Richmond Developments

[Cadeho]

No, this looks like it's across from it. Why can't it be taller???

[wrldcoupe4]

Cam I'm pretty sure it isn't a rendering... just something to show what could be done there.

[burt]

Maybe this is going to be the Starwoods property that Shak and I heard about last fall...and will be built in collaboration with Wilton.

Notice that they are saving that nice curved-front building on the s/w corner of 4th and Broad. It used to be a store called Grant's -- a sort of upscale five and dime. Despite its lowly merchandise, it was one of my favorite retail buildings on East Broad.

Rendering (or "model" rendering) is not dissimilar to the rather bland Marriott two blocks away.

aloft, here we come!

[Cadeho]

HAHA even the Marriott looks dated. It screams 80s... can we reclad that too?

[burt]

Seems like a nice place.

Downtowner pointed out this interesting find on RCW:

4th and Broad hotel site?

Apparently Wilton has assembled property at the corner of 4th and Broad with hopes that it could become a hotel directly across from the convention center. I think the drawings aren't renderings but probably just something to give an idea of the scale of the project.

Here's a flyer in PDF format as well:

http://www.thewiltonco.com/i/properties/de...erPDF_42407.pdf

Anybody have any thoughts or knowledge?

[burt]

Can anyone explain the graphic in the second panel of the PDF? It beats me.

Ryan at RCW described the proposed hotel as being mid-block which I disputed; looking at Broad Street frontage, it incorporates old Grant's retail which would place it technically on the s/w corner of 4th and Broad.

But, as viewed on PDF with the 4th Street elevation, Ryan is correct -- it is mid-block. It looks as if it will be set back from three saved facades between 3rd and 4th on Broad. That should please preservationists; I know I approve.

Worth noting that the Wilton proposal sugests "it could support 105 rooms in a suite format". That falls in the "boutique" category, IMO.

Wilton doesn't venture downtown often with projects. Though they're pushing this site for a hotel, they probably would be just as happy if residential or commercial interests gobbled it up.

Edited May 12, 2007 by burt

[Cadeho]

I think it's mid block too, taking the place of a really unnoticable building. The buildings on Broad are in the foreground in the rendering.

[wrldcoupe4]

It does say at the corner of 4th and Broad though...

[wrldcoupe4]

Live Local look at potential hotel property

[Cadeho]

I thought 2 was a separate building. It's pretty dull from 4th.

Edited May 13, 2007 by Cadeho

[wrldcoupe4]

They've assembled 3 properties though so that's my guess as to the 3... the 3 closest to the corner.

[burt]

They've assembled 3 properties though so that's my guess as to the 3... the 3 closest to the corner.

Gee, I didn't know old W. T. Grant's had that large "L" extension mid-block. I would guess that Wilton's property would include the entire Grant's building; thus it looks as if four store fronts (including Grants) west from 4th Street would be involved (note the one-story building).

[Downtowner]

Oh yeah something I wanted to point was that I saw in the Real Estate Section that the old Phillip Morris Building on 700 Stockton Street will be converted to 225 Loft Apartments.

[burt]

Oh yeah something I wanted to point was that I saw in the Real Estate Section that the old Phillip Morris Building on 700 Stockton Street will be converted to 225 Loft Apartments.

Is that in today's paper?

[wrldcoupe4]

That's interesting. It was announced several years ago as condos with not much work ever occurring. It'll be nice to see this building added to Manchester's growth.

[Downtowner]

Yes burt it was in todays paper.

[wrldcoupe4]

6th Street Marketplace food court to close

Mayor L. Douglas Wilder has given a 90-day notice to almost a dozen businesses and city agencies to vacate the old Armory Building on East Marshall Street that is the last remnant of a 22-year-old urban experiment that never met expectations.

Richmond officials say the city cannot afford to carry the financial burden of a building that costs $600,000 to $800,000 more to maintain each year than it produces in revenue. They will terminate all of the month-to-month leases on Aug. 9 and close the building.

"It's something that we just can't ignore from a fiscal standpoint," said Chief Financial Officer Harry E. Black....

...Richmond officials say they intend to publicly solicit plans for redeveloping the property, owned by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

"We're going to be taking some steps to reposition the asset," Black said.

[burt]

I think it would be a good idea to return it to a public market like it was as recently as the 1940's. Butchers, fish mongers, fresh produce, fruit and flower sellers with booths offering art (excuse, Cam!) other objects and knicknacks. Also non-chain food stalls. Think Philadelphia's Reading and Baltimore's Lexington Markets.

I really don't see much hope for 17th Street as a major open air market. But The Armory could be a big hit, IMO.

Edited May 16, 2007 by burt

[TBurban]

If it became like Philly's Old Reading Terminal Market, I think I would die happy. I loved that place when I went there, it had so much character. Good idea there, Burt!

[Downtowner]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE PHILLY'S READING TERMINAL MARKET!!!! That would be amazing if they could turn the 6th street marketplace into that. Burt I love the idea. As long as like I said its not like the Italian Market in Philly where the Italian Market is like a sloughterhouse I hear. I heard from one of my moms friends that they have animals in cages and they cut them like they do in a sloughterhouse. But they do it behind closed doors I hear.

[Cadeho]

As Burt says it was a market in the past and even before the marketpace in the early 80s there was a little bit of that left if I can recall from being like 3 or 4 years old.

[Icetera]

That armory is one of my favorite structures in Richmond. It better be used for a good use, and soon.

[burt]

That armory is one of my favorite structures in Richmond. It better be used for a good use, and soon.

Ice, you might find it interesting to go to about mid-page 4 of Virginia Performing Arts Thread.

[Icetera]

Ice, you might find it interesting to go to about mid-page 4 of Virginia Performing Arts Thread.

That would be an excellent use. If they were to place a symphony hall in there, I would actually attend a few performances

Edited May 17, 2007 by Icetera

[burt]

As Burt says it was a market in the past and even before the marketpace in the early 80s there was a little bit of that left if I can recall from being like 3 or 4 years old.

Here's a link to The Reading Market in Phila:

http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/