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

Some office location shuffling that (hopefully) portends bigger and better things to come: Jonathan Spiers has reporting in Tuesday's RBS that the city's Department of Social Services is moving from the Marshall Plaza building at 900 E. Marshall to the Richmond Times-Dispatch building at 300 E. Franklin. This frees up the triangular, horrifically low-slung (as in UBER short/flat) Marshall Plaza building to go hasta la bye bye with the site slated to be redeveloped into something hopefully bigger and better as part of the larger overall City Center redevelopment district. This part of City Center would include a new John Marshall Courts building across 9th Street from the Marshall Plaza site. it would definitely be great to see something of some decent size, density and massing replace this squat building. We gotta go vertical, folks! From Tuesday's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/23/citys-social-services-move-to-fill-up-largely-empty-times-dispatch-building/

Looks like the 44th Street income-based apartment complex is gearing up to get underway. Jonathan Spiers has reporting in today's RBS that Norfolk-based The Lawson Cos. recently purchased the 6.5 acre site at 700 W. 44th Street, south of the Forest Hill neighborhood. Lawson is planning a 144-unit complex that will include 1-BR, 2-BR and 3-BR units contained in six three-story buildings. Jonathan's article did not give a timetable for groundbreaking or construction. However, the developer first filed their POD with the city back in 2021. Really nice little injection of density in the Forest Hill/Westover area of South Richmond. It's amazing how many residential developments are either under construction or planned for this part of the city. From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/24/2m-land-deal-tees-up-20m-income-based-apartment-complex-near-forest-hill/

@whw53 - are you able to see anything in the city's portal? @eandslee - I don't recall if this is another phase of the residential development or if this is something new. Was this connected to any of the old warehouses that fronted Semme's Ave? Here's the general location, with boundaries (loosely drawn) based on what's in the flyer.

Jonathan Spiers has reporting in today's RBS that the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is breaking ground this week on a $31 million expansion of their campus in Lakeside. The two-year project will nearly double the size of the conservatory, add/incorporate a second lake and add seven acres of new gardens. The botanical garden last expanded in 2005. Interesting nugget in Jonathan's reporting: when the last expansion occurred some 19 years ago, annual visitation was at 124K. Today, according to gardens CEO Brian Trader, visitation is almost half a million annually. Absolutely fantastic! From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/22/lewis-ginter-botanical-garden-growing-campus-with-31m-expansion/

Jack Jacobs has reporting in today's RBS that Cross Creek Development Co. is planning a new 261-home development on the western edge of Swift Creek Reservoir. The project, to be called Thacker's View, is slated to feature 161 single family homes and 100 townhomes, and is being developed jointly with the Thacker family, which owns the 100-acre site. If the project is approved later this year by the county, construction is anticipated to begin in 2026 or 2027 with project completion by 2028 or 2029. From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/22/100-plus-acres-along-swift-creek-reservoir-slated-for-residential-project/

The RT-D is reporting today that the Commonwealth Transportation Board's new draft of their six-year improvement plan includes funding to extend GRTC's free-fare program through fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1 of this year. The CTB's plan for GRTC funding in fiscal year 2025 is pretty robust. It includes: $3.6 million for fare-free program one-year extension $3.5 million to support GRTC's 5.5 mile extension to Virginia Center Commons $3 million for infrastructure improvements, including bus shelters and benches $14 million for new buses Good to see investment in GRTC. From today's Richmond Times-Dispatch: https://richmond.com/news/local/grtc-free-fares-richmond-bus-service/article_06ed7704-fcbc-11ee-bcab-db1777f5107f.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_richmond&stream=top

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!! And a Danish company, too! All the more incentive for our friends at the CRAC/RIC (and whoever else might factor into this) to get that FIS open and get us some international flights going like YESTERDAY. (Yeah, yeah - I know - they'll just drive up to IAD.) One thing though: I wonder WHERE in Chesterfield this new plant is to be built? Neither the press release nor the WTVR 6 News gave any details.

@RVABizSenseMike has a great roundup in today's RBS of a handful of infill projects that are all either underway, about to start, are in the pipeline or are planned for a roughly ten-block stretch of W. Cary Street - extending for the 2200 block where construction continues on the new fire station all the way down to the 1200 block. Mike's lede says it perfectly: "A wave of new development is in the works for one of the Fan’s main thoroughfares that’ll bring dozens of new townhomes, duplexes, apartments and more to the neighborhood." Very exciting to see this. That stretch of W. Cary - for as long as I can remember, and particularly since the construction of the Downtown Expressway - always seemed to be "down at the heel" so to speak, what with SO many vacant lots and dilapidated one-story buildings (some boarded up). Nice to see a real mix of developments - everything from the fire station and boutique hotel to townhouses to duplexes to small walk-up apartment buildings. It will undoubtedly bring some vitality back to this neighborhood that has been something of a "dead zone" for so many years now. (Photos courtesy of Mike/RBS; rendering courtesy of the City of Richmond) From today's Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/04/19/new-residential-infill-projects-abound-on-cary-st-stretch-in-the-fan/

Yeah - I can see that being the case for one very simple reason: NYC, SF, Chicago, LA have being "doing it" (that is being a "big city") for anywhere from 100, 120, even 150 years. Charlotte's been at it for... a couple of decades. Experience matters. Plus, with the exception of SF (city proper) NYC, Chicago and LA are EXPONENTIALLY larger than Charlotte. A city of 900K and a metro of 2.8 M isn't remotely in the same league as a city of 8.6 million and a metro of 27 million that's been doing this kind of thing for closing in on 200 years. Universes apart. I hear you, and you paint a fantastic and clear visual of the state of play. All very good stuff. But as I said previously - aesthetics are the icing - and I want the cake. I want 35,000 (or more) people living downtown... 120K working downtown... 6,600 hotel rooms... 18 million people and BOOMING business, events, and tourism FILLING those rooms (and by extension, FILLING RIC to the point that it has to expand to a second, multi-concourse terminal and add that parallel runway that's in the airport master plan!) Mind you, it's a VERY valid point and an excellent point of comparison between the cities. And from the perspective of individuals or families looking to move to a location, aesthetics are absolutely important. And it's that granular level detail that DOES make a difference in people's decisions to relocate from one area to another. I can't argue with you. I just think we're talking apples and oranges, though, bc I'm looking at this from the 30,000 foot level - big picture - urban-planning, economic-competition perspective and how can we grow our market size to compete -- and WIN -- and fully revitalize downtown. AHHHHHH... NOW we're starting to talk the same language. We can't have those things UNLESS and UNTIL we get bigger. A LOT bigger. And where have y'all heard THAT sermon preached before? Same could be said for Houston -- and practically EVERY Southern boomtown either hasn't been at it very long or didn't start doing "big" 150-plus years ago like the cities of the Northeast and Midwest did. Really good observation though - and the visual it paints it pretty rich. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh I'm not just happy, my dear friend. I'm breaking out a Snoopy dance on this one -- ANNNNNNNNNNNNND -- I'm so thrilled by THIS absolutely OUTSTANDING news, that I'm putting in a special requisition for the rarest of the rare. We NEVER give these out. Only three - or is it four? -- have been awarded in the history of this fine, upstanding community. You, sir, and by extension your partner - are worthy recipients of nothing less than RVA/UP GOLD Hardware!!! WOW!!! It takes something EPIC to win one of these rarities. And you've done exactly that. WELL DONE!!! MAZAL TOV!!! 1.) That's a good point and you're right. All it does is increase demand in Short Pump. Of course the flip side is that ANY kind of growth, be it in the city, Short Pump, Midlothian, Petersburg - it ALL contributes to the growth of the RVA metro - and those numbers are EXTREMELY important and play a part in garnering more relos, etc., to enter the market. 2.) Excellent example - and 10,000% spot-on accurate. 3.) You might be surprised by my response but: I DON'T want RVA city to suck the development (and population) out of the counties. I want BOTH of them to grow! Do you know where I want RVA to suck away development and population? Our competitors. I want us grabbing folks who WOULD HAVE moved to one of those other cities, but instead, whether because their company relocated here or expanded here or a different company with a better offer was established here - whatever - decided to move here. I don't want intra jurisdictional cannibalization happening. I want us gobbling up everything from OUTSIDE the RVA market in order to grow the ENTIRE RVA market. 1.) If all of this actually gets built. I'm beginning to have my doubts, both about the Diamond District AND City Center. I'm trying to stay positive, but I've been around the block a time or two and have seen this movie at LEAST as many times as I've watched the entire series (all 86 episodes) of the Sopranos with my brother - which is WAY too many to count, capisce? 2.) See above. I don't want that AT ALL. Intra jurisdictional cannibalization does NOTHING good for metro RVA. It's tantamount to spinning our wheels and going nowhere fast. Better we grow BOTH Henrico and the city (and all the other counties around us as well.) Grow this whole damn place! 3.) 100% spot on. That is indeed something that can help with demand. I forgot to mention in quoting "Uptown's" stats - 33 million square feet of office space (gotta put those 120K workers SOMEWHERE), and 18 million visitors annually to the district. I'd bet the larger percentage of it is business traffic - and that's a LOT of people. Imagine that in downtown RVA!! But to your point - absolutely spot on. We MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST under ALLLLLL circumstances grow the downtown population. Again - 30,000 according to my urban planning professors at VCU 40 years ago. It's part of the "secret sauce" that can really kickstart downtown's resurgence. Great stuff!! And expect delivery of your magnificent award any moment now!

1.) Hitting singles: Hey - I can't argue at all with smallball. Creating runs wins games just as much as hitting homers do. I'd like to see us hit a LOT more singles... some doubles... maybe eek out a triple or two - and THENNNNN... clobber a grand salami over the fence. CoStar was one of those grand salamis. Truth is, we need both. We can't settle for just "organic" growth (that translates to snail's-pace incremental growth). But at the same time, you're correct that we can't keep whiffing on Ruthian swings either. Gotta make some contact and bear some fruit. 2.) CoStar: They're heavily invested in building up their presence in Richmond, regardless of where the company "HQ" is located (D.C., NOVA). RVA is essentially their base of operations, with the most employees. Only the highest honchos are up in D.C. RVA's got pretty much everything and everyone else. What's cool is that their growth has been both quite explosive (they haven't been here THAT long, in the grander scheme of things) AND organic. I agree - I don't see them uprooting everything they're building here. If anything, this is only the beginning (at least if their CEO is to be believed). 3.) EDA/Small Biz Start-ups: that should ALWAYS be part of the game plan, and increasing incentives to plant the seeds for growth is vital. It has to be a multi-pronged approach. We still need to get more CoStars, more LEGOs, more... whoever... with a billion dollars to invest and 5,000-10,000 jobs to bring here. We need more WINS in that arena as well. We can't constantly lose out to Nashville or Austin or Raleigh or WHEREVER - just because we can't offer what they can (let's start with the airport, shall we?) But to your point, agreed - mash the gas pedal on helping smaller companies grow, relo, develop in RVA. It's good business that's good FOR business!