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Diamond Area / Hermitage Rd Corridor / Ownby District

whw53

By whw53
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123fakestreet Hamlet

123fakestreet

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1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Agreed - 11 acres of green space is just WAYYYY too much - some is needed, of course, but not that much. Also agreed - that building, coupled with the Novel on the west side of A.A. Blvd., will do a LOT for the southern gateway to the Diamond District- and that big addition of residents will go a LONG way toward getting some national retailers to set up shop there.

I feel like they got feedback that SA needed some park space and they were like "well instead of building a small park that's actually in SA, how about we build a gigantic one half a mile away?"

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wrldcoupe4
wrldcoupe4

I took these recently. This is the apartment and townhouse project that is being build around Hardywood on Overbrook. It’s seriously beefing up the density over there.     

Downtowner
Downtowner

https://richmond.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/richmond-city-council-gives-green-light-for-diamond-district-project/article_294104e0-55c3-5eba-bb36-d1038b970e68.html   council approves diamo

Brent114
Brent114

Here’s a drive-by update of Novel   

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CitiWalker Whistle-Stop

CitiWalker

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I like the crescent green space.  I don't think you have to have every single piece of land occupied by concrete and steel to have an urban feel. In proportion to the amount of buildings being built , I do see a balance. I think you can have an urban feel with a suburban feel of openness getting the best of both worlds. In reviewing the design it really has a functional flow to it. In other words the layout really makes sense.  Also connecting with the training camp with a pedestrian bridge ads further to the flow foot traffic wise. It makes sense also to have a more innovative concept practical but well conceived. Having a great design does not mean it has to be over the top  or extreme but sensible and functional. This design allows for multiple uses lots of foot traffic. I can see  festivals  or small concerts on the lawn as well. That open space will allow a lot of versatility within that development from an entertainments standpoint.  As someone said why put a park in SA when you can utilize the one nearby and further saturate SA  on the other side of AA with a denser collection of apartments. . As far as retail goes, I could see retail on the ground floor of a couple of apartment and office buildings. However any type of big box store would seem out of place , too bulky and awkward unless it was a scaled down version  that would fit in with the continuity of the overall design. Just my observation.

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I miss RVA Metropolis

I miss RVA

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12 minutes ago, CitiWalker said:

I like the crescent green space.  I don't think you have to have every single piece of land occupied by concrete and steel to have an urban feel. In proportion to the amount of buildings being built , I do see a balance. I think you can have an urban feel with a suburban feel of openness getting the best of both worlds. In reviewing the design it really has a functional flow to it. In other words the layout really makes sense.  Also connecting with the training camp with a pedestrian bridge ads further to the flow foot traffic wise. It makes sense also to have a more innovative concept practical but well conceived. Having a great design does not mean it has to be over the top  or extreme but sensible and functional. This design allows for multiple uses lots of foot traffic. I can see  festivals  or small concerts on the lawn as well. That open space will allow a lot of versatility within that development from an entertainments standpoint.  As someone said why put a park in SA when you can utilize the one nearby and further saturate SA  on the other side of AA with a denser collection of apartments. . As far as retail goes, I could see retail on the ground floor of a couple of apartment and office buildings. However any type of big box store would seem out of place , too bulky and awkward unless it was a scaled down version  that would fit in with the continuity of the overall design. Just my observation.

Agreed on the retail - a big box just wouldn't fit here. Mind you - some of the larger retailers DO offer urban-footprint store development (Target is a big one - there are a bunch of urban-footprint Targets around Chicago) and it works well. Of course, you need density to make that happen.

As for the green - I wouldn't mind seeing maybe half the green space - 11 acres is a LOT - something in the 6 to 8 acre range I think would be better in terms of allowing more density in the neighborhood. Then again - to achieve the density, perhaps buildings will simply have to be built TALLER (as opposed to more buildings) - and who in their right mind wouldn't want more verticality? Maybe it becomes a good trade-off after all. :tw_smiley:

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I miss RVA Metropolis

I miss RVA

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3 hours ago, BigBobbyG said:

I went to the informational meeting at the Washington Commanders (former?) Training Center last night and someone asked about an urban-footprint style Target (or something like it) being included in one of the later phases. Both the developer and the City seemed pretty pleased by the question and said they'd like to see something like that in the later phases and are in the process of putting together promotional material to court such a business. I think the developer even made the old joke about how its nearly impossible to buy a TV within city limits and said it's a shame.

In addition, I heard the same guy advocate for the phase 1 buildings to be as tall as possible and I wrote the same thing on the comment sheet so let's hope they do so!

Great information! Really cool that you were able to be able to attend. How awesome is it that folks are inquiring about those urban-footprint retailers that are commonplace in locations like here in Chicago and in NOVA/Washington D.C., etc. Here's hoping it will be in the cards for the Diamond District.

Also - I'm REALLY glad to hear this same person was advocating for as much height as possible - and that you echoed that in your written comments! 

Hmmm... makes me wonder if we had another person (or two) from our community at that informal get-together! 

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CitiWalker Whistle-Stop

CitiWalker

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17 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Agreed on the retail - a big box just wouldn't fit here. Mind you - some of the larger retailers DO offer urban-footprint store development (Target is a big one - there are a bunch of urban-footprint Targets around Chicago) and it works well. Of course, you need density to make that happen.

As for the green - I wouldn't mind seeing maybe half the green space - 11 acres is a LOT - something in the 6 to 8 acre range I think would be better in terms of allowing more density in the neighborhood. Then again - to achieve the density, perhaps buildings will simply have to be built TALLER (as opposed to more buildings) - and who in their right mind wouldn't want more verticality? Maybe it becomes a good trade-off after all. :tw_smiley:

I would definitely push for height rather than land coverage. The density can still be achieved without giving up green space.  I like the concept of an open urban feel. 

 

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I miss RVA Metropolis

I miss RVA

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4 hours ago, eandslee said:

Great story and new report video of an update on what’s been going on since the developer for the Diamond District was announced. Looks like there is a lot of excitement in the air:

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/richmond-diamond-district-project-september-21-2022

Great story! Kudos to TV6 for the good coverage. Glad to see there was a public Q&A information session so folks can see what's coming. The renderings that were at the Q&A (many of which we haven't seen) actually look pretty cool!

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Downtowner Burg

Downtowner

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https://richmond.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/richmond-city-council-gives-green-light-for-diamond-district-project/article_294104e0-55c3-5eba-bb36-d1038b970e68.html
 

council approves diamond district. This is huge for us. Let the digging get started. even ole reva trammel votes yes for it. Has hell frozen over or has reva finally calmed herself down. Very very happy and excited for this.

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wrldcoupe4 Metropolitan Area

wrldcoupe4

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All in all good news. 
In addition to a new baseball stadium:  At full build-out, the new development will have 2,863 rental house units; 157 for-sale homes; 935,000-square-feet of office space; two hotels with a total of 330 rooms; 195,000-square-feet of retail space; 6,800 structured parking spaces and an 11-acre park.

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I miss RVA Metropolis

I miss RVA

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Miracle of miracles - City Council voted UNIMOUSLY in favor of this project. Wow...

I really am beyond words - (yes, I'm smiling so big I think my beard is gonna crack and fall off! :tw_joy:)

Let's get this pahhh-tay started, gentlemen!! 

Oh - and I've been checking to see if RBS has updated their site - I'm sure they'll have this as the banner headline in the morning. Wow - for the first time in WHO knows how long, the RTD actually scooped RBS on a hot/big business story. I'm thinking Hell actually MIGHT HAVE frozen over while we weren't looking! 

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whw53 Burg

whw53

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16 minutes ago, Urbs42 said:

Will anything else need to go before the city council for approval; designs, contracts, etc, or are they effectively done with the  process from here on out?  

I think the development team will still need to file POD's phase by phase and get any SUP's approved as needed for plans that do not conform to the underlying TOD-1 zoning. I imagine any items would be prioritized or expedited. 

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I miss RVA Metropolis

I miss RVA

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1 hour ago, ancientcarpenter said:

Does anyone have an idea what the "Diamond Inn" is going to do with that primo property next to Diamond District? 

 

I'm sure it's more profitable to sell that motel than to continue that business. 

Wait - does that mean renting rooms by the hour isn't profitable? :tw_wink:

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