Richmond off-topic postings

[Shakman]

Luffing cranes are not necessarily used just for tall towers.  I have seen 7-story cast in place and stick frame apartments use a luffing crane and standard tower cranes used for 500+ foot skyscrapers.  Lack of space, tight swing radius between multiple cranes are some of the reasons why luffing cranes are used.   

[Flood Zone]

19 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

mmm... possibly, considering that it's supposed to be taller (by one whole foot) than the Monroe Tower.

Has the height been adjusted upward? CoStar issued a press release back when saying the height would be 421 feet (i.e., actual height, not CoStar height). Monroe is 449 feet.

[eandslee]

4 hours ago, Flood Zone said:

Has the height been adjusted upward? CoStar issued a press release back when saying the height would be 421 feet (i.e., actual height, not CoStar height). Monroe is 449 feet.

I actually thought I remember the height being 425-6 feet. 

[Child2021]

An altered future photo of Scott's Addition.

Can you point out the difference?

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, Child2021 said:

An altered future photo of Scott's Addition.

Can you point out the difference?

The Chasen Project by Capital Square!

[I miss RVA]

On 4/29/2024 at 6:21 PM, Child2021 said:

An altered future photo of Scott's Addition.

Can you point out the difference?

Also - what's missing in this picture (and since it's a marketing pic for the N. Chasen/Cap Square project it makes sense):  The Soda Flats

Now looking ahead: Imagine this very same photo with the N. Chasen buildings prominently displayed but also containing the following buildings:

1.) The Soda Flats

2.) The Ace 

3.) The Outlier 

4.) The AC Hotel (on the Hardees site)

Scott's is REALLY becoming a destination neighborhood. Methinks that Manchester's got some catching up to do.

[I miss RVA]

On 4/29/2024 at 12:36 PM, Flood Zone said:

Has the height been adjusted upward? CoStar issued a press release back when saying the height would be 421 feet (i.e., actual height, not CoStar height). Monroe is 449 feet.

Ahhh - apologies for the misunderstanding. No - we're not talking about the CoStar tower. We're talking about the proposed 40-story, 450-foot-tall hotel that could rise at 5th and Clay IF Richmond Community Development Partners wins the bid to construct Phase 1 of the City Center district.

[eandslee]

A cool little accolade from Axios Richmond this morning, that Richmond has one of the nation’s hottest job markets!  Really?!  Who knew?  I guess it depends on the job you are looking for. Article says we even beat out Raleigh and DC!  What?!  See for yourself:

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/05/01/richmond-job-market-ranking-affordable-growth

Take notice, rest of the world!!

Edited May 1 by eandslee

[victory]

Greetings from Columbia, SC! My daughter has been accepted to attend the University of Richmond. I'll be driving up there to move her into her dorm in August. I am looking at hotels in Richmond. I've never visited your city before, and would like a local's advice. I am not looking to stay as close to the campus as possible, but instead, I'd like to stay more around the Carytown area. It looks like there are few, if any hotels in Carytown (although there are Airbnbs), and most of my searches put me in Scotts Addition. The Courtyard Scotts Addition seems like a possible landing spot, as it is apparently walking distance to a slew of restaurants and breweries. Would that be a good location? Also, if you do know of a hotel in Carytown, please let me know. Since I've never visited, and plan to stay two nights checking out things, I'd like to be in a good area. Many thanks!

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

A cool little accolade from Axios Richmond this morning, that Richmond has one of the nation’s hottest job markets!  Really?!  Who knew?  I guess it depends on the job you are looking for. Article says we even beat out Raleigh and DC!  What?!  See for yourself:

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/05/01/richmond-job-market-ranking-affordable-growth

Take notice, rest of the world!!

I gotta say - I'm gobsmaked - and absolutely THRILLED!!!

Methinks this calls for the fat boy to do a rare Snoopy dance...

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, victory said:

Greetings from Columbia, SC! My daughter has been accepted to attend the University of Richmond. I'll be driving up there to move her into her dorm in August. I am looking at hotels in Richmond. I've never visited your city before, and would like a local's advice. I am not looking to stay as close to the campus as possible, but instead, I'd like to stay more around the Carytown area. It looks like there are few, if any hotels in Carytown (although there are Airbnbs), and most of my searches put me in Scotts Addition. The Courtyard Scotts Addition seems like a possible landing spot, as it is apparently walking distance to a slew of restaurants and breweries. Would that be a good location? Also, if you do know of a hotel in Carytown, please let me know. Since I've never visited, and plan to stay two nights checking out things, I'd like to be in a good area. Many thanks!

I think you’re good at that hotel (Courtyard). Technically it’s on the other (west side) of I-195, but still within walking distance of all the amenities and fun things to do in Scott’s Addition. 
 

Congrats to your daughter getting into U of R - tough school to get into and man, what a beautiful campus!!

Edited May 1 by eandslee

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, victory said:

Greetings from Columbia, SC! My daughter has been accepted to attend the University of Richmond. I'll be driving up there to move her into her dorm in August. I am looking at hotels in Richmond. I've never visited your city before, and would like a local's advice. I am not looking to stay as close to the campus as possible, but instead, I'd like to stay more around the Carytown area. It looks like there are few, if any hotels in Carytown (although there are Airbnbs), and most of my searches put me in Scotts Addition. The Courtyard Scotts Addition seems like a possible landing spot, as it is apparently walking distance to a slew of restaurants and breweries. Would that be a good location? Also, if you do know of a hotel in Carytown, please let me know. Since I've never visited, and plan to stay two nights checking out things, I'd like to be in a good area. Many thanks!

Mazal Tov to your daughter for being accepted to U of R!! That's absolutely fantastic! I'll be very interested to know how things go during her freshman year. 

I'll leave it to other folks who have much more knowledge on the hotel situation to advise you as to availability - but I just wanted to offer congratulations to you and your daughter for a wonderful achievement. And please, if I may, offer to your daughter (via you) a heartfelt wish of WELCOME TO RVA!!! 

[victory]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

I think you’re good at that hotel (Courtyard). Technically it’s on the other (west side) of I-195, but still within walking distance of all the amenities and fun things to do in Scott’s Addition. 
 

Congrats to your daughter getting into U of R - tough school to get into and man, what a beautiful campus!!

Hey, thanks so much! I'm really excited for her. She'd worked so hard, and Richmond was the school she really wanted. I am looking forward to getting to know the school, and your beautiful city!

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Mazal Tov to your daughter for being accepted to U of R!! That's absolutely fantastic! I'll be very interested to know how things go during her freshman year. 

I'll leave it to other folks who have much more knowledge on the hotel situation to advise you as to availability - but I just wanted to offer congratulations to you and your daughter for a wonderful achievement. And please, if I may, offer to your daughter (via you) a heartfelt wish of WELCOME TO RVA!!! 

Many, many thanks! I can't wait to get up there, and explore.

[I miss RVA]

19 minutes ago, victory said:

Hey, thanks so much! I'm really excited for her. She'd worked so hard, and Richmond was the school she really wanted. I am looking forward to getting to know the school, and your beautiful city!

Many, many thanks! I can't wait to get up there, and explore.

Very cool! How long will you be in town? There's SO much to explore and see, and obviously much of your exploration will involve of practical stuff for your daughter. HOWEVER - If you and your family happen to have have any time left over to just play tourist for a day or two, may I humbly suggest a visit to the absolutely AMAZING Japanese and Italian gardens at Maymont Park. Both gardens are beautiful and, personally, I find the Japanese Garden to be breathtaking. Maymont's not far from Carytown.

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Very cool! How long will you be in town? There's SO much to explore and see, and obviously much of your exploration will involve of practical stuff for your daughter. HOWEVER - If you and your family happen to have have any time left over to just play tourist for a day or two, may I humbly suggest a visit to the absolutely AMAZING Japanese and Italian gardens at Maymont Park. Both gardens are beautiful and, personally, I find the Japanese Garden to be breathtaking. Maymont's not far from Carytown.

I’ll piggyback on that recommendation and add: A visit to the State Capital (free and absolutely beautiful…they do free tours throughout the day as well), Brown’s Island/Canal Walk/T. Potterfield Bridge (some of the best views of downtown from the river), Hollywood Cemetery is really cool (you can drive through and/or walk through…it’s huge though), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (if you’re into that sort of thing - free and one of the best in the nation), hit up Shockoe Bottom/17th St Market Place/Libby Hill for the views (just a small area of restaurants and shops), Edgar Allen Poe Museum (a fee to enter, if I remember correctly), you already mentioned  Carytown, go to a Flying Squirrels game (if you’re okay with baseball and if they’re playing in town when you’re there…and it’s next to Scott’s Addition), and Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens (have to drive there, but not too far - a fee to enter).  Others here might be able to recommend some good restaurants in the area.  Enjoy your stay and tell your friends back home about Richmond!  Welcome!

[I miss RVA]

9 hours ago, eandslee said:

A cool little accolade from Axios Richmond this morning, that Richmond has one of the nation’s hottest job markets!  Really?!  Who knew?  I guess it depends on the job you are looking for. Article says we even beat out Raleigh and DC!  What?!  See for yourself:

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/05/01/richmond-job-market-ranking-affordable-growth

Take notice, rest of the world!!

New jobs report lends credence to this assertion that RVA's job market is blisteringly hot.

The Henrico Citizen is reporting today that the county's unemployment rate fell another three tenths of a point to 2.5% - down from 2.8% for the same period (March) of 2023. Metro Richmond's unemployment rate showed an even greater overall level of improvement, dropping four tenth's of a point to 2.6%, down from 3.0% in March a year ago.

Pretty robust figures for greater RVA! This outstanding news - coupled with the WSJ report of RVA being the 11th best job market nationally (and the highest ranked city on the eastern seaboard outside of Florida) and the second-fastest growing labor force in the country - makes today and INCREDIBLY good news day from the standpoint of what all this might portend for RVA's future growth. We've got to keep this up - and HOPEFULLY this will help GRP lure some of those "big fish" that they've been trying to bring here, along with tens of thousands of new jobs. 

Pedal to the metal, gentlemen... pedal to the metal!

From today's Henrico Citizen:

https://www.henricocitizen.com/articles/henricos-march-unemployment-rate-down-from-same-month-in-2023/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

[victory]

17 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Very cool! How long will you be in town? There's SO much to explore and see, and obviously much of your exploration will involve of practical stuff for your daughter. HOWEVER - If you and your family happen to have have any time left over to just play tourist for a day or two, may I humbly suggest a visit to the absolutely AMAZING Japanese and Italian gardens at Maymont Park. Both gardens are beautiful and, personally, I find the Japanese Garden to be breathtaking. Maymont's not far from Carytown.

Well, I had planned to stay two nights, but with all that's been mentioned, I probably could do three. Maymont Park is mentioned in all the Youtube videos I've watched on Richmond. It must be stunning! I'll be sure to check out the Japanese Garden. 

When I was a kid, my family visited Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. I really enjoy history, so I've thought about turning this into a little vacation, and hitting some of those places  on my way home. Thank you for all the great suggestions!

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, victory said:

Well, I had planned to stay two nights, but with all that's been mentioned, I probably could do three. Maymont Park is mentioned in all the Youtube videos I've watched on Richmond. It must be stunning! I'll be sure to check out the Japanese Garden. 

When I was a kid, my family visited Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. I really enjoy history, so I've thought about turning this into a little vacation, and hitting some of those places  on my way home. Thank you for all the great suggestions!

Very cool! Hopefully you'll have other opportunities to visit your daughter here and spend more time in RVA and take in more of the city.

Williamsburg: OMG - having grown up in Richmond, a trip to Williamsburg was essentially an annual pilgrimage, whether on a family jaunt or a school field trip (because of the history). My mother (may her memory be for a blessing) was totally in love with Williamsburg and she insisted we trek down to the colonial area once a year -- usually around the holidays. My first wife & I honeymooned in Williamsburg. 

[Child2021]

Well yesterday was fun for me, I went on very nice Real Estate tour with the VCU school of business. While I was on my tour a reprehensive from GRP was basically telling us all about the metrics that Richmond has an advantage over other areas, but she didn't tell us about any more projects in the works for the region due to confidential reasonings. I will say it was a fun day, We toured project speedway, Henrico sports and event center, Wegmans new distribution (btw they had 28,000 applications from people to work there, and of course accepted only north of 600 people), and a Marchetti warehouse development and we met Marchetti himself along with a broker and a women from the City's EDA.  I will say the Wegman's center was interesting to most as they have a banana curing machine, where they essentially warm the bananas up to ripen enough before shipping them out to customers. 

[eandslee]

55 minutes ago, Child2021 said:

Well yesterday was fun for me, I went on very nice Real Estate tour with the VCU school of business. While I was on my tour a reprehensive from GRP was basically telling us all about the metrics that Richmond has an advantage over other areas, but she didn't tell us about any more projects in the works for the region due to confidential reasonings. I will say it was a fun day, We toured project speedway, Henrico sports and event center, Wegmans new distribution (btw they had 28,000 applications from people to work there, and of course accepted only north of 600 people), and a Marchetti warehouse development and we met Marchetti himself along with a broker and a women from the City's EDA.  I will say the Wegman's center was interesting to most as they have a banana curing machine, where they essentially warm the bananas up to ripen enough before shipping them out to customers. 

I would love to spend the day with someone from GRP and take a tour like what you did.  I want some inside info though. I’ll keep it quiet, I promise!  Must have been a cool day.  What did they say Richmond has over other areas that were advantages?

[Child2021]

Basic stuff like the port of Richmond, 95 & 64, and Class  railroads. 

Crystal ball question: What do you think will happen to the western counties of Richmond, will they start to see a barrage of sprawl or will they remain rural in some parts like today?  I know they have minimum acreage laws and such, but there seems to be an effort by the state to further encourage more home development by easing some rules that localities can bring up.  The western counties in question are Powhatan, Goochland, and Amelia. 

[Child2021]

All of this is already in the Flat Rock area of Powhatan:

[I miss RVA]

35 minutes ago, Child2021 said:

Basic stuff like the port of Richmond, 95 & 64, and Class  railroads. 

Crystal ball question: What do you think will happen to the western counties of Richmond, will they start to see a barrage of sprawl or will they remain rural in some parts like today?  I know they have minimum acreage laws and such, but there seems to be an effort by the state to further encourage more home development by easing some rules that localities can bring up.  The western counties in question are Powhatan, Goochland, and Amelia. 

It may be slower (for a while) than what's been happening in Henrico and Chesterfield, but I do think Goochland and Powhatan will see sprawl. I think the slow pace will give way at some point to more robust development and it may already be happening in the eastern portions of both counties. GRTC already is running a local route (I think the #19 bus) to and in eastern Goochland. If West Creek really takes off the builds up beyond what's already there, that will establish a "node" in the east-central part of the county. The "triple point" of Henrico/Hanover/Goochland west of Short Pump around that nexus of I-64, I-295 and route 288 will continue to grow outward - meaning Hanover and Goochland will continue to see development and population growth in that immediate area.

Not like I know anything or have a crystal ball - it's all speculation, but based on growth patterns, I think that makes the most sense.

[I miss RVA]

UPDATE

Axios Richmond is reporting today that metro RVA continues to lead the Commonwealth in population growth. According to Axios' reporting, based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the River City grew by 1% from July 2020 through July 2023 while metropolitan Richmond grew by 2.5%. New Kent and Goochland led the way in terms of percentage growth, at 13% and 9.4% respectively.

The overall U.S. growth rate was 1%.

Metro RVA checked in at 43rd among 132 U.S. metro areas with more than 500K population. HOWEVER - we still lag WAY behind our primary competitors, with Nashville checking in at 4% growth for the same period, Charlotte 5% and Austin at 7.5%.

What's concerning, too, is that the city's growth was only 1% - when growth in the prior decade was significantly greater. This calls to mind what has been discussed previously about how the relative lack of housing due to the lack of lots approved for development is constricting population growth by impacting the influx of businesses/employers to RVA. But the flip side to that gives hope that the continued boom in residential construction (despite a VERY challenging post-pandemic economic climate of higher construction costs and still elevated interest rates) will have a domino effect and kick off a surge in population in the city. Scott's Addition now has five large residential buildings currently under construction (all within a few blocks of each other), and two more (the Novel and the Soda Flats) in the home stretch of construction - with more development in the pipeline. The Diamond District (if it EVER gets going) will add 2,000 apartments to that part of the city. Manchester has been laying fallow now for the past year to year and a half but it appears that it is starting to wake up and that the latter half of 2024 and 2025-onward could very well see EPIC construction as large projects -- including Avery Hall's and Tom Papa's riverfront towers -- get underway.

This doesn't even consider developments in other parts of the city - particularly the Fan and Museum District, where several projects are well underway and continue apace.

And if we can EVER get City Center off the ground...

All of that is to say that if availability of housing impacts influx of employers which impacts the influx of population, it stands to reason the city will see a surge in population growth over the latter half of this decade. Let's hope that this does, indeed, come to pass. We know the 'burbs are booming and that development continues in multiples of locations in Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover and Goochland at breakneck speed. Meadowville is booming with LEGO and now Topsoe -- both Danish companies -- building huge factories there. As only a layman with an armchair view of all of this, it just feels like we're only a cut or two in the prime rate away from REALLY seeing metro RVA explode with the latent development that's been in the pipeline for three or four years now - all of which will open the door to a higher rate of population growth as more employers come here and plant their flags.

I'm hoping and praying this all comes to pass.

From today's Axios Richmond:

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/05/07/virginia-population-growth-census-bureau?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_richmond&stream=top

Edited May 7 by I miss RVA

[Child2021]

When I was Downtown earlier, I spotted a very odd looking prototype being assembled in Kanawha plaza and it looks very similar to the kaleidoscope at the science museum. . . . anyone knows what's going on?