Carver District / Newtowne West / Allison District

[Richmonder23]

21 minutes ago, whw53 said:

City has buckled on the b4

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/12/10/city-withdraws-pulse-zoning-changes-plans-to-revisit-proposal-next-year/

Kim Gray rambling on about preserving 'historically black neighborhoods', comparing upzoning to 'poor highway projects', and saying she needs more renderings to visualize what a 20 story building looks like. Nothing of substance - bye Kim. 

Is this an attempt to punt the vote to the incoming City Council in the new year, without Kim Gray's interference? Or are they just giving up? Either way, I'm mad as hell and ready to send some strongly worded e-mails to these craven city council reps.

[Brent114]

Yeah.  This is defiantly a dereliction of duty.  Passing it is a no-brainer.  Tabling the vote is provincial  thinking at its worst. 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Brent114

[marinog711]

Unbelievable... I thought this was Richmond city not Brandermill.   How many projects have city council and these whiny neighborhood associations killed this year?  This is beyond frustrating.   If you are afraid of progression then don’t live in a growing city.. MOVE!

[Icetera]

58 minutes ago, marinog711 said:

Unbelievable... I thought this was Richmond city not Brandermill.   How many projects have city council and these whiny neighborhood associations killed this year?  This is beyond frustrating.   If you are afraid of progression then don’t live in a growing city.. MOVE!

Funny considering this is the same neighborhood that said everyone was going to move to the suburbs because of the "nightly riots".  It is a shame they did not as I would love to buy a home there and vote yes for the density!  A beautiful historic single family home in immediate walking distance to dense amenities sounds like dream living to me.

[eandslee]

I can't believe the City caved to these NIMBYs.  Amazingly, they still hold a lot of power, although I think they are just a small group of people.  If so, their messages always comes in loud and clear!  Such a shame because I think their argument in this case is a terrible and unfounded one.  I guess there are people who live in the City who don't want to actually live in a city.  SMH...who knew?

Edited December 10, 2020 by eandslee

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

BANANAs strike again... 

[whw53]

 

 

 

Reposting my rant on Reddit

Christ, Kim Gray is such a fearmongerer - glad she is on her way out - check out what i hope is her final rant..

“There’s still eight distinct civic associations who are in opposition to 20-story buildings,” Gray said last week, after a meeting on the issue that preceded the withdrawal.

There has been B-4 to both sides of this rezoning area for decades - no 20 story buildings have arose there in that time. B-4 includes form based elements which limits building height in most areas. But if you can accept 12 story buildings, what difference does potentially 8 more stories make? I mean - to your life - really. And too much yielding to the civic associations aka entrenched or 'settled' interests and not enough vision for a dynamic, open urbanism which brings more people in, creates more opportunities etc.

“These neighborhoods have survived a lot of poor planning and poor highway projects and deliberate dismantling, and I think that this is something that could similarly cause these neighborhoods to be extinct.”

Yea, 40+ plus years ago - to draw any parallel between those actions which demolished the city and urban form and this action now which intends to set the groundwork to restore that environment is disingenuous and she knows it. Yea - 'extinct', whatever KG. This is the same arrogance that the development team employed when they reached back into history to revive the Navy Hill name.

“After months and months of work with the planning department and these respective neighborhoods, they turned around and put B-4 zoning into the mix that was never mentioned at all. And we haven’t seen any renderings that would show us what 20 stories would look like along that corridor,” Gray said.

Has anyone actually read the Pulse plan? If so you will see that it lays out future land uses for each station area. From DMV to Bowe south of Newtowne and west of Carver is designated as Nodal Mixed Use per the plan. Under that category description B EFFING 4 as well as other suggested codes are noted as the targeted zoning classes. B-4 was always in the mix.

“Most of the corridor backs up to historic neighborhoods, three of which are historically Black neighborhoods that are constantly in battle for the preservation of their character and housing stock.

Race appropriation and virtue signaling aside - Historic urban neighborhoods - why do we have to build a bubble around them? Investing close by will put these neighborhoods in proximity to amenities, jobs etc. No one is proposing to tear down any of this urban stock, quite the opposite as money will flow into these areas. That is the real way to honor them - by continuing the tradition of market urbanism along Broad St of which these neighborhoods were a past incarnation.

[vaceltic]

This could’ve been avoided if the pulse plan and zoning matched up in building heights at the onset and densities/heights were stepped back from broad street (ie higher up tot he 20-stories as your go north into the industrial area where no one lives).

seems like planning grossly misplayed their hand here. 

[wrldcoupe4]

Is that what the neighborhoods suggested they would support?

[vaceltic]

8 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Is that what the neighborhoods suggested they would support?

Not sure. One strategy to address fears of massive differences in building heights and scales is to have stepped building heights. Don’t really know why this approach wasn’t taken with the zoning - there’s not much in Newtowne to stop that. 

having a potential wall of 20-story buildings on north side broad with 3-4 story buildings on southside broad side seems pretty weird to me.

The zoning denial just means developers can’t develop the height “by right”. They can still apply for a special use permit if they desire a higher building in than zoning allows - granted, it goes through the public process and approvals that adjoining interests seem to not want.

 

 

[I miss RVA]

8 hours ago, vaceltic said:

Not sure. One strategy to address fears of massive differences in building heights and scales is to have stepped building heights. Don’t really know why this approach wasn’t taken with the zoning - there’s not much in Newtowne to stop that. 

having a potential wall of 20-story buildings on north side broad with 3-4 story buildings on southside broad side seems pretty weird to me.

The zoning denial just means developers can’t develop the height “by right”. They can still apply for a special use permit if they desire a higher building in than zoning allows - granted, it goes through the public process and approvals that adjoining interests seem to not want.

 

 

But a question for you: exactly HOW realistic is it to expect there will be a "wall" of 20-plus story buildings lining the north side of Broad Street from Arthur Ashe Boulevard to VCU? C'mon - seriously?? This isn't Uptown Atlanta we're talking about here - where there's been development going on for decades. Will there MAYBE be a few highrises dotting the landscape along the north side of Broad? Maybe, yes. BIG maybe. We're only just now seeing the first couple of 12-story buildings rising (the Opus and the one planned forScott's Addition - and that one is on Marshall as it is) ... Honestly, it's a specious argument to assert there will be anything remotely resembling a "wall" of 20-story towers on the north side of Broad. Could it happen? Sure, anything can happen. Will it happen? Not in my lifetime - and I doubt in ANY of our lifetimes.

So if the NIMBYs are freaking out over this, they're either full of crap or are chasing ghosts where none exist.

[vaceltic]

On 12/11/2020 at 4:25 PM, I miss RVA said:

But a question for you: exactly HOW realistic is it to expect there will be a "wall" of 20-plus story buildings lining the north side of Broad Street from Arthur Ashe Boulevard to VCU? C'mon - seriously?? This isn't Uptown Atlanta we're talking about here - where there's been development going on for decades. Will there MAYBE be a few highrises dotting the landscape along the north side of Broad? Maybe, yes. BIG maybe. We're only just now seeing the first couple of 12-story buildings rising (the Opus and the one planned forScott's Addition - and that one is on Marshall as it is) ... Honestly, it's a specious argument to assert there will be anything remotely resembling a "wall" of 20-story towers on the north side of Broad. Could it happen? Sure, anything can happen. Will it happen? Not in my lifetime - and I doubt in ANY of our lifetimes.

So if the NIMBYs are freaking out over this, they're either full of crap or are chasing ghosts where none exist.

Well it definitely won’t happen if the zoning doesn’t allow it. Wasn’t that the whole point of the neighborhood stink?

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, vaceltic said:

Well it definitely won’t happen if the zoning doesn’t allow it. Wasn’t that the whole point of the neighborhood stink?

Oh exactly the point behind it.  To them it's zero-sum. All or nothing. No grey areas. I just find the whole argument nonsensical.

[whw53]

Some pictures I snapped while on a walk today - 

 

First 4 are of the Sauer Center project which is quickly wrapping up along Hermitage. Parking garage looks done, remaining activity has been the interior renovation of some older factory buildings most notably the Putnam along Broad (didn't walk down that way.). With that and these smaller buildings along Hermitage (some are already leased), this Sauer Center project we can green out on the map in a few months time. Hopefully this means Sauer family will turn to their other holdings in the immediate area and we learn more about what their plans are. 

Other pictures in order are of the Opus construction (still below grade), some cleaning up of the Carver Square site, the completed renovation of the Bowe St retail strip which was lit aflame this summer, 2 new SFH sites along Leigh (one marked for survey, another farther along), and then a large lot marked as for sale in the newtowne neighborhood listed by Porter realty https://porterinc.com/property-listings/2057-moore-street/. Nothing ground breaking but progress none the less!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by whw53

[whw53]

I hadn't seen this yet but Opus group has a homepage for our Lombardy\Broad tower which will be branded 'Ascend'. 

https://www.opus-group.com/Work/Ascend-Richmond-Student-Living-Development

 

Some additional press releases in past couple months-

https://www.opus-group.com/News/Opus-Group-Demonstrates-Resiliency-Across-Student-Living-Sector

https://rebusinessonline.com/balboa-opus-begin-construction-on-428-bed-student-housing-community-in-richmond/

 

From the second link - 

"Lastly, Opus recently broke ground on its next student living project, Ascend Richmond, near the Virginia Commonwealth University campus. The 12-story development will have 168 units and 428 beds with a mix of studios to four-bedroom floor plans. Once complete, residents will be able to enjoy an outdoor terrace with a pool, an indoor fitness room and lounge areas and a second floor indoor-outdoor space. Additionally, there will be 82 parking spaces on the ground level as well as a basement garage. The student living project is located at the northeast corner of Broad and Lombardy with convenient access to public bus routes."

“The city of Richmond recently participated in an exercise designed to drive density and pedestrian activity along the Broad Street corridor,” said Dean Newins, senior vice president at Opus. “Known as the Pulse Corridor Plan, this transit oriented development strategy will help energize the area around our site as well as the entire commercial spine through the city. Specifically, this project will be a catalyst for the Allison Street Station area which encompasses our site.”

Edited January 11, 2021 by whw53

[whw53]

7 demolition permits were filed this week to remove all structures on the Carver Square site.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

The next phase of Sauer Center is a 4 story office building to be built next to the new parking deck behind the Putney building. 53k sq ft of office space.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/02/08/4-story-office-building-to-be-next-phase-of-whole-foods-anchored-sauer-center/

 

Just wish that surface lot serving Whole Foods was pushed back from Broad and the building be built there but oh well

[I miss RVA]

Given the little swatch of land next to the parking deck, this is probably the best we could have hoped for. I'm surprised the NIMBYs aren't up in arms about THIS one, tbh.

[wrldcoupe4]

It’s not tall. Not sure what the nimby’s would object to here 

[Downtowner]

Given the little swatch of land next to the parking deck, this is probably the best we could have hoped for. I'm surprised the NIMBYs aren't up in arms about THIS one, tbh.

They would probably say it’s too tall and should only be two stories and then say it ruins the character of the neighborhood. Then they would complain about the traffic from it saying too many people come and go from here and generate too many people. They would find a million things to complain about it. I just feel like they are very unhappy people living very unhappy miserable lives since that’s all they seem to like to do whenever a project is proposed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

I wouldn't think NIMBYs would bother either given it's so far back from Broad or Hermitage and it's pretty much matching the height of the parking deck next to it

Edited February 8, 2021 by RVA-Is-The-Best

[I miss RVA]

I said that about the NIMBYs and this project tongue-in-cheek. 

[Brent114]

Oh snap! 
The pace is about to pick up (crane base installed). 
 

 

 

[Hike]

15 minutes ago, Brent114 said:

Oh snap! 
The pace is about to pick up (crane base installed). 

seeing this reminded me I should look for more on the project, here's the GC, looks like a few different images and will keep looking for the webcam, thanks for posting!

https://rabrengeneralcontractors.com/projects/opus-richmond/

[I miss RVA]

22 hours ago, Hike said:

seeing this reminded me I should look for more on the project, here's the GC, looks like a few different images and will keep looking for the webcam, thanks for posting!

https://rabrengeneralcontractors.com/projects/opus-richmond/

Love the new renderings! This is exciting to see the Opus project really chugging along.