By: | Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: March 01, 2012
Published: March 01, 2012
A plan to renovate industrial buildings on a prime piece of property along the Haxall Canal in downtown Richmond is about to materialize after a few setbacks that delayed the project.
Two Richmond developers will turn five historic buildings, in the first phase of construction, into 175 apartments with 8,000 square feet of retail space.
Built from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, the buildings between South 10th and 12th streets were used to package aluminum foil and operated until mid-2009 by Reynolds Consumer Products.
"This is the linchpin project we have been waiting for the last 15 years," said Jack Berry, executive director of Venture Richmond, a downtown advocacy group. "It will enable the completion of the Canal Walk from the Turning Basin to Brown's Island."
The historic buildings are across the canal from the Riverside on the James office and condo complex.
Subsequent phases of the renovations, stretching to Virginia Street, call for two structures built in the 1970s to be torn down to make way for more apartments, office and retail space. A high-rise building is planned at 10th and Byrd streets.
Construction starts next week, said Jason Vickers-Smith, a principal with The WVS Cos., one of the developers. "We hope to have people moving in this fall."
WVS and Fountainhead Properties closed on the $35 million deal Wednesday, paying $7.3 million for the property with the rest designated for construction.
WVS developed Rocketts Landing, a high-density, multiuse project along the James River on the Henrico County-Richmond line. Fountainhead developed The Plant Zero Art Center and New Manchester Flats, a mixed-used apartment community in South Richmond.
"The development will bring retail and restaurants to the water's edge along with hundreds of apartments," Berry said.
"We will always be indebted to Reynolds Metals and its stewardship of this riverfront property, especially Dale Wiley Jr., the plant manager, who saved the canal locks when constructing the manufacturing facility many years ago."
The Haxall Canal, which runs through the property, is a great amenity, Vickers-Smith said. "The whole project will help energize the Canal Walk."
The property sits on a 7-acre slice of land with a lot of elevation change. It is within three or four blocks of high-quality office, retail and residential space, including Shockoe Slip, Vistas on the James, Riverfront Plaza and the new Williams Mullen office on 10th Street, Vickers-Smith said.
An Italianate building sits next to a historic brown building with an arch that bridges over South 12th Street and connects with an old metal shell building that will be torn down for a new building. The arch will be restored.
The plan is to finish the first phase, one-third of the project, by this time next year, Vickers-Smith said. The remaining phases will be market-driven, depending on how well the apartment and retail space is leased.
The apartment units will average 850 square feet but some will be as large as 1,800 square feet, Vickers-Smith said. They will rent for an average $1,300 to $1,400 a month.
He envisions mostly restaurants on the retail side in the first phase of development.
The property has been eyed for 20 years as a key piece to the whole riverfront development in downtown Richmond, said Jeffrey Cooke, a senior vice president at Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer.
"It is the last major piece that is undeveloped," said Cooke, who represents the buyers.
North Falls Acquisition LLC, a joint venture of WVS and Fountainhead, was formed to develop the project, which has not yet been named.
Years in the making, the project was first announced in February 2010, but the developers, the same ones who are doing it now, could not pull the financing together.
"It's a huge project," said Richard Gregory, a principal with Fountainhead. "Financing through (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) was so backlogged, we had to change lenders. HUD could not get to it, especially one this size."
It also took time to work through zoning and covenant issues with the city, Gregory said.
Financing was provided through the Virginia Housing Development Authority and Union First Market Bank.
Walter Parks is the architect. The contractors are JD Lewis Construction Management in Henrico and Branch & Associates Inc. in Roanoke.
