Scott's Addition Development

[Child2021]

New red "crawler" crane at the construction site next to lowes.

[I miss RVA]

8 hours ago, Child2021 said:

New red "crawler" crane at the construction site next to lowes.

Wait - next to Lowes. Where is this? I'm drawing a blank.

Any chance for maybe a few.  ??

[plain]

"Next to Lowe's" is probably going to be the apartments already in progress at the corner of Allen & Leigh. The parking garage is virtually done.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, plain said:

"Next to Lowe's" is probably going to be the apartments already in progress at the corner of Allen & Leigh. The parking garage is virtually done.

Ahhh - okay. Over in Carver. Got it. Good!! Glad there's some movement on this again.

[RiverYuppy]

It's supposed to be a five story 300 unit apartment.

 

Right now there is only the parking garage up.

[I miss RVA]

Not even sure why I'm posting this - I'm not thrilled with the RT-D's latest piece on the ongoing development of Scott's Addition. It amounts to little more than a kvetch-and-whinefest (hopefully the reporter served cheese during the interviews) lamenting how Scott's is changing. And it seems like this story was an excuse to get that absolutely insipid Historic Richmond Foundation (DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON THESE PEOPLE!!!) to weigh in with their own laments about "historic character" and blah blah blah.

(PERSONAL NOTE: Yes, I proudly train-wrecked a few of their symposiums back in the '80s (when I was in undergrad), politely (but vociferously) debating the stuffed-shirts about the sins of uber-preservation vs the virtues of uber-development. I brought hard facts (in fact, REEMS of published data and information from reliable sources). They brought "feels" - they had virtually NO facts to rebut my assertions. And even though they wanted to, they COULDN'T kick me out because I was not disrespectful in ANY way, I was not yelling, AND  - what's more - I HAD PAID FULL PRICE TO BE THERE. I even had some of the attendees during the lunch break privately say to me - "I might disagree with  you, but I'm impressed with your arguments. I can't argue with you based on the facts because you make an air-tight case for pro-development.")

So let's just say I have a bit of * ahem * a "history" with this organization. Jesus Christ...

Now, I get it - not everyone's going to like things in Scott's changing, especially the "pioneers" who moved there 15 years ago when things were just getting started. But this city is growing, evolving, dare I say "booming" (even through you'd NEVER know it by our inchworm incremental population growth rate) - and it's transitioning into becoming a REAL city with REAL urban core neighborhoods that are actively booming. I spent MUCH of my childhood in Scott's (bc my dad managed a printing company there - I was there a LOT during summers when I was a kid and school was out) - and lemme tell you from first-hand experience: back in those days, that neighborhood was a "has-been that never was". There was nothing to the neighborhood. A bunch of one-story brick buildings, be they factories, warehouses, printing plants, shipping companies - whatever. Curles Neck Dairy (and the Dairy Bar - mmmm... MILKSHAKES!!!) was there. Only a few buildings stood out (like the Binswanger Glass building - and that's been renovated - NOT torn down - and rightly so!) ... and maybe the caboose-shaped Seaboard Coast Line HQ building on W. Broad and a few buildings like the Hofhimer's on Broad or the FFV factory. Most of the rest of what was (and for the most part, still is) there was -- and is -- pretty non-descript.

The neighborhood is rocketing past Manchester right now as THE HOT PLACE TO BE - and that's because it seems like damn near EVERYTHING in Manchester has ground to a dead halt. I hope the dam breaks over there soon after the first reduction (or two) in the prime rate. There's so much pent up investment waiting to be unleashed on Manchester - and we need it to get going like YESTERDAY.

ANYWAY... again, I don't even know why I'm posting this. For Christ's sake - I'm surprised this story doesn't include the venerable Dr. Slipek bemoaning the "loss" of this, that or the other, or waxing on endlessly with that time-worn HRFish trope of "Richmond just isn't Richmond any more... (heavy sigh). HELLO... DOSE OF REALITY HERE, PLEASE!!

I swear to God - I was waiting for SOMEONE in the article to also do the worn-out HRFish trope of "we need to pump the brakes on all this development..." 

Okay - I'm biting down so hard and grinding my teeth right now that I'm to the point my jaw hurts.

From today's Richmond Times-Dispatch:

https://richmond.com/news/local/business/development/big-investment-brings-change-to-richmonds-scotts-addition/article_25144e18-c53c-11ee-ae44-db62f61680b4.html#tracking-source=mp-in-article

Edited February 15 by I miss RVA

[whw53]

trust me - I cringe every time i see Historic Richmond brought up as well. But, it was a well balanced article  and i think the point was to glean a lot of perspectives on this development trend esp. from a historical resource perspective as the author goes into the 4 development waves that have contributed to the current built environment there. The perspectives given in the article mirror the more casual commentaries on the same topic in places like Reddit, etc.

One thing I wish the T-D emphasized more would be to focus on the benefits on this supply and the role new housing plays in moderating rent growth elsewhere instead of repeating the 'luxury apartments' line over and over.  It's easy to look at the shiny new apartment buildings out of reach to many of us w\o considering what our situation would be in a case where we had tighter development controls that groups like HR would love to implement I'm sure. National publications , esp. NYT and the WSJ have really come around in last couple years to propound the role that density of market rate supply provides in terms of moderating rent growth. this is also something the general public has come around to and is interested in so it feels like there is a gap in the story somewhat or at least the angle that would make the story seem more sophisticated.

Edited February 16 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, whw53 said:

trust me - I cringe every time i see Historic Richmond brought up as well. But, it was a well balanced article  and i think the point was to glean a lot of perspectives on this development trend esp. from a historical resource perspective as the author goes into the 4 development waves that have contributed to the current built environment there. The perspectives given in the article mirror the more casual commentaries on the same topic in places like Reddit, etc.

One thing I wish the T-D emphasized more would be to focus on the benefits on this supply and the role new housing plays in moderating rent growth elsewhere instead of repeating the 'luxury apartments' line over and over.  It's easy to look at the shiny new apartment buildings out of reach to many of us w\o considering what our situation would be in a case where we had tighter development controls that groups like HR would love to implement I'm sure. National publications , esp. NYT and the WSJ have really come around in last couple years to propound the role that density of market rate supply provides in terms of moderating rent growth. this is also something the general public has come around to and is interested in so it feels like there is a gap in the story somewhat or at least the angle that would make the story seem more sophisticated.

Well said, @whw53 - especially on the RT-D's lack of focus on HOW increasing the amount of market-rate housing stock can/does impact and mitigate what has been recently rather explosive rent growth. Developers have said this for YEARS about the RVA market: that they (the developers) literally can't build the housing fast enough to try to keep up with - much less meet - demand. They've continued to indicate that demand remains VERY strong - and we've seen this proven out with the population shifts of the last handful of years and metro RVA now the fastest growing region in the Commonwealth. Yes - much of it is in Chesterfield, but developers and CRE experts all have stated publicly that demand in the city is robust and showing no signs of abating anytime soon. (From their lips to God's ears!!!)

THAT said - I'm troubled that SO many projects across the city seem to have stalled out bc of construction costs and the currently higher rates of interest. Manchester seems to have ground completely to a standstill. Is anything new happening there at the moment? Tom Papa has multiple pots on the stove over there - and it doesn't seem like any of them are moving at this time. He has a LOT of irons in the fire north of the river as well. Locks 7 & 8, the burgeoning Grace Street corridor. And back in Manchester, Hourigan and Avery Hall seem to be stuck in park, their engines idling.

The question that I'm asking is NOT about the economy, which while not perfect, IS steadily improving. It's about HOW MUCH MORE IMPROVEMENT do developers (and for that matter, lenders) NEED TO SEE before the project pipeline starts flowing again?

One final thought, circling back to Scott's: I guess the fact that we could have three developers raising five (six?) new buildings (three (or four?) at N. Chasen, one each with the Ace and Outlier) more-or-less simultaneously while one other new one (Soda Flats) is in the home stretch of construction should be encouraging. So whatever has ground things to a halt in Manchester and downtown certainly hasn't impacted things in Scott's.

Edited February 16 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

Wellllllp - either something was going on with the crane, or the fine folks at Capital Square were getting a bit squirrely with the camera. I just now checked the Cap Square cam page and THIS was the image I saw. I managed to screengrab it before it reverted back to the normal zoom. It's been normal ever since.

Either way- this was certainly very unique.

Edited March 4 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

But wait... there's more!! (as those cheesy old Ronco commercials used to say...)

Check THESE gems out:

Edited March 4 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

BTW - the close-up that shows both cranes (N. Chasen and The Ace) reminded me: has there been any further progress on site prep, ground clearance, etc., for the Outlier? Haven't seen/heard anything aside from where there were a couple of excavators parked on the property. Just curious where that project is holding.

[whw53]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

BTW - the close-up that shows both cranes (N. Chasen and The Ace) reminded me: has there been any further progress on site prep, ground clearance, etc., for the Outlier? Haven't seen/heard anything aside from where there were a couple of excavators parked on the property. Just curious where that project is holding.

Heading to Tuesday $7 movie night later at Bow Tie - i'll be sure to go by and snap picture of the Outlier

[I miss RVA]

14 minutes ago, whw53 said:

Heading to Tuesday $7 movie night later at Bow Tie - i'll be sure to go by and snap picture of the Outlier

Coolness!! Thanks!

As a result, you undoubtedly know what will end up being shipped to you in its distinctive, RVA/UP packing crate - fresh from our warehouse and polishing facility... 

[I miss RVA]

Oh my!!! Lookie at what's being lowered into place at N. Chasen!

And even though via an optical illusion, it LOOKS like they're setting it down on the concrete floor of the building, they didn't. The port-a-potty was lowered to the street at the edge of the site on the south side of Marshall.

Hmmmm... wonder if we should give the fine folks at Hourigan and Capital Square some shiny new RVA/UP Silver Hardware?  

[Shakman]

One that's as shiny as my bald head.

[whw53]

Behold...thee outlier site >>

[eandslee]

53 minutes ago, whw53 said:

Behold...thee outlier site >>

Thanks!  Looks pretty dead though. Hmm…

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, whw53 said:

Behold...thee outlier site >>

Holy moly... it really doesn't look like anything much has been done at all, through I guess there was a structure or something that had to be taken down?

Anyway - thanks SO much for grabbing this, @whw53 -- you definitely answered the bell and got us some timely visual intel on what's happening/not happening there.

You know the drill - and I'm a man of my word. The warehouse already has your shiny new, freshly-polished piece of official RVA/UP Silver Hardware packed in its distinctive delivery crate and on the way to you. Mazal Tov!! Well done! And again, thanks!

Edited March 6 by I miss RVA

[Child2021]

A couple auguers are present at the site of where the apartments are being bulit next to the highway.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, Child2021 said:

A couple auguers are present at the site of where the apartments are being bulit next to the highway.

Where is this specifically?

[Child2021]

Old mansion (retirement home) place used to be.

[I miss RVA]

53 minutes ago, Child2021 said:

Old mansion (retirement home) place used to be.

Ahhh - Grove Avenue. Coolness!!

Hmmm... any chance for a few  for our archives?

[Child2021]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/03/07/shamin-to-build-12-story-hotel-on-former-hardees-site-on-arthur-ashe-blvd/

 

[wrldcoupe4]

This is really great to see TOD being maxed out. 

[123fakestreet]

5 hours ago, Child2021 said:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/03/07/shamin-to-build-12-story-hotel-on-former-hardees-site-on-arthur-ashe-blvd/

 

The big news we've been waiting for. I was just going to comment the other day it seems like it's been a long time since anything big was announced, most recent "big" announcements have been cancellations and scale backs. This is the news this forum needed.

That height! And in that location too, AA will be almost completely filled out. And a needed hotel. Everything about this is very welcome news.