I miss RVA

We have a LOT of big glaring holes in a downtown that's quite often dead as a doornail. I'd SO love for all of that to change - and it's beyond me to figure out what it would take to make that happen.

Say - do you mind posting a few bullet points as to what you found? What are the challenges they're pointing to? Not being lazy - but I don't have time to peruse the doc right now and it would be good to see a few talking points so that I can go back and digest it more thoroughly. Given that the report is three years old, it will be interesting to see what's changed since 2021.

I snagged this photo from today's RBS' snapshot of the new, huge Ainsworth development on the site of the old Laurel Park Shopping Center and Woodman and Hungary Roads. All I can say is - WOW. It is a complete and amazing transformation and it's bringing some significant density to one of metro Richmond's old, legacy "bedroom" suburbs in Henrico, populated by lots of small, mid-century SFHs. Remembering the ghost town that the Laurel Park Shopping Center was (I lived about 2/3 of a mile east just off Hungary Road in the late '90s) I'm honestly blown away. It's night-and-day different - and really, all I can say is - amazing. Photo courtesy of Richmond BizSense:

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Here's RBS's reporting (and some new renderings) on Shamin's double-hotel groundbreaking and their outstanding project connected to the Henrico Sports and Events Center. Jonathan Spiers brings some additional nuggets regarding the overall development underway on the former site of Virginia Center Commons. Construction continues on the initial phase of 275 apartments. A second phase of 115 apartments will break ground in June 2026. The overall redevelopment will include a total of 500 apartments, 325 two-over-two condos, income-based housing, retail and commercial space. Additionally, some 75 townhomes are under construction on the site closer to Brook Road. In short, this project is REALLY popping, as is this part of the northern suburbs, where other large-scale residential developments are planned within a stone's throw of the VCC site. Amazing to see all of this coming to pass. From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/26/shamin-breaks-ground-on-pairs-of-hotels-restaurants-beside-events-center-at-vcc/

Very true. They got everyone with that double whopper with cheese. They should've served fries and a chocolate shake with that whopper.

You're right about that. Getting that kind of a set-up in place could very well get the ball rolling. Big question then is: HOW do we pry a major law firm away from another city? And from where do we pull? D.C.? NYC? One of the southern cities? I could see a major New York or D.C. firm opening up a Richmond OFFICE - and maybe leasing out a couple of floors in an existing downtown building (one of the James Center buildings, for example). But I'm not sure how we go about getting a big law form to uproot from (city of choice) - to come to RVA and bring with them enough people to make a big tower possible. It took CoStar being here for about six or seven years before there was movement toward the big riverfront tower. Would there be any opportunities to lure this kind of firm in from the suburbs maybe? (Of course, if they're in the 'burbs, it's because it's cheaper than being downtown, etc.) Mind you - I LOVE the idea! I'm just trying to wrap my head around how we'd pull this off. Definitely something for folks a LOT smarter than me (namely those fine folks at Greater Richmond Partnership and the city's Economic Development office.)

GREAT find, @Child2021. Wow - the RT-D published this more than a month ago. How did we miss it? Last we heard, the city/GRTC was looking at the two sites - but there was no indication they were pretty much setting in stone that they want the Public Safety Building site. That was a completely different article in the RT-D than this one. I don't think we saw this one. Wow... Looks like the main difference between the two sites would be double the amount of retail space if it's built on the Public Safety Building site. And they do have a good point - it would be good to not have to shut down the current station while the big transit hub is being built. Man - I'm LOVING this design. It SO reminds me of what the Block 37 transit hub (two subway lines) looks like in downtown Chicago. High-rise residential, high-rise office, high-rise hotel, TONS of retail on multiple levels and two subway stations. The RVA version (focusing on buses, obviously) could potentially be just as robust - though the RT-D article DID point out that the big drawback to that location is the overall "ghost town" level of human activity in that part of downtown. HOPEFULLY the Phase 1 core of City Center a couple blocks west of this location will get underway sooner rather than later. THAT could absolutely change the dynamic of the area. PLUS - once this transit hub is built, that would free up the block containing the current GRTC transfer lot for further development - hopefully high-rise residential or mixed use. Maybe I'm being way too pie in the sky about this - but I think this development has the potential to be EPIC. I'm salivating over it like Pavlov's dog. Oh - and btw, @Child2021 - since you found what we all missed, methinks you're more than worthy of some prestigious RVA/UP Silver Hardware. Well done! Mazal Tov! Expect delivery any time now.

Shamin Hotels broke ground today on their latest project which will place two hotels and two new restaurants immediately adjacent to the new Henrico Sports and Events Center on the site of the former Virginia Center Commons in Glen Allen. On tap are a four-story Residence Inn and a five-story Home2 Suites. Both hotels are planned to be opened in 2026. No details about the restaurants have been published yet. There will likely be further coverage through our usual outlets. From today's Henrico Citizen: https://www.henricocitizen.com/articles/hotels-restaurants-coming-to-henrico-sports-and-events-center-site/

The Chesterfield County Planning Commission recommended for approval an 85-lot subdivision to fill a 27-acre site near Chippenham Parkway and Iron Bridge Road. Jack Jacobs has reporting in today's RBS that Cross Creek Development Corp. is planning the subdivision of SFHs on one of the largest remaining undeveloped tract in the county's Ridgedale Special Focus Area, in which the county is encouraging new residential, commercial and recreational development. The district is just inside Chesterfield, on the north side of Chippenham Parkway, near the Richmond city limits. The project goes for final approval next week before the county board of supervisors. Groundbreaking could some as early as spring of 2025 with construction getting underway later in the year or in 2026. From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/25/85-lot-subdivision-proposed-at-chippenham-and-iron-bridge-in-chesterfield/

Really good intel, @Flood Zone. It would really be something if this influx of worker bees could somehow spur an uptick in high-density residential development downtown. And by that, I don't mean the 5 or 6-over-1 boxes like those built on Canal Street a few years ago. Rather, I mean something with some height on smaller footprints - at least 12, 15 or 16 stories. God knows there's enough space downtown to build out a veritable forest of those kinds of buildings. No idea if the CoStar workforce would be able to afford something in a larger/taller apartment building. But as much as we talk about how downtown RVA simply lacks the "demand" for these kinds of buildings that some of our competitors are enjoying in the residential buildup of their downtowns, it would be amazing if this kind of workforce presence on the CoStar campus could create enough demand for even just one or two residential buildings in Monroe Ward along the size of what Avery Hall is planning over in Manchester. I know... pipe dream.

Henrico County has secured roughly $91 million in state and federal funding to improvements to I-64 interchanges in and around Short Pump. Jonathan Spiers has reporting in today's RBS that some $305 million of improvements will encompass improvements to West Broad Street between Innsbrook and Short Pump, I-64 exchanges with West Broad just east of I-295, improvements to the I-295 exchange, a new from-scratch I-64 exchange at Gayton Road and improvements to route 288 and its exchange with I-64 in Goochland. We can probably expect construction to begin at some point over the last half of this decade and continue into the early 2030s (would be my best guess). From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/25/henrico-secures-some-funding-seeks-more-for-short-pump-traffic-improvements/

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is putting their West Creek building and property along with two additional undeveloped parcels up for sale. Michael Schwartz has reporting in today's RBS that the Fed used the 200K sq ft, six-story building on West Creek Parkway in Goochland for their IT staff, but began consolidating and vacating the building during and after the pandemic. The parcels are being marketed as an opportunity for a wide variety of developments, including multi-family residential, office, commercial, retail, medical, etc. Should be interesting to see how long it takes for a developer to snap up this collection of parcels and get something going. There's a ton of land included - so maybe something mixed use with a heavy emphasis on residential - particularly multi-family. This looks like it has a ton of potential - and its location is in a fast-growing section of Goochland, not all that far from the Henrico County line. From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/25/richmond-fed-vacates-west-creek-complex-lists-property-for-sale/

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Here is additional reporting from Tuesday's RT-D. One interesting nugget: the planned new courthouse building will cost roughly $300 million and is planned to be built by 2029. Depending on the footprint of where-ever this new municipal building actually is - as is depicted in the conceptual renderings in the City Center SAP - this new structure could have some decent size (height and massing) to it. From Tuesday's Richmond Times-Dispatch: https://richmond.com/news/local/government-politics/richmond-social-services-shamin-times-dispatch-building/article_33ea9652-0111-11ef-87e4-cb4223a468db.html

This story slipped under our radars last week - looks like (as of April 17th) actual full-on demo of the Public Safety building is slated to begin in the next couple of weeks. Eric Kolenich has reporting in the April 17th edition of the RT-D that VCU Health announced it is moving forward with actual demo. Site work will be getting underway within the one-to-two week window announced last week, though no timetable was published for the completion of the work. While this will leave the heart of downtown RVA with yet another vacant lot (with the Dominion and the VEC lots down in the Financial District now also vacant, downtown's "Sea of vacant/undeveloped lots and/or surface parking lots" continues to grow. HOPEFULLY, however, since this is within the overall footprint of the larger City Center district redevelopment, we'll see something of some decent size rise here at some point, whether it's connected to the outstanding, planned GRTC transit hub or something else. There at least seems to be some kind of promise for something potentially big to rise on this site. Either way - good to FINALLY see movement on this building. Indeed, @georgeglass, as you astutely pointed out, contaminated water, asbestos and other hazardous materials on the site have been the big speedbump. Abatement of all of those elements is time-consuming and costly. Apparently, as you said, the site is/was a real mess from a hazardous materials/contaminated water standpoint. From the April 17th edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: https://richmond.com/news/local/business/real-estate/demolition-of-richmond-owned-building-to-begin-in-1-2-weeks/article_5bf919fa-fd35-11ee-a12a-f7bf7521ab78.html#tracking-source=in-article

Eric Kolenich has reporting in today's RT-D that City Council has approved an ordinance that will refund some of the property tax money to be collected on CoStar's new downtown centerpiece office tower once it's complete. The breaks would extend over the course of ten years in increasingly diminishing percentage increments. Those breaks are also dependent on CoStar meeting certain measurable metrics, such as jobs/employees brought to RVA, capital investments, as well as investments in small businesses, particularly those that are minority-owned and/or owned by women. Smart move on the part of the city to incentivize the huge corporation that's essentially establishing darn-near EVERYTHING except the executive office (as in the "actual" HQ) not just in Richmond but in DOWNTOWN Richmond. CoStar is making ginormous investments in the city, and not just with their huge riverfront campus. It's a win-win - if for no other reason than the following from Eric's reporting: CoStar currently employs 1,200 people in Richmond and aims to eventually have 4,000. The average wage here will be at least $85,000, according to city documents. The office building is expected to be complete and open for business by late 2025 or early 2026. THIS (having a workforce of 4,000 people) is HUGE for the city and for downtown RVA. Again - put this one in the column of an EXCEPTIONALLY BIG WIN for Richmond. From today's Richmond Times-Dispatch: https://richmond.com/news/local/business/real-estate/costar-office-tower-richmond/article_2fc0901a-0196-11ef-812e-bf03a8f8fb2a.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_richmond&stream=top#tracking-source=mp-homepage