Diamond Area / Hermitage Rd Corridor / Ownby District

[I miss RVA]

5 hours ago, Flood Zone said:

375 unit apartment building

A few particulars from Mike's reporting about this project are worth noting:

• The developer is based in Dallas. YES!!! The more out-of-state developers we attract to build these projects, the better. It's exactly what is happening in some of our competitor cities and is another indication of RVA becoming a "known" entity on a much broader scale. I'm liking this a LOT.
• The development will be five stories and will include a 510 space parking deck. 
• There are some renderings, but according to RBS, they are very general "sample" renderings of the kinds of projects this developer builds - not specific to this particular project.
• One other rather interesting point: there will be no access point to the development from Arthur Ashe Boulevard. The only entrances/exits will be located on Hermitage Road.

I love the location and that it will back up to A.A. Blvd, particularly considering the fact that catty-corner across I-95/64 and A.A. Blvd (and a half block up the street) will be the 7-story residential building slated to rise on Ellen Road - just a sand-wedge away from this project.

Good stuff all the way around!

 

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by I miss RVA

[Urbs42]

2 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

There *is* demand for a hotel in the area, so hopefully that's the next project we see pop up near the Diamond is a nicer newer one.

I'm looking at you Diamond Inn & Suites

The vibe of this area is really gonna change in 2024... Athletics Village and new stadium builds should be in full swing plus new mid-rises in progress up and down both Authur Ashe and Hermitage. 

Now if someone would just purchase the Greyhound Station! 

[I miss RVA]

20 minutes ago, Urbs42 said:

I'm looking at you Diamond Inn & Suites

The vibe of this area is really gonna change in 2024... Athletics Village and new stadium builds should be in full swing plus new mid-rises in progress up and down both Authur Ashe and Hermitage. 

Now if someone would just purchase the Greyhound Station! 

1.) Diamond Inn --  !!!

2.) Vibe change: AMEN!!! I can't wait to see how this part of town really blossoms in the coming years.

3.) Purchase Greyhound depot: From your keyboard to God's eyes, my friend!  I still say that the bus station needs to be relocated and merged into Main Street Station - but we already know that Amtrak in particular is against it DESPITE the fact that for DECADES the city has long-since planned to have some form of "multi-modal" transportation center at MSS that would combine Amtrak, Greyhound and GRTC. 

Edited December 13, 2022 by I miss RVA

[Hike]

This could go under VCU as well, the athletics village is going to start early 2023 and completed by 2025 as the completion of this project is required in advance of the removal of sports backer stadium and the Ashe center that are coming down for the ballpark.
 

Man, next year will be busy.

https://richmond.com/news/local/education/layout-of-vcus-42-acre-athletics-village-is-becoming-clear/article_05dadd2d-f72e-5257-be47-7d286851f353.html

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Hike said:

This could go under VCU as well, the athletics village is going to start early 2023 and completed by 2025 as the completion of this project is required in advance of the removal of sports backer stadium and the Ashe center that are coming down for the ballpark.
 

Man, next year will be busy.

https://richmond.com/news/local/education/layout-of-vcus-42-acre-athletics-village-is-becoming-clear/article_05dadd2d-f72e-5257-be47-7d286851f353.html

Yes it will be - VERY busy. Man - I just wish it wasn't being built THERE - where it's being built. 

Does the ENTIRE project need to be built out before Sports Backers Stadium comes down? Isn't the A.A. Center far enough north to not impact the first phase of the redevelopment (the ballpark portion and associated buildings)?

 

[Hike]

8 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Yes it will be - VERY busy. Man - I just wish it wasn't being built THERE - where it's being built. 

Does the ENTIRE project need to be built out before Sports Backers Stadium comes down? Isn't the A.A. Center far enough north to not impact the first phase of the redevelopment (the ballpark portion and associated buildings)?

 

Yeah, pretty prominent areas for fields and low rise athletic buildings, as for the AA center, not sure when that’s coming down, article says the VCU indoor tennis facility will highlight Arthur Ashe.

[Urbs42]

Seems a no-brainer to redevelop the Diamond Inn & Suites into a new hotel geared toward visiting teams.

The athletics village also seems large and nice enough to host other non-collegiate tournaments, which could draw additional patronage to a new hotel.  

 

 

[123fakestreet]

12 minutes ago, Urbs42 said:

Seems a no-brainer to redevelop the Diamond Inn & Suites into a new hotel geared toward visiting teams.

The athletics village also seems large and nice enough to host other non-collegiate tournaments, which could draw additional patronage to a new hotel.  

 

 

I'm not sure what large scale plans VCU has for this facility, but I know in NCAA sports there are limited full scale track and field complexes like this. UR certainly doesn't have one, VCU may be one of only 2-3 schools in the A10 that have a complex like this period, nevermind VCUs will certainly be the largest and nicest. So VCU will default hosting A10 tourneys. 

Same goes for NCAA in general outside of the A10. This complex puts VCU on par with VT, and in position to hold regional tournaments. That's a lot of schools, athletes, coaches all coming into town to compete. And it can be big money. Oregon has a world class facility due to Nike money and host championships because of it, and they make bank. When VT redid theirs many years ago they started hosting regional and it brings in money.

[I miss RVA]

More good news to start off the new year: the city is looking to fast-track getting new up-zoning in place for the Diamond District, creating a new "Stadium District" designation that would bring some additions and changes to the current TOD-1 zoning. One of the BIG boosts would be to building height - the proposed Stadium District upzoning would sheer the top off the TOD-1 max of 12 stories, boosting it to 20 stories.  The Planning Commission is hashing all this out and is very bullish on the development. Fast-tracking is necessitated by time constraints in place to get the new stadium built.

Either way - it's another piece of good news just four days into what is already looking like a RED-HOT 2023 in terms of RVA development!

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/01/04/city-fast-tracking-new-zoning-for-diamond-district-project/

Edited January 4, 2023 by I miss RVA

[123fakestreet]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/01/20/after-quiet-sale-last-month-greyhound-station-on-arthur-ashe-blvd-back-on-the-market/

 

Dumpy Greyhound station up for sale. This is great news.

[ancientcarpenter]

1 hour ago, 123fakestreet said:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/01/20/after-quiet-sale-last-month-greyhound-station-on-arthur-ashe-blvd-back-on-the-market/

 

Dumpy Greyhound station up for sale. This is great news.

Up for sale... again? Looks like an investment firm spent $100 million on property from Greyhound and this land was part of their package? Now they're trying to sell this part / Greyhound station property. 

[Urbs42]

2 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/01/20/after-quiet-sale-last-month-greyhound-station-on-arthur-ashe-blvd-back-on-the-market/

 

Dumpy Greyhound station up for sale. This is great news.

Huge, really starting to feel legit momentum growing for this part of town. Fingers crossed for a high quality development here... still bitter about Scott's Walk. 

[Brent114]

It would be far more urban and legit to keep the greyhound station where it is.  It can be rebuilt if necessary.  

Moving all of the things that make a city urban and functioning in favor of nondescript apartments, drive-thrus and a ball park that will sit empty 7 months out of the year isn’t wise. There are pages devoted to “will Breeze or won’t Breeze make Richmond a hub” while we actually have a transportation hub on AA Blvd.  Could classism be at play? 

[Virginian11]

Classism? Everything doesn’t have to be so deep - we need high density development along this corridor - bus station, hub or not, is not high density, nor appropriate for that valuable plot given the development at hand. 

[asies]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

It would be far more urban and legit to keep the greyhound station where it is.  It can be rebuilt if necessary.  

Moving all of the things that make a city urban and functioning in favor of nondescript apartments, drive-thrus and a ball park that will sit empty 7 months out of the year isn’t wise. There are pages devoted to “will Breeze or won’t Breeze make Richmond a hub” while we actually have a transportation hub on AA Blvd.  Could classism be at play? 

I would love to see a Greyhound station incorporated into a downtown bus terminal that would make the Greyhound station more accessible via public transit.

Edited January 20, 2023 by asies

[ancientcarpenter]

2 hours ago, Brent114 said:

It would be far more urban and legit to keep the greyhound station where it is.  It can be rebuilt if necessary.  

Moving all of the things that make a city urban and functioning in favor of nondescript apartments, drive-thrus and a ball park that will sit empty 7 months out of the year isn’t wise. There are pages devoted to “will Breeze or won’t Breeze make Richmond a hub” while we actually have a transportation hub on AA Blvd.  Could classism be at play? 

I'm with you here. I don't want my city to become an upper-middle-class playground. A city needs to have a car service shop, bus depot, apartments, grocery, paint store, etc. That's literally what makes it livable. If every time I need to take a long bus commute I need to travel to a neighboring county then what's the point of living in the city? So I can walk to the new, overpriced $15 taco shop in a cool "SoDoSoPa" urban feel? What's next? Our Lowes gets sold so we can build another 300 unit apartment complex? What then? Travel to Henrico Lowes I guess. 

RVA is more than just 5over1 apartment complexes or a CoStar tower. Any city is / should be.

 

It's city living for all, not city playground for the select class of people that can afford it. 

 

Edited January 20, 2023 by ancientcarpenter

[wrldcoupe4]

I mean that big Lowe’s parking lot is a bit of a waste. Would be great to enhance the density and keep Lowe’s there.

[123fakestreet]

3 hours ago, Virginian11 said:

Classism? Everything doesn’t have to be so deep - we need high density development along this corridor - bus station, hub or not, is not high density, nor appropriate for that valuable plot given the development at hand. 

Agree. No one is saying eliminate any and all bus stations period.  The Greyhound station would be better served in a different location. It doesn't fit there any more. Neither does the U Haul self storage place.  If anything this is an opportunity to double dip on a 2nd development where we get some more density on AA then greyhound builds something nicer and newer in another location.

[I miss RVA]

9 hours ago, Brent114 said:

It would be far more urban and legit to keep the greyhound station where it is.  It can be rebuilt if necessary.  

Moving all of the things that make a city urban and functioning in favor of nondescript apartments, drive-thrus and a ball park that will sit empty 7 months out of the year isn’t wise. There are pages devoted to “will Breeze or won’t Breeze make Richmond a hub” while we actually have a transportation hub on AA Blvd.  Could classism be at play? 

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, my friend.  Richmond's ground transportation  hub absolutely should be as close to downtown as possible - not an island surrounded by a sea of new high-density development in a part of town that is changing, transforming and evolving -- in my opinion -- for the better. That bus station there - given how the neighborhood is transforming, is NOT the best and highest use for that parcel, both from an urban planning/development standpoint - or from the standpoint of practicality for acting as a transportation hub. And it has nothing to do with "classism" - (how is that even part of this equation?)  Let me ask you this: would you have a problem with the bus station being located in or next to an O&HD? I mean - given the trajectory of neighborhoods like Jackson Ward, particularly the boundary-drawn sections - would you REALLY want a big bus station - and all those buses, rumbling in and out right next to an area that's sacrosanct from a Richmond history perspective? Forgive me if I don't 100% believe you if you say - "yeah, sure - I'd have no problem with that."  THAT being the case - WHY would you NOT want such a station in, say, Jackson Ward, but would be okay with it next to new residential development coming into Greater Scott's? I don't see a difference, quite frankly. EITHER location - IMNSHO - is completely out of place for the Greyhound Station.

RVA would be FAR better served if it followed planning that was part of Richmond master plans for DECADES - and that's moving Greyhound to Main Street Station to create a LEGITIMATE multi-modal transportation HUB. The city has discussed this idea for DECADES - and I've ALWAYS been 100% in favor of it. Obviously, we know that the pushback is from the Amtrak side of the discussion. They don't want Greyhound sharing what is objectively a VERY large building that is so RIDICULOUSLY underused as a potential transportation hub it's as comical as much as it's pathetic. Moving Greyhound from N. A.A. Blvd to Main Street Station (or building a bus station somewhere on that site) presents absolutely NO reduction in logistical advantage given that Interstates 95 and 64 are RIGHT THERE. WHY would it be better to leave the bus station on A.A. Blvd, when it can function JUST AS WELL - IF NOT EVEN BETTER - at/adjacent to Main Street Station?

Sorry, but I view this as much more a matter of common sense than a matter of classism -- particularly from an urban planning/development perspective.

The city has advocated for this for decades. Imagine having right there on the edge of downtown RVA the state's rail hub, bus hub, a hub for city transit (original plans from the 80s, 90s, etc., had the bus plaza being built in City Center located at Main Street Station) - the PULSE line goes right by MSS... imagine connecting all of this with express bus, BRT or light-rail service to/from RIC.

You want your ground transportation hub? Put it at Main Street Station. Don't fracture it among multiple locations across different parts of town. This is one of those cases where consolidation is a VERY good thing.

In short - MOVING GREYHOUND TO MAIN STREET STATION ABSOLUTELY MAKES SENSE!!! And THIS is the path we should be trying to nail down.

Edited January 21, 2023 by I miss RVA

[wrldcoupe4]

Such a snob   How dare you make sense. 

[I miss RVA]

6 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Such a snob   How dare you make sense. 

[Virginian11]

4 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

What I miss RVA said x 1000 - preach!

[whw53]

I will say it is entertaining to see the disparity of appreciation between a public vs private transportation hub in the urbanist enthused media and social media threads.

While public transportation enthusiasts salivate over a largely underused financially untenable Amtrak system or every time GRTC seems to move a  bus stop 5 frickin ft,  the same contingent seems to trivialize if not completely ignore profitable workable services like Greyhound.

So I'm actually glad to see some on here defend it - even with - gulp- a Karl -ughh- Marx blughh meme. One and done plz on that.

Maybe though the Greyhound service has run its course, had its day here. There's nothing urban per se about maintaining a use in which on that property the market would dictate something of a higher density. Urban implies dynamism and openness tonchange in land use. Similar  to the Scotts Walk discussion tho, intrigued to let the market actors sort this one out.

Edited January 21, 2023 by whw53

[I miss RVA]

32 minutes ago, whw53 said:

... profitable workable services like Greyhound....

Maybe the Greyhound service has run its course, had its day here.

1.) All the more reason to relocate the Greyhound terminal back downtown and to integrate it into a LEGITIMATE multi-modal transit hub -- as the city itself has advocated -- since at least the 1980s. I've been an advocate for combining rail and bus service "under one roof" (or at least, adjacent/connected rooves) for as long as the city has put the idea of creating this kind of hub at Main Street Station. I'm not sure how profitable Greyhound is these days - but it absolutely IS a workable, VIABLE and extremely valuable service that needs to maintain a HUB presence in Richmond - meaning - RVA absolutely 100% should serve as the Commonwealth's hub for Greyhound service - much like New York, Washington and Chicago are on a national level. I never - EVER - liked the bus station where it is (even though I was pleased that what was built was a LIGHTYEARS larger facility than what was originally on Broad Street between 4th and 5th - where the southernmost part of the GRCC is today) - I ALWAYS felt that the hub of interstate bus service should be located directly in or adjacent to downtown - and when the city talked at length some four decades ago about combining rail and bus along with GRTC service into a modern, well designed transit hub on the edge of the central city, I've been "on board" (to coin a phrase) ever since.

2.) I hope and pray that's not the case. Greyhound is an affordable alternative to interstate travel and as long as there are motor vehicles there will likely always be bus service (or at least there should always be!) As someone else mentioned - if done right, a new transit hub at Main Street Station could also include boarding for Mega Bus. I've long wished RVA could put together something comprehensive in terms of a real transit hub that would be in many ways on par with those kinds of hubs in Washington, New York and Chicago. As the Commonwealth's transportation hub, Richmond deserves nothing less. And the same with Greyhound. They deserve nothing less than to be in the center of everything. I know that were I a passenger taking a Greyhound bus to Richmond, I would FAR rather the terminal be located downtown -- where everything is -- than isolated in an uptown neighborhood several miles away from the center of the city. I've often equated the currently location of the Greyhound terminal to the Staples Mill location of Richmond's "official" Amtrak Station. In both cases, they're absolutely in the WRONG place. BOTH need to be DOWNTOWN. Again, were I a rail passenger traveling to Richmond, I sure as hell don't want to have to get off at Staples Mill and then take a cab into the city. How screwed up is that? NO!! That train needs to roll ALL THE WAY INTO THE CITY and stop at Main Street Station. PERIOD! Having two stations serve the city (and four serve the overall metro if you include Ashland and Ettrick/Petersburg) is fine and dandy -- SO LONG AS I CAN TAKE A TRAIN ALL THE WAY INTO DOWNTOWN.

So I cast my vote in support of not merely maintaining Greyhound service in Richmond -- but enhancing it -- via relocation to a legitimate transportation hub in the place where it belongs the most - DOWNTOWN, in the heart of the city, in the heart of the Commonwealth, in the heart of the action! It's a win-win that can benefit everyone.

Edited January 21, 2023 by I miss RVA

[Brent114]

Actually you couldn’t ask for a better location for a Greyhound Stanton than where it currently is.   Access to 64 and 95 is unmatched anywhere in the metro. 
 It’s a block  (1 traffic light) from the interstate.  But hey, the interstate exits are so extensive, wide and uncrowded around Main Street station that it makes perfect sense to throw more busses into the mix.    

 

If there’s a plan to build a new Greyhound station somewhere, that would be cool.  What’s going to happen is that this site will be turned into apartments and Greyhound will start picking up passengers in the parking lot of a Rosie’s.  

Speaking of the 300 plan (which is crape, btw) doesn’t it call for moving the train station to this area?  The bus station generates far more foot traffic than a 5 story apartment building ever will. And yes, 1000% classism. If this was a light rail station y’all would be loosing your crap   But hey maybe one day we can build a light rail line out to the Rosie’s Greyhound station on Midlothian. 
 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Brent114