Richmond Developments

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Apparently the people behind Echo Harbour are back for another round.

 

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/office-project-proposed-beneath-libby-hill/article_d6f59752-7518-52dc-a808-5d4fe8fccbcd.html

 

Whenever I hear the words "project.....proposed.....Libby Hill", if I listen closely enough, I can hear all the residents crying foul

[wrldcoupe4]

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/news/article/shamin-hotels-closes-deal-to-buy-700-building-for-7-million

 

Great redevelopment project for Main Street. This brings to 4 the number of new hotels underway downtown.

[540_804]

If it's anything like the current Kanawha Plaza, you'd have a "Hobo Highway" instead of a "Green Belt".

 

The issue with Kanawha Plaza is that it's practically unusable (and isolated) in it's current form. There is really no reason to ever go there except if you were homeless looking for a public place to sleep.  

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

The issue with Kanawha Plaza is that it's practically unusable (and isolated) in it's current form. There is really no reason to ever go there except if you were homeless looking for a public place to sleep.  

 

Just go the Boston route, cover up that crappy diving line of an expressway from Kanawha Plaza's east end all the way to Belvidere AT MINIMUM with park and beautiful green open space, and make Kanawha Plaza the main centerpiece park with a landmark building or plan like the rendering shows above.

 

 

 

Too bad we're not Boston. Nor do we have the big bucks of Boston.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

A happy little article to boost some joy:

 

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/10/29/neighborhood-turns-into-construction-zone/

[Shakman]

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/news/article/shamin-hotels-closes-deal-to-buy-700-building-for-7-million

 

Great redevelopment project for Main Street. This brings to 4 the number of new hotels underway downtown.

 

How did this building end up on the NHS register?  They are going to keep the facade?  I was hoping for the facade to be replaced since the reason why this building is UGLY.  

 

I am familiar with two other hotel projects in the Slip.  In addition to this project, what is the other?

Edited November 4, 2013 by Shakman

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

How did this building end up on the NHS register?  They are going to keep the facade?  I was hoping for the facade to be replaced since the reason why this building is UGLY.  

 

I am familiar with two other hotel projects in the Slip.  In addition to this project, what is the other?

 

The Marriott Courtyard/Residence Inn (First Freedom Center) one?

[wrldcoupe4]

700 E Main will have 2 hotels - Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. First Freedom Center will have 2 hotels - Courtyard by Marriot and Residence Inn. That's 4 hotels.

 

It was listed on the historic register not for architectural importance but for historical importance contributing to the district which was expanded. It's also an example of brutalism, and perhaps we should keep a few around to know what not to do in the future! Regardless of the aesthetic, having 2 hotels here will be a significant upgrade to the mostly vacant and redundant office building. And where else will you find a rooftop bar and lounge 18-stories up in Richmond?

[Steve_]

Rooftop bar? Now we're talking. I bet the views are great from up there - cant wait

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Another historic rehab project to apartment conversion.

 

18 units, VCU area, City & Guilds.

 

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/11/06/18-unit-project-planned-for-vcu-country/

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

It's about time

 

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/11/07/downtown-bank-towers-rehab-begins/

[540_804]

FINALLY!

[jbjust]

Man that lobby is beautiful!

[wrldcoupe4]

$500,000 in permits seems like something but it's nothing. Douglas has yet to deliver a single finished product in Richmond, so I'll believe it when I see it. Can't wait to see it rehabbed though.

[540_804]

$500,000 in permits seems like something but it's nothing. Douglas has yet to deliver a single finished product in Richmond, so I'll believe it when I see it. Can't wait to see it rehabbed though.

 

$500,000 seems like basic demo work to me.

 

I'd guess depending on how much asbestos is in the interior, it could be more. 

[eandslee]

Since we are discussing new developments pertaining to richmond. I have a good little bit of info on the tri cities area as far as chester is concerned. My aunt owns the old brown and williamson tobacco plant that is off of enon church road and has owned it since 2006-07. Today she informed me that right across the street from her is basically a wooded area and is to be turned into a 400,000 Square foot warehouse that is gonna be right across the road from her but facing meadowville technology parkway and will be lined up right across the road from the entrance into amazon. She has a very reliable source as she knows the person doing this but she won't say whom the person is attracting to this warehouse as far as tenants are concerned. But she has hinted to me that it could be one of amazon's shipping partners such as UPS or Fedex. She showed me a site plan of the plans for the land and the entrance to the new warehouse is directly lined up with amazon's main entrance. I am very curious as if fedex is moving out of there current location on old stage road for meadowville technology park. That is just my assumption though. Also she hinted to me that capital one has plans to expand more so into chester with a phase 2 of there operations in meadowville technology park. She is also very good friends with George Emerson who is a local area developer and he has plans for a big shopping center near meadowville tech park called meadowville town center.

 

 

Could this be a new UPS or FEDEX facility that Downtowner mentioned above?  Hmmmmmm....:  http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/11/11/chesterfield-keeps-muzzle-on-major-plan/

Edited November 11, 2013 by eandslee

[Downtowner]

Could this be a new UPS or FEDEX facility that Downtowner mentioned above?  Hmmmmmm....:  http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/11/11/chesterfield-keeps-muzzle-on-major-plan/

 

Yep that would be it. Here is the entire masterplan for the future of Meadowville Tech Park. To be honest of all that masterplan so far four things of that master plan have been built or been proposed. Amazon and Capital One are the first two to have come online. The Meadowville Town Center retail part of it has been proposed as well as now project bulldog. I have also heard that there is also another possible scenario if it ends up not being UPS or Fedex that it could also be a pharmaceuticals warehouse for a pharmaceuticals company. Note that on the master plan that there is yet another 400,000 squarefoot warehouse that they vision next to project bulldog. It is also cool to see they plan in the future another million squarefoot warehouse behind amazon.

 

Link to meadowville Masterplan 

http://meadowville.com/meadowville-development-sites/

Edited November 12, 2013 by Downtowner

[jbjust]

Would that mean we would see a substantial expansion of freight flights into RIC?

[Downtowner]

Well apparently the 400,000 SF Warehouse across from amazon is going to end up being a Pharmaceuticals warehouse for a medical supplied company that has been headquartered in VA for 25 years according to my father he said he didn't know the name of the company but he said he thought was either called medline or medco or something he couldnt remember. My aunt is a commercial real estate agent and works for Joyner Fine Properties. She has heard from a few people with the county that this is going to be a Medical Supplies facility. They have been clearing the land for the past 2 weeks and are about done with clearing the land. I will see if I can't take some pics of the land clearing soon. But I expect an announcement shortly on it since they are very close to being done with land clearing along between enon church road and meadowville tech parkway. The entrance to this place would face Meadowville Tech Parkway and be lined up right across the road with amazons entrance. 

[eandslee]

Thanks for the update on this!  Love to get "inside" information before the masses do!  Keep us updated on anything else you hear out there in the commercial real estate world!

[JSI]

It's about time

 

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/11/07/downtown-bank-towers-rehab-begins/

Driving West on I-64 coming back from the airport last night and noticed CNB fully lit up with construction lights inside on each floor. Looked awesome!!

[Downtowner]

Well here it is. Medline to be tenant for the 400,000 Square foot warehouse across the road from amazon in the meadowville technology Park.

 

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/11/27/project-bulldog-tenant-unleashes-its-vision/

[jbjust]

Huge News for Manchester!!!

 

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2013/12/06/manchester-linchpin-snaps-into-place/

 

With an almost $10 million deal sealed, a big-time Southside development is taking shape.

Thalhimer Realty Partners closed Wednesday on its purchase of Manchester’s former Reynolds South plant with plans to build about 260 apartments and, eventually, a mixed-use development with office and retail components.

Thalhimer paid $9.25 million for the 17.2-acre Reynolds property, which is one of the city’s largest pieces of developable land and is considered a potential centerpiece for continued growth in Manchester.

“We think the size and the location provides for a number of good options for mixed-use development, given the proximity to downtown, the James River and the views of the skyline,” Thalhimer Realty Partners associate Matt Raggi said.

Thalhimer plans to begin work on the residential portion, which will created from the plant’s three existing buildings, in the first quarter of 2014. Raggi said the firm expects construction to take between 12 and 18 months. Walter Parks Architects designed the complex, and Thalhimer’s construction wing, MGT Construction, will be the project’s contractors.

The 17.2-acre parcel includes buildings and several large pad sites. (Photos by BizSense)

Thalhimer also has plans for a retail component to front Hull Street and an office development near the Corrugated Box building and Legend Brewing, but it will not build either portion on speculation. A timeline for a Reynolds South retail development will be driven by the market, Raggi said, and Thalhimer will add the office portion as potential tenants arise.

“It will be user driven,” he said. “If a built-to-suit opportunity arises, we’ll be prepared to kick off that phase of the development.”

Thalhimer will be the next in a long line of developers to add apartment units to the Southside neighborhood: Among complexes completed in the past two years and buildings under construction, there are more than 1,000 new apartments in Manchester, and Raggi estimated that there are 3,000 units within five miles of Reynolds South.

But development in the neighborhood has been rather one-dimensional. With about 18 acres to work with, Raggi said Thalhimer looks forward to expanding on the run of residential development.

“With that many units and that many bedrooms, we’re going to need to bring retailers to the area,” he said. “I think that Manchester lacks those types of services.”

The Reynolds site formerly housed Reynolds Metals. The plant employed about 500 people when it closed in 2009. The site was previously owned by New Zealand-based Reynolds Group Holdings.

Tom Wilkinson of Franklin Development had the property under contract but struggled to line up financing and ultimately lost the contract in November 2012. Wilkinson had planned a mixed-use project with office, retail and apartments for the site.

A building at the Reynolds South plant.

Thalhimer has had the property under contract since at least April, about five months after it went back on the market. CBRE {sodEmoji.|} Richmond represented Reynolds in the transaction, with Rob Dirom, Scott Boyers, Trib Sutton, Scott Durham and John Carpin handling the sale on behalf of the seller. CBRE {sodEmoji.|} Richmond handled the sale of the Reynolds North property last year.

Cushman & Wakefield {sodEmoji.|} Thalhimer’s Jeff Cooke brokered the deal on behalf of Thalhimer Realty Partners.

Thalhimer has been on a bit of a buying spree. The firm this year scooped up two distressed apartment buildings on the Southside: the 66-unit Riverside Drive Apartments and 168 units at Deering Manor.

Thalhimer is also renovating the former Julian’s restaurant building near Boulevard and West Broad Street, and Thalhimer in July bought a Scott’s Addition industrial building with plans for a historic tax credit renovation. But the sprawling Reynolds South property is the company’s largest acquisition to date in the Richmond area.

Across the river, WVS Companies and Fountainhead Properties have put 174 apartments at the Reynolds North property. That development team bought the seven-acre property at Canal Walk from Reynolds Group Holdings in February 2012.

Tom Papa, whose firm Fountainhead also has 200 apartments on the rise just blocks from Reynolds South, said the Thalhimer development is a part of a long-running progression of both population and development from the suburbs back into downtown Richmond.

“If you go and you put the population where it was 10 years ago and you just track it every year until today, what you will see is it doesn’t take too many more years until you have enough people in the area to justify the stores that the suburbs usually get,” Papa said.

A longtime developer in downtown Richmond, Papa is excited to see such the Reynolds South development finally beginning to take shape.

“This is what we have believed in at Fountainhead Development for the last decade,” Papa said. “I wish I were the one doing it but it’s gratifying to me to see it all happening.”

Wonder if we should create a new thread for this (or at least un-archive our old Manchester mixed-use thread).

[Richmonopoly]

Thanks jbjust,

Of course I saw this AFTER I made a new thread. Thanks for the photos though.

Manchester is worthy of a thread of its own.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

I'm not sure whether to be happy because this is the start of Manchester's skyline, or sad for Legend's deck