The Fan / Museum District

[Shakman]

Great to see infill and a surface lot being built upon but design can improve.  

[eandslee]

19 hours ago, whw53 said:

Update on this one - project was formally introduced to city council monday evening. SUP intended to facilitate site layout options and setbacks that would otherwise not b allowed in zoning district.

Full application materials here - https://richmondva.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4950063&GUID=1B576E6F-0AF0-4CC5-95A2-3ED1D9FA8753&Options=&Search=

From the applicant's report - "The proposal consists of a high-quality multifamily residential development and associated amenities, accessory uses, and structured parking. The site layout generally consists of two buildings with central courtyard amenity spaces that flank a central garage structure. The proposed complex would contain a total of 263 dwelling units and would be five stories in height"

 

 

 

 

Just remember - you saw it here on UP first!  Thanks whw53!

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/05/13/international-mission-board-plans-263-apartments-next-to-monument-ave-hq/

[I miss RVA]

7 hours ago, eandslee said:

Just remember - you saw it here on UP first!  Thanks whw53!

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/05/13/international-mission-board-plans-263-apartments-next-to-monument-ave-hq/

The amount of kvetching about the architecture of the buildings in the comments section of Richmond BizSense is really something. I probably shouldn't be surprised but ... wow...

[whw53]

SUP needed to facilitate the above Silverhills project was ADOPTED by City Council last night.

Sent from my SM-A600A using Tapatalk

[123fakestreet]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/06/21/dominion-energy-unloading-4-6-acre-grayland-avenue-property-in-the-fan/

 

Dominion unloading their large property between Cary and downtown expressway 

[whw53]

 

On 2/26/2021 at 10:41 AM, whw53 said:

SUP filed this week for 6 unit attached development off Grove- technically Malvern or Colonial Gardens I think. I wouldn't normally report a relatively small 6 unit development but I do think this is interesting because if this attached infill proliferates west of 195 it will certainly densify the area from what is holding on almost as it was when built in the 1950'\60's and does indeed expand the inner urban gradient even farther west. 

 

 

Concept renderings revealed for this project as SUP item was introduced to city council this week. The illustrations below are listed under Concept C but all are similar in massing - seems like the divergence is mostly in the 3rd story.

Full case materials\concept renderings here - https://richmondva.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5013405&GUID=B1F1ABB5-9315-4BCB-A6DB-D5A00076DBD9&Options=&Search=

[RiverYuppy]

The old Arby's on Broad is finally replaced by a Starbucks.

While I would like something with height and mixed-use, it's nice to see one less abandoned building on the corridor.  Having a nice Starbucks there instead of an abandoned building really helps change the perception of that corridor. 

[Brent114]

It’s a pretty nice Starbucks too.   They did a good job of erasing all traces of Arby’s from the building.  It doesn’t look like a repurposed fast food shell: 

[I miss RVA]

20 hours ago, Brent114 said:

It’s a pretty nice Starbucks too.   They did a good job of erasing all traces of Arby’s from the building.  It doesn’t look like a repurposed fast food shell: 

Nice! 

[whw53]

Vacant lot in Randolph set for 6 attached homes per zoning confirmation letter.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/651c2135-fde6-43f0-9230-dd05ea41179e

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, whw53 said:

Vacant lot in Randolph set for 6 attached homes per zoning confirmation letter.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/651c2135-fde6-43f0-9230-dd05ea41179e

Three duplexes then? Nice!  Glad to see development of reasonably good density coming to Randolph.

[whw53]

14 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Three duplexes then? Nice!  Glad to see development of reasonably good density coming to Randolph.

Me too - lived in Randolph briefly a few years ago for the summer between houses. I really enjoyed it and spent many weekends at the river.  - i think Randolph\Maymont will be increasingly viewed as desirable neighborhoods in the years to come, something for those that enjoy the proximity to city amenities but want a tad more space. 

[I miss RVA]

7 hours ago, whw53 said:

Me too - lived in Randolph briefly a few years ago for the summer between houses. I really enjoyed it and spent many weekends at the river.  - i think Randolph\Maymont will be increasingly viewed as desirable neighborhoods in the years to come, something for those that enjoy the proximity to city amenities but want a tad more space. 

Agreed - it's an underrated part of the city. I think in bygone years, though, it was significantly denser than it is today.  I'm not sure if the tornado in '51 impacted things much there (that did damage a little farther west in Byrd Park - and north going into the lower fan, yes? Or was Randolph impacted?) Even though it runs farther north, I'm sure there was some impact from the path of the Downtown Expressway - and if I recall, RVA's infamous dance with the ideology of "urban renewal" that was popular in the 1960s, 70s and even the 80s decimated whatever was left of Randolph back then.

I'm not a preservationist by any means - I'm 100% for progress - but don't get me started on the abomination of what happened to Fulton, a neighborhood that the RRHA more than happily simply wiped off the face of the earth around 1970. I don't know Randolph's history as well as I should, but I seem to recall that it had to some degree a very similar fate - there was much more density in Randolph in the form of very typical Richmond rowhouses that simply got swept away as large swaths of land were bulldozed in the spirit of "urban renewal". I'm SO glad that disgusting practice has pretty much be relegated to the dustbin of history, even though - sadly - RVA lost at least one (and maybe more?) neighborhood with a really strong legacy urban footprint and infrastructure -- that could have been rehabilitated and saved.

I'm old enough to have seen Fulton as it existed before the city simply vacuumed it away 50 years ago.  Did it have significant problems that would have been extremely challenging (and maybe costly) to fix? Yes, of course! But if the "historic" preservationists were so gung ho about not paving over a single cobblestone on Monument Avenue or saving every house in The Fan or on Church Hill, could they not have come out in force to prevent Fulton -- the OLDEST neighborhood in the city, btw -- from getting essentially plowed IN ITS ENTIRETY into the river? Give me a break!!

Edited September 20, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Richmonopoly]

5 hours ago, whw53 said:

Me too - lived in Randolph briefly a few years ago for the summer between houses. I really enjoyed it and spent many weekends at the river.  - i think Randolph\Maymont will be increasingly viewed as desirable neighborhoods in the years to come, something for those that enjoy the proximity to city amenities but want a tad more space. 

Agreed I love the refurbished homes in the cul-de-sac near the Texas Beach parking lot. 

[Wahoo 07]

Randolph, especially the blocks just south of the downtown expressway, could be transformed into the Fan south.  Restoring the street grid and constructing modern row houses that give homage to the more traditional Richmond style would make it a really desirable neighborhood.  This would showcase Richmond as a place that draws from its past to build a dynamic, sustainable future.  

Randolph does feel disconnected from the rest of the city.  A block or two of park placed above the downtown expressway would change that (I know it's a longshot).  Meadow could serve as a prominent commercial corridor with 3-4 floors of apartments on top of street level retail.   With a little vision, it could be another dense, highly urban neighborhood.  

[ancientcarpenter]

16 minutes ago, Wahoo 07 said:

Meadow could serve as a prominent commercial corridor with 3-4 floors of apartments on top of street level retail.   With a little vision, it could be another dense, highly urban neighborhood.  

The low income house on meadow (right next to police station) is scheduled to be demolished and new development coming - as so sign says. Anyone have details?

 

I found this but don't have time to review entire thing, looks like maybe they'll just be renovated?  I really hope not. Randolph apartments do not utilize land well and it would be a great development site for high density mix of low income and market rate apartments. 

https://www.vhda.com/BusinessPartners/MFDevelopers/LIHTCProgram/LIHTC 4 Percent TEB Applications and Market Studie/Richmond Family Housing II - Market Study.pdf

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by ancientcarpenter

[ancientcarpenter]

23 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Agreed - it's an underrated part of the city. I think in bygone years, though, it was significantly denser than it is today.  I'm not sure if the tornado in '51 impacted things much there (that did damage a little farther west in Byrd Park - and north going into the lower fan, yes? Or was Randolph impacted?) Even though it runs farther north, I'm sure there was some impact from the path of the Downtown Expressway - and if I recall, RVA's infamous dance with the ideology of "urban renewal" that was popular in the 1960s, 70s and even the 80s decimated whatever was left of Randolph back then.

I'm not a preservationist by any means - I'm 100% for progress - but don't get me started on the abomination of what happened to Fulton, a neighborhood that the RRHA more than happily simply wiped off the face of the earth around 1970. I don't know Randolph's history as well as I should, but I seem to recall that it had to some degree a very similar fate - there was much more density in Randolph in the form of very typical Richmond rowhouses that simply got swept away as large swaths of land were bulldozed in the spirit of "urban renewal". I'm SO glad that disgusting practice has pretty much be relegated to the dustbin of history, even though - sadly - RVA lost at least one (and maybe more?) neighborhood with a really strong legacy urban footprint and infrastructure -- that could have been rehabilitated and saved.

I'm old enough to have seen Fulton as it existed before the city simply vacuumed it away 50 years ago.  Did it have significant problems that would have been extremely challenging (and maybe costly) to fix? Yes, of course! But if the "historic" preservationists were so gung ho about not paving over a single cobblestone on Monument Avenue or saving every house in The Fan or on Church Hill, could they not have come out in force to prevent Fulton -- the OLDEST neighborhood in the city, btw -- from getting essentially plowed IN ITS ENTIRETY into the river? Give me a break!!

I also love Randolph. I think it gets a bit side swipped because it's not in Byrd Park nor is it in the fan. It's not an easy walk to the river. It's just far way (medium to longer walk for most people) from a lot of things that it still makes people there feel like it requires a car. It also is starting to get more and more VCU rentals as VCU grows into Randolph, Carver, and Jackson Ward.

Newer homes were built in a time of quest piping. So anyone living or buying in those homes is in for a rude awakening on a large bill for quest piping. Bigger problem is many of these homes are on a cement slab so the piping goes through the cement and overtime the quest piping is literally disappearing into thin air. I really wish that Randolph wasn't developed as a suburb with these 90s homes...it's too late now. RVA really missed out on creating a high density neighborhood there... now the homes are too valuable / high value to knock down and rebuild. 

Edited September 21, 2021 by ancientcarpenter

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, Wahoo 07 said:

Randolph, especially the blocks just south of the downtown expressway, could be transformed into the Fan south.  Restoring the street grid and constructing modern row houses that give homage to the more traditional Richmond style would make it a really desirable neighborhood.  This would showcase Richmond as a place that draws from its past to build a dynamic, sustainable future.  

Randolph does feel disconnected from the rest of the city.  A block or two of park placed above the downtown expressway would change that (I know it's a longshot).  Meadow could serve as a prominent commercial corridor with 3-4 floors of apartments on top of street level retail.   With a little vision, it could be another dense, highly urban neighborhood.  

Fully agreed, Wahoo. I've long wished that the street grid would be restored and that traditional RVA-style row houses and apartment buildings would be (or would have been) encouraged there. I do believe there is/was a legacy urban footprint that got wiped away in the 80s. It would be SO much better were that old street grid restored and good, dense housing built there. Fully agreed about Meadow Street as well. A fantastic opportunity that has been completely wasted.

1 hour ago, ancientcarpenter said:

I also love Randolph. I think it gets a bit side swipped because it's not in Byrd Park nor is it in the fan. It's not an easy walk to the river. It's just far way (medium to longer walk for most people) from a lot of things that it still makes people there feel like it requires a car. It also is starting to get more and more VCU rentals as VCU grows into Randolph, Carver, and Jackson Ward.

Newer homes were built in a time of quest piping. So anyone living or buying in those homes is in for a rude awakening on a large bill for quest piping. Bigger problem is many of these homes are on a cement slab so the piping goes through the cement and overtime the quest piping is literally disappearing into thin air. I really wish that Randolph wasn't developed as a suburb with these 90s homes...it's too late now. RVA really missed out on creating a high density neighborhood there... now the homes are too valuable / high value to knock down and rebuild. 

I 100% agree, ancientcarpenter. The city missed out on a fantastic opportunity there to redevelop with more of a legacy urban look and feel. It's such a shame that those blocks that were redeveloped as a suburb and not with a high density, traditional urban footprint got developed as they did. I'm guessing such was inspired because Riverview is more in that style - single-family detached houses that overlook the river. Of course, Randolph doesn't really overlook the river! 

[whw53]

Will tack on to the development map today - pair of storefronts on grace to be redeveloped into new commercial slots at 931-933 W Grace with 21 apartments above. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/09/29/father-son-team-plan-to-raze-building-on-grace-and-put-up-new-apartments/

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, whw53 said:

Will tack on to the development map today - pair of storefronts on grace to be redeveloped into new commercial slots at 931-933 W Grace with 21 apartments above. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/09/29/father-son-team-plan-to-raze-building-on-grace-and-put-up-new-apartments/

 

This is a GREAT project for that area! How VERY cool that this father-and-son company is active and has some big plans for projects in the city! 

Something VERY interesting in this article - and I think we may have collectively missed this back in the spring. The Abouzakis also now own the property at 1005 E. Main Street, which they won at auction several months ago. (link to the RBS article below). Check out what they said about what they might do with THAT property!!!

The Abouzakis also are mulling their options of what to do with the former bank-turned-nightclub building at 1005 E. Main St. which they won at auction in March for $570,000.

“We’ve drawn it out for 10-to-12 floors with luxury condos,” Nael said of the Main Street property. “We have a drawing in place for that. If we build up 12 floors, then we can utilize the roof for some kind of a commercial space where you can see the river on one side and the Capitol on the other,” Abouzaki said.

“But we’re still brainstorming, we’re still getting ideas. That’s at least one option.”

How about THAT!! Wouldn't THAT be amazing to see a 12-story condo building rise at 1005 E. Main? It would be a "skinny" from a north-south perspective - and I'm sure would require some jumps through the flaming hoops of the CAR given that it's next to the Ironfronts and, no doubt, they'd have to incorporate the historic facade of 1005 into the building. But since there is a legacy 10-12 story building on the corner at 10th & Main, hopefully that would kibosh any NIMBY pushback regarding height. Given how extremely narrow the property is, however, I have no clue at all how they build something up to 12 stories there.

Here's the RBS article from March:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/03/01/local-investors-grab-foreclosed-downtown-bank-building-at-auction-for-570k/

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Icetera]

2 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

This is a GREAT project for that area! How VERY cool that this father-and-son company is active and has some big plans for projects in the city! 

Something VERY interesting in this article - and I think we may have collectively missed this back in the spring. The Abouzakis also now own the property at 1005 E. Main Street, which they won at auction several months ago. (link to the RBS article below). Check out what they said about what they might do with THAT property!!!

The Abouzakis also are mulling their options of what to do with the former bank-turned-nightclub building at 1005 E. Main St. which they won at auction in March for $570,000.

“We’ve drawn it out for 10-to-12 floors with luxury condos,” Nael said of the Main Street property. “We have a drawing in place for that. If we build up 12 floors, then we can utilize the roof for some kind of a commercial space where you can see the river on one side and the Capitol on the other,” Abouzaki said.

“But we’re still brainstorming, we’re still getting ideas. That’s at least one option.”

How about THAT!! Wouldn't THAT be amazing to see a 12-story condo building rise at 1005 E. Main? It would be a "skinny" from a north-south perspective - and I'm sure would require some jumps through the flaming hoops of the CAR given that it's next to the Ironfronts and, no doubt, they'd have to incorporate the historic facade of 1005 into the building. But since there is a legacy 10-12 story building on the corner at 10th & Main, hopefully that would kibosh any NIMBY pushback regarding height. Given how extremely narrow the property is, however, I have no clue at all how they build something up to 12 stories there.

Here's the RBS article from March:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/03/01/local-investors-grab-foreclosed-downtown-bank-building-at-auction-for-570k/

 

I imagine the big fight would be with the immediate neighbor, the American Heritage.  Even with a set back to not place walls on top of the existing windows, this structure would create significant obstructions to the current apartments while limiting its own views.  Given how thin the lot is, the new tower would likely have a corridor running along the shared side with apartments facing East.  I believe this scenario is unprecedented in recent Richmond history and the American heritage has never had an immediate neighbor of significant height.

 

[wrldcoupe4]

Interesting random fact - The American Heritage Building was originally half as wide and a couple floors shorter than it is today.

[whw53]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

and I'm sure would require some jumps through the flaming hoops of the CAR given that it's next to the Ironfronts

CAR has no jurisdiction here - the block is just outside of the Shockoe Slip Old and Historic District. 

[I miss RVA]

10 minutes ago, whw53 said:

CAR has no jurisdiction here - the block is just outside of the Shockoe Slip Old and Historic District. 

Even adjacent to the Ironfronts? Wow - that's good to know!

[whw53]

New SUP filed Friday before last at 2613 W Broad which is currently a vacant lot. Now same entity controls 2601 and 2607 so i wonder if proposed project is for just this 2613  lot or for the entire site controlled by the entity. 

Either way the 2600 block is set for a new 'mixed use building with commercial on the ground floor' 

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/f2540a3f-a153-48d8-88e3-f6caafeb980f

Zoning was recently assigned B-5 - pretty restrictive zoning class on a few fronts if i remember right so SUP could be for any number of items.

Edited November 2, 2021 by whw53