New lofts and more beer for Shockoe

Shockoe Bottom north of Broad St. is about to undergo massive changes. Plans to renovate 5 buildings that are part of the Richmond Cold Storage complex have been unveiled. New apartments and an expanded microbrewery are part of the plan. Here’s a picture of the buildings now:

Photo by John Murden, used with permission.

Richmond Cold Storage is located here (18th & Marshall).

The TD has the details and a video interview with the developer (which won’t seem to play all the way through for me). The print version has a site plan which I’m not sure I’m legally able to scan and post on-line. Any copyright experts out there want to advise me in the comments section? Or if you can find it elsewhere on-line, please post the link. It looks interesting.

The development is being done by Historic Housing, which did the renovations on the buildings at 14th & Main St. Historic Housing is somehow affiliated with H. Louis Salomonsky (he owns the parent company, I think.) Last I heard, Salomonsky was in jail for bribing former city councilwoman Gwen Hedgepath. Not that a bribery conviction means your companies can’t do good redevelopment work around the city, mind you.

Highlights of the new development include:

• Kelvin Brewing will use one building as its microbrewery
• Another building will be a studio and sculpture gallery
• Restaurant & retail space
• 2 pools and a fitness center
• 600-1,000 sq. ft. units, mostly one bedroom
• Rental price estimates are $1.50/sq ft. (This seems high, Monroe Properties rents (or at least used to) at $1/sq. ft.)
• Demolition starts in August, completion by late ‘08

 

Big news on the Diamond & Boulevard redevelopment

Richmond Braves baseball will stay on the Boulevard- either with a renovated Diamond or a new stadium, according to James L. Jenkins, chairman of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority board of directors [via].

The good news there is that the matter is settled- no more proposals for ballparks in the Bottom, or Fulton Gas Works, or the suburbs. Now energy can finally be focused on redeveloping the Boulevard neighborhood, which is exactly what Wilder is proposing:

“The city is asking for proposals by consultants, who would look for developers with ideas about how best to use the 60 acres Richmond owns between the Boulevard, Interstate 95, Hermitage Road and the CSX railroad tracks. The mayor wants a mixture of commercial, office and residential uses to be considered.”

There has been no commitment made to keeping the Diamond- only to keeping a baseball stadium on the Boulevard. So it seems the whole city-owned portion of the neighborhood is up for grabs.

The TD also mentions the planned $7 million Poseidon Swim Club facility and VCU’s interest in building tennis courts. Absent is any discussion of moving the coliseum that the paper has previously discussed.

Let’s hope that whatever consultants the city chooses will put together decent proposals, and maybe even solicit public input as Petersburg recently did.

*UPDATE – 7/4/07* Kaine and Wilder are proposing that the city and state swap land to facilitate the redevelopment of Boulevard- the city would give up the coliseum land and the state would give up the 19 -acre ABC warehouse on Hermitage . Read more here.

 

Old Richmond Memorial Hospital: “Massive Redevelopment Underway”

Richmond Memorial Hospital, a Bon Secours facility now located in Hanover Co., originally operated in north side’s Ginter Park neighborhood. The building Bon Secours abandoned 10 years ago is finally being redeveloped into condos, as the North Richmond News reported earlier this week. Below are extra details gleaned from the print-only North of the James newspaper’s article “Massive Redevelopment Underway in Ginter Park.”

The seven-story hospital building to be converted to:

• Approximately 60 units
• Largest to be 1800 sq. ft.
• Prices starting at $350,000
• Parking will be in an interior parking deck, to be accessed from the emergency room entrance (I’m curious how this will work)
• Targeted completion date: 2008

Additionally, the developer may build free-standing townhomes on the property after the condos are finished. The historic Laburnum House is to become a community center for property owners.

Another part of the hospital property is being converted to dorms for the Baptist Theological Seminary (the old nursing school). Still another building currently houses a fitness center and a school for children with autism.

The article includes interesting history of the hospital, which was built as a memorial to WWII vets. What an interesting idea, to build something besides a statue as a memorial! There is some sort of physical memorial inside the old hospital building that is to remain intact after the building’s conversion.

There’s also a Richmond Memorial Foundation meant to distribute funds “for the benefit of the healthcare of the citizens of north Richmond.” According to the Ginter Park Resident’s Assn., nothing is being done with those funds.

It’s great to see more adaptive re-use of historic buildings, but as I’ve asked before, are we overbuilding and saturating the condo & townhouse market here in Richmond?   I guess the market will decide, but I’d hate to see these companies with great vision for breathing life into our historic neighborhoods go bankrupt…

 

New developments sprouting around the city

Richmond bloggers have the scoop on several new developments around the city:

• A 60-unit condominium development on Richmond’s North Side, in the old Richmond Memorial Hospital. [via the brand new community blog: North Richmond News]
• A mixed-use building on a 1 acre vacant lot at the foot of Jefferson Hill Park. Plans call for retail, office, residential, parking, and a roof-top terrace and pool. [via chpn.net]

If the condo market is soft, as the TD reported several weeks ago and the vacant units in Nolde Bakery Condominiums seem to suggest, no one seems to have told the developers.

In other development news, I found this rendering of VCU’s new campus east of Belvidere, click on the thumbnail below for the full view:

 

New development for downtown Broad St.

Could this be downtown Broad St’s future?:

7th St. NW, Washington D.C.
Photo by Kmf164, used with permission.

It could be if DC developer Douglas Jemal has his way. Jemal bought the Central National Bank building at 2nd & Broad:

And he bought the old United Way building just across the street. According to today’s TD, he wants to buy the whole block, with hopes to redevelop it.

7th St. in DC (pictured above) was Jemal’s project and also his model for what he wants to do in Richmond. From the TD:

“When we look at Broad Street, that’s exactly what we see — Seventh Street in Washington,” Blake C. Esherick, a director for Douglas Development, said yesterday in a telephone interview….

Jemal’s company is negotiating to purchase 120 E. Broad, 122 E. Broad, 200 E. Broad and 201 E. Broad…

Esherick said Douglas Development wants to refurbish the storefronts along Broad to their original state and attract high-end retail and restaurants for the street-level businesses and mixed uses for the upper floors.

“The goal is to do a redevelopment plan that puts those buildings back to how they looked when they were built,” Esherick said. “We want to create some vibrancy, create some great street-front retail.”

And here’s more on the 7th St. project in DC from Jemal’s company, Douglas Development Corp.:

Historic 7th Street was once the exuberant commercial center of Washington, DC. Douglas Development has brought life back to 7th Street while preserving the beauty of the nineteenth century architecture. The success story continues with a redeveloped Historic 7th Street that provides quality retail, restaurant, and office space. Current tenants include Legal Sea Foods, Ruby Tuesday, Radio Shack, Fuddrucker’s, Greenpeace, Away.com, NovaCare, Washington Sports, National Criminal Justice Association, Marvelous Market and the headquarters of Douglas Development Corporation.

Mixed Use Project:

• Eight small-scale commercial buildings originally constructed between 1866 and 1881
• All buildings located within the Downtown Historic District
• Project awarded the 2004 The Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Merit Award under Architecture Historic Resources category

Of course, it’s been over 2 years since they bought the bank building, so as always with these projects don’t expect dramatic change anytime soon.   But hopefully, one day, maybe, downtown Broad east of Belvidere will again bustle with activity.

 

“Silence means assent”: VCU misunderstands Oregon Hill

“Silence means assent.”
-attributed to John M. Bennett, VCU’s senior vice president for finance and administration, and “a lead negotiator with [Oregon Hill] neighbors affected by the [proposed] recreation center.” Via the TD.

VCU wants to build a recreation center on Cary Street, between Linden and Cherry streets, and demolish two historic 19th Century stables. Apparently, the lack of vocal opposition over the past several months led VCU to believe Oregon Hill residents supported the proposal- hence the quote above. Several Oregon Hill residents and organizations, however, are ending their silence (if they every really were silent) and voicing their opposition. Among their complaints:

• The stables are integral to the historic fabric of the neighborhood.
• The proposed rec center would be out of scale with surrounding buildings. VCU’s planning to wrap the current Cary St. Gym (itself an historic building- it used to be the city auditorium) with a 100,000 sq. ft. addition.
• The new development violates VCU’s promise not to encroach any further on the neighborhood.

I’m personally undecided on the issue. I haven’t seen the stables myself and haven’t heard compelling arguments about why they need to be saved. Not everything old needs preservation- perhaps these do, perhaps they don’t. And I can find no information on their current use- are they vacant or not?

Also, I haven’t seen a good rendering for the proposed building (there’s a low-resolution image reprinted in the TD, but not made available on-line). I’m curious to see how the building will fit with its neighbors. If anyone knows of a good rendering post a link in the comments section (architects are Moseley Architects).

I wish VCU would focus on buying and building up vacant lots and parking lots around downtown instead of tearing down buildings. I understand that in this case they want to cluster their recreation options for students, but still. With so much vacant & under-utilized land around, I’d like to see increased density in Richmond, not just recycling current building sites.

Whatever the merits of both sides in this argument, we can expect the fight to stay in the news a while. The TD reports, “Oregon Hill leaders have vowed to continue to fight plans for the recreation center every step of the approval process, from state agencies to City Hall.”

 

Apples and Pumpkins

So downtown Richmond won’t get a Hilton in the old Miller & Rhoads building, as promised. We’ll get a Hilton Garden Inn- a scaled-back, lesser cousin to the upscale “full-service” Hilton.

We’re assured, however, that this won’t be a suburban-style development in the middle of downtown. Ron Silverman, senior vice president of HRI Properties, says the hotel will include 25,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, facing Broad Street.

“It bears no resemblance to a roadside Hilton Garden Inn,” he insists. “It’s apples and pumpkins.” Via Style.

In other Hilton-development news from Style, “The general contractor overseeing the Miller & Rhoads hotel project downtown has fired minority contractor Al Bowers Jr., who’s blaming Mayor L. Douglas Wilder for his dismissal.”

This is the same Al Bowers, Jr., who earlier in the year said, “We have a complete void of black leadership in the city of Richmond…I can tell you one thing: We need a change in leadership.”

Hmmm, is downtown redevelopment a hostage of political considerations?  Say it isn’t so!

 

R.I.P.: 6th St. Marketplace

The city is finally pulling the plug on the last remnants of 6th St. Marketplace: the food court & a few city offices.  That’s a good thing, as the TD reports that the city was losing $600,000 to $800,000 each year on the building.

Wilder gave all tenants – private businesses as well as city agencies – 90 days to vacate.

Read the full story here, including the rather sad stories of folks who’re losing gobs of money they’ve invested in their businesses.

In terms of redeveloping the site, the TD reports, “Richmond officials say they intend to publicly solicit plans for redeveloping the property, owned by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.”

Let’s hope private developers can do what the city couldn’t.  There’s plenty of blame to go around for the failure of 6th St., but it should serve as a warning to all about the promises of elected officials that big-ticket publicly financed projects aren’t necessarily all they’re cracked up to be.  Again from the TD, “The building is all that remains of 6th Street Marketplace, envisioned as the catalyst for downtown renewal when it opened amid fanfare in 1985.”

In my opinion, there’s definitely a role for government in redevelopment of aging urban areas.  But we need to ask hard questions about feasibility and cost, and demand rigorous public scrutiny of the projects.

And as for the market remnants, I’m going to make one last nostalgic trip to remember the infrequent trips made there in my youth.  I can still see the kites and hear the bell signaling the public candy-making show at the Fudgery .

 

Richmond Center Stage: Groundbreaking Set

“In 2009, Richmond will experience something it has never had before – a vibrant center city built around the performing arts.” – from the brand new Richmond Center Stage webpage.

I will leave the commentary on this, ummm, rather bold statement to the capable bloggers who’ve been following this project. Let this serve as my formal request to saverichmond.com: I’m eagerly awaiting your analysis of this new webpage.

Groundbreaking is set for June 1- with Wilder, Jim Ukrop, Anne Holton, Bio Ritmo, and No BS Brass Band “celebrating” the groundbreaking, then leading a procession to the “First Friday’s District.” The irony is unbelievable. Let’s celebrate this taxpayer boondoggle by visiting the unsubsidized, yet highly successful, grassroots arts community!

So much for my promise to hold off on the commentary.

From the FAQ section on the new webpage:

Q: Why is the groundbreaking connected to First Fridays? Are they related?
A: The timing of the groundbreaking fit [sic] in wonderfully with what is already happening in the city to promote and celebrate the arts. Venture Richmond and First Fridays are excited to connect the site of Richmond CenterStage™ with the existing downtown art walk. The result will be a great evening to experience the arts in Richmond.

Regarding aesthetics, here’s 2 renderings from the RCS webpage:

 

Yet another proposal for the Boulevard & the Diamond

I’m losing count of how many times I’ve posted about plans for the Boulevard area.

Today’s TD features a column titled, “Renovate The Diamond and replace the Coliseum;” the title pretty much sums up the content. The author presents some rough financial figures to bolster his argument. He also echoes the idea floated in Style a month ago to relocate the Coliseum replacement in the Boulevard corridor, in order to “create a total sports complex in one area…”

And so, as long as we’re rehashing ideas in the public sphere, I’ll repeat myself:

Let’s have some meaningful community input into planning the future of the Boulevard. It’s hotly contested space experiencing rapid change, with multiple expensive proposals being floated. Why not ask the people who’re buying condos, renting lofts, going to sports events, or working in the neighborhood what they would like to see? Why not copy Petersburg and bring in some experts to consult with the community?

It’s time to stop the behind-closed-doors deals promising taxpayer funds or tax breaks for development the taxpayers have no say in. If you’re spending my money, at least have the decency to ask what I’d like you to buy for me.

And just for fun, here’s an old rendering I found of a new ballpark for the R-Braves by HKS architects. Does anyone know the history of this image? Was this a serious proposal at some point? Where was it to be located?

It is not the rendering I saw for the proposed Shockoe Bottom stadium, which used the same architecture firm. That proposal is below: