Richmond in Pictures III

[I miss RVA]

Great drone shot from today's RBS regarding the River's Edge II site in Manchester. Among the interesting features is that we can see just how impactful the VCU Health/Children's Hospital really is. When seen from a distance like this, that building truly displays as a massive structure.

However... what strikes me the most about this picture, however, is that in it, we can see RVA's potential and how she'll be changing in the near future. The CoStar building - once constructed - will figure prominently in a future version of this shot, taking a dominant place on the skyline. Locks 7 will be visible on the downtown riverfront. Given the angle of this picture, The Admiral -- once it gets underway -- might be visible from this vantage point. And at least once a boom crane goes up, we'd be able to see the crane off to the far left as Pinecrest's Parc View tower rises on Grace Street.

Whereas a few weeks to a month or so ago - given announcements that the gorgeous 512 Hull apartment tower had been butchered down to nothing and the horrific slice-and-dice job applied to the Block D development (a total oversell/underdelivery if ever there was one), I'm starting to feel a little more optimistic again about the near future, what with Parc View underway and the purchase of the River's Edge II property hopefully a portent of groundbreaking, boom cranes and height set to rise on the Manchester riverfront. 

We need to find out what the story is about The Admiral. I'm getting nervous about that building - and it is integral to keeping momentum going downtown and bringing people downtown to live. @whw53& @ancientcarpenter-- what do you guys hear on the street or behind the scenes? Any news that this beautiful building will soon break ground and we'll see a boom crane pop up at 2nd and E. Marshall at some point in our lifetimes?

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by I miss RVA

[whw53]

I don't see any permits issued out yet - the overall POD has been approved tho - looks like individual plan elements are still making their way through the system. The main one on which a grant of a building permit will rest on can be tracked here but there  are other items for separate utility components etc. - i wouldn't be worried about it though. 

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/707a6379-22cb-475e-9a37-c32cf1307464

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

7 hours ago, whw53 said:

I don't see any permits issued out yet - the overall POD has been approved tho - looks like individual plan elements are still making their way through the system. The main one on which a grant of a building permit will rest on can be tracked here but there  are other items for separate utility components etc. - i wouldn't be worried about it though. 

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/707a6379-22cb-475e-9a37-c32cf1307464

 

Two questions - one serious and one funny:

The serious question: See the attached screen grab - what is the component that has been flagged and slugged "not passed" as of 2/28/22? Should that be of any concern, either 1.) Because it's held up (what's holding it up? What didn't pass?) and 2.) because that's been more than 2 months now...) 

The funny question: when will we see the PPP issued? (the Porta-Potty Permit ) - THAT will be proof positive ground is about to be broken! 

Edited May 3, 2022 by I miss RVA

[whw53]

@I miss RVAit just means there are still ends to tie up. A development of this caliber has a lot of engineering documents behind it - could be staff want more clarification on one thing, something doesn't align etc. You will usually see a couple of those fails before a passed. Also, the portal is sometimes not up to date. 

Edited May 3, 2022 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, whw53 said:

@I miss RVAit just means there are still ends to tie up. A development of this caliber has a lot of engineering documents behind it - could be staff want more clarification on one thing, something doesn't align etc. You will usually see a couple of those fails before a passed. Also, the portal is sometimes not up to date. 

Okay - that makes sense. Good to know. I just hope they get this cleared up quickly so the project can move forward before construction costs get any more out of control than they already are now.

Mind you, I still say that when we see the PPP (the Porta-Potty Permit ) issued, THAT will be proof positive ground is about to be broken!

Edited May 4, 2022 by I miss RVA

[whw53]

Ha - this whole neighborhood smells like a Porta potty. I would say waive it!

Sent from my SM-A125U1 using Tapatalk

[I miss RVA]

I can't help but wonder, though, with the flurry of news of the last couple of days, if the time is approaching that we'll see four or five boom cranes popping up in various locations - and that 2023 might be the year (instead of 2022) that we'll see cranes on multiple project above the city.

• Pinecrest/Parc View is already underway. No question we'll see a tower crane by this time next year.
• CoStar is set to break ground this summer - and that said, no question we'll see a tower crane or two on the downtown riverfront by May of 2023 if that's the case.
• If the permitting process comes together and the Admiral can get started relatively soon and play catch-up - perhaps it will be well into construction by this time next year, not all that far behind the other two, bringing a tower crane to Jackson Ward.
• If the new developers from NYC roll into town and are ready to get the party started on E. 6th Street - perhaps that project can get ground broken in the 2nd half of the year and we'll see one or two cranes in the air by spring of next year
• If the demo of the actual silos is a harbinger of glad tidings for us - perhaps ground will be broken by late this year or early next - and we could see a tower crane or two joining the one or two at River's Edge II as the Manchester riverfront goes mano-a-mano with her downtown counterpart in a game of "who has the most and tallest cranes". (CoStar would be the clear winner in tallest - but Manchester could see an impressive number of cranes, depending on how many are needed based on project designs, etc.)

Gotta dream about this stuff, y'know?  Wow - if things come together (and if construction costs will come down some) -- this very well COULD happen by next year - and if so, 2023 might be a BANNER year for tower cranes in RVA! If this comes to pass, boys, have those cameras ready and start snappin'!

Edited May 4, 2022 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

Love this photo taken of Friday Cheers last night!  Courtesy of https://www.reddit.com/user/DJ_Black_Eye/ on Reddit:

[georgeglass]

Construction progress from today on The Box in Manchester.

[I miss RVA]

48 minutes ago, georgeglass said:

Construction progress from today on The Box in Manchester.

Wow! The crews working on the Box have made a TON of progress on this building in a very short amount of time. Quite impressive!

Thanks for taking and posting this, @georgeglass

[I miss RVA]

Okay - so the livecam has switched views from the Rockett's camera to the one I'm guessing near the Virginia War Memorial. And to be honest - I'm kinda 'meh' about this other view - and actually prefer the Rockett's view. There's NO ACTIVITY in the view from the War Memorial - maybe the occasional bird flies by - or a lone car or truck goes drives down the street through Gamble's Mill Park... but... aside from that... 

With the Rockett's view you get boats on the river, trains on the trestle along the pipeline, cars/trucks, etc., on I-95 in the distance. There's activity! 

This view (closer to downtown) will definitely provide us a nice window when the CoStar building is constructed. Ditto the new state office building at 7th and Main - and if/when the discussed residential building at 7th and Cary gets built. But none of those things are happening right now. And honestly, compared to the Rockett's view - I kinda feel like the Larry David crypto-currency Super Bowl commercial. This view to me is a rousing, full-throated - "meh..."

Maybe they should move this view to the south end of the Lee Bridge. We'd be able to see Parc View being built!

[Shakman]

What live cams???  Where???

[eandslee]

21 minutes ago, Shakman said:

What live cams???  Where???

This is the one he is referring to:

 

https://www.wric.com/weather/live-snow-sleet-freezing-rain-in-downtown-richmond/

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

This is the one he is referring to:

 

https://www.wric.com/weather/live-snow-sleet-freezing-rain-in-downtown-richmond/

The more I see the view from the War Memorial, the more I prefer the cam in Rockett's.

So I snagged this last night - it looks like it's being filtered through some weird, almost infra-red kind of filter. The red lights at the tops of the buildings aren't even red. And what's the deal with lavender-colored trees? The cam in Rockett's seems to give correct color -- and it doesn't look like it's being filtered through some bizarre kind of lens filter.

Idk - this view is just too weird for me. 

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

The more I see the view from the War Memorial, the more I prefer the cam in Rockett's.

So I snagged this last night - it looks like it's being filtered through some weird, almost infra-red kind of filter. The red lights at the tops of the buildings aren't even red. And what's the deal with lavender-colored trees? The cam in Rockett's seems to give correct color -- and it doesn't look like it's being filtered through some bizarre kind of lens filter.

Idk - this view is just too weird for me. 

IDK...I kind of like this view.  I'm especially going to like it once the CoStar construction starts!  I think the weirdness in the picture may be the quality of your internet speed.  I don't get the weirdness on my computer/Internet.  I get a very clear picture.  Don't despair though, it will switch back to the Rocketts view in due time (just wish I could control the view).  Sometimes the camera faces Manchester and you can see all the activity on the north bank of the river and the Brown's Island area (at least from this perch).  Glad you are enjoying it.  I thought it was just a temporary webcam for the snow storms this past winter, but they've kept it going.  Glad they did!

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

IDK...I kind of like this view.  I'm especially going to like it once the CoStar construction starts!  I think the weirdness in the picture may be the quality of your internet speed.  I don't get the weirdness on my computer/Internet.  I get a very clear picture.  Don't despair though, it will switch back to the Rocketts view in due time (just wish I could control the view).  Sometimes the camera faces Manchester and you can see all the activity on the north bank of the river and the Brown's Island area (at least from this perch).  Glad you are enjoying it.  I thought it was just a temporary webcam for the snow storms this past winter, but they've kept it going.  Glad they did!

I wish we had options as to which cam view we wanted to see. So they have a view facing Manchester as well? Okay - I wanna see that one, too!

Agreed that this view will be FANTASTIC when CoStar's HQ is under construction. We'd also be able to see the new state office building at 7th and Main - and the apartment building (if/when it ever gets built) at 7th and Cary - from this view.

Edited June 14, 2022 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

25 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

I wish we had options as to which cam view we wanted to see. So they have a view facing Manchester as well? Okay - I wanna see that one, too!

I've only see the view of Manchester on the weekend though and it doesn't happen every weekend...just sometimes.  You see quite a bit of activity with that view.

[I miss RVA]

19 minutes ago, eandslee said:

I've only see the view of Manchester on the weekend though and it doesn't happen every weekend...just sometimes.  You see quite a bit of activity with that view.

I can imagine so - and HEY - we'll see TWO cranes now up over Manchester, at least until the one at the Tidewater comes down eventually.

Oh - btw - my daytime picture of the current view is crystal clear - my internet settings (I THINK) are fine. I'm not sure why I'd be getting really weird colorization - particularly when motion seems fine in the picture. As for hardware (not counting router/modem/ISP) I watch this on my gaming rig -- which admittedly is about two years old but still has even now the second or third-fastest video card available (it was the fastest at the time) and 32GB of RAM. Again, like you said, my ISP may be slowing things down - but - I'd think it would slow things down in the daytime, too - and as you can see, sharp, full color, looks good.

 

[eandslee]

Yep, looks like you're good to go!  Not sure why your picture would be distorted at night though.  

[I miss RVA]

34 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Yep, looks like you're good to go!  Not sure why your picture would be distorted at night though.  

Do you mind snagging a screen grab when it goes full nighttime and posting it? I'd like to see what you're seeing.

[eandslee]

42 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Do you mind snagging a screen grab when it goes full nighttime and posting it? I'd like to see what you're seeing.

Okay, I'm just convinced the camera is not optimal at night time.  Here are two screenshots I got right at dusk and one after the sun went down (second image).  All of this is to say, I think your computer and internet speed is just fine.  The distortion problem is on the camera's side.

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

Okay, I'm just convinced the camera is not optimal at night time.  Here are two screenshots I got right at dusk and one after the sun went down (second image).  All of this is to say, I think your computer and internet speed is just fine.  The distortion problem is on the camera's side.

Thanks for doing this! Yeah - I think something has gotten REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY wonky with that camera!

DAMN - LAVENDER TREES!   That camera MUST be smokin' something REALLLLY GOOD, man! 

Edited June 15, 2022 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

Okay - it's early still - but the camera is looking better at dusk/sunset tonight than it has the last couple of nights. Mind you, the proof of the pudding is after nightfall. We shall see how it looks then.

But this is a tad closer to 'normal' looking.

 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Okay - it's early still - but the camera is looking better at dusk/sunset tonight than it has the last couple of nights. Mind you, the proof of the pudding is after nightfall. We shall see how it looks then.

But this is a tad closer to 'normal' looking.

 

Nope - something's funky with the camera. I'm getting lavender trees again.

Either they're using some form of "night mode" which is giving it that weird night-vision almost infra-red colorization - or - their aperture setting is too wide, which I submit might actually be the problem because there's TOO MUCH light coming in - to the point the color spectrum is getting obliterated. The aircraft-alert lights atop the office buildings should appear red - and they're a weird shade of white. The blue atop Two James Center is coming through somehow - and whatever is allowing the blue to filter through is probably why the trees appear lavender. I bet if they dial back the aperture setting, the colors will filter our correctly.

Curious to know if there's anyone at WRIC who could be made aware that the cam colors are really off.

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by I miss RVA

[flaneur]

Oh I wish Richmond had "lavender trees." When I lived in LA I LOVED jacaranda season when the streets exploded in a blossom of lavender trees with petals all over the ground. It's beautiful.