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whw53

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12 minutes ago, asies said:

This is my first time posting here, it felt like a good time to chime in.  I have lived in Charlotte, and while Charlotte has some tall pretty buildings it is not a very vibrant city and it is one of the least walkable major cities in America. I know tall buildings are fun to look at, but city life happens at the street level and activating dead space, regardless of the height, is good for a city and its vibrancy.  Few markets are seeing new office towers rise, Charlotte is a rare exception there. Across the country most new towers are either residential or hospitality (or a mix of both). It takes several years to plan, develop, and build a new tower so while construction costs are inflated right now, by the time the rest of the Coliseum area is ready for development those costs could come down. Having vibrant healthy neighborhoods is what will bring the "height" to Richmond. The region and city are growing. Companies go where people want to live, and Richmond is becoming a place where people want to be. Richmond's best chance for additional height right now will come from residential projects, not office projects (although the Costar headquarters is a welcome exception). This city needs infill development and the more infill we get, the more likely we are to start seeing more height in new proposals.

@asies-- welcome to the forum!! :tw_smile: You're spot on -- residential development is where, at least for the forseeable future, we're going to see height in RVA. Agreed - with a few notable exceptions (CoStar in RVA and Charlotte, well just because - perhaps city father made a deal with the devil or something :tw_wink:) - office construction is likely going to be shelved for a while. I guess we can see a prime example before us in RVA -- the Block D office building got butchered by about 60% - whereas the developers of the Pinecrest Parc View apartment building ADDED a floor, increasing the height from 15 to 16 stories. It wouldn't surprise me if -- over the next few years -- outside of CoStar's tower, the tallest new buildings in RVA are all residential -- which is fine by me -- thankfully the demand is there because RVA city and metro ARE growing briskly. When it comes to "infill" - I hope that when it comes to Monroe Ward and elsewhere in/around downtown, infill will also come with height. We seem to be seeing that taking shape now. The Admiral in Jackson Ward - 12 stories. Two residential buildings at Foushee and Grace - one somewhere in the 13-15 story range and another 11 stories. As has been discussed here, all it will take is for one or two of these tower projects to be successful, and the dam will break. Developers will be much keener to build in the 12-15 story - or 15-18 story (or even taller) range once these buildings are up and fill with residents.

Good takes all the way around, @asies Are you currently living in Richmond?

Again, welcome to the land of the RVA crazies - glad you're with us - and I hope you'll have a seat at the bar and post regularly. :tw_thumbsup:

Edited by I miss RVA
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2 hours ago, asies said:

This is my first time posting here, it felt like a good time to chime in.  I have lived in Charlotte, and while Charlotte has some tall pretty buildings it is not a very vibrant city and it is one of the least walkable major cities in America. I know tall buildings are fun to look at, but city life happens at the street level and activating dead space, regardless of the height, is good for a city and its vibrancy.  Few markets are seeing new office towers rise, Charlotte is a rare exception there. Across the country most new towers are either residential or hospitality (or a mix of both). It takes several years to plan, develop, and build a new tower so while construction costs are inflated right now, by the time the rest of the Coliseum area is ready for development those costs could come down. Having vibrant healthy neighborhoods is what will bring the "height" to Richmond. The region and city are growing. Companies go where people want to live, and Richmond is becoming a place where people want to be. Richmond's best chance for additional height right now will come from residential projects, not office projects (although the Costar headquarters is a welcome exception). This city needs infill development and the more infill we get, the more likely we are to start seeing more height in new proposals. I'd also add that the city probably dodged a bullet in the Navy Hill project as it is the same developer that is scaling the VCU tower down (incremental growth may not be as sexy, but it tends to have an overall larger economic impact than large signature projects).

Absolutely, all this, very well and succinctly put.  Some here want the super density and height, and I do too, but I think they are setting themselves up for big disappointment.  Major new development is mostly going to come from residential, that's not just RVA, that's everywhere now -Manhattan is converting office space to residential like hotcakes.  Unfortunately residential projects are just not as likely to bring as much height as commercial, for several reasons. 

We are lucky we have city, state, federal operations here - and the powerhouse of VCU - that we may get some projects out of, a new hotel downtown could be another. But CoStar HQ was a  bit of a coup for us, at least in these times, don't expect a lot more of that.  Any other major new development will be residential, and not likely to have a ton of height.

 

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1 hour ago, 123fakestreet said:

Major new development is mostly going to come from residential, that's not just RVA, that's everywhere now -Manhattan is converting office space to residential like hotcakes.

We are lucky we have city, state, federal operations here - and the powerhouse of VCU - that we may get some projects out of,

A new hotel downtown could be another.

But CoStar HQ was a  bit of a coup for us, at least in these times, don't expect a lot more of that. 

Any other major new development will be residential, and not likely to have a ton of height.

 

I agree to an extent - but need to gently counter on a couple of points.

Just a few thoughts:

1.) New development mainly from residential:  That will be the driver for a goodly number of years and, in truth, RVA is just now catching up to the trend that's been in place in other (i.e., much larger) cities for years now. In Chicago, there hasn't been a whole ton of office development here in recent years. But residential towers have been sprouting downtown year after year for at least a decade or more.

2.) Manhattan/residential: most (if not all) of the these new "mega tall" pencil-thin "skinny' towers that are suddenly dominating the Manhattan skyline are primarily residential with some mixed-use thrown in. 

3.) New downtown hotel: from your keyboard to God's eyes, my friend! Perhaps that 23-26-ish story Hyatt Regency convention hotel originally proposed in City Center as part of the Navy Hill plan. It's in the City Center SAP - just not in specificity. But a large hotel is shown at the location where the Hyatt Regency was slated to rise, just north or Blues Armory.

4.) CoStar big coup/don't expect more: Yes it was!! It was a HUGE win for RVA. As for not expecting more -- you might be surprised. Given RVA's standing nationally as a magnet city - and we've seen multiple surveys over the last two-plus years now indicating how RVA is DEFINITELY on people's radar now as a "go-to" city, if we did some serious business recruiting (and I realize that's asking a LOT of THIS city, unfortunately) - you never know who might relocate here simply because we ARE much more cost-friendly than places like D.C., NOVA, NYC and other cities. We didn't expect CoStar to happen 10 years ago - and that was something that really came together for RVA in less than a decade's time. Let's revisit this in 2030 and see if we've snagged another coup of a company that's getting ready to build something big downtown.

5.) New development will be residential/not a lot of height: Agree and disagree. I agree we will continue to see a tremendous amount of residential development. And yes - in places like Scott's and Manchester, with the exception of some notable towers that could rise along the Manchester riverfront, the lions share of new residential development will be the big apartment boxes in the 5 to 8 story category. But downtown ... particularly in Monroe Ward - if the trends that are shaping up are truly indicative of what might be to come, a burgeoning "Grace Street Corridor" looks to be in the offing for the next 3 to 5 years. Pinecrest added a floor to their Parc View building - now slated for 16 stories. The two buildings (nothing set in stone - but they are in the works) for Foushee & Grace could hit 11 stories and 13-15-ish stories. Of course the Admiral in Jackson Ward will check in at 12 stories. Locks 7 along the Canal will be 12-13 stories. Bakery Lofts at 17th and Franklin will be 12 stories. We just saw last week that there are plans afoot for FOUR residential towers north of Broad in Shockoe Bottom totaling more than 1,000 units - and the properties upon which they will rise is zoned TOD-1 -- and the Shockoe SAP calls for 12-story development in that part of the Bottom.

All of that is to say -- I do believe we will see height coming with residential projects. As @wrldcoupe4& others have suggested, all it will take, particularly in Monroe Ward, is for one or two of these taller projects to succeed financially for the dam to break, bringing more developers in with deep enough pockets and the desire to build bigger and taller. Given the pent up demand for housing with the city growing - and given the CRE industry's bullish outlook regarding RVA growth and the prospects for the residential development market to remain red hot, I see every reason for all of the proposed high rise residential projects proposed in and around downtown to be very successful. If they are, can you imagine how much of a game changer that will be for RVA over the rest of this decade? Yes - inflation, and the extremely elevated costs of construction and difficulties with sourcing materials and even employing well-trained crews will have an impact. But this economic difficulty won't last forever. I would argue it is very reasonable to expect RVA to look like a VERY different city over the next eight years - and a significant part of that difference will include height.

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3 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

5.) New development will be residential/not a lot of height: Agree and disagree. I agree we will continue to see a tremendous amount of residential development. And yes - in places like Scott's and Manchester, with the exception of some notable towers that could rise along the Manchester riverfront, the lions share of new residential development will be the big apartment boxes in the 5 to 8 story category. But downtown ... particularly in Monroe Ward - if the trends that are shaping up are truly indicative of what might be to come, a burgeoning "Grace Street Corridor" looks to be in the offing for the next 3 to 5 years. Pinecrest added a floor to their Parc View building - now slated for 16 stories. The two buildings (nothing set in stone - but they are in the works) for Foushee & Grace could hit 11 stories and 13-15-ish stories. Of course the Admiral in Jackson Ward will check in at 12 stories. Locks 7 along the Canal will be 12-13 stories. Bakery Lofts at 17th and Franklin will be 12 stories. We just saw last week that there are plans afoot for FOUR residential towers north of Broad in Shockoe Bottom totaling more than 1,000 units - and the properties upon which they will rise is zoned TOD-1 -- and the Shockoe SAP calls for 12-story development in that part of the Bottom.

All of that is to say -- I do believe we will see height coming with residential projects. As @wrldcoupe4& others have suggested, all it will take, particularly in Monroe Ward, is for one or two of these taller projects to succeed financially for the dam to break, bringing more developers in with deep enough pockets and the desire to build bigger and taller. Given the pent up demand for housing with the city growing - and given the CRE industry's bullish outlook regarding RVA growth and the prospects for the residential development market to remain red hot, I see every reason for all of the proposed high rise residential projects proposed in and around downtown to be very successful. If they are, can you imagine how much of a game changer that will be for RVA over the rest of this decade? Yes - inflation, and the extremely elevated costs of construction and difficulties with sourcing materials and even employing well-trained crews will have an impact. But this economic difficulty won't last forever. I would argue it is very reasonable to expect RVA to look like a VERY different city over the next eight years - and a significant part of that difference will include height.

I should clarify I mean the 20 stories, or even 40  stories that many here are clamoring for.  Hopefully we continue to see 10-12 stories in the Grace St corridor and Monroe Ward, I'm cautiously optimistic that can happen.  But I doubt anything goes beyond 16, nevermind 20+.

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1 hour ago, 123fakestreet said:

I should clarify I mean the 20 stories, or even 40  stories that many here are clamoring for.  Hopefully we continue to see 10-12 stories in the Grace St corridor and Monroe Ward, I'm cautiously optimistic that can happen.  But I doubt anything goes beyond 16, nevermind 20+.

Well, I'm hoping that the Southern States Silo project hits, at least, 20 stories.  Fingers crossed it not only meets my expectations, but perhaps exceeds it...[hoping]!

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3 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

I should clarify I mean the 20 stories, or even 40  stories that many here are clamoring for.  Hopefully we continue to see 10-12 stories in the Grace St corridor and Monroe Ward, I'm cautiously optimistic that can happen.  But I doubt anything goes beyond 16, nevermind 20+.

I'll respectfully disagree and play devil's advocate. Provided construction costs don't strangle every project before it gets off the drawing boards, I have a feeling that once these 12, 15, 16-story residential buildings are built and prove financially successful and worthwhile for developers to build, we'll see heights start moving up incrementally. Mind you, we really need the inflation to be reined in - and for costs to abate and for the industry to return to some semblance of normal, particularly from a cost/ROI perspective (given that RVA doesn't have the market size yet to make taller projects feasible -- yet -- ) ... The city and metro are growing. A real plus. Success begets success. Let's see what's being built as we head into the final couple of years of the decade. My guess is that by the time we're approaching 2030, we are going to be pleasantly surprised by just how tall buildings are starting to grow in RVA. Given the much more progressive mindset across the board and the move toward pro-business, pro-development, pro-growth, particularly driven by city planners, I can't imagine RVA stagnating like she has done in the past. The dynamics have changed too much now. Things are moving. Really moving. We just need to keep the momentum rolling.

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11 hours ago, eandslee said:

Well, I'm hoping that the Southern States Silo project hits, at least, 20 stories.  Fingers crossed it not only meets my expectations, but perhaps exceeds it...[hoping]!

I could see that one site getting up to almost 20 stories, and maaaybe many years down the road after several other 12-15 story buildings go into  MW and are successful, one singular 20-25 story signature high luxury type development pops up in the middle of them - if we're really lucky. But the idea of a dense core of a dozen or so 20-30 story residential buildings that some here are talking about I think is just a dream, I don't see that happening in any of our lifetimes.

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28 minutes ago, 123fakestreet said:

 But the idea of a dense core of a dozen or so 20-30 story residential buildings that some here are talking about I think is just a dream, I don't see that happening in any of our lifetimes.

 

I think we would all love to see it but, agreed, it is a dream... a dream development that can only be built on street like 123 fake st!

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2 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

I could see that one site getting up to almost 20 stories, and maaaybe many years down the road after several other 12-15 story buildings go into  MW and are successful, one singular 20-25 story signature high luxury type development pops up in the middle of them - if we're really lucky. But the idea of a dense core of a dozen or so 20-30 story residential buildings that some here are talking about I think is just a dream, I don't see that happening in any of our lifetimes.

Fully agreed. We might live to see some of it though. Just not fully built out the way it could be. Mind you - the One Residential Tower building -- from what @whw53(I think, yes?) informed us, is actually still an "active" project on the drawing boards of the architect for the developer behind the Soda Flats project in Scott's. Perhaps that would be our wonderful signature 25-story residential crown jewel in Monroe Ward/the Arts District. All the more reason that the city needs to stop fooling around and get everything approved so the Soda Flats can get built. God-forbid that said developer be SO put off by the hamster-wheel process of getting applications approved that they simply pack up their 25-story tower and go elsewhere (particularly to one or two cities, the names of which we shall not mention - a la not mentioning Voldemort at Hogwarts.)

The biggest concern though right now is the cost of construction. That HAS to abate, lest we start losing projects -- something I fear has already been happening.

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57 minutes ago, asies said:

Thanks. I've lived in Richmond since August. I think once construction starts on the Costar Tower, we could see more interest in a new residential tower downtown as well. It would be awesome to see a luxury residential or mixed-use tower on the lot next to the Dominion tower. Richmond is around the same size as Salt Lake City (my hometown) and there construction is underway on a  39-story residential tower that when completed will be the state's tallest. In Salt Lake it wasn't until Goldman Sach's expanded their presence downtown that downtown residential development began to really take off.  Costar's expansion downtown could have a similar effect in Richmond.


Belated welcome to Richmond! 

It has certainly been interesting watching the changes in SLC since last I was there probably 15 years ago.  It is amusing to see that the new SLC tower will miss Richmond's tallest by just 1 foot despite being 10 floors taller, a reminder of how tall we need for impact with residential floor plates.  I do wonder at which elevation JMB begins its height calculations given that the parking deck ranges from 1 floor above ground to 5, placing the building at 30-34 floors realistically.

Kensington Tower (SLC)                                            James Monroe Building (RVA)
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/images/details/973318/james-monroe-building-richmond-va-usa-usa-exterior-exterior-view-from-the-east|Buy

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2 hours ago, asies said:

Thanks. I've lived in Richmond since August. I think once construction starts on the Costar Tower, we could see more interest in a new residential tower downtown as well. It would be awesome to see a luxury residential or mixed-use tower on the lot next to the Dominion tower. Richmond is around the same size as Salt Lake City (my hometown) and there construction is underway on a  39-story residential tower that when completed will be the state's tallest. In Salt Lake it wasn't until Goldman Sach's expanded their presence downtown that downtown residential development began to really take off.  Costar's expansion downtown could have a similar effect in Richmond.

I echo @Icetera- a very heartfelt belated welcome to RVA!! :tw_smile:  Very glad you're here! Here's hoping you adopt RVA - or (as often happens) she adopts you as one of her own. Perhaps one day you'll show your grandkids the 'old neighborhood' where you raised their mom or dad. 

Excellent comparison - if there is a city/metro that sizewise stacks up to RVA it's SLC. Very close all the way around. However -- SLC has one advantage over RVA at this point - and I hope and pray this gets corrected here; the airport. Now obviously, the biggest edge that SLC has in that equation is that it's the only game in town for travelers for quite a distance. So SLC does 4 1/2 TIMES the passenger traffic that RIC does. (RIC roughly 4 M passengers, SLC 22.4 M passengers) ... 

Lordy - I'm trying to imagine the growth here if RIC did 22.4 M passengers annually... holy wow!

Anyway - good analysis about downtown development, residential development and height. I agree with you all the way around. 

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While this is technically a VCU development, I wanted to post a portion of a graphic that ran in today's editions of the Times-Dispatch & richmond.com - here. It shows some updated new construction projects on tap for VCU's downtown medical campus - directly in the vicinity of Block D and City Center.

While we've been lamenting the loss of the Block D tower, perhaps we should take heart. Our friends at VCU -- seemingly forEVER in the construction business -- has plans for quite a bit of construction on both campuses. The real height will show up on the medical campus. All of these projects are already known - except perhaps for one that is listed on this graphic that I personally don't recall seeing mentioned before - the Transdisciplinary Neurosciences Building - planned for the northwest corner of 9th and Leigh. Given how the folks who have drawn the campus schematic maps generally have done a fairly good job in terms of building scaling, I'm guessing (based on the map rendering) that this building will be at least in the double-digit story range; at least 10-12 stories and from the way it's drawn, perhaps even taller.  Maybe 13-14 stories? Either way, its height where none exists today.

Recall from previous postings, based in information gleaned from the VCU master plan, the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Building -- planned for 11th and Leigh -- will be roughly 13 stories tall (if the rendering of the outdoor student common area which shows this building front-and-central is accurate). And, even though it's been quite a while since we've had information on the planned new Inpatient Hospital Building in the northeastern corner of the campus, that building has been listed previously as anywhere from 16 to 18 stories tall.

Again, these relative sizes are depicted on the graphic that appeared in the RTD today - so I would tend to trust that previous heights are still valid.

Either way - let's take heart - the VCU height cavalry -- once again -- is riding to the rescue in multiple places near Block D. Even if the folks at CCP are packing up their bat and ball and refusing to play, E. Leigh Street will see a fairly nice stretch of height between 8th and the entrance to the Leigh Street Viaduct.

 

 

6245ac9f5301f.image - Copy.jpg

Edited by I miss RVA
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2 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

I echo @Icetera- a very heartfelt belated welcome to RVA!! :tw_smile:  Very glad you're here! Here's hoping you adopt RVA - or (as often happens) she adopts you as one of her own. Perhaps one day you'll show your grandkids the 'old neighborhood' where you raised their mom or dad. 

Excellent comparison - if there is a city/metro that sizewise stacks up to RVA it's SLC. Very close all the way around. However -- SLC has one advantage over RVA at this point - and I hope and pray this gets corrected here; the airport. Now obviously, the biggest edge that SLC has in that equation is that it's the only game in town for travelers for quite a distance. So SLC does 4 1/2 TIMES the passenger traffic that RIC does. (RIC roughly 4 M passengers, SLC 22.4 M passengers) ... 

Lordy - I'm trying to imagine the growth here if RIC did 22.4 M passengers annually... holy wow!

Anyway - good analysis about downtown development, residential development and height. I agree with you all the way around. 

Comparing airports is an unfair comparison though. Salt Lake International serves not only the entire state of Utah, but southern Idaho, western Wyoming, western Colorado, and eastern Nevada. That is why it became a major Delta Hub. 

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44 minutes ago, asies said:

Comparing airports is an unfair comparison though. Salt Lake International serves not only the entire state of Utah, but southern Idaho, western Wyoming, western Colorado, and eastern Nevada. That is why it became a major Delta Hub. 

And probably half of that traffic never sees outside of the airport.

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5 hours ago, asies said:

Comparing airports is an unfair comparison though. Salt Lake International serves not only the entire state of Utah, but southern Idaho, western Wyoming, western Colorado, and eastern Nevada. That is why it became a major Delta Hub. 

Yep - as I said, it's the only game in town for travelers for quite some distance around. 

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13 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

SLC, while it might be around the same size and Richmond, is a completely different city, for a multitude of reasons.

This happens a lot. Comparing NYC or Chicago to RVA...or even Charlotte. We are a totally different city and that's what makes RVA so great. I love it here... I don't want to be Charlotte or NYC or Chicago. If I did, I would move to Charlotte, God knows the weather gets better the more south we go! But I only have so much energy to be a broken record...

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3 hours ago, ancientcarpenter said:

This happens a lot. Comparing NYC or Chicago to RVA...or even Charlotte. We are a totally different city and that's what makes RVA so great. I love it here... I don't want to be Charlotte or NYC or Chicago. If I did, I would move to Charlotte, God knows the weather gets better the more south we go! But I only have so much energy to be a broken record...

I have to disagree with you about the weather getting "better" the farther south you go. I have other very descriptive words to put in place of "better" - but this is a family show, and I don't want to get banned from the forum. :tw_joy:

Don't worry about needing to go south for the weather. With global warming, it's coming north alllllllll on its own. Personally, I hate it - I moved to Chicago 21 years ago -- in part -- to GET AWAY FROM the God-awful long, hot, suffocating summers in RVA. Unfortunately, they've slowly followed me up here. Fall and winter is -- very unfortunately -- shorter than it used to be here. And summer seems to be quite a bit longer - and a little bit more RVA-like. I'm not enjoying it at all. It's not AS bad as RVA weather - but I'm starting to have horrific flashbacks of the decades of RVA weather I grew up with. 

Three years ago, we took a family trip to DC for a week (my ex-wife was attending a residency program for Ph.D. students) - and when we exited Reagan-National and the humidity hit me, I told her and the kids - "NOW I remember exactly why I left almost two decades ago" :tw_flushed:

As for being "like" another city: I don't want it either. Much as folks probably think I want us to be like Charlotte or Atlanta, I don't. But at the same time, I 100% absolutely do NOT want us to be like Charleston or Savannah, either. And VERY unfortunately, there seem to be WAY too many folks in this city who -- for whatever warped reason -- see RVA as the second (or third)-coming of those living history museums. Mazal Tov to those two cities for doing what they do. We don't need to do what they do. We have the awesome potential to grow into a Tier-1, national-level city; to elevate ourselves out of the morass of mid-level second-&-third-tier cities and to become one of the great destination cities in the U.S. We've had this potential for my entire lifetime. I'm saddened that it's only now that we appear to be FINALLY lifting the rocket off the launch pad (when we should have already landed on the moon decades ago). Forget Charlotte/Atlanta. We've always had the potential to do WHAT they did - and to do it even BETTER than they did. (With humble apologies to our friends on this forum from Charlotte - no offense intended). 

My biggest lament is that I likely won't live long enough to ever see it. :tw_confused:

Edited by I miss RVA
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https://richmond.com/news/local/vcu-health-plans-to-build-a-smaller-downtown-building-for-labs-and-research/article_d03bc16d-5c42-522d-9772-0c29d468c55a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Don't think this is new, but it's on topic.

In designs submitted by the developer, Capital City Partners LLC, the new VCU Health building at 500 N. 10th St. would stand seven stories and would include space for used for labs and research.

The plan is a downsizing for the health system, which as late as last summer considered erecting a 20-story office building.

...

The block would feature a development in three separate sections: a six-story building for Ronald McDonald on the southeast corner; a seven-story building for The Doorways on the west side; and a taller VCU Health facility along the north side. The schematic shows four levels of basement parking and a courtyard. The architect is Philadelphia-based KiernanTimberlake.

...

Demand for new office space has waned since the pandemic as millions have continued working from home. VCU Health allows some non-clinical employees to work remotely.

 

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19 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

https://richmond.com/news/local/vcu-health-plans-to-build-a-smaller-downtown-building-for-labs-and-research/article_d03bc16d-5c42-522d-9772-0c29d468c55a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Don't think this is new, but it's on topic.

In designs submitted by the developer, Capital City Partners LLC, the new VCU Health building at 500 N. 10th St. would stand seven stories and would include space for used for labs and research.

The plan is a downsizing for the health system, which as late as last summer considered erecting a 20-story office building.

...

The block would feature a development in three separate sections: a six-story building for Ronald McDonald on the southeast corner; a seven-story building for The Doorways on the west side; and a taller VCU Health facility along the north side. The schematic shows four levels of basement parking and a courtyard. The architect is Philadelphia-based KiernanTimberlake.

...

Demand for new office space has waned since the pandemic as millions have continued working from home. VCU Health allows some non-clinical employees to work remotely.

 

I'm surprised that it took the RTD THIS long to report on this. RBS had it a couple of weeks ago. Even more, the Times-Dispatch obviously buried it in a weekly round up with a bunch of other stories. The comments section is a mish-mash about different stories - and I think only ONE comment was about this project.

Frankly, I wish they'd just shelve this thing and re-do it once the City Center plan has some legs under it. Maybe we'd get something bigger/better. I doubt it - but still.

And I know - it's been mentioned that CCP is likely building this out of obligation to VCU. Frankly, since when has VCU been afraid to blow off a project or two for a couple of years and start over? I'm sorry - it's probably wrong - but I just can't get behind this piece of crap. Any more than I can get behind the pile of manure slated to be built on less than 50% of the ground footprint of the original 512 Hull project. They didn't just butcher the height of that building, they chopped off more than half of the GROUND footprint IN ADDITION to lopping off about 60% of the floors. I mean - if it's going to be THAT problematic to build (and I know they tried to sell and had no takers) then shelve it for now if you don't have deep enough pockets.

Our friend in Charlotte has mentioned a couple of times that one of the big pluses for projects in the Queen City is that the projects there aren't being developed nearly as much by local-yocal developers as projects seem to be developed here. He mentioned that most of the projects there are being built by big, national developers who have pockets deep enough to weather economic changes and still get big projects done. Obviously, while there ARE some bigger out-of-state developers who have been coming here more frequently to build projects, by and large it seems that -- for the most part -- most of the real heavy-hitters aren't viewing RVA as a big enough market yet to justify coming in and trying to get some good ROI. Once again, it's this bloody issue of "market size" and RVA just plain and simply being too damn small.

Take nothing away from the local-yocals building stuff here. Kudos to them and may they all be successful. But we need to grow this market and get her to the level where some folks with BIG bats will come in here and swing for the fences - and stop scaling 20 story buildings down to 7 - and 12 story buildings down to 4 or 5.

This part of the RVA economic equation is absolutely MADDENING to me. Because for all the growth and the feel-good positive energy, etc., and wow - look at how we're growing and getting bigger - at the end of the day it still boils down to the fact that NO MATTER HOW you slice it - we're STILL just TOO DAMN SMALL!!

Edited by I miss RVA
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Another good editorial from Professor Slipek in today's RBS discussing the rather depressing state of Broad Street, particularly in the location of what used to be the "prime time" heart of the old Broad/Grace retail core. He makes some very good points - and here's hoping that the city planner-driven City Center Small Area Plan will inately address many of his very valid concerns.

I'd like to point to one quote from the article however, as it made my eyes, ears and RVA development antennae perk up:

"Imagination and commitment are key. And parking will be critical. A large residential structure is reportedly envisioned for the surface parking lot in the 400 block of East Broad. Can this complex be designed with ample public parking that’s sunk deep into downtown’s bedrock?"

What does Dr. Slipek know that we don't? (A LOT I'm sure, but I mean specifically related to this little news nugget...) Has ANYONE in this community who is routinely in the know (and who regularly keeps ears close to the ground) heard ANY rumblings of a "discussed" LARGE residential project for the SE corner of  4th and Broad? (It's the site of the old G.C. Murphy department store.) 

To jog a few memories - a large residential tower - 20-plus stories - was included in the old Navy Hill plan for this corner. See graphics below, showing the location and a generic proposed design (not an official rendering).

Is there more to this potential story than is being told?

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/05/06/guest-commentary-downtowns-front-door-is-a-civic-embarrassment/

 

CityCenter-FourthNBroad.jpg

NavyHillBroadStApts.jpg

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