Foundry Park - CoStar HQ

[eandslee]

17 minutes ago, 123fakestreet said:

The BizSense article has been modified to say CoStar will build the tallest building "along the riverfront" 

Well, it's not wrong...but you know what?  The more I look at what CoStar is proposing, the more I dig it!  It isn't the tallest in the city or state, but the massing of this project is just incredible!  That is a lot of space they are filling with structure.  Impressive!  Hopefully, then next one will get us the state's tallest.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by eandslee

[eandslee]

18 minutes ago, Icetera said:

Dominion Energy did something similar but at least stated the architectural height from the beginning.  Given the 1' increase over DE's number, I bet CoStar followed their lead but dropped the ball on the further details.  The site I have been using to figure out elevation is below and I look at the center of the highest point to determine elevation.  With Dominion, I have the prominence at 506', so only a 3' variance.  Meanwhile, CoStar looks to be 494' for a 16' variance compared to 510'.  James Monroe Tower has a prominence of 511' despite being slightly lower, but using DE's margin of error it could still actually be lower than DE.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2016/12/13/ground-broken-for-20-story-dominion-tower/

https://www.mapcoordinates.net/en

EDIT:

The top corner of the lot closest to 5th street is showing 26m, which places this tower at the 510' mark.

Thanks for the analysis on this.  Very enlightening.  However, this brings up a very important contention I have - why in the world are these folks measuring office towers using sea level as the lowest point?  Really?  No one does this!  Why did Dominion Energy, and now, CoStar do this?  Is this pushed by Pickard Chilton (the designer)?  If sea level were the basis for all tower measurements, Denver, CO would have some of the tallest towers in the world!  Do you see how silly this is?  Not to mention, this is very misleading in a press release.  Don't try to make your tower seem taller by providing us bogus sea level-to-top-of-your-tower measurements.  If you want to tout height, just build it tall!  Because of this, I will always be very cautious next time I hear about height measurements of buildings in Richmond.  Crazy.  They need to stop this.

Edited December 21, 2021 by eandslee

[Icetera]

22 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Thanks for the analysis on this.  Very enlightening.  However, this brings up a very important contention I have - why in the world are these folks measuring office towers using sea level as the lowest point?  Really?  No one does this!  Why did Dominion Energy, and now, CoStar do this?  Is this pushed by Pickard Chilton (the designer)?  If sea level were the basis for all tower measurements, Denver, CO would have some of the tallest towers in the world!  Do you see how silly this is?  Not to mention, this is very misleading in a press release.  Don't try to make your tower seem taller by providing us bogus sea level-to-top-of-your-tower measurements.  If you want to tout height, just build it tall!  Because of this, I will always be very cautious next time I hear about height measurements of buildings in Richmond.  Crazy.  They need to stop this.

I do believe it is relevant as far as determining prominence in relation to the existing cityscape (especially since RVA has such drastic elevation effects), hence why I have it included in my spreadsheet, but it does seem to be abused as of late.  I would be curious to see if this is specific to Pickard Chilton.  It is clear that CoStar really wanted that published 1' difference which would have been clear to the designer.

[KJHburg]

Buildings heights should be announced of the actual structure and that is it.  How they appear on the skyline is another story.  Nashville has rolling downtown even an area called the Gulch but I have never heard actual sea level height discussed.  Sure some discuss how it will appear on the skyline but no mention of actual height above sea level.  San Francisco has quite a bit of roll to it yet they never mention it there.  This very much seems to be a Richmond centric thought stream.  At one point my friend told me Costar did indeed intend to build a taller building in Richmond but it was scaled back due to Covid.  (But given the way they measure things not sure what tallest would have been) 

The company is bringing 2000 additional jobs to downtown Richmond and that is a great thing.  But like their own news stories and data sometimes it is incorrect.  

[I miss RVA]

10 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Buildings heights should be announced of the actual structure and that is it.  How they appear on the skyline is another story.  Nashville has rolling downtown even an area called the Gulch but I have never heard actual sea level height discussed.  Sure some discuss how it will appear on the skyline but no mention of actual height above sea level.  San Francisco has quite a bit of roll to it yet they never mention it there.  This very much seems to be a Richmond centric thought stream.  At one point my friend told me Costar did indeed intend to build a taller building in Richmond but it was scaled back due to Covid.  (But given the way they measure things not sure what tallest would have been) 

The company is bringing 2000 additional jobs to downtown Richmond and that is a great thing.  But like their own news stories and data sometimes it is incorrect.  

This is probably grasping at straws in asking - but any insight at all as to how much the building got scaled back due to Covid? I'd be curious to know if it would have been, say, just 30 or 35 stories - or upwards of 40...

[KJHburg]

2 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

This is probably grasping at straws in asking - but any insight at all as to how much the building got scaled back due to Covid? I'd be curious to know if it would have been, say, just 30 or 35 stories - or upwards of 40...

my friend @TheRealClaytoncould better answer this.  

[I miss RVA]

10 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

my friend @TheRealClaytoncould better answer this.  

Coolness. Thanks!

[Lukepf]

If we are taking elevation above sea level into account, the Wells Fargo Tower in Roanoke would likely be the tallest in the state at over 1,200ft 

[wrldcoupe4]

I'm sure there is a cabin on a mountain somewhere that would take the prize 

[CitiWalker]

People hung up on Height. This campus is gorgeous. Costar has only been here 5 years and look what they are doing for the city. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Also VCU is about to build another hospital. We still have some good things happening.  The  twin apartments in Manchester....not happening. I am happy about this project and guess what? All this is speculation til the building is actually built and finished...But I guess people need something to keep the conversation going . Lol

[I miss RVA]

3 minutes ago, CitiWalker said:

People hung up on Height. This campus is gorgeous. Costar has only been here 5 years and look what they are doing for the city. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Also VCU is about to build another hospital. We still have some good things happening.  The  twin apartments in Manchester....not happening. I am happy about this project and guess what? All this is speculation til the building is actually built and finished...But I guess people need something to keep the conversation going . Lol

Spot on, my friend! Very well said. 

[mintscraft56]

On 12/20/2021 at 3:31 PM, vdogg said:

Most of our *towers* here in Norfolk are around the 300 ft range. Trust me when I tell you our forum would be ecstatic about getting a 425 ft tower downtown. While not as grand as originally thought to be (Whatever is anymore? Seems to be a growing trend among developers), this is still a very major development in every aspect and will make a significant impact on Richmond. It's also one more piece of the puzzle. More developable land off the table>>scarcity>>higher land value>>taller buildings.

We would be over the moon for one! Though thats if it stayed original Hight and wont do the Norfolk classic of developers Shortening the buildings until is something completely off of what we expected. And regarding the tower it is a minor let down though its still a major project that adds more urban footprint for the City of Richmond. I hope to see the tower in the skyline soon!

On 12/21/2021 at 10:30 AM, eandslee said:

Well, it's not wrong...but you know what?  The more I look at what CoStar is proposing, the more I dig it!  It isn't the tallest in the city or state, but the massing of this project is just incredible!  That is a lot of space they are filling with structure.  Impressive!  Hopefully, then next one will get us the state's tallest.

 

 

Is it just me for is the bottom rendering a different design saying the side of the tower now points at the little building.

Edited December 22, 2021 by mintscraft56

[wrldcoupe4]

No that building is existing. There will be a total of 3 buildings on the site. Last view looks to the southwest. 1 view looks to the northeast. 

[mintscraft56]

Oh ok

[whw53]

So it begins. CoStar project has officially hit the city - POD submitted yesterday -' city agency review' scheduled for 1\26.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/15a06bed-3316-4123-9f2d-d446dc7b5bf7

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by whw53
add schedule date

[eandslee]

9 minutes ago, whw53 said:

So it begins. CoStar project has officially hit the city - POD submitted yesterday.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/15a06bed-3316-4123-9f2d-d446dc7b5bf7

 

YESSSS!!!!  Exciting!  They're really doing it! 

[Icetera]

Pickard-Chilton has put up the renderings on their site.

https://www.pickardchilton.com/work/costar-group-corporate-campus?fbclid=IwAR2fDEWPXvENMeE8Bs5cgrLI395Vmc7TPbkCPJyTA6L7-tv9mlZvLG4i4Jw

This may be the only unseen rendering:

[eandslee]

Yeah, I noticed that they didn't have any specific metrics on the tower itself, such as the official height (which is what I was looking for...just to compare with what we were told the height would be).  That part was disappointing, but it's good to see two Richmond projects featured on their webpage!  We're moving up!

[CitiWalker]

4 hours ago, Icetera said:

Pickard-Chilton has put up the renderings on their site.

https://www.pickardchilton.com/work/costar-group-corporate-campus?fbclid=IwAR2fDEWPXvENMeE8Bs5cgrLI395Vmc7TPbkCPJyTA6L7-tv9mlZvLG4i4Jw

This may be the only unseen rendering:

Really ingenious design. It appears to be a grassy outdoor amphitheater sandwiched between the two shorter buildings. I serves a space for relaxation and could be used for concerts. The front plaza has enough space for a stage. 

[Lluck002]

Haha I demanded that my friend who works for the Richmond Department of Planning tell the developer they need to increase the tower height for approval. Of course that’s not really how it works but he did tell me they can develop what they’re proposing by-right so approval odds with current design are highly likely.

[KJHburg]

Put this in the general file of working at Costar.   No wonder they want their people in the office.

https://www.businessinsider.com/costar-it-workers-describe-secretive-operation-to-track-remote-employees-2022-2

https://commercialobserver.com/2022/02/costar-employees-claiming-surveillance-of-work-from-home-conduct/

 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Put this in the general file of working at Costar.   No wonder they want their people in the office.

https://www.businessinsider.com/costar-it-workers-describe-secretive-operation-to-track-remote-employees-2022-2

https://commercialobserver.com/2022/02/costar-employees-claiming-surveillance-of-work-from-home-conduct/

 

And that resonate, subtle sound of the word "YEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP..." heard coming from the grave of one Mr. George Orwell...

[KJHburg]

5 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

And that resonate, subtle sound of the word "YEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP..." heard coming from the grave of one Mr. George Orwell...

might be why they are so interested in having everyone in the office which bodes well for Richmond and their buildings.  

[KJHburg]

this is getting stranger by the day with Costar working environment.   do any of you know people who work there?  how much of this is true?   

https://commercialobserver.com/2022/02/costar-boosts-virginia-hq-security-in-response-to-meme-page/

https://www.curbed.com/2022/02/costar-real-estate-employees-quit.html  the CEO's example of why you need to go back into the office is very strange...

Edited February 24, 2022 by KJHburg

[ancientcarpenter]

5 hours ago, KJHburg said:

this is getting stranger by the day with Costar working environment.   do any of you know people who work there?  how much of this is true?   

https://commercialobserver.com/2022/02/costar-boosts-virginia-hq-security-in-response-to-meme-page/

https://www.curbed.com/2022/02/costar-real-estate-employees-quit.html  the CEO's example of why you need to go back into the office is very strange...

According to Insider, CoStar CEO Andrew Florance held an all-hands video meeting where he presented slides attempting to demonstrate how low risk it would be for the company’s then-4,900 employees to return. One of the slides “posited that, statistically, if all employees were to come back to the office, only about one would be likely to die.” This is somewhat encouraging for 4,899 people and very not encouraging for one unlucky person. 

 

This is quite hilarious...sad...but still hilarious in a very morbid way.