Monroe Ward / Oregon Hill

[I miss RVA]

13 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Starbucks with drive through it is then! 

My dear friend, I normally say "from your keyboard to God's eyes" on a lot of different things, but on this one I'm hoping God decided to go out of town for the weekend and as a result, misses your post altogether! 

Edited September 10, 2023 by I miss RVA

[wrldcoupe4]

I totally agree!

[ancientcarpenter]

On 9/9/2023 at 8:58 AM, wrldcoupe4 said:

Starbucks with drive through it is then! 

 Raising Cane's Chicken?! *Thalhimer foams at the mouth*

[RiverYuppy]

2 hours ago, ancientcarpenter said:

 Raising Cane's Chicken?! *Thalhimer foams at the mouth*

They need to compete with Taco Bell KFC locations that share a building. It'll be a Raising Canes Starbucks all in one. We asked for density and they'll deliver!

[Shakman]

23 hours ago, RiverYuppy said:

They need to compete with Taco Bell KFC locations that share a building. It'll be a Raising Canes Starbucks all in one. We asked for density and they'll deliver!

Does this mean Pizza Hut will be making a come back?

[I miss RVA]

The Daily Planet has purchased the three-story office building at 24 E. Cary Street for its new headquarters. A big upgrade for the organization in terms of space and a central location that even better positions them to help a lot of folks. As you might expect, I have mixed feelings - on the one hand, I'd rather see blocks like this in Monroe Ward converted into high-rise development, but on the other hand, the Daily Planet is an essential organization with a long track record of helping those in serious need and I'm very happy that they will have some solid digs from which to continue their ongoing mission. Gonna look at this one as a win. RVA needs the Daily Planet, and Monroe Ward will get high-rises.

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/09/12/nonprofits-daily-planet-senior-connections-strike-nearly-2m-downtown-office-deal/

[I miss RVA]

On 9/7/2023 at 5:46 PM, I miss RVA said:

Let me add what I have to the mix - I believe this is the bank building in question - up close and personal, northwest corner of 2nd and E. Grace. Photo courtesy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 1964.

Something interesting as I was perusing some old Times-Dispatch archives.  The bank building we've been looking at likely was original/new construction when it was built. Notice this picture from a 1943 U.S. military war bonds parade on E. Grace Street. The Sydnor & Hundley showroom was immediately west of the bank building. Notice that - at least as of 1943 - there was nothing but a parking lot between the Sydnor & Hundley building and 2nd Street.

Soooo... methinks the bank building was original construction - and that it was designed with the brutalist architectural style. This wasn't a reskinning/expansion of a legacy building at 2nd and Grace akin to the several examples we saw along E. Broad Street.

 

[blake_p]

The new VPN Studios Broad St. Building is on the CAR agenda for Sept. 26.

https://richmondva.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=1da2670a-7428-40ca-a960-fcb7bd584a45.pdf

[wrldcoupe4]

Cool to see so much detail. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Cool to see so much detail. 

!!!

[Brent114]

Work has resumed on the Fouchee Mews project.   The Main Street side has been finished for months.  The Cary Street side, which had building pads built up on the soil,  had become overgrown with weeds and flattened through erosion.  
 

The pads  are defined again and block is rising on the building in the center of the block. 
 

Very happy to see movement here again but I’m not too thrilled with the townhomes.  They look really nice but are built on slabs.  A foundation would have made them look like a million dollars.  They look like $250k instead. 

[BigBobbyG]

On 9/25/2023 at 9:29 PM, Brent114 said:

Work has resumed on the Fouchee Mews project.   The Main Street side has been finished for months.  The Cary Street side, which had building pads built up on the soil,  had become overgrown with weeds and flattened through erosion.  
 

The pads  are defined again and block is rising on the building in the center of the block. 
 

Very happy to see movement here again but I’m not too thrilled with the townhomes.  They look really nice but are built on slabs.  A foundation would have made them look like a million dollars.  They look like $250k instead. 

Just out of curiosity (not too familiar with different types of building bases), what makes a foundation look better than a slab?

[Brent114]

Just being off of the ground a few feet.   These townhomes are selling for maybe $800-$900k and they are built on a slab like  tract housing (slabs are only used because they are cheaper than a foundation).  At the street level you’re tracking leaves and snow into your house.   In heavy rains cars can send waves of water to your door.

  Slabs can look really cool with contemporary design but these were meant to somewhat blend with the local housing.   The Federal rowhouses across the street sit high on English basements making these look more awkward than they would in another setting .
 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by Brent114

[123fakestreet]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

Just being off of the ground a few feet.   These townhomes are selling for maybe $800-$900k and they are built on a slab like  tract housing (slabs are only used because they are cheaper than a foundation).  At the street level you’re tracking leaves and snow into your house.   In heavy rains cars can send waves of water to your door.

  Slabs can look really cool with contemporary design but these were meant to somewhat blend with the local housing.   The Federal rowhouses across the street sit high on English basements making these look more awkward than they would in another setting .
 

 

 

totally agree, those look pretty cheap. just 3 steps is fine, gives it a more elegant look and as you noted is functional as well. you don't want to be right down on the street level in a city.

[BigBobbyG]

2 hours ago, Brent114 said:

Just being off of the ground a few feet.   These townhomes are selling for maybe $800-$900k and they are built on a slab like  tract housing (slabs are only used because they are cheaper than a foundation).  At the street level you’re tracking leaves and snow into your house.   In heavy rains cars can send waves of water to your door.

  Slabs can look really cool with contemporary design but these were meant to somewhat blend with the local housing.   The Federal rowhouses across the street sit high on English basements making these look more awkward than they would in another setting .
 

Appreciate the response, I see what you mean and I totally agree. It's a shame they went that direction with them considering I quite like their design otherwise.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, Brent114 said:

Just being off of the ground a few feet.   These townhomes are selling for maybe $800-$900k and they are built on a slab like  tract housing (slabs are only used because they are cheaper than a foundation).  At the street level you’re tracking leaves and snow into your house.   In heavy rains cars can send waves of water to your door.

  Slabs can look really cool with contemporary design but these were meant to somewhat blend with the local housing.   The Federal rowhouses across the street sit high on English basements making these look more awkward than they would in another setting .
 

 

 

Yeah - the old rowhouses across the street look REALLY sharp with the slightly elevated setting and the classic three-step stoop leading to the front door. While generally I like the urban look and feel of the design of Foushee Mews, they would have done well to emulate the Federal rowhouses with the slight elevation and the short stoops. That would have looked quite good.

[georgeglass]

On 9/26/2023 at 3:29 AM, Brent114 said:

Work has resumed on the Fouchee Mews project.   The Main Street side has been finished for months.  The Cary Street side, which had building pads built up on the soil,  had become overgrown with weeds and flattened through erosion.  
 

The pads  are defined again and block is rising on the building in the center of the block. 
 

Very happy to see movement here again but I’m not too thrilled with the townhomes.  They look really nice but are built on slabs.  A foundation would have made them look like a million dollars.  They look like $250k instead. 

I'm so glad you pointed this out. There has been something I really felt was off about these and I couldn't quite figure out what was bothering me, but you nailed it.  I can appreciate trying to blend in and be respectful of the surroundings, but this is why I am often not in favor of that approach...it ends up looking like a cheap reproduction and to me ends up detracting from its neighbors instead of complementing them.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, georgeglass said:

I'm so glad you pointed this out. There has been something I really felt was off about these and I couldn't quite figure out what was bothering me, but you nailed it.  I can appreciate trying to blend in and be respectful of the surroundings, but this is why I am often not in favor of that approach...it ends up looking like a cheap reproduction and to me ends up detracting from its neighbors instead of complementing them.

!!!

Agreed, @georgeglass. I'm also not in favor of that approach. Again, I do like the design of the Foushee Mews (generally speaking) - but being SO flat against the ground with no "step-up" that's common to row houses - just doesn't work. It's as if the buildings were "kneecapped" in some way. Just a five-foot rise and three steps up from the sidewalk to the front door would do the trick to really make these buildings sharp looking. 

[Brent114]

I drove by the site again today and the banner on the construction fence shows three steps into the units.  Buyers were duped  

 

And for I Miss, just to be clear the row house photo is from the Fan, not from across the street of this development.  I was working in the Fan and stepped outside to snap a shot of houses on foundations to use as a comparison. 
 

This is across the street 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Brent114

[plain]

I also agree about the step-ups. Could've made a big difference in something that is decidedly urban and something we're seeing out in Short Pump. But at least new rowhomes are being built nonetheless. We need much, MUCH more (with step-ups and some imagination please!!) in the city. And maybe at least some of them can be affordable too lol smdh. Tall apartment buildings are great but I would like to see more homes at least similar to the ones the city lost (destroyed) in the latter half of the 1900's.

[I miss RVA]

13 hours ago, plain said:

We need much, MUCH more (with step-ups and some imagination please!!) in the city. And maybe at least some of them can be affordable too lol smdh. Tall apartment buildings are great but I would like to see more homes at least similar to the ones the city lost (destroyed) in the latter half of the 1900's.

I agree but with a specific caveat that we NOT waste space downtown, particularly in Monroe Ward, in the City Center area, in the old Financial District, along the riverfront, etc. with such low-density, low-impact housing. By all means, pack Carver, the near Northside, Swansboro, the near West End, Randolph, Riverview, areas of South Richmond outside of and beyond Manchester - those kinds of neighborhoods - with street after street after street of Baltimore or Philadelphia-style (or even upper Manhattan-style) rowhouses. I'm totally on board with that. I'd SO love to see older suburban-style neighborhoods in various parts of the city completely transformed into neighborhoods that more closely resemble the Fan.

Just not downtown, Scotts Addition or Manchester, where available space is at a premium and we NEED density. Rowhouses - particularly single-family housing - don't add much density unless they're built in very high volume, which means over extremely large tracts of land (look at South Philadelphia as a classic example). Downtown in particular needs to be the bastion of height and high-density.

There are lots of places outside of downtown, Scott's or Manchester where rowhouses - and lots of them - would be AWESOME! Let's keep the focus of rowhouse construction to those neighborhoods, where they absolutely will add incremental density, and leave downtown, Scott's and Manchester for the highest density and, particularly in downtown, height.

[wrldcoupe4]

Don’t disagree, just know that the seller of the land for these stipulated the use. They did not want high density multifamily, student housing etc. they wanted the type of housing that was common of historic Monroe Ward and in line with their former home across the street (Ellen Glasgow House).
 

[123fakestreet]

On 9/29/2023 at 11:21 AM, I miss RVA said:

I agree but with a specific caveat that we NOT waste space downtown, particularly in Monroe Ward, in the City Center area, in the old Financial District, along the riverfront, etc. with such low-density, low-impact housing. By all means, pack Carver, the near Northside, Swansboro, the near West End, Randolph, Riverview, areas of South Richmond outside of and beyond Manchester - those kinds of neighborhoods - with street after street after street of Baltimore or Philadelphia-style (or even upper Manhattan-style) rowhouses. I'm totally on board with that. I'd SO love to see older suburban-style neighborhoods in various parts of the city completely transformed into neighborhoods that more closely resemble the Fan.

Just not downtown, Scotts Addition or Manchester, where available space is at a premium and we NEED density. Rowhouses - particularly single-family housing - don't add much density unless they're built in very high volume, which means over extremely large tracts of land (look at South Philadelphia as a classic example). Downtown in particular needs to be the bastion of height and high-density.

There are lots of places outside of downtown, Scott's or Manchester where rowhouses - and lots of them - would be AWESOME! Let's keep the focus of rowhouse construction to those neighborhoods, where they absolutely will add incremental density, and leave downtown, Scott's and Manchester for the highest density and, particularly in downtown, height.

There are a LOT of vacant lots in MW. If you want every one of them to have a skyscraper they're going to be vacant for another 50 years. I'm fine with *something* almost anything going there that isn't a vacant lot.

Edited October 1, 2023 by 123fakestreet

[I miss RVA]

On 9/30/2023 at 6:47 PM, wrldcoupe4 said:

Don’t disagree, just know that the seller of the land for these stipulated the use. They did not want high density multifamily, student housing etc. they wanted the type of housing that was common of historic Monroe Ward and in line with their former home across the street (Ellen Glasgow House).
 

Understood.

To clarify, I'm not focusing in specifically on this one project - rather, I'm speaking more broadly to more of a general thrust of development type across a significantly wider area. That particular seller doesn't own every vacant lot or empty block in Monroe Ward or in the Capital/Financial District or on the fringes of City Center. He owned this one part of a block. He could certainly control the "standard" of development by choosing to whom he sold. For his block and ONLY his block. But he can't do it for the entirety of Monroe Ward. Thank God.

What's more, I'm speaking to the stated desire (mentioned previously in this thread) for widespread development of rowhouses. I'm in agreement - with the caveat I mentioned previously. There are COUNTLESS streets, blocks, neighborhoods across Richmond that could be dramatically transformed with block after block after block of rowhouses. If we want a nice, tight, Fan-like development across multiple streets, I'm 100% all in for areas like Swansboro, Bainbridge, the VUU area, Carver, Randolph, Riverview. I'd love to see a "south-Philadelphia-style" neighborhood developed somewhere outside of downtown (and also not in Manchester or Scott's). It would be really cool to see.

Edited October 2, 2023 by I miss RVA

[jbjust]

Any updates on the amphitheater project?