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Foundry Park


wrldcoupe4

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Land Development is in the name of the other party... not sure what the entire name is though hahaha. any suggestions?

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I tried to do a google search on it and variations of it, but came up empty handed. I haven't a clue who it is or what they have in mind to do with the property. I can tell you this though...it's killing me not knowing what the heck is going on!!! :lol:

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hey thanks and welcome onto UP. Glad you've enjoyed Richmond on your visits... its a great town :thumbsup:

This site is the city's best opportunity for some awesome signature tower and bringing some real mass to the riverfront.

I guess you could say that the site was being marketed by the Richmond Riverfront Corporation, and it's owned by Ethyl Corp (They have HQ in that fancy white building on the hill that overlooks the 'ethyl site/fed reserve parking lot'.....They've been VERY hush hush about it and so basically, what's here is probably the most information you'll find. I think phase I of the deal in being finalized now... so once they've completed the transaction, we'll probably know more. It's a VERY exciting development and I can't wait to see what will go there!

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There are some really awesome places to live downtown and in the city. I can't wait to get back down there and find a place myself...there are some nice places in the burbs too, but you know you want to live in the city :lol:

Speaking of the Ethyl site.... since my earlier link sucked, here's part of the article:

"The largest chunk of available land along the Haxall Canal is one step closer to being sold and developed.

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  • 4 months later...

Hmmmm this is mixed news...

Apparently, 6 out of the 10 parcels that make up the Ethyl Property were sold to the Federal Reserve:

from ptaylor on RCW...

Apparently, there was a "a transfer of parcels on that block from Ethyl to the Federal Reserve for $9,542,000 on 12/21/2005."

........... "the Fed picked up 6 of the ten tax parcels on that block totalling 3.72 acres along Byrd St. and including the old canal bed. 4 parcels totalling 5.69 acres facing Tredegar St. and including some small pieces surrounded by the now-Fed land are shown as still being in Ethyl's ownership."

So if that holds true, the Fed Reserve paid over $9.5 million for less than 4 acres of land.

I'm sort of disappointed. IMO, I doubt the FRofR has plans to do anything exciting...Unless of course, they plan on relocating their suburban operations to the city. Even then, it's not really what I would have envisioned for the block. Maybe it's just an investment?

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first timer here, by way of louisville! i've been to richmond a few times, loved it every time.

this is a pretty interesting (potential) project, and of course it'd be great for the city. do you guys have any more info on it? who's marketing it?

Welcome to the forum CardMan. :)

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Hmmmm this is mixed news...

Apparently, 6 out of the 10 parcels that make up the Ethyl Property were sold to the Federal Reserve:

from ptaylor on RCW...

Apparently, there was a "a transfer of parcels on that block from Ethyl to the Federal Reserve for $9,542,000 on 12/21/2005."

........... "the Fed picked up 6 of the ten tax parcels on that block totalling 3.72 acres along Byrd St. and including the old canal bed. 4 parcels totalling 5.69 acres facing Tredegar St. and including some small pieces surrounded by the now-Fed land are shown as still being in Ethyl's ownership."

So if that holds true, the Fed Reserve paid over $9.5 million for less than 4 acres of land.

I'm sort of disappointed. IMO, I doubt the FRofR has plans to do anything exciting...Unless of course, they plan on relocating their suburban operations to the city. Even then, it's not really what I would have envisioned for the block. Maybe it's just an investment?

Great, now they have more places to tell us not to take pictures of. They have the canal bed that's at the foot of Gambles Hill or the section that heads toward Canal St?

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Cadeho, it looks like its the canal bed closest to Canal Street. The property in question is between 5th, 7th, Canal and Tredegar as far as I understand it.

With all the beauty of the Fed tower, architects certainly did no favors to 7th street with that ugly yellowish security wall recently errected. Would it have been so expensive and difficult to have given a little artistic attention to the addition?

It's difficult to guess what use Fed Reserve has for the property except for a large parking deck. They are already losing a big tenant to Edgeworth and also have that big building out in West Creek.

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Maybe they'll surprise us and contribute the skyline with something we can't imagine.

They better leave the canal bed for further development.

I think that short stretch of the canal (bed) is gone forever. There's no trace of it left beyond Byrd Street, is there? It has been engulfed by Byrd Street, the Expressway, James Center, etc. etc. What's left of it picks up at Alcoa locks on 12th street.

I think in some of our previous talk of that stretch (from your map), we have referred to it as going to Canal Street, when in reality, the map has it ending at Byrd. I get confused and often forget about Byrd and refer to it as Canal.

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Yeah, the canal did go diagonally up to 7th and Canal and turned parallel with Canal St toward the Great Basin. The Downtown Expressway erased the canal between 6th and 7th and Canal and Byrd. The bed east of 5th through this land is only marked by the propert lines which leaves its own visible scar.

DSCF3989.jpg

Sorry for the washed out look. 01/20/06

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So I was bored and decided to look at the City's Downtown Plan 2000-2020.....

This 9-acre property is included in the Gamble's Hill District.

If you haven't already, check out pages 35-37 of this portion of the Downtown Plan (pdf) to get an idea for what the city has envisioned for the large block. It should give us an idea of what we can expect as the block gets developed.

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!!!!!!!!!

Fed Reserve Plans Parking Deck to make way for Foundry Park Development

"Ethyl sold 2.3 acres to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond for $9.5 million in late December, according to city records.

About 7 acres will remain for the planned Foundry Park development, which would include offices, condominiums or apartments, retail and other entertainment and possibly a hotel, said Bruce Hazelgrove, vice president of corporate resources for NewMarket Corp., a holding company for Ethyl.

NewMarket is working informally with Brandywine Realty Trust on a master plan for the development, he said. A representative of Brandywine could not be reached yesterday."

"Amy Bezanson, of MSTSD, said the five-level deck is designed to be a "front door" to Foundry Park and a bridge between the architectural styles of the bank to the east and NewMarket's headquarters to the west. The deck is planned to be built along Byrd with entrances and exits on 5th and 7th.

Along 7th, by the Federal Reserve Bank, the deck is expected to have a plaza with a fountain and a wide sidewalk and brick pavers to provide a pedestrian ambiance, Bezanson said.

The deck will borrow from the architectural styles of Richmond and include three of the cupolas from the former Virginia State Penitentiary between Byrd and Spring streets. Ethyl bought the 16-acre prison in 1991, razed the buildings and has stored the cupolas at Tredegar Iron Works."

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basically it means that the property will be redeveloped. The Fed Reserve's parking needs will be accomodated by a supposedly very asthetic deck, which will act as a gateway to a new development called Foundry Park on the rest of the property. The master plan for it is currently being developed. It seems like they want to create a vibrant development, similar to what is envisioned in the downtown plan.

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I'm very excited about this news. It means the beginning of smart development on the immense site. Parking would have to be in there somewhere, anyway, so why not a tastefully designed deck along Byrd Street.

Coupe, sniff around Brandywine and see what you can dig up for us. :lol:

You'll have to go back into your excellent Richmond Projects thread and update the Ethyl info. By the way, thanks for relocating VMFA from Grace and Boulevard to its actual street address at Grove and Blvd. :)

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It is very exciting news... apparently there is a rendering of the deck in the TD. I hope someone can scan and post a copy of it! Joey says it looks pretty awesome.

I'll talk to guy about getting it unlocked to make necessary change.

Can't you buy a copy of the RTD on campus?

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