Miller & Rhoads Hilton Hotel/Condo Conversion

[journiyin]

Both are hoping to open at the end of this year (December of '08), but there is a considerable amount of work to be done.

I believe the hotel portion will open on time. They are doing walls and eletrical work now. The condos will probably take longer.

[burt]

They still haven't decided what the condos will be called, but I suspect the Miller & Rhoads estate will grant approval for use of the name.

They are expecting to open a sales office in September at the 6th and Grace corner of the building in a small part of the space reserved for a restaurant.

[burt]

Anything is possible in this upside-down economy, but I can assure any doubters that as recently as July 17th workers were swarming all over the Hilton Garden Inn/Miller & Rhoads Residences. I was given a hard hat tour by an enthusiastic real estate agent. There is lots to be done but the heavy work is out of the way and refinements have begun. Hilton Garden Inn is aiming for an opening by the end of this year while the 131 condo units, presently in various stages of readiness, are on schedule for February/March occupancy.

Condos are expected to be priced between $150K and $500K. Negotiations are underway for ground-floor commercial space.

Long before the market tanked the New Orleans developers decided to delay pre-sales for reasons known best to themselves.

When a sales office opens, it will be in a location other than described in the above post.

[burt]

Check out Channel 12 next Monday, July 28th at 6PM. They may be doing a report on Hilton Garden Inn and M&R Residences.

[thatguy]

Check out Channel 12 next Monday, July 28th at 6PM. They may be doing a report on Hilton Garden Inn and M&R Residences.

It was mention on another thread that the residences we opening Jan 09. I thought the Apartments were online just after the hotel and before the condos. Are the M&R Residences the condo aspect or the apts...or both?

[burt]

It was mention on another thread that the residences we opening Jan 09. I thought the Apartments were online just after the hotel and before the condos. Are the M&R Residences the condo aspect or the apts...or both?

There will be no apartments in Miller & Rhoads -- only 250 hotel rooms in the Hilton portion on the 5th Street side, and 131 condo units on the 6th Street side.

If you are standing in front of The Marriott facing M&R, draw an imaginary line north to south thru the center of the building. Hotel rooms will be in the western section and condos in the eastern part of the building. An exception is that the entire 8th floor will be condos -- no hotel rooms. The ground level will be hotel lobby (west) and commercial space (east.) Entry to the condos will be from the canopied entrance on 6th Street. A port cochere (semi-circular driveway) at the corner of 5th and Broad will be the hotel entry. Residents, but not hotel guests, will have coded key cards permitting entry and exit to and from the hotel.

There are two atria rising from the 2nd floor to open roofs -- one in the newer Grace Street building and the smaller one in the original M&R building fronting Broad Street. Some condo units and hotel rooms will have windows overlooking the atria while all others will have street views. A glass-enclosed swimming pool for hotel guests and condo residents will be on the second level under the larger atrium Residents will have a large entertainment/changing room space adjacent to the pool.

Indoor parking for hotel guests and condo residents will take up the basement of the entire block bordered by 5th, Broad, 6th and Grace Streets.

[burt]

New rendering... from the retail leasing flyer

I'm bringing this rendering forward to help illustrate my post immediately above describing the interior.

[CurtR]

I'm bringing this rendering forward to help illustrate my post immediately above describing the interior.

I have had this rendering for a couple of months and i never noticed the Hilton Gardens sign on the building. I can't see the forest for the trees. I am going to try and post an interior shot of one of the condo units on the 6th floor facing the Carpenter Center that i saw yesterday. I started taking pics and my battery died. I am posting a link to an unbranded visual tour that i shot so if anyone wants to see a short version of my visit yesterday you are more than welcome. The shots of the atrium did not turn out well at all but it is turning out to be really impressive. Sometime in the next week or so i will take the camera back down and try and get better shots.

OK. Not as good as i thought so no picture for now. I can't figure out how to insert it.

M and R tour 7.24.08

[wrldcoupe4]

Are you trying to post a link to the visual tour or a photo? The easiest way to post the link:

click on the green arrow with the plus sign in the reply box and follow the instructions.

To post a photo, it must be hosted somewhere such as photobucket, flickr, or your own website. to insert it:

click the landscape portrait in the reply box and insert the link there.

Good luck!

[burt]

Let me see if this doesn/t work:

http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?SK=13T=1614290

Well, at least it got us to the blank black page.

I don't want to post the "branded" version for fear that UP will consider it an advertising message.

Maybe Coupe knows how to do it.

[burt]

Aha! I think I've found the problem. I left out an "&" in the site address.

Let me try again:

http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?SK=13&T=1614290

Yikes!! It works. For best viewing, click "Next" rather than letting the tour move too fast. That way, you can read the captions and linger over any shot that interests you. Also, you can switch between "Normal View" and "Large View."

Happy viewing.

[ric75]

I took a little detour from work today to drive down Broad St. and it's absolutely amazing how much work is going on down there. Heading East, the new Federal Courthouse really stood out in all its grandeur, and the National right across the street with it's new marquee looked great. I can't wait until all these other projects are complete... The National's accompanying restaurant, the Hilton Garden Inn with it's new restaurant, Richmond Centerstage, and then all the other buildings undergoing renovations to which I can't attribute a known project. Broad Street will be the envy of many a City once it's revitalization is complete. I do want to pick the brain's of the development guru's here though. There's vacant building sitting between the National and the Marriott that appears to be undergoing renovations. Anyone have an idea as to what may be going on there? It's a nice looking older building though it's obscured a bit by trees. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been sitting at a stoplight.

[burt]

I took a little detour from work today to drive down Broad St. and it's absolutely amazing how much work is going on down there. Heading East, the new Federal Courthouse really stood out in all its grandeur, and the National right across the street with it's new marquee looked great. I can't wait until all these other projects are complete... The National's accompanying restaurant, the Hilton Garden Inn with it's new restaurant, Richmond Centerstage, and then all the other buildings undergoing renovations to which I can't attribute a known project. Broad Street will be the envy of many a City once it's revitalization is complete. I do want to pick the brain's of the development guru's here though. There's vacant building sitting between the National and the Marriott that appears to be undergoing renovations. Anyone have an idea as to what may be going on there? It's a nice looking older building though it's obscured a bit by trees. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been sitting at a stoplight.

It is the former Franklin Loan and Savings that had been clad with tan and black aluminum siding. It will house a new cooperative effort by UR/VCU Medical and Law Schools. There are more details in my post dated 6/15 at 1:22PM in the VCU Developments thread, page 25.

Just so it doesn't get buried, here's the M&R visual tour site again:

http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?SK=13&T=1614290

[burt]

CurtR has a nice description of goings on at M&R on the Centennial Thread. I moved it here, then thought better of it. There may be UP rules about moving someone else's post. So if anyone wants to read it, check out the Centennial Tower thread.

[ric75]

It is the former Franklin Loan and Savings that had been clad with tan and black aluminum siding. It will house a new cooperative effort by UR/VCU Medical and Law Schools. There are more details in my post dated 6/15 at 1:22PM in the VCU Developments thread, page 25.

Just so it doesn't get buried, here's the M&R visual tour site again:

http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?SK=13&T=1614290

Thanks burt I had heard about that project but didn't know that's where it was going to be located.

[burt]

Thanks burt I had heard about that project but didn't know that's where it was going to be located.

ric75, Ryan has an excellent picture of the old Franklin Savings & Loan building at 7th and Broad undergoing reconstruction. See Richmond Off Topic thread to access Ryan's pix.

[ric75]

ric75, Ryan has an excellent picture of the old Franklin Savings & Loan building at 7th and Broad undergoing reconstruction. See Richmond Off Topic thread to access Ryan's pix.

Wow, some real good documentation of all the work going on on Broad Street. I have to admit though I couldn't pick out the building in question. Anyone care to post a link to it?

[wrldcoupe4]

http://richmondcitywatch.com/modules.php?n...g2_itemId=35741

[Cadeho]

I counted about 20 cameras on the Courthouse on the 8th and Grace side alone. And I bet they missed the homeless guy sleeping at the top of the stairs on Grace.

[burt]

The Residences at Miller and Rhoads still has not opened a sales office, but occupancy is anticipated late January/early February of '09. The Hilton Garden Inn portion of the building is aiming for the same time slot.

Condo prices are not set in concrete, but I've been told that 700 s/f one bedroom units on floors two thru six facing 6th street will range from $169K to $179K (the higer the floor the costlier the unit.) Some of the 7th and 8th floor units contain 2-level homes and are considerably pricier.

Another example is that 2-bedroom 1,100 s/f corner units on floors two thru six overlooking 6th and Grace are tentatively priced from $299K to $339K while the adjacent 2-bedroom similar sized unit overlooking Grace Street ranges from $319K to $349K.

Spacious penthouses on the 8th floor, some of which are duplexes, have enormous outdoor patios, one with as much as 1,200 s/f in addition to 1,400 s/f of interior space. The price was not revealed (nor asked for. )

Almost all of the interior condos facing the two open air atria are one-bedrooms of about 700 s/f.

There is a large community room on the 2nd floor adjacent to the glass-enclosed swimming pool in the large atrium open to the sky.

I've rounded off square footages to the nearest hundred.

There may be as many as three restaurants in the building ranging from fancy white-tablecloth dining to lighter bar/fare. Also, room service will be available from the hotel kitchen.

I don't know what maintenance charges will be, but believe they generally run about 30 cents per square foot.

This is by no means a comprehensive report about Miller and Rhoads, but its enough to start me thinking about relocating from New York.

[jbjust]

Wow, you could get into that building for less than $1,000/month, not counting the mortgage interest deduction. Not too shabby.

[thatguy]

I understood that the GC was to deliver the hotel in Nov, which was moved from Oct. It is now Jan.?

[wrldcoupe4]

Rarely do rehab projects stay on-time... particularly ones of this scale.

[thatguy]

Rarely do rehab projects stay on-time... particularly ones of this scale.

Ok I figured out the schedule. GC to turn the hotel over by the end of Nov. Owner has from Dec until Jan to set up hotel, train staff and gets systems up and running and open for guest. So I guess, they are aiming for a Temp CO or Co, for hotel, in Nov.

[burt]

Ok I figured out the schedule. GC to turn the hotel over by the end of Nov. Owner has from Dec until Jan to set up hotel, train staff and gets systems up and running and open for guest. So I guess, they are aiming for a Temp CO or Co, for hotel, in Nov.

The original intent was to open by the end of 2008, but maybe you're right that the GC will turn over the property to Hilton by early December. When I had a tour in July, there was a lot of work to be done.

What do Temp CO and/or Co mean?

Does anyone know if hotel personnel have been hired and are in training? An answer to that would give us a clue as to progress. Wouldn't they need in excess of a hundred people to fill positions in a 250-room hotel with ballroom, restaurant, bar, room attendants, receptionists, etc?

I bet a quarter the head honcho of Greater Richmond Convention Center could give us an official opening date. Anyone got connections there?