Richmond in Pictures III

[I miss RVA]

Lookin' really good, Coupe!  Thanks for taking these and posting them.

[eandslee]

18 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Meant to share these. 

Love the density these photos portray!  Nice angles of the city that are rarely seen in photos!  Thanks for posting.

[eandslee]

Great photo from a different perspective (courtesy of u/M4000h from Reddit):

[Hike]

45 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Great photo from a different perspective (courtesy of u/M4000h from Reddit):

Saw this on reddit as well and yes,  nice perspective. That car tower is ridiculous, need to get out more, soon! Also, can't wait for the increase in passenger rail traffic,  want this to be easy,  affordable and used. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Hike

[wrldcoupe4]

Did a little exploring this morning. Here are some photos of a few projects around town. There’s a lot going on and I didn’t get to a lot of projects, and nothing south of the river. Hope you enjoy

Westhampton School redevelopment

 

Libbie Mill

New Kinsale insurance HQ and multi family 

 

 

Kotarides project near Broad and Westwood - forget the name  

 

Carvana tower 

 

The Ella - hotel, apartments and retail

 

Various Scott’s Addition

 

Sauer Center - first one if new Carmax office 

 

new development around Hardywood

 

More sauer center

 

Opus development project 

 

VCU stem 

 

Mocy

 

miscellaneous downtown

 

Shockoe Bottom 

 

one canal

Edited July 31, 2021 by wrldcoupe4

[eandslee]

Coupe!  These photos are awesome!!  Thanks so much for taking the time to take and upload the photos.  Love the different perspectives that I don't get on webcams online.  Going back to look at them a few more times!  Great photo update!

[I miss RVA]

Coupe -these are FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for driving around, taking them, editing and posting. Fantastic look at what's going on at the moment. Lots of new construction from the west to the east and all points in between. Great to see this.

[I miss RVA]

COUPE WITH THE SCOOP!!! By TWO FULL DAYS!

Have a look, folks - Richmond BizSense featuring a story on One Canal - and did they use Coupe's outstanding photo (which he published here on Saturday) for the art for their story today? 

Once again - the crack staff of intrepid, investigative reporters and photographers here at RVA/UP beats the competition to the punch - bringing us the best reporting, photos, heads up, and getting the jump on the competition. The trend of RVA/UP being the scoop machine - CONTINUES unabated!  Well done!!

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/08/02/project-snapshot-one-canal-apartments-rise-in-monroe-ward/

Edited August 2, 2021 by I miss RVA

[varider]

[eandslee]

A great photo of the Opus project that is moving on up!  Courtesy of u/rdt69420 on Reddit.

 

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, eandslee said:

A great photo of the Opus project that is moving on up!  Courtesy of u/rdt69420 on Reddit.

 

Wow - it's looking really good! Thanks for posting it!

Now - let's get some of those other 11-12 story buildings that have been announced underway. Time to start turning shovelfuls of dirt and building!

[I miss RVA]

This picture appeared in the Times-Dispatch (richmond.com) on Monday, 9/20. It's amazing to see just how big the Children's Hospital is now - and just how big (and tall!) the new G.A. building is.

[eandslee]

4 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

This picture appeared in the Times-Dispatch (richmond.com) on Monday, 9/20. It's amazing to see just how big the Children's Hospital is now - and just how big (and tall!) the new G.A. building is.

True, but I’ve got to say how much I really do not like the top of the Children’s Hospital.  That box on the roof looks dumb and out of place.  Wish they could have hidden it better and incorporated into the design of the building instead of just plopping it in the roof.  Seems like an after-thought. 

[Icetera]

5 hours ago, eandslee said:

True, but I’ve got to say how much I really do not like the top of the Children’s Hospital.  That box on the roof looks dumb and out of place.  Wish they could have hidden it better and incorporated into the design of the building instead of just plopping it in the roof.  Seems like an after-thought. 

Unfortunately, the design may have been necessary to allow safe helicopter approach.  The structure likely contains the elevator for airlift patients.

[I miss RVA]

Thought this was a very interesting photo in today's Richmond BisSense. Not because it's a picture of the Carvana tower - BUT - notice how RVA is changing! We can clearly see the Icon sticking its head up above the other new buildings in Scott's Addition (too bad this wasn't taken in the winter with all the foliage off the trees so we could see some of the other new construction in Scott's Addition) - AND -if you notice, kinda muddied in among the buildings in front of the downtown skyline, the Opus.

I'm posting two pics - the original from RBS - and one pointing out the Icon and the Opus (you can see the tower crane if you look carefully enough - unfortunately the resolution isn't all that good, so it does strain the eyes just a bit)...

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

Some perspective on just how much RVA is changing - and a thought as to one of the catalysts: I was watching a video on YouTube recently advocating cities/states/municipalities should invest pre-emptively in public/mass transit rather than waiting for population to reach a sufficient level to "justify" building a transit system (the whole chicken-and-egg ridership debate). Among the points the video was making is that historically it wasn't population that strictly drove expansion of mass transit - rather, it was the expansion of mass transit that drove population and development of sections of cities, old inner suburbs, etc., particularly in the era of the old streetcars.

The old adage of "If we build it they will come" more or less has been proven historically to be correct. The video used Detroit as an example. During the first half of the 20th century when the industrial boom and the burgeoning auto industry took off, entire sections of Detroit were developed as the city was extending its streetcar and transit system - not the other way around.

Interestingly - we can see a live-action lab of this right here in RVA - based on a few time-based photos courtesy of our good friends at Google Maps -- taken from about a half a block east of where now stands the Summit on W. Broad Street in Scott's Addition. Check out the change... from 2014, 2018-19 and July 2021. We built the PULSE line ... and look what followed.

It's pretty cool to see this in action.  Four photos - the second two are in the next post (this platform doesn't like me when it comes to posting photos and trying to do so in a specific order)

Edited November 19, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Shakman]

I'll have to check out.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Shakman

[I miss RVA]

Edited November 19, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Shakman]

Trying to imagine a canyon of buildings along Broad.  

Edited November 19, 2021 by Shakman

[I miss RVA]

This next view is, in my mind, even MORE dramatic - and REALLY shows just how much RVA is changing. Again, from W. Broad in Scott's - just a block or so farther west - to grab some of the other construction that rose around the same time the Summit did. Again, I'm posting these in a given order to show how things were before the PULSE line was built - then after the PULSE line came along - and now today (well, July). I wish Google Maps was updated with a more recent photo here - showing the Icon fully topped out at 12-stories (you can see the garage, but the building itself -- under construction at the time -- was still hidden behind it).

It really does bear out what has been historically known - that mass transit lines bring growth. Whereas growth doesn't always bring the mass transit. I just think it's amazing to see this in action - and to see the fruits of this, in as much as it is benefitting Richmond greatly.

 

Edited November 20, 2021 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, Shakman said:

Trying to imagine a canyon of buildings along Broad.  

Were it not for some rampant NIMBYism emanating from two -- and more -- blocks south of Broad, I could easily imagine it!

Edited November 20, 2021 by I miss RVA

[varider]

[I miss RVA]

More from the "Look how Richmond is Changing" files... 

I was skimming the construction site webcams in Scott's Addition this afternoon - and it's pretty remarkable how in a matter of (depending on the project) anywhere from less than a year to a year and a half - the change is so stunning that these specific blocks almost look like the photos are from two completely different cities.

Here are a couple of examples:

Let's start with Scott's Collection I -- 3000-3008 W. Clay Street.

Edited November 21, 2021 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

 

Up next - Scott's Collection III -- 3001 W. Leigh Street... right behind Scott's Collection I.

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

 

And right up the block at 2900-2904 W. Clay, Scott's Collection II (with Scott's Collection I in the background)...

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by I miss RVA