Williams Mullen Center

[Shakman]

A full on glass wall is going up on the building's corner at 10th and Canal. It's starting to look really good!

I love the glass on this highrise. This turning out to be a nice structure considering the fact that a lot of us... ....when the initial rendering came forth.

My only rant is the parking portion being exposed. I hope I am wrong.

[TBurban]

Looks like the 'crown' is going up.

[krazeeboi]

This tower is definitely good infill for downtown Richmond, but I do wish it looked less "Richmondy." But it's not very tall in the first place, so I suppose that it wouldn't really stand out much even if the architecture were more distinctive (except perhaps from a few vantage points maybe?).

So just to make this a little hypothetical, would you guys rather have what you're getting now, or this 17-story, 220-ft.+ office building going up in downtown Columbia? Interestingly enough, a law firm will also be a tenant in this building as well and it will have a bank branch and a restaurant as ground-floor tenants:

[Cadeho]

I like the reflectitive glass. I dunno... I like both.

[johnk812]

This tower is definitely good infill for downtown Richmond, but I do wish it looked less "Richmondy." But it's not very tall in the first place, so I suppose that it wouldn't really stand out much even if the architecture were more distinctive (except perhaps from a few vantage points maybe?).

So just to make this a little hypothetical, would you guys rather have what you're getting now, or this 17-story, 220-ft.+ office building going up in downtown Columbia? Interestingly enough, a law firm will also be a tenant in this building as well and it will have a bank branch and a restaurant as ground-floor tenants:

"So just to make this a little hypothetical, would you guys rather have what you're getting now, or this 17-story, 220-ft.+ office building going up in downtown Columbia?"

What?!

[burt]

Krazee, like most high rises in Richmond and Columbia, these two new ones are both flat tops. I like Columbia's slanted wall, but why is it on the back side? Seems to me it should have that interesting feature rising above the street.

[TBurban]

I think it's hard to tell; it looks like both renderings were a little off, but that seems to be a trend lately. I need to see more glass go up on WM Center first.

[krazeeboi]

Krazee, like most high rises in Richmond and Columbia, these two new ones are both flat tops. I like Columbia's slanted wall, but why is it on the back side? Seems to me it should have that interesting feature rising above the street.

You're right about both skylines being relatively flat-topped. Despite that, I still like Richmond's skyline; it's got good density.

That's an interesting point about the slanted side. Well it does have that "notch" feature on the side facing the street, so that side isn't totally boring. Would have been interesting to see both features on the same side.

I think it's hard to tell; it looks like both renderings were a little off, but that seems to be a trend lately. I need to see more glass go up on WM Center first.

Good point. It was when the glass started going in on the Columbia tower that opinions started to change about it. The same could be true for WMC. The best thing about both towers though is that they will get them right where it counts: the street level.

At any rate, didn't mean to hijack the thread. I asked the same question in the Columbia forum so I thought I'd ask here as well just to make the discussion is bit more colorful.

[burt]

You're right about both skylines being relatively flat-topped. Despite that, I still like Richmond's skyline; it's got good density.

That's an interesting point about the slanted side. Well it does have that "notch" feature on the side facing the street, so that side isn't totally boring. Would have been interesting to see both features on the same side.

Good point. It was when the glass started going in on the Columbia tower that opinions started to change about it. The same could be true for WMC. The best thing about both towers though is that they will get them right where it counts: the street level.

At any rate, didn't mean to hijack the thread. I asked the same question in the Columbia forum so I thought I'd ask here as well just to make the discussion is bit more colorful.

Come back often, krazeeboi. We don't have a moderator anymore, as far as I know.

[krazeeboi]

Hmmm....I'll check into that. Thanks for letting me know.

[Shakman]

Yesterday I noticed that this highrise is close to topping out. Currently the mechanical penthouse is being framed.

I really love the glass.

[jbjust]

There is a very unusual facade going up on the side facing west. I can only see it from the side from my office, but it looks very different than the other two sides I've seen go up from my James Center view.

[wrldcoupe4]

It should be all glass like the northeast corner

[TBurban]

Yeah, they had to frame it around the concrete platforms which is what has been exposed until glass-work began this past week.

[burt]

My favorite view of Williams Mullin is from Cary between 8th and 9th Streets. Check it out next you're driving East on Cary into The Slip.

[CommRE]

Some recent photos of Williams Mullen Center. There are more photos in "Richmond in Pictures" from around downtown.

[jbjust]

Yesterday, they started putting up stylish "grates" to cover the openings on the parking garage levels of the building. I was afraid that they would do a the parking levels to match the existing open railing of the RMA garage but these grates look like they will come close to disguising (from the casual observer) the fact that the first few levels are parking.

[jbjust]

There are a number of up-facing receptacles on the minature roof structures on the bottom floor. If I had to guess, I would say that these are going to be contain up-facing spotlights. If so, this thing will glow like a Christmas tree.

[jbjust]

I hear from inside sources that they are considering doing away with the metal grills covering the parking decks and instead using glass that would cover the openings 90% so that they look just like the rest of the building but still allow for ventilation. You can see them trying out this new concept in the middle of the ninth street side of the building, which overlooks the adjacent surface lot.

[jbjust]

The glass for the street-level retail has gone in and looks fantastic. Complete floor-to-ceiling glass with a relatively light tint so as to not insulate the inside from the outside too much.

[krazeeboi]

So how's it been looking lately???

[jbjust]

The exterior elevators came down yesterday and it turns out I was correct about the up-facing spotlights on top of the street level-awnings. This thing is really going to light up at night. I don't think they have decided whether to replace the louvered grating that they currently have covering the parking garage levels and instead use the glass that they're testing out on the 10th street side of the building.

[wrldcoupe4]

The glass may be intended only for the area above the lobby entrance.

[Cadeho]

It has lights? I hope they use them because Vistas is dark and I hadn't seen Wachovia's lights in a while. Last I saw that building was also dark. Come to think of it, Riverside Plaza was dark last time I saw it. I haven't been downtown at night in a few weeks. Has anything changed?

[jbjust]

The glass may be intended only for the area above the lobby entrance.

It might be, but I was told by someone at the firm that the powers that be were unhappy after they saw the grating and the glass had been put up for them to decide whether they wanted to change it all to glass. I could be wrong, of course.