“New” development north of Broad on Staples Mill
Posted: December 19, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Commercial Leasing, Henrico County, Multi-family Housing, New Development, Office Buildings, Redevelopment, Residential, Retail | Tags: commercial real estate, Henrico County, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »About once a month I get a question about the large, vacant property that borders Staples Mill Road that is just north of West Broad Street, right over the Henrico Count line. My answer is always that it was an old, rundown neighborhood that was purchased and cleared with the intention of rebuilding, and that the developer is the same group that is doing the project at Monument Avenue and Willow Lawn Drive – Gumenick Properties. As to why it hasn’t been started, well just look around at new building all around the country. The developer was obviously waiting until the economy turns around.
But, I always have to give that answer with the caveat that the last official word I had heard about it was a few years ago. I couldn’t even be sure that the same plans were in place. Thankfully I can point to this article on Richmond.com that gives us the lowdown on the current situation — which is pretty much as described as above. It sounds as though things are just on hold, but the same big plans are still on the books. In fact, this project is expected to take 10 years even once they finally get underway.
You need to go read the article to see all of the reported details, but I thought I would share a couple of details of the plans here:
What: Staples Mill Centre, proposed to include 1,096 apartments, 571 condominiums, 391 townhouses, 32 single-family homes, 60,000 square feet of offices, and 100,000 square feet of stores.
Where: About 80 acres between Staples Mill Road, Libbie Avenue and Bethlehem Road, near Interstate 64.
How to make zoning easier to understand
Posted: February 7, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Legal, Redevelopment | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, government, legal, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia, zoning | Leave a comment »Government regulations are typically so complicated that not only can the lay-person not understand what they mean, but they are written in such a way that even people that think they know what is meant are left arguing completely different interpretations. Zoning regulations are no exception.
In fact, in NYC the zoning regulations are so convoluted that “In a recent case, a judge said the word “development,” which appears at least 2,500 times in the [zoning] resolution, did not mean what the city said.” (source: New York Times article — we’ll see more about that article in just a minute)
The Planning Commissioner for NYC, Amanda Burden, is attempting to make the zoning regulations a little more accessible to the general public by issuing a new city handbook with plain explanations and cartoon drawings that illustrate what particular zoning designations look like and what they mean. Check out the coverage in the New York Times about what she has been doing to bridge that gap.
While this may not be the right approach for every locality, the idea is one that every local government should take to heart: Start building tools that puts control of the government back into the hands of the people. Sure, we elect officials to represent us and we should not be ruled by mob mentality (see: California), but the people also need to be able to understand what is being done — especially when we are expected to interpret these rules and abide by them.
I have seen far too many business and property owners try to follow the rules that have been laid out, only to find a health inspector or building inspector come in with a totally different understanding and cost the owner thousands of dollars in hard cost and lost business because the rules were not clear enough.
What do you think, Richmond? Have you had any issues with the local zoning regulations (city or county)? What would you suggest could be done to make the rules more clear?
Redevelopment plans for Carytown get nod from Museum District
Posted: February 6, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: City of Richmond, Commercial Leasing, Government Institutions, Investing, New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Transportation | Tags: business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, government, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia, walkability | 2 Comments »The redevelopment of the old Verizon building at 10 N. Nansemond Street has been hotly debated and contested. (see: the official site for the Carytown Place; Don’t Big Box Carytown‘s website; & this post and the accompanying comment thread on Caramelized Opinions for a good summary & feel of the debate)
The Museum District Association had originally ruled to oppose the redevelopment based on the original plans, but Friday they sent out a press release announcing the reversal of that position. The gist of the situation can be summed up from this one paragraph in the press release:
The Board voted 13-1 in November to oppose the original SUP and subsequently provided the applicant with detailed requests for further changes to make it more amenable to the neighborhood. The applicant responded by altering the SUP to remove vehicular ingress/egress on Nansemond Street as well as reduce the number of available uses of the property to 10 uses. The applicant also agreed to limit the usable floor space of any one tenant to no more than 25,000 square feet, ensuring there would be multiple tenants in the building and ruling out a single, larger “big box” tenant.
The whole press release can be read here on the MDA’s website (right now it’s at the top, but it will shift down the page as new releases are issued).
What do you think? Are you satisfied with the MDA’s ruling, or are the changes in the plan not enough for you? In that case, what changes would be enough to get your support for the development?
Exciting times for a local revitalization organization
Posted: January 24, 2011 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Charity/Non-profit, City of Richmond, Multi-family Housing, Redevelopment, Residential | Tags: Church Hill, downtown Richmond, non-profit, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »
The Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (A.C.O.R.N.) has worked diligently for more than a decade to “promote the purchase and renovation of vacant and abandoned buildings in Richmond’s oldest neighborhoods.” This past Friday, ACORN announced some big news that will help them in that mission, and that’s exciting for all of Richmond. I’ll let their press release speak for itself:
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Richmond’s next frontier?
Posted: September 23, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: City of Richmond, Redevelopment, Retail | Tags: business environment, business owners, commercial real estate, Redevelopment, Richmond | 1 Comment »Style Weekly has an interesting article this week about a part of Richmond that has been largely ignored, Northside’s Brookland Park Boulevard. There is a lot of great information in the article, so be sure to go here and read the whole thing, but I felt like this part in particular was a great summary of the past and present of this area:
Brookland Park Boulevard was a bustling commercial corridor in the 1950s and ’60s, with popular bakeries, restaurants, a theater and a nightclub. And today, despite the many vacant buildings, several businesses still do a thriving trade.
On Saturdays, the area’s many beauty and barber shops are packed. Soul food restaurant Sam’s Kitchen is doing well, Epps says, as is his brother’s newly opened restaurant, River City Seafood. The cheerful yellow Michaela’s Bakery, which opened in 2005, sells six-layer cakes and strawberry shortcakes wholesale. Owner Michael Hatcher wishes the city would think of some way to bring more customers in — something historic, he says, or a tourist attraction. Another longtime business owner, florist Sylvia Richardson, says loiterers are the biggest deterrent to business. She says she doesn’t feel comfortable even walking to the convenience store across the street.
The one thing on which the merchants agree is that Brookland Park Boulevard has potential. Car traffic is plentiful, because the boulevard connects the city’s North Side and East End, and the area is served by two bus lines. The street has some architectural gems, such as an old theater and an ornate bank building. Richmond Community High School, a school for the gifted, moved onto the boulevard in 2009. Young people are buying up houses in nearby neighborhoods.
Brookland Park Boulevard reminds me a lot of other Richmond gems like East Grace Street near the Carpenter Center and Manchester’s Hull Street. A rich history, a questionable present, and a lot of enthusiasm and support to make the area a thriving community.
For another great write-up on the area, take a look at this very thorough post on This Decrepit Victorian from March 2010: The Brookland Park Historic District.
What’s next for Brookland Park, I wonder?
Does downtown Richmond have a parking problem?
Posted: June 28, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Transportation | Tags: commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond | 2 Comments »Given the info in this post at The Urbanophile, I sure hope we do!
The author is specifically talking about Buffalo, New York, but this is an issue that most cities of any substantial size have to wrestle with all of the time. I can’t count all of the times I’ve heard people complain about parking in downtown Richmond — and I know that I have at certain times/events.
Here’s an excerpt that I felt summed up the key point of the post to me:
Downtown can never compete with suburban office parks on the basis of convenient and affordable parking. To compete successfully on that basis would mean the destruction of all of downtown’s remaining (and emerging) value.
By definition, downtown can never out-compete the suburbs on suburban, automobile-based terms. By necessity, parking takes up a tremendous amount of land, creating lots of dead, open space, which the suburbs have plenty of. In fact, that’s the suburbs’ main asset: lots of open space. A city’s main amenity is not open land, but density, walkability, a diverse mix of uses, and the quality of the streets and other public spaces. These are the areas in which the suburbs cannot out-compete downtown.
That doesn’t mean that we should ignore parking entirely. Complaints about parking are a symptom, not the actual problem.
Parking will always be an issue if everyone is coming from out of town to visit the downtown. More importantly, we should focus on bringing more businesses and residents downtown — increasing the walkability and decreasing reliance on cars will make parking less of a problem.
But more to the point of the post, downtown isn’t supposed to be a wonderland of surface parking lots. It’s supposed to be a dense area with lots of people and businesses, and events that bring more people from all over. If the downtown is a vibrant place, then people will deal with the parking issues (they will still complain, but they will still come). If you want lots of open parking, go to the suburbs — that’s what they’re good at.
There a good discussion in their comment section, so be sure to check that out while you’re reading through the original post.
Photo credit greeneyedhedgehog
More info about The Devil’s Triangle!
Posted: April 14, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: B&H News, New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, business owners, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, property management, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »This is an article that you don’t want to miss about The Devil’s Triangle by Alix Bryan
I said my bit in a post yesterday, after seeing Alix’s videos — but there is SO much more that can be said, and she has a quite a few of the stories I have heard over the years about the rough days here in the Triangle. Be sure to read all about it!
Insight into The Devil’s Triangle
Posted: April 13, 2010 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: B&H News, New Urbanism, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: Bandazian & Holden, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, property management, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | 5 Comments »There is a little-discussed part of Richmond’s Upper Fan/Museum District that was once a pretty rough area — “The Devil’s Triangle”, or as it is sometimes called, “The Bermuda Triangle”. Now it is an economic corridor with independent shops and restaurants that serve the residents of the Museum District, the Fan District, and anyone else that wants to wander through.
I lived in the area for several years back in the mid to late nineties, and I missed most of the rougher times but heard plenty about Felix’s, Cafe 21, and the Ritz — now Caliente, Cafe Diem, and Arianna’s.
We moved our offices over to 604 North Sheppard Street several years ago to be in the heart of the revitalization going on, and to show our commitment to the area. Our founder and CEO, Bedros Bandazian owns all of the commercial along this part of Sheppard Street except for the 7-Eleven, as well as some nearby commercial buildings — so there was already a strong commitment within the company to revitalizing the area. Our move made a further commitment, and of course we all patronize the surrounding businesses faithfully.
The transformation has taken another step with the most recent additions of:
- Sylvia’s Stitch & Suds (renovated coin laundrymat, now a seamstress and laundry),
- Arianna’s Grill (Italian restaurant from the extended family who also own Mary Angela’s and several others around town — built out from almost from scratch shell)
- The parking lot in the rear of the buildings at Park & Sheppard (repaved, landscaped, lighted, and available for any customers of the shops along Sheppard)
The Devil Doesn’t Live Here Anymore from Alix Bryan on Vimeo.
The Devil’s Triangle is located in the Museum District, which is nestled within the Upper Fan, of Richmond, VA.
This area received its name from three rough local bars, which formed a triangle. The bars have changed ownership, and the area has undergone a major transformation.
However, the nickname has stuck, and has a quirky appeal to locals–locals who never went when it was actually the Devil’s Triangle.
It wasn’t unlikely for police to find wanted suspects in the bars, or for gun and fistfights to happen almost nightly.
Origin of a nickname from Alix Bryan on Vimeo.
Rich Holden, former owner of Felix, talks about how a two block area came to be known as The Devil’s Triangle. Located in Richmond, VA, this area was home to drug trafficking, prostitution, bar brawls and gunfights. The triangle consisted of three bars, The Felix, The Ritz, and Cafe 21.
Although Holden called it “The Bermuda Triangle,” that moniker is also commonly synonymous with “The Devil’s Triangle.”
[editor's note: Richard Holden is now the Principal Broker and President here at Bandazian & Holden, Inc.]
I’m eagerly awaiting Alix’s article to go along with the videos, and if she’ll allow me I’ll share it with you in a later post — or at least I’ll link over to it! I greatly appreciate her allowing me to use the videos here, and encourage you to go to her Vimeo site to take a look at her other work!
If you haven’t visited the Devil’s Triangle in a while, you should! Visit the Black Hand for some coffee that was roasted right there on site. Come sit on Caliente’s patio and enjoy the spring breeze while you have dinner. Come listen to some amazing music down at Cafe Diem. Or explore one of the other shops or restaurants.
[edit (4/13/10, 2:27pm): After a couple of off-blog responses, I'm curious to ask -- If you are familiar with the Devil's Triangle, please share some memories of your time there with us in the comment section below!]
UPDATE: Cineplex Slated for Boulevard
Posted: November 30, 2006 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail | Tags: Bowtie Partners, cineplex, commercial real estate, downtown Richmond, new movie theater, real estate development, Redevelopment, Richmond, Virginia | Leave a comment »This is a call-back to a posting several months ago (5/18/06, to be exact): New Cineplex Slated for the Boulevard? — see the post to get up-to-speed
This has been long in the works, obviously, and is still in the early stages. As Style Weekly pointed out in this week’s edition ("Merger Won’t Slow Boulevard Complex"), the architectural plans are still being drawn up.
But there is no rush for Bow Tie Partners (the developers), as Richmond Steel isn’t planned to relocate for another 8 months.
Some interesting facts from the article:
- the new cineplex will be called Movieland
- the redevelopment project is being called Boulevard Square
- there will be 13,000+ sq ft of retail and restaurants in the development
- the area where Bowtie originally planned for a cineplex is called Jefferson Square (between Main, Cary, 3rd & 4th Streets)