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Proposed: The Belvidere


wrldcoupe4

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I think a bowling alley would be cool there, probably be successful with the college kids too. The design is... disappointing, especially being right next to the ICA (which I toured last week and is stunning even unfinished). However if there is anywhere in the city that a project like this (ugly or not) is appropriate it's in that area. I would just love to see every block down belvidere full.

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13 hours ago, eandslee said:

That certainly gives me pause, but this design is not one we've seen before is it? 

Either way, I wouldn't doubt the ploy. Who knows what will happen?  I guess we will know when the construction starts. 

A ploy is highly unlikely.  Making such an announcement so publicly in bad faith would damage Steve Uphoff's reputation severely and significantly diminish his credibility. 

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26 minutes ago, Wahoo 07 said:

A ploy is highly unlikely.  Making such an announcement so publicly in bad faith would damage Steve Uphoff's reputation severely and significantly diminish his credibility. 

I think you have a good point there, but you'd think that if this project were as far along as he says it is, then the façade materials (to me) would be finalized.  Right now, this building looks like a concrete monstrosity.  I don't doubt what you're saying, but what I am saying is that there are also indicators that might suggest otherwise.  I just hope this project goes through (for the record).  I think that Uppy's project will be far and away better than anything VCU would put there.

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Here are some new tidbits of information regarding the structure itself:

From the RTD article:

The Richmond-based architectural firm Price Simpson Harvey is doing building design. Taylor & Parrish Construction, which built the Uptown Alley bowling and entertainment venue near state Route 288 and Hull Street Road in Chesterfield, will construct the apartment tower, Uphoff said.

“The development it is still in the conceptual stage,” but plans call for a modern structure of glass, steel and masonry, said architect Jeff Loinette of Price Simpson Harvey.

 

Good to hear that the building will be glass, steel, and masonry and not just little glass windows and concrete.

 

Also, there is also a floor plan of the building in the RTD article that I am working to post here.  Stay tuned...

 

Here it is:

Floor%20plan_1.jpg

This project is looking more and more legit!

Finally, I wanted to point out that I read that this building will be the tallest building in the city when you take into consideration the elevation of the land it will sit on (this must be a popular thing to say when building in Richmond for some reason), but it will only be 187 feet tall from the ground to the top.

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When you combine the history of this site and surrounding sites, the construction date coinciding w/ the ICA opening, the added height of the building....and of course beauty is subjective but I can see a lot of folks throwing up all over this rendering....sure does seem like the idea of this being a negotiating tactic might have legs.

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  • 2 months later...

I was searching around today and it looks like there are more concept renderings for this project. The last one seems more promising in terms of design....way better IMO of the last one publicly released. Maybe these were already out there, but I never saw them.

http://pricesimpsonharvey.com/portfolio-item/belvidere-and-grace/

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7 minutes ago, georgeglass said:

I was searching around today and it looks like there are more concept renderings for this project. The last one seems more promising in terms of design....way better IMO of the last one publicly released. Maybe these were already out there, but I never saw them.

http://pricesimpsonharvey.com/portfolio-item/belvidere-and-grace/

The images shown there that have not been shared before actually appear to be the old Hess site, now owned by VCU, at Broad and Belvidere rather than Uphof's property.  That adds more to the suspicion of this being a play for VCU buying the Belvidere and Grace site..

Uphoff-Ventures-B-and-B-presentation-29.
Uphoff-Ventures-Render3.jpg

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I also want to mention that when I was looking at the ICA construction web cam today, I noticed construction equipment and what appeared to be land clearing of the property where this project is supposed to rise. I know they were demolishing the old gas station, but it looks like the land is being prepped for a major construction project. 

3 minutes ago, Icetera said:

The images shown there that have not been shared before actually appear to be the old Hess site, now owned by VCU, at Broad and Belvidere rather than Uphof's property.  That adds more to the suspicion of this being a play for VCU buying the Belvidere and Grace site..

Uphoff-Ventures-B-and-B-presentation-29.
Uphoff-Ventures-Render3.jpg

Not sure I like this design.  Also looks shorter than originally planned.  :/

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So I was a bit confused as to which property this thread was actually for. I guess there is discussion of the property adjacent to the ICA and across. It does seem that both will eventually be developed and I just hope we get something more impressive than the odd beigey brown dark glass boxy thing we saw before for the Uppy's parcel.

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1 hour ago, Downtowner said:

Who owns the broad and belvidere property where the Hess station is? Uphoff doesn't own that too does he?

 

 

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No, I don't think he does, but I can't seem to remember who does.  I'd have to look through some old Richmondbizsense articles to find out.  Whoever it is, they are the ones who are planning the tower in the new renderings above.

UPDATE:

After some research, I found out that VCU owns the land that the former Hess Gas Station sat on and paid $3.15M for it in 2015.  You can read about it here:  https://richmondbizsense.com/2017/06/12/breaking-18-story-tower-eyed-for-vcu-gas-station-site-bowling-alley-included/

If that land belongs to VCU, then what would this building be for I wonder?  Looks like the first few floors are a parking garage, a pool sits on top of the garage (would VCU build a recreational pool?), and then office/residential space above the parking garage.  I don't know.  Something seems weird about the design.  The pool and just the design itself (which would sit on VCU property) tells me that this design might not be legit.

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I like the feel of the building more than the specifics. I like how imposing it is on the intersection and really seems to shove its self into the environment. The detailed part of the architecture is average. However, like others have said this lot is owned by VCU so I'm not entirely sure where these rendering came from. Before VCU bought it was it was going to be a Walgreens I think, so again not sure who did these. Unless an architect miss understood what lot the Belvidere is supposed to be on hahaha.

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Specifically, VCU's residential arm (VCU Real Estate Foundation) owns the Hess property and the adjacent former McDonald's site.  That is why I find it very interesting that the work on Uphof's "Belvidere" site (next to ICA) also has renderings for VCU's separate Hess/McDonald's property.  This suggests either a collaboration on the two projects or Uphof is trying to market his property to VCU.

I drove by the Uphof lot and the adjacent Evergreen/Apartment demo site leveled by VCU.  All I saw was what looked like grading on the VCU site, likely for the planned surface lot, and no notable equipment on Uphof's.

 

For reference, VCU (light red), VCU REF (dark red) and Uphof  (blue) ownership below.  Uphof's "Belvidere" site is stripped blue and VCU REF's Hess/McDonald's site in stripped dark red.

VCU-Uphof Belvidere Ownership.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Interesting...we're already a week into October and no mention of this project getting off the ground yet.  Remember, this is the month that construction was to begin.  Granted, there are a few more weeks left in the month...let's see if Uphoff was serious about his plan for this tower. 

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8 hours ago, eandslee said:

Interesting...we're already a week into October and no mention of this project getting off the ground yet.  Remember, this is the month that construction was to begin.  Granted, there are a few more weeks left in the month...let's see if Uphoff was serious about his plan for this tower. 

Yeah...

I'm trying to be an optimist and believe this thing is real but...

.. if he was doing this to try and get VCU to put out more cash, he probably shouldn't have stated a start date for construction. Because it looks like, if that's the case, VCU is just going to wait out October and call his bluff..

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On 10/6/2017 at 6:20 PM, Hike said:

Feels like a bluff to me.  Drove by here today, can say that nothing is going on there, some fencing and people parking, probably workers for ICA or people hoping to not get towed with a cheat spot.   Between the ICA, the VCU parking lot  and the leftover (for what would be the Belvidere) I can't see the  monstrosity that 's designed for this spot.  It has to be a bluff, spend a few bucks on a crap rendering, show it real close to the ICA , engulfing the ICA, pretend to get ready.  If it is real, it's a very, very tight squeeze.  On a side note, turned off Broad heading south on Belvidere, the ICA was on my right as I turned, and let me say, that building is almost in the passenger seat.  They have installed bollards around the entry to stop run away cars from crashing in I assume.  It currently feels a bit too close, reserving final judgement until it's done because there is still fence, people every where today, so perhaps it's not to bad but did feel close.  Has anyone else driven by there and thought that too?

I bike by it almost every day. I actually really love when buildings are right up against the sidewalk. It feel more urban than set backs and "courtyards". Maybe this is the reason I actually want this project to happen. First, Price Studios is not a cheap architect to deal with. They've done tons of big projects and my company works with them on healthcare stuff all the time. I'm hoping if built it looks better than the rendering of course. Also we shouldn't just leave surface parking sitting around the ICA because we don't want to overshadow it. Every block on the intersection should have an imposing urban building in my opinion. 

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  • 6 months later...
On 9/12/2017 at 4:53 PM, georgeglass said:

I was searching around today and it looks like there are more concept renderings for this project. The last one seems more promising in terms of design....way better IMO of the last one publicly released. Maybe these were already out there, but I never saw them.

http://pricesimpsonharvey.com/portfolio-item/belvidere-and-grace/

 

On 9/12/2017 at 5:03 PM, Icetera said:

The images shown there that have not been shared before actually appear to be the old Hess site, now owned by VCU, at Broad and Belvidere rather than Uphof's property.  That adds more to the suspicion of this being a play for VCU buying the Belvidere and Grace site..

Uphoff-Ventures-B-and-B-presentation-29.
Uphoff-Ventures-Render3.jpg

So these renderings and this project have been removed from the architect's website.....

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Probably for the best. 


So does this mean uphoff sold the property to Vcu? I really hope not. I hope he decides to make some modifications and it’s still tall if not taller. I just hate seeing this one fold up. I really liked it. If he sells it off I hope he sells to someone who decides to build a tower and not something short.


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