Centennial Tower

[burt]

Coupe, what do you make of this? Have you ever heard of Clancy & Theys?

What's the talk on Main Street? It's almost incredible. 30 stories? And a "Parking garage"? Do you suppose they would include decks in the actual building which would bring it to a total of 30?

What are your comments?

Now this is interesting indeed. The project factsheet was updated 2 days ago:

Kjellstrom and Lee has been dropped as the General Contractor. Clancy and Theys is the new GC.

The biggest news:

Timeline and Building info:

Timeline: Market Analysis Completed Oct 2005

Design Commencement Late 2006

Design Completion 2008

Groundbreaking 2008

Occupancy 2010

Square Footage / Floors: Estimated square footage is as follows:

Several levels parking garage

One (1) level upscale retail, including restaurant

[wrldcoupe4]

Here's the other tidbit:

Changing Richmond’s skyline forever, Centennial Tower, a thirty (30) story, state-of-the-art skyscraper will include a parking garage, upscale retail space, office space, a one-hundred twenty two (122) room boutique-style hotel, ninety furnished short term stay corporate suites, and two-hundred fifty (250) ultra-luxury residential units in the building tower. Goodstein Development Corporation of Virginia anticipates Centennial Tower will help to encourage downtown revitalization efforts by providing an unparalleled first-class, mixed-use facility.

Burt, I'm not sure what to think. Either these guys are crazy or something has changed. I believe parking would be integrated into the structure above ground level now. Not to mention the square footage/floors information has some errors. In an ideal world, if 30 stories is true and they can get financing then this would be pretty sweet news.

Edited December 14, 2007 by wrldcoupe4

[blake_p]

I checked page 1 and it started out at 22 stories, so 30 is great news. Their listing of floors is a bit off. If you add up the words, it comes to 20 + parking, and if you add the numbers, it's 26 + parking. So with a mechanical floor, that leaves 3-9 levels of parking in the tower.

[jbjust]

Maybe they've had to increase the height to account for the land the hold-outs refused to sell.

[eyes]

Maybe they've had to increase the height to account for the land the hold-outs refused to sell.

I don't think they refused to sell.... Developer did not want to buy. Because I think they have no money.

It's stall, then regroup, and stall again.... untill, they get an anchor tenant. What else can they do untill they are shut down? Untill we see mechanicals , untill they get a building permitt, it's all a snow flury.

[burt]

Does anybody know anything about Clancy & Theys, the new GC? Will the plans be completely revamped with a brand new look?

I count a total of 27 stories and 458,000 s.f. Maybe the 192,000 missing square footage is for parking floors, which would bring the s/f total to 650,000 and floor level to 30.

Let us know, Coupe, when the wrecking ball begins to swing.

After looking at the visual tour, I have a notion M&R Hilton Garden Inn is going to sell out its condos -- especially with prices topping out at $400,000. If the John Marshall also comes on line as well as a newly designed Centennial, the three properties would add about 500 new residential units in Center City.

Edited December 14, 2007 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

http://www.clancytheys.com/

[jbjust]

Does snybody know anything about Clancy & Theys, the new GC?

Here is their website. Seems like they've mostly done projects in NC and Tidewater. I don't see any projects that they've done above 10 stories or so.

Clancy & Theys

[vdogg]

Does snybody know anything about Clancy & Theys, the new GC?

Yes. They're an extremely reputable company that has done major projects across the nation. They've even done some in HR (most notably the Sanctuary at False Cape .

With them at the helm, things should go smoothly once financing is secured.

PS. They also helped build the Sandler Center.

[burt]

About the tallest structure I can find in their portfolio is The Marriott in Virginia Beach which looks to be 12 or 14 stories.

Maybe Centenial will be their first foray into major high rise construction. I imagine when we finally see a rendering it will be completely different from what we have been trained to expect.

[journiyin]

About the tallest structure I can find in their portfolio is The Marriott in Virginia Beach which looks to be 12 or 14 stories.

Maybe Centenial will be their first foray into major high rise construction. I imagine when we finally see a rendering it will be completely different from what we have been trained to expect.

The marriot that they did in VB was a substantial project... it had an attached mixed-use parking garage and shop part attached. The way that property is set up, the could have the entrance to the parking deck along 6th st, and still get 3 or 4 stories of parking before you hit a ground level entrance at the highest point of main st. Almost a 30 foot drop off from one corner to the to the other (in a caddy corner kind of way).

[burt]

The marriot that they did in VB was a substantial project... it had an attached mixed-use parking garage and shop part attached. The way that property is set up, the could have the entrance to the parking deck along 6th st, and still get 3 or 4 stories of parking before you hit a ground level entrance at the highest point of main st. Almost a 30 foot drop off from one corner to the to the other (in a caddy corner kind of way).

Welcome back, stranger.

[Downtowner]

Wow I take a break and I come back to this. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am excited by this. But anyone including me knows that this could all go downhill again. So im not gonna get all that excited untill I know something is set in stone. Like coupe said if they can get financing for this it will be a very amazing project to see. I cant wait at all.

[burt]

http://www.clancytheys.com/

IMO, the majority of examples on ClancyTheys site are lacking urbanity. However, they did do The Martin Agency in Shockoe Slip and that's a building which fits in well with the area. And The Quorum Center in downtown Raleigh looks pretty neat.

ClancyTheys is the GC and I assume an architectural firm does the design and determines what materials are to be used in construction. So perhaps the original design, with modifications, is still in play for Centennial.

Edited December 15, 2007 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

Baskervill designs it, ClancyTheys gets it built.

[burt]

Isn't this the first time Goodstein has used the words "ultra luxury" to describe the residential units in Centenial Tower? Notice the singular description -- one, not two towers?

In keeping with the "ultra luxury" description, could it be he will lure Ritz Carlton (or similar) to operate the 122 room boutique hotel and the 90 furnished corporate suites?

The entire 650,000 s/f structure will have 26 floors PLUS several levels of parking which should bring it up to at least 30 stories.

At present, I don't believe there is a building in Richmond that exceeds 450,000 s/f under one roof.

[wrldcoupe4]

The Fed reserve has over 700k SF, Bank of America has over 500k SF, SunTrust has over 600,000 SF......

[eyes]

The corner of 6th and cary which is 10 s. 6th street, If Douglas has purchased that then a person at a party this week end said that Goodstein and Douglas were partners... this is likely true. This must have happened recently and thus the change in website for Goodstein. Maybe parking will go there. Richmond city plannning and development has approval authority.... approval has not been given... could be denied.

There is nothing substantial here. Just an illustration and a descripton on a website.

Baskerville has the orginial twin towers illustration on their website....

Has anyone seen an illustration with just one tower?

[thatguy]

You bring up a good point. The city will not approve the project without a solution for parking and it can not claim use of public lots. They must have exclusive use for the parking to get the approval.

[burt]

The corner of 6th and cary which is 10 s. 6th street, If Douglas has purchased that then a person at a party this week end said that Goodstein and Douglas were partners... this is likely true. This must have happened recently and thus the change in website for Goodstein. Maybe parking will go there. Richmond city plannning and development has approval authority.... approval has not been given... could be denied.

There is nothing substantial here. Just an illustration and a descripton on a website.

Baskerville has the orginial twin towers illustration on their website....

Has anyone seen an illustration with just one tower?

quote]

Yes. The original design had two distinct towers rising from about the fourth level, but that was later shelved in favor of a single structure which retained the two mini towers at the top (see the rendering dated 11/26/07 at bottom of page 43 in this thread.)

Also, Doesn't Pollard & Bagby own and occupy the building between Centennial property and 10 South 6th. And it has been said that Pollard and Bagby does not want to sell.

Isn't the latest plan to include parking within the 30-story tower?

Edited December 17, 2007 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

Pollard and Bagby is on the west side of 5th street... their building does not impact this project in any way. They do have a parking lot across fifth which partially backs up to the Centennial property lines.

I imagine we'll see a new design which is quite different from the variating original publicly released over 2 years ago.

Also, there is no Douglas Development/Goodstein Development connection at 10 S 6th street. Douglas' building is going nowhere. I think any additional parking will be incorporated into a new structure vertically, thus the increase in height to 30 floors.

[eyes]

who just bought 5th and cary? Johnson lawyers sold it. And for how much?

[wrldcoupe4]

Has it sold already? I noticed the CBRE sign out front. It's assessed at $800k.

[eyes]

Yes, the property sold. From Lawyers to another set of Lawyers. ( I suspect there is a tie between the new owners and either Douglas or Goodstein. It was sold two weeks after the sign went up 2 months ago.

[Cadeho]

THERE ARE A FEW HOLES IN THE BUILDINGS!!!

Wait, those were windows... never mind...