Plans moving forward for Canal Walk project

By WILL JONES
Published: May 18, 2011

A plan to redevelop the Reynolds Packaging Group's vacant North Plant property will provide a spark, but the long-term success of Richmond's Canal Walk area will require greater city support to improve parking, pedestrian access and other issues, a panel told a commercial real-estate group Tuesday.

Nearly 12 years after the 1.2-mile Canal Walk opened to spur investment, The WVS Cos. and Fountainhead Development LLC is working on a project that would bring initially about 220 apartments and 8,000 square feet of retail to the area.

The developers hope to secure financing and start construction this fall, allowing the first units to open in mid-2012.

"The key is residential density," said Richard W. Gregory, a principal of Fountainhead Properties, a real estate development group that also is working to transform Richmond's Manchester district into an arts-centered neighborhood.

"Once we do that, we will start filling up some of this commercial space," Gregory told those attending a breakfast gathering of the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate at the Country Club ofVirginia.

The Canal Walk has helped to attract more than $400 million in real-estate investment, as well as recreational and other events.

But its abundance of vacant commercial space shows it remains a work in progress, said Brenton S. Halsey Sr., who helped guide the public-private redevelopment effort along the Canal Walk. Halsey, a formerchairman and CEO of James River Corp., also is a member of the riverfront committee for Venture Richmond, which promotes economic development and events mostly in the downtown area.

Halsey said the city's original plan for the Canal Walk envisioned development occurring over about 15 years.

Development of the North Plant site, which extends from 10th Street east to Virginia Street, also is important because it will help link two disjointed sections of the Canal Walk, said Richard Souter, vice president forThe WVS Cos., the developer of the Rocketts Landing project.

He said his group has been working with Mayor Dwight C. Jones' administration on what likely will be a multi-phase agreement that would sort out the responsibilities of each party. The 3north architectural firm has been working on the city's behalf to address a variety of issues, including security, lighting, accessibility and amenities.

Souter described the city administration as receptive but added that progress also hinges on approval of project financing through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"The ball's in our court right now," he said, "because we have to show up with a financing commitment."

Longer term, the developers see opportunity for a public-private project on the Reynolds site with high-rise office and residential buildings above parking decks to take advantage of views of the James River.

"We need to work hard to mobilize the public will to get these things funded," Gregory said.

wjones@timesdispatch.com

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