The Locks at 321

[eandslee]

I also never knew that there were plans for a tower up to 26 stories right next to James Center 2. It would have to be a skinny building to fit in that small space!  Wonder if they will ever market the construction of this particular tower?

 

They were definitely wrong on the projected construction timetable, but that was also at the height of the real estate market. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by eandslee

[blopp1234]

2 minutes ago, eandslee said:

I also never knew that there were plans for a tower up to 26 stories right next to James Center 2. It would have to be a skinny building to fit in that small space!  Wonder if they will ever market the construction of this particular tower?

 

They were definitely wrong on the projected construction timetable, but that was also at the height of the real estate market. 

Hopefully this will happen in the next ten years. It would be cool to watch 3 James center grow.

[eandslee]

30 minutes ago, blopp1234 said:

Hopefully this will happen in the next ten years. It would be cool to watch 3 James center grow.

Union Bank is there now, perhaps they will want to expand soon. 

[Asace88]

16 hours ago, eandslee said:

Are you going to photoshop the new tower into the current skyline?  Love it when people do this...if anyone out there can and knows how to do this, please do it and post it here!

My understanding is that the taller part of the tower will run along side of 10th and not Byrd (essentially the same direction/orientation as Riverfront Plaza).

I created a rendering with the new SunTrust building and a structure in the location of the new Dominion tower.  Hopefully it is at least this tall.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Asace88

[eandslee]

Awesome!  Love that you know how to do this!!  Love the new virtual skyline!  I certainly hope Dominion sports something that tall. Gives us a good idea of what the skyline might look like. How many floors is that in the pic for the Dominion tower?

Edited January 26, 2016 by eandslee

[jbjust]

I love the height, but it would be an architectural challenge to build something that tall without it looking very out of place. 

[blopp1234]

Love how the new suntrust building fits in the skyline. However, the Dominion high rise looks skittle out of place. Did you make it 700 feet?

Edited January 26, 2016 by blopp1234

[Asace88]

43 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Awesome!  Love that you know how to do this!!  Love the new virtual skyline!  I certainly hope Dominion sports something that tall. Give us a good idea of what the skyline might look like. How many floors is that in the pic for the Dominion tower?

Federal Reserve in front is 393' so I was thinking this would be fairly accurate to represent something around 550-600'.  That would be somewhere in the area of 40 floors.

[eandslee]

What does "out of place" mean?  Too tall? If so, that is not fair.  Someone has to break the 20-29 story barrier or there will never be any tall buildings in Richmond.  It is for this reason, no one builds taller than 20 stories. Then, when the announcement comes out that a new building is so short, everyone complains. Can't have it both ways folks.  I'm just not getting the "out of place" comments. 

[TBurban]

Awesome work, @Asace88! I have my reservations about what Dominion will design, but I think that if it's properly tiered with setbacks at the right levels it can still achieve the height without looking like a Manhattan supertall.

[blopp1234]

6 minutes ago, Asace88 said:

Federal Reserve in front is 393' so I was thinking this would be fairly accurate to represent something around 550-600'.  That would be somewhere in the area of 40 floors.

The building in this rendering looks to be in the 650-700 foot mark. It does stick out like a sore thumb but hopefully, the design team will do something to make it not feel as tall as the other towers in the CBD. Also great work, its always cool to see renderings of what future towers might look like!!!!

[eandslee]

Sorry.  I respectfully disagree. Tiered or not, height is still height and anything at 40-50 stories will appear (as you all say) "out of place" in Richmond's skyline.  I just think Richmond needs to just embrace height if it is to have a skyline worth noting.  If you get another tower or two at the taller height it moves the skyline up a level (which then will become the new norm).  I think the height is refreshing. 

[meegwell]

On 1/23/2016 at 9:12 AM, eandslee said:

I hear ya, but how many locations are there in the center of downtown that could accommodate a city's tallest?  Everything in the city center is being rehabbed leaving not much available space to build anew. Most of that space available is west of the city center...or closer to the river.  Just my thoughts. Anyone agree or disagree?

 

There are some surface lots and some low-levl decks that could (should) be demo'd.

[Asace88]

Here's one with a little less height to keep every one happy.  No exact heights just more of a reference point.

[eandslee]

10 minutes ago, Asace88 said:

Here's one with a little less height to keep every one happy.  No exact heights just more of a reference point.

I liked the height before, but admittedly, I have to say that this height may be more likely to happen. I'll take it either way. 

[blopp1234]

15 minutes ago, Asace88 said:

Here's one with a little less height to keep every one happy.  No exact heights just more of a reference point.

This seems to be around 550-600 feet. Seems like a pretty realistic height.

[Icetera]

At first the taller tower was bothering me as I have this discussion a lot in concern of a new tower overshadowing the rest of the skyline.  Considering the potential of develop-able lots West, in time it could fit in nicely as the skyline's center pushes West.  Imagine a few more 20-30 story towers along Main and Cary up to the Jefferson.  Reigniting the high-rise residential that developed along Franklin in the '60-70's seems reasonable in the near future as Richmond gets back up to its peak population (I estimate by 2022).

[Blackbird Fly]

No matter how tall it is, it won't look as bad as Devon Energy Tower in OKC!

[blopp1234]

36 minutes ago, Blackbird Fly said:

No matter how tall it is, it won't look as bad as Devon Energy Tower in OKC!

True! Talk about sticking out

[eandslee]

52 minutes ago, Blackbird Fly said:

No matter how tall it is, it won't look as bad as Devon Energy Tower in OKC!

Don't hate me, but I love this building in downtown OKC!  It pushes the limit/boundaries, which I like.  It tells me that OKC is ready to be a legit city...ready to play with the big boys if you will.  Any building proposed between the ground and a bit taller than this building will fit into the skyline just nicely.  I think Richmond needs to embrace this type of thinking or else it will continue to retain a slow, sleepy town reputation.  I don't want that.  I think Richmond can still be a big city without losing its wonderful charm and character.

Come on guys, you can't tell me that you wouldn't be proud to have a tower like that in our skyline!  I'm not going to hate, I'm envious of OKC!

Edited January 26, 2016 by eandslee

[blopp1234]

5 hours ago, eandslee said:

Don't hate me, but I love this building in downtown OKC!  It pushes the limit/boundaries, which I like.  It tells me that OKC is ready to be a legit city...ready to play with the big boys if you will.  Any building proposed between the ground and a bit taller than this building will fit into the skyline just nicely.  I think Richmond needs to embrace this type of thinking or else it will continue to retain a slow, sleepy town reputation.  I don't want that.  I think Richmond can still be a big city without losing its wonderful charm and character.

Come on guys, you can't tell me that you wouldn't be proud to have a tower like that in our skyline!  I'm not going to hate, I'm envious of OKC!

I don't hate the architecture it's just I don't want to see it dwarf the rest of downtowns towers. 

Edited January 27, 2016 by blopp1234

[eandslee]

1 minute ago, blopp1234 said:

I don't hate the architecture it's just I don't want to see it dwarf the rest of downtowns towers. 

Dwarf them up!  Set the new height standard!  I don't mind seeing a really tall tower in Richmond.  Sorry, I just disagree with you all saying that a building could be too tall - I think that a "height limit" would be to the city's overall detriment.  It very well may not be that Dominion will build a tower really tall, but I wouldn't oppose it if they did.  Maybe I'm just more open minded.  Other than it "sticking out like a sore thumb," there is no other reason not to build that tall.  Other buildings will be built that will try to meet that height eventually, leaving the look of the skyline more balanced.

[BFG]

Before I saw the OKC pic, I immediately thought of that building (the Devon Tower, I believe). I'm all for height; eventually it can become the standard that future skyscrapers follow.

Personally, I'm hoping Norfolk's next building is minimum 35 stories.

[TBurban]

Nothing we don't already know, but here's the link to JDavis Architect's website.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Man, what a debate. Personally while I do think something of that magnitude would stick out, it's the only way we can encourage the slow growth upwards. If people think it sticks out, then the only solution would be to begin building (equally) taller towers. OKC likely will want to do that if they really hate the sore thumb look of Devon.