The Fan / Museum District

[whw53]

It looks like this project will only take up the surface lot between the buildings. Also, Richmond's Land Use GIS describes this application as a '6 story mixed use building in an R-5'.

I think they meant B-5. 

 

On 11/2/2021 at 3:21 PM, whw53 said:

New SUP filed Friday before last at 2613 W Broad which is currently a vacant lot. Now same entity controls 2601 and 2607 so i wonder if proposed project is for just this 2613  lot or for the entire site controlled by the entity. 

Either way the 2600 block is set for a new 'mixed use building with commercial on the ground floor' 

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/selfservice#/plan/f2540a3f-a153-48d8-88e3-f6caafeb980f

Zoning was recently assigned B-5 - pretty restrictive zoning class on a few fronts if i remember right so SUP could be for any number of items.

 

[I miss RVA]

NYC-based developer has purchased the Shenandoah on Allen Avenue - and we could see the building come back on line as a residential building - or - as a boutique hotel. Good to see this happening!

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/11/22/boutique-hotel-developer-snags-fans-shenandoah-building-for-3-5m/

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Shakman]

Who owns the parking lot next to it?

Edited November 22, 2021 by Shakman

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, Shakman said:

Who owns the parking lot next to it?

I was wondering that as well - but was going on the presumption that it's part & parcel with the actual building itself. It's a good question.

[Shakman]

If it is part of the purchased building, this can be a great opportunity of constructing below grade parking with a park /garden on top.

[wrldcoupe4]

I think they are different owners. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Shakman said:

If it is part of the purchased building, this can be a great opportunity of constructing below grade parking with a park /garden on top.

That would be pretty cool!

[whw53]

Zoning confirmation letter filed yesterday for 2239 West Broad (lot beside City Diner)

Commercial space less than 5000sf. Existing use: Furniture store. At this point my client is interested in the redevelopment potential of the property – there is not a specific use in mind yet. Both residential and commercial uses could be on the table, depending on what is permitted by zoning. There is not a due diligence date at this point.

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/ad73e344-a911-45b8-9654-dc770a5998aa

 

 

[whw53]

On 3/15/2021 at 12:28 PM, Icetera said:

Details from BizSense on replacement 2 story mixed-use development:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/03/15/row-of-fan-office-buildings-to-be-razed-for-salon-anchored-development/

Got us a rendering of the Hive project. This project is under construction by the way - i'll add to the dev map.

 

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, whw53 said:

Got us a rendering of the Hive project. This project is under construction by the way - i'll add to the dev map.

 

LOL!  What kind of cars are those?!  Looks like they are straight out of the Incredibles movie!  LOL!  Thanks for posting the rendering.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, whw53 said:

Got us a rendering of the Hive project. This project is under construction by the way - i'll add to the dev map.

 

DUDE!!! I want one of those cars, man!! MAX headroom (not to be confused with Max Headroom, though he'd probably like this kind of car!) - and teeny-tiny wheels. I bet the bicyclists go faster!

[I miss RVA]

Okay this is both an observation and a question - and I'd honestly like to know everyone's thoughts on this:

So all these Fan-area NIMBY groups were basically soiling their knickers about even the slightest possibility of a building as large as 20 stories potentially rising ACROSS Broad Street - not even adjacent to any of their homes. Yet - when you look at this picture, we see lovely, DESOLATE parking lots butting right up against rows of houses on Grace Street -just across the alleyway - and it's like this up-and-down W. Broad Street for a good stretch between VCU and Arthur Ashe Boulevard - yet - these NIMBY associations are PERFECTLY FINE with having a sea of disgusting surface parking basically making a beachhead along and behind their homes at the edge of the Fan. (See the picture, below - it's a rehash from above - I did not put the highlighting in... look more at the larger parking lot on the right...)

Can someone PLEASE explain how they can be okay with this - yet not be okay with a nice building that would bring either residents or office space or mixed use - that would bring plenty of good, urban street-level activity, life and vitality - and would probably ENHANCE their property values and make resale all the more lucrative for them, were they ever in the market to sell?

What am I missing? Because the logic of preferring a desolate parking lot that will attract vagrants, noisy teenagers, even vermin near the dumpsters (especially if it's a food establishment there) over a nice, new, big residential building with ground-level retail and/or businesses just isn't adding up for me AT ALL. Aside from all the nonsense about "architectural integrity" I think we've heard these insipid "quality of life" arguments. How does having a larger -- fully inhabited -- building on Broad Street have a more deleterious impact on "quality of life" where a desolate parking lot does not? And the tired old "but the traffic" trope needs to just stop. For one, any additional traffic is highly unlikely to funnel through the Fan side streets or primary avenues - it will be generally confined to Broad Street out of sheer convenience if nothing else. Second - look at the picture below; it hardly looks like Midtown Manhattan-level automobile gridlock is choking W. Broad, Strawberry Street or W. Grace. A few larger buildings along Broad isn't going to suddenly turn this area into 42nd Street and Broadway from a traffic perspective.

Again I ask... what am I missing? Please, can someone explain this? Because the opposition to development -- and by extension the de facto "preference" for the beachhead of desolate parking lots behind their homes -- makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Wahoo 07]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/12/02/6-story-apartment-building-planned-for-broad-street-parking-lot/

Nice infill project on West Broad.  Only six stories but one fewer surface parking lot.

[eandslee]

24 minutes ago, Wahoo 07 said:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/12/02/6-story-apartment-building-planned-for-broad-street-parking-lot/

Nice infill project on West Broad.  Only six stories but one fewer surface parking lot.

This area didn’t get the TOD-1 rezoning apparently.  So unfortunate…and he has to submit a SUP for what he has planned!

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, eandslee said:

This area didn’t get the TOD-1 rezoning apparently.  So unfortunate…and he has to submit a SUP for what he has planned!

Right - the TOD-1 zoning only applied to the north side of Broad east of Arthur Ashe Blvd, yes?

 

@Wahoo 07-- agreed! This is a super project for that parcel on Broad. Six stories for that stretch of the south side of Broad is certainly a positive step! I can't wait to see what the final renderings will look like. PRAY that there's no scaling back due to NIMBY pushback.

[Shakman]

On 12/2/2021 at 1:06 PM, I miss RVA said:

Right - the TOD-1 zoning only applied to the north side of Broad east of Arthur Ashe Blvd, yes?

 

@Wahoo 07-- agreed! This is a super project for that parcel on Broad. Six stories for that stretch of the south side of Broad is certainly a positive step! I can't wait to see what the final renderings will look like. PRAY that there's no scaling back due to NIMBY pushback.

Praying in progress.

[I miss RVA]

6 minutes ago, Shakman said:

Praying in progress.

I haven't stopped! 

[whw53]

On 11/22/2021 at 10:47 AM, I miss RVA said:

NYC-based developer has purchased the Shenandoah on Allen Avenue - and we could see the building come back on line as a residential building - or - as a boutique hotel. Good to see this happening!

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/11/22/boutique-hotel-developer-snags-fans-shenandoah-building-for-3-5m/

 

we have clarification from an SUP filed this week - Shenandoah building will become a hotel. 

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/10017e86-a977-474c-be33-bbc6e5759087?tab=locations

 

note SUP comment also mentioned ground floor commercial

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, whw53 said:

we have clarification from an SUP filed this week - Shenandoah building will become a hotel. 

https://energov.richmondgov.com/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService/richmondvaprod#/plan/10017e86-a977-474c-be33-bbc6e5759087?tab=locations

 

note SUP comment also mentioned ground floor commercial

Nice!! Very underserved part of town from a hospitality standpoint. Glad to see something new and exciting in this grand old dame of a building!

[I miss RVA]

More news re: the hotel coming to the Shenandoah in the Fan.

From Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/12/27/the-fans-shenandoah-building-to-be-converted-into-boutique-hotel/

[I miss RVA]

New infill project at 415 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd - will convert a small parking lot into a duplex of seven residential units.

And -- OF COURSE -- the stuffed-shirt armchair architects on RBS are kvetching mightily about the project's design and alleged lack of deference to "history" -- Jesus Christ, will it/they EVER stop?

BTW - Bruce was involved in the sale of the site. Kudos to him!

From RBS:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/01/03/rare-infill-project-on-arthur-ashe-blvd-would-add-2-new-homes-near-museum/

[whw53]

A triplet of ZCL's submitted this week indicates a developer is seeking to build 5 attached rowhomes on a long vacant lot in the uptown district of the Fan - Markham is the consultancy listed,

Gotta love the honestly in the description\ comment (same across all 3 - one filed for each parcel).

Buildable lot. Existing use: Vacant lot. Proposed use: Single-family attached. This request relates to 1823, 1825 and 1827 W Cary St. Please confirm the lots are able to be split without going through the subdivision process. There is discrepancy between the deeds, survey, Assessor's records and the City's base map as to the depth and area of the lots. Please confirm the least painful process for achieving five (5) buildable lots for single-family attached homes from the three (3) existing lots.'

 

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

4 hours ago, whw53 said:

A triplet of ZCL's submitted this week indicates a developer is seeking to build 5 attached rowhomes on a long vacant lot in the uptown district of the Fan - Markham is the consultancy listed,

Gotta love the honestly in the description\ comment (same across all 3 - one filed for each parcel).

Buildable lot. Existing use: Vacant lot. Proposed use: Single-family attached. This request relates to 1823, 1825 and 1827 W Cary St. Please confirm the lots are able to be split without going through the subdivision process. There is discrepancy between the deeds, survey, Assessor's records and the City's base map as to the depth and area of the lots. Please confirm the least painful process for achieving five (5) buildable lots for single-family attached homes from the three (3) existing lots.'

 

This and Tom's 'put us out of our misery' comment in BizSense yesterday has had me in splits. Developers are really entering the new year shell shocked and exhausted 

[whw53]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/01/24/an-eck-of-a-deal-familys-fan-real-estate-holdings-fetch-nearly-50m/

Nice cap to a well done series of stories on the Eck legacy as it ties into the current portfolio sale. Most of the holdings were already improved upon but it looks like the large lot next to GoatOcado is set for new development according to the new ownership team from One south. Hopefully we get something a littler denser than the surrounding stock and with a commercial component - i think this area can support more.

Note that the grassy lawn in the background across from Social Security on Cary - that lot is being looked at for development too - see above post.

 

[Shakman]

There are numerous homes nearby therefore I don't expect anything over three floor.  

Edited January 24, 2022 by Shakman