see a crane. Can't wait to see it though. 

 

Yeah, I know, but somehow my eyes were playing tricks on me.  

[meegwell]

On 7/2/2016 at 10:59 AM, eandslee said:

Yeah, I know, but somehow my eyes were playing tricks on me.  

 

I walk past the site 2-4 times a day (weekdays) as of now they are doing a lot of digging up patches of the street immediately around the building, and the staging area (assume it is the staging area) is setup in the lot directly west.  Im out of town so this is as of Friday.

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, meegwell said:

 

I walk past the site 2-4 times a day (weekdays) as of now they are doing a lot of digging up patches of the street immediately around the building, and the staging area (assume it is the staging area) is setup in the lot directly west.  Im out of town so this is as of Friday.

Awesome!  Thanks for the update. You can be our eyes on the street.  Let us know of anything worth mentioning!  Thanks and have a safe trip home...when it's time to come home, that is.  

[drayrichmond]

Things are moving forward

Contractor meeting set tonight for Dominion Resources new office tower

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/article_b577c88a-f079-5837-8a83-de85bdb54b5c.html

Edited July 7, 2016 by drayrichmond

[drayrichmond]

34 minutes ago, hikendesign said:

Saw street level activity today on Canal near the location of the new building, all but 1 lane was closed. Likely turning off utilities to the existing building that is set to be removed.  Multiple trailers fenced off at 6th and Canal in a parking lot getting ready for action, probably demo staring soon.  The Kanawha Plaza park over the expressway is slowly moving along as well.  The article in Style by Ed Slipek, though I feel he's correct in some of his assessment of the new building(s) by Dominion, I'm not convinced that even if Dominion would build a street level development, on a grid, facing the street, that the area would be better for it.  The Federal reserve is on an fenced island, the Kanawha Plaza is a blank slate that will remain open creating a divide between all the buildings. The new parking deck for the Gateway Plaza creates a void that is not a pedestrian experience and divides and separates.  All these things don't add up to the urban grid wished for at this location.  The existing Dominion tower, which hopefully comes down, is set on a pedestal, which also adds to the suburban feel there.  If the existing building in fact does come down, the renderings of the new 2nd tower seem to be on a more street level position and may help the pedestrian experience but only as far as it can with all the other factors that won't go away with this new building.

I didn't think of that, your right about the existing Dominion building, hopefully the new tower for that site will level it with the street. That would be an improvement in my book. 

I can say first hand, even new york has sections of the city like this, where you walk down a block or two in the financial district of just walls.

[meegwell]

Pedestrian Friendly?

 

The June 28 Style article by Ed Slipek demonized this project as not pedestrian friendly, and we all had thoughts and comments above.  Ed is the architectural critic for Style and he had some strong words.  I just did a quick review of the application filed a solid month prior to his review and found these (some of several) quotes:

 

"Parking is located completely below grade, allowing the ground level to serve as accessible lobby space and active uses, outdoor seating (associated with Dominion dining) and retail with window frontage to engage the adjacent streets and pedestrians.  Tower 2 will create a human scale environment with active uses at street level including retail space on E Cary Street, S. 7th Street and S 8th Street, inviting south-oriented pedestrian level lobbies facing Kanawha Plaza and complementing E. Canal Street setback at Gateway Plaza.

...."this results in a lower podium height and eliminates above grade parking" ..."this allows for a strong presence of the tower meeting the ground plane at the street rather than being located in the center of the block (similar to Dominion's current One James River Plaza) and strengthens the relationship of the Tower 2 podium terrace to Kanawha Plaza"

"Tower 2 is oriented to complement the surrounding buildings and preserve the views to the river for each property owners located along Cary St...."  ..."The ground floor and main entry of Tower 2 at the intersection of S. 8th Street and E. Canal Street, would be an aesthetically pleasing and pedestrian friendly space with the intersection of the main lobby of Tower 1 to the west and to the Gateway Plaza just across the street to the east."

"Increase visual appeal and encourage pedestrians to utilize the shared open space and creating the opportunity for a vibrant environment on both sides of the street."

"Provide views to two acres of landscaped terrace and green roof for adjacent neighbors"

[drayrichmond]

1 hour ago, meegwell said:

Pedestrian Friendly?

 

The June 28 Style article by Ed Slipek demonized this project as not pedestrian friendly, and we all had thoughts and comments above.  Ed is the architectural critic for Style and he had some strong words.  I just did a quick review of the application filed a solid month prior to his review and found these (some of several) quotes:

 

"Parking is located completely below grade, allowing the ground level to serve as accessible lobby space and active uses, outdoor seating (associated with Dominion dining) and retail with window frontage to engage the adjacent streets and pedestrians.  Tower 2 will create a human scale environment with active uses at street level including retail space on E Cary Street, S. 7th Street and S 8th Street, inviting south-oriented pedestrian level lobbies facing Kanawha Plaza and complementing E. Canal Street setback at Gateway Plaza.

...."this results in a lower podium height and eliminates above grade parking" ..."this allows for a strong presence of the tower meeting the ground plane at the street rather than being located in the center of the block (similar to Dominion's current One James River Plaza) and strengthens the relationship of the Tower 2 podium terrace to Kanawha Plaza"

"Tower 2 is oriented to complement the surrounding buildings and preserve the views to the river for each property owners located along Cary St...."  ..."The ground floor and main entry of Tower 2 at the intersection of S. 8th Street and E. Canal Street, would be an aesthetically pleasing and pedestrian friendly space with the intersection of the main lobby of Tower 1 to the west and to the Gateway Plaza just across the street to the east."

"Increase visual appeal and encourage pedestrians to utilize the shared open space and creating the opportunity for a vibrant environment on both sides of the street."

"Provide views to two acres of landscaped terrace and green roof for adjacent neighbors"

I think the main issue with the design is the amount of set back from the street. Part of what makes great density is the relative distance between buildings, shops, and businesses; large plazas don't really promote good density. I do have some issues with that, a great downtown needs great density; but I'm not going to pass final judgement on this based on the one and only rendering we have. We need more angles and perspectives to gain a much better idea on how this will impact the street. 

However, I think we can all agree that, regardless of the issues pointed out in the style article, this will be an improvement on what's there now; an abandoned old building and if they build the second tower, a raised plaza with zero street presence.

[meegwell]

23 minutes ago, drayrichmond said:

I think the main issue with the design is the amount of set back from the street. Part of what makes great density is the relative distance between buildings, shops, and businesses; large plazas don't really promote good density. I do have some issues with that, a great downtown needs great density; but I'm not going to pass final judgement on this based on the one and only rendering we have. We need more angles and perspectives to gain a much better idea on how this will impact the street. 

However, I think we can all agree that, regardless of the issues pointed out in the style article, this will be an improvement on what's there now; an abandoned old building and if they build the second tower, a raised plaza with zero street presence.

 

Agreed but these blocks are quite large and you would need shorter building or multiple bulding to get up on the street on all sides.  The proposal calls for the building placement on the street - as stated above " "this allows for a strong presence of the tower meeting the ground plane at the street rather than being located in the center of the block (similar to Dominion's current One James River Plaza) "

From the incline document you can see how, instead of centering the building as the existing one is now, a conscience effort was made to butt them up against the street:

 

...and another view showing a better shot of the pedestrian level (I havent seen this one excuse me if it's been posted somewhere):

 

This shot emphasizes this quote: " create a human scale environment with active uses at street level including retail space on E Cary Street, S. 7th Street and S 8th Street, inviting south-oriented pedestrian level lobbies facing Kanawha Plaza and complementing E. Canal Street setback at Gateway Plaza."  ...and appears to be taken from Kanawha (now that that is flattened to street level as well).

 

[blopp1234]

9 minutes ago, meegwell said:

 

Agreed but these blocks are quite large and you would need shorter building or multiple bulding to get up on the street on all sides.  The proposal calls for the building placement on the street - as stated above " "this allows for a strong presence of the tower meeting the ground plane at the street rather than being located in the center of the block (similar to Dominion's current One James River Plaza) "

From the incline document you can see how, instead of centering the building as the existing one is now, a conscience effort was made to butt them up against the street:

 

I like how they put the buildings right on the street. It seems as though they will have to putalot of retail on the streets which is good and will hopefully help increase pedestrian activity near Kanawha plaza. would love to see some more height on one of these buildings though.

[swimmer]

With demolition about to commence, do you think Dominion will put up a construction cam on their current tower so we can watch the progress of the new tower being constructed?

[blopp1234]

5 minutes ago, swimmer said:

With demolition about to commence, do you think Dominion will put up a construction cam on their current tower so we can watch the progress of the new tower being constructed?

I hope so! Would love to see the progress of this tower as its built.

[eandslee]

3 hours ago, swimmer said:

With demolition about to commence, do you think Dominion will put up a construction cam on their current tower so we can watch the progress of the new tower being constructed?

Speaking of commencing with demolition...is there anything going on at the site as of late?  They got the approval from city council to increase the height restriction last night. Might we see some movement in the next few days?  I'm ready to see this project started already!

[HopHead]

I know some of you guys were disappointed in the height, but I think this is still a slick looking tower. I like the way the fin lights up on the right side in the rendering a few posts back. This will definitely add a distinct element to the skyline. 

Edited July 27, 2016 by HopHead

[wrldcoupe4]

Yeah I'm pretty pumped. When heading downtown recently, I've taken the 2nd Street exit to ride Cary and get a sense for the size of the building. Given that it is about 25% taller than the current building, it should have a pretty nice impact on the skyline particularly as you head east towards downtown.