Jackson Ward / Gilpin

[whw53]

Needed somewhere to share some news from the home-front. The older Jackson Ward thread has been archived so I'm starting anew here. 

The Broad-Marshall Placemaking Project will be a neat opportunity to complement Maggie Walker Plaza a block over. A second plaza on Brook Rd at Marshall will extend that feel of openness up to Marshall St from Broad and widen the pedestrian zone from what is some skinny sidewalks on Brook. This would be a good group to take the survey located on the bottom of the page on what that  design should look like.

https://venturerichmond.com/news/brook-and-marshall-placemaking-project/

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BrookandMarshall

From Venture Richmond:

"Venture Richmond and the City of Richmond Public Art Commission have been jointly awarded a $25,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative, which supports cities using art and community engagement to improve street safety and revitalize public space. More than 200 cities applied. Richmond was one of only 16 grant-award recipients. The growing coalition of project partners consist of ART 180, Big Secret, the City of Richmond, Gallery 5, Vanderbilt Properties, Venture Richmond, and Walter Parks Architects.

Richmond’s project consists of three conceptual elements that will transform the intersection of West Marshall Street and Brook Road in the Arts District/Jackson Ward neighborhood: a pedestrian plaza, an intersection mural, and a parklet. Each of these elements will be further defined through the public engagement and design processes starting in August 2020 with the goal to install the project in about a year."

[Brent114]

I completed the survey a few days ago. 

I’m not a fan of this.  Not at all really. 
This stuff always comes off so cheap and small town (even in big cities).  If they really wanted to redesign the streets to make the MW Plaza and Abner Clay Park more connected I’d be into it.  Really into that. 
 

Throwing  up some pressure treated lumber from Lowe’s across two parking spaces and calling it a park is tacky.  Always has been, always will be.   Art 180 doesn’t generate foot traffic so I’m not sure who will linger in this parklet.   If the Stoplight Gelato reopens (it’s closed now, and probably for good) people could eat their treats there,  but the cafe has outside tables already.   I’d rather usher people to Maggie Walker or the park. 
 

Now for the road mural... I’m not a fan of these either, especially on a  street with vehicular traffic.  They get worn out very quickly and Richmond has a terrible record of maintaining these things.  My recommendation for it was to make it simple and just some text (like “welcome to Jackson Ward”) so it could be easily maintained.  I also asked that they not let children design it. 
 

The survey  has lots of photos and it asks you to pick the ones most appealing.  I picked the ones that looked the most built-in and perminate. 
 

The  good thing about low expectations is that they can be exceeded.   I hope it turns out well. 

BTW, I live a block from this intersection so I have pretty strong opinions about it. 

[whw53]

Yea I think the biggest thing for me is the portion outlined 'Plaza'. I've been by this so many times and thought they could do something with that. It will be interesting to see the concepts - all the reference images they wanted you to pick were much bigger than this space. 

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, Brent114 said:

I completed the survey a few days ago. 

I’m not a fan of this.  Not at all really. 
This stuff always comes off so cheap and small town (even in big cities).  If they really wanted to redesign the streets to make the MW Plaza and Abner Clay Park more connected I’d be into it.  Really into that. 
 

Throwing  up some pressure treated lumber from Lowe’s across two parking spaces and calling it a park is tacky.  Always has been, always will be.   Art 180 doesn’t generate foot traffic so I’m not sure who will linger in this parklet.   If the Stoplight Gelato reopens (it’s closed now, and probably for good) people could eat their treats there,  but the cafe has outside tables already.   I’d rather usher people to Maggie Walker or the park. 
 

Now for the road mural... I’m not a fan of these either, especially on a  street with vehicular traffic.  They get worn out very quickly and Richmond has a terrible record of maintaining these things.  My recommendation for it was to make it simple and just some text (like “welcome to Jackson Ward”) so it could be easily maintained.  I also asked that they not let children design it. 
 

The survey  has lots of photos and it asks you to pick the ones most appealing.  I picked the ones that looked the most built-in and perminate. 
 

The  good thing about low expectations is that they can be exceeded.   I hope it turns out well. 

BTW, I live a block from this intersection so I have pretty strong opinions about it. 

I'm with you on this. I'm sure you've already reached out to various and sundry powers that be. Keep up the pressure. Better for them to get this right than to make Richmond look silly.

2 hours ago, whw53 said:

Yea I think the biggest thing for me is the portion outlined 'Plaza'. I've been by this so many times and thought they could do something with that. It will be interesting to see the concepts - all the reference images they wanted you to pick were much bigger than this space. 

Looking at this I also envision the "parklet" being something that pedestrians and motorists alike will find annoying to have to navigate around. And I don't like the idea of small children potentially playing in this little park so close to an actual lane of oncoming traffic. Not like being in an actual park or greens space that's properly separated by a sidewalk and curb. This is not a good idea and could be a safety issue.

[Icetera]

I fully agree with the assessments above.  I spend a lot of time around that intersection and the only piece I truly like is the plaza in front of Gallery 5, rather than the wasted asphalt.

[I miss RVA]

I hope there's enough public input on this to get them to rethink it. 

[whw53]

Link below is to a VHDA Market Study for a 67 unit LIHTC apartment building to be built by the Better Housing Coalition in the vacant lot south of Sixth Mount Zion. Ground to be broken in 2021 according to their timeline. 

https://www.vhda.com/BusinessPartners/MFDevelopers/LIHTCProgram/LIHTCMarketStudies/Cameo-Street-2020.pdf

Better Housing did a good job with the Goodwyn Project - I'm hoping the quality will be similar here...

 

[eandslee]

Thanks for posting.  Love when you find and post these!  Looks good, but man we need more density there.  A 3-story building next to downtown just isn’t doing it for me. 

[I miss RVA]

Interesting design. Looks like each "block" of the project is two sets of row houses set back-to-back, yes? Minus the parking lot, very reminiscent of Baltimore or south Philly.

[whw53]

20 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Interesting design. Looks like each "block" of the project is two sets of row houses set back-to-back, yes? Minus the parking lot, very reminiscent of Baltimore or south Philly.

I know you like those row-houses - so do I! Unfortunately not here - everything in green on that site plan is internal to what will be an L shaped apartment building. Here is a brief description of the project from the VHDA doc that surrounded the illustratiosn above. 

The following site plan shows the location of the proposed apartment complex within the study site. The plan shows a single L-shaped building fronting Jackson Street on the south and Cameo Street on the east. Access will be provided from the north from 23 Duval Street. A surface parking lot will be built on the north side of the building and include 68 parking spaces, or a ratio of approximately one space per unit. 17 covered bicycle storage spaces will be located on the north side of the building.    Shown next is an elevation of Cameo Street Apartments. It shows that this will be a three-story, elevator-served building with a flat roof. The building exterior will be primarily brick. The building will obtain Earthcraft Gold certification.

Boldness mine - I missed that before - at least we will be given a brick facade here. This is what I was hoping for when I brought up the Goodwyn project. I like the arrangement with the parking consolidated on the interstate side too- that could always be built on later and in the meantime will be masked from Jackson St.  I hope there will be some access from building to Jackson St for tenants however - way it seems is that front entrance is to the parking lot.  Even if resdiential on first floor it is more appealing to let these units have entrances to street like the One Jackson project across the street - a boring, brickless building there is puntuated with a redeeming set of stoops and balconies at a tight interval which helps its urbaness.   Yes, a couple more stories would've been nice here as well but I'll take it. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

I'm with you - a few more stories would have been nice - but at this point, given that there's a grass-covered vacant lot, this is certainly preferable. And - it's at the very northern edge of Jackson Ward right by I-95. A high rise would be nice - but if something like this is going to be built, better here than in Monroe Ward - which NEEDS to be a forest of high rise residential buildings!

[whw53]

4 hours ago, RVA-Is-The-Best said:

3-story corner building off Broad in the Arts District is getting redeveloped into 10 apartments + existing retail space on ground floor, current ground floor retail tenant is leaving and mentioned the two floors above him are 'empty', as in the building is apparently a shell and not occupied on the top 2 floors. The redevelopment will fill that in.

24 E Broad.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/09/18/shell-of-a-building-at-broad-and-first-to-be-converted-to-apartments/

Reposted here for good measure. Thanks @RVA-Is-The-Best. A piece of good news for Broad Street after a disappointing week stemming from the postponement of the B4 rezoning next door in Carver. 

Edited September 18, 2020 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

7 hours ago, whw53 said:

Reposted here for good measure. Thanks @RVA-Is-The-Best. A piece of good news for Broad Street after a disappointing week stemming from the postponement of the B4 rezoning next door in Carver. 

Hopefully the planners really push this issue hard and tamp down on the NIMBYs. I have a sick feeling at least one council member (whose name you can probably guess) will be lock-step behind the freakin' NIMBYs.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Developer planning 5-story, 60 unit building on existing parking lot at 2nd & Leigh.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/10/13/developer-plans-to-build-5-story-jackson-ward-project-with-proceeds-from-3m-fan-apartment-sale/

[whw53]

1 hour ago, RVA-Is-The-Best said:

Developer planning 5-story, 60 unit building on existing parking lot at 2nd & Leigh.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/10/13/developer-plans-to-build-5-story-jackson-ward-project-with-proceeds-from-3m-fan-apartment-sale/

Great great news. 2nd St is Jackson Ward's 'Main St' in many ways but it really struggles. More apartments here will be great for the languishing restaurant cluster around that intersection. Now, if we could see the parking lot on same corner but at the Marshall intersection developed to a similar density that would be great. 

I wish a developer would put up some new or renovate to office/flex space in Jackson Ward, I think there is a real opportunity for this area to benefit from the health/bio tech cluster next door besides just being the dining\lunch scene for these folks. Like how Scott's Addition attracts maker space and tech\finance startups with its unique small spaces, Jackson Ward would be well positioned to provide similar space for small health related startups etc that might be priced out of the larger footprints at the BioTech park. Jackson Ward needs to keep its architecture but shed its 'Historic Jackson Ward' status and really work on a brand that fits into the city as it is NOW. Don't forget that Maggie Walker was business person and entrepreneur first and foremost!

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, whw53 said:

Great great news. 2nd St is Jackson Ward's 'Main St' in many ways but it really struggles. More apartments here will be great for the languishing restaurant cluster around that intersection. Now, if we could see the parking lot on same corner but at the Marshall intersection developed to a similar density that would be great. 

I wish a developer would put up some new or renovate to office/flex space in Jackson Ward, I think there is a real opportunity for this area to benefit from the health/bio tech cluster next door besides just being the dining\lunch scene for these folks. Like how Scott's Addition attracts maker space and tech\finance startups with its unique small spaces, Jackson Ward would be well positioned to provide similar space for small health related startups etc that might be priced out of the larger footprints at the BioTech park. Jackson Ward needs to keep its architecture but shed its 'Historic Jackson Ward' status and really work on a brand that fits into the city as it is NOW. Don't forget that Maggie Walker was business person and entrepreneur first and foremost!

VERY well said and I agree 100% on all fronts. Boy - it would be FANTASTIC if that parking lot at 2nd & Marshall could get the same-size apartment building there (and soon!!) as well. What a tremendous transition it would be for 2nd Street - and to see good density and a larger urban streetscape like that is absolutely what is needed there. VERY glad to see this new building planned - and hopefully a "bookend" building at the Marshall Street corner will become a reality in the near future.

And the observation about Mrs. Walker is absolutely SPOT ON! Unquestionably she was one of Richmond's greatest entrepreneurs and business people. No doubt she must be smiling knowing this project is about to rise.

Edited October 13, 2020 by I miss RVA

[Icetera]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Boy - it would be FANTASTIC if that parking lot at 2nd & Marshall could get the same-size apartment building there (and soon!!) as well. What a tremendous transition it would be for 2nd Street - and to see good density and a larger urban streetscape like that is absolutely what is needed there. VERY glad to see this new building planned - and hopefully a "bookend" building at the Marshall Street corner will become a reality in the near future.

If I recall correctly, that lot was purchased by a New York developer with that intention.  They were retaining the parking lot until most viable for them.  Hopefully as other lots fill up they will see the demand and jump on it.

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Icetera said:

If I recall correctly, that lot was purchased by a New York developer with that intention.  They were retaining the parking lot until most viable for them.  Hopefully as other lots fill up they will see the demand and jump on it.

Here's hoping!

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Neat project: Better Housing Coalition is planning a 67 unit apt building across a whole vacant city block bordered by Jackson, Price, Duval and Cameo streets.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/10/28/better-housing-planning-11m-apartment-building-in-jackson-ward/

Looks like someone had already done a little digging and found out about this as it has already been added to the development map when I went to add it just now. BizSense has been beaten to the punch lol. Altho I guess more detailed info has been revealed now.

 

Edited October 28, 2020 by RVA-Is-The-Best

[whw53]

4 hours ago, RVA-Is-The-Best said:

Neat project: Better Housing Coalition is planning a 67 unit apt building across a whole vacant city block bordered by Jackson, Price, Duval and Cameo streets.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/10/28/better-housing-planning-11m-apartment-building-in-jackson-ward/

Looks like someone had already done a little digging and found out about this as it has already been added to the development map when I went to add it just now. BizSense has been beaten to the punch lol. Altho I guess more detailed info has been revealed now.

 

Love the rendering - yes this is the same project referred to in the VHDA financials study I found back in Septemeber. Great to know we have a timeline on this now. 

Edited October 28, 2020 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

This is fantastic - especially with brand new Jackson Place just a couple of blocks to the east. Very glad to see vacant lots filling up with residential construction of (at least) reasonable density there.

[rjp212]

Came across this concept for what I assume could have been the second phase of Jackson Place.  It would be between Jackson Place and the 3rd St Exit.   

 

https://www.baskervill.com/project/jackson-place/#!

 

[rjp212]

On 10/28/2020 at 6:27 AM, RVA-Is-The-Best said:

Neat project: Better Housing Coalition is planning a 67 unit apt building across a whole vacant city block bordered by Jackson, Price, Duval and Cameo streets.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/10/28/better-housing-planning-11m-apartment-building-in-jackson-ward/

Looks like someone had already done a little digging and found out about this as it has already been added to the development map when I went to add it just now. BizSense has been beaten to the punch lol. Altho I guess more detailed info has been revealed now.

 

Another rendering from Baskervill.

https://www.baskervill.com/project/cameo-house/#!

[whw53]

2 hours ago, rjp212 said:

Came across this concept for what I assume could have been the second phase of Jackson Place.  It would be between Jackson Place and the 3rd St Exit.   

 

https://www.baskervill.com/project/jackson-place/#!

 

Or possibly still could be - I'm surprised we have not heard anything from RRHA in almost a year- from what I understand they are still evaluating received bids for this phase so this could be part of a proposal for that block. Either way - great find. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, whw53 said:

Or possibly still could be - I'm surprised we have not heard anything from RRHA in almost a year- from what I understand they are still evaluating received bids for this phase so this could be part of a proposal for that block. Either way - great find. 

Here's hoping!!