[Manchester Development]

I think you can have both park/public space and dining areas/boat ramps that draw people there for more than just hiking. Any large development that would occupy that island would be on such large stilts that positive street engagement would be difficult. And don't get me wrong, I love development but amenities attract the people that will bring more development (the more desirable the place, the more demand to live in and build there) and I think a balance that expands the public access to the river while bringing even more amenities is very doable.

[Manchester Development]

12 hours ago, rjp212 said:

Mayo Island is on the market for $19,000,000

Mayo Island

According to the master plan for the James River Parks System, Mayo Island is to eventually become a park like Belles Island. The city needs a to find a way to get that property. I think I'd rather see a really cool park with trails here than more development.

[City Center / Virginia BioTech Park]

35 minutes ago, Icetera said:

And probably half of that traffic never sees outside of the airport.

Definitely. At least you can see the Wasatch Mountains from the airport, lol.

[City Center / Virginia BioTech Park]

2 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

I echo @Icetera- a very heartfelt belated welcome to RVA!!   Very glad you're here! Here's hoping you adopt RVA - or (as often happens) she adopts you as one of her own. Perhaps one day you'll show your grandkids the 'old neighborhood' where you raised their mom or dad. 

Excellent comparison - if there is a city/metro that sizewise stacks up to RVA it's SLC. Very close all the way around. However -- SLC has one advantage over RVA at this point - and I hope and pray this gets corrected here; the airport. Now obviously, the biggest edge that SLC has in that equation is that it's the only game in town for travelers for quite a distance. So SLC does 4 1/2 TIMES the passenger traffic that RIC does. (RIC roughly 4 M passengers, SLC 22.4 M passengers) ... 

Lordy - I'm trying to imagine the growth here if RIC did 22.4 M passengers annually... holy wow!

Anyway - good analysis about downtown development, residential development and height. I agree with you all the way around. 

Comparing airports is an unfair comparison though. Salt Lake International serves not only the entire state of Utah, but southern Idaho, western Wyoming, western Colorado, and eastern Nevada. That is why it became a major Delta Hub. 

[Richmond Region Transportation]

Just some Thursday musings, but with 14th Street Bridge reconstruction happening in the next few years, I'm even more convinced that the future south-bound Pulse line should run down 9th Street bridge and Commerce before turning down Hull Street. That way the bridge construction doesn't delay a future Pulse line. Commerce offers more opportunities for new development and the northern portion of Hull Street will be mostly built out by the time the line would open. Also, Commerce could better accommodate exclusive bus lanes and mid-street stations and anyone living north of Commerce would still be walking distance to the new Pulse line.

[City Center / Virginia BioTech Park]

On 3/29/2022 at 12:16 PM, I miss RVA said:

@asies-- welcome to the forum!!  You're spot on -- residential development is where, at least for the forseeable future, we're going to see height in RVA. Agreed - with a few notable exceptions (CoStar in RVA and Charlotte, well just because - perhaps city father made a deal with the devil or something ) - office construction is likely going to be shelved for a while. I guess we can see a prime example before us in RVA -- the Block D office building got butchered by about 60% - whereas the developers of the Pinecrest Parc View apartment building ADDED a floor, increasing the height from 15 to 16 stories. It wouldn't surprise me if -- over the next few years -- outside of CoStar's tower, the tallest new buildings in RVA are all residential -- which is fine by me -- thankfully the demand is there because RVA city and metro ARE growing briskly. When it comes to "infill" - I hope that when it comes to Monroe Ward and elsewhere in/around downtown, infill will also come with height. We seem to be seeing that taking shape now. The Admiral in Jackson Ward - 12 stories. Two residential buildings at Foushee and Grace - one somewhere in the 13-15 story range and another 11 stories. As has been discussed here, all it will take is for one or two of these tower projects to be successful, and the dam will break. Developers will be much keener to build in the 12-15 story - or 15-18 story (or even taller) range once these buildings are up and fill with residents.

Good takes all the way around, @asies Are you currently living in Richmond?

Again, welcome to the land of the RVA crazies - glad you're with us - and I hope you'll have a seat at the bar and post regularly. 

Thanks. I've lived in Richmond since August. I think once construction starts on the Costar Tower, we could see more interest in a new residential tower downtown as well. It would be awesome to see a luxury residential or mixed-use tower on the lot next to the Dominion tower. Richmond is around the same size as Salt Lake City (my hometown) and there construction is underway on a  39-story residential tower that when completed will be the state's tallest. In Salt Lake it wasn't until Goldman Sach's expanded their presence downtown that downtown residential development began to really take off.  Costar's expansion downtown could have a similar effect in Richmond.

[City Center / Virginia BioTech Park]

This is my first time posting here, it felt like a good time to chime in.  I have lived in Charlotte, and while Charlotte has some tall pretty buildings it is not a very vibrant city and it is one of the least walkable major cities in America. I know tall buildings are fun to look at, but city life happens at the street level and activating dead space, regardless of the height, is good for a city and its vibrancy.  Few markets are seeing new office towers rise, Charlotte is a rare exception there. Across the country most new towers are either residential or hospitality (or a mix of both). It takes several years to plan, develop, and build a new tower so while construction costs are inflated right now, by the time the rest of the Coliseum area is ready for development those costs could come down. Having vibrant healthy neighborhoods is what will bring the "height" to Richmond. The region and city are growing. Companies go where people want to live, and Richmond is becoming a place where people want to be. Richmond's best chance for additional height right now will come from residential projects, not office projects (although the Costar headquarters is a welcome exception). This city needs infill development and the more infill we get, the more likely we are to start seeing more height in new proposals. I'd also add that the city probably dodged a bullet in the Navy Hill project as it is the same developer that is scaling the VCU tower down (incremental growth may not be as sexy, but it tends to have an overall larger economic impact than large signature projects).