311 N. Second St. is the red brick building with the missing awning. Its neighbor is a bail bond office; that property is not part of Frazier’s project.
Seeing fertile ground in the blocks near the redeveloped Central National Bank building, a recently minted Church Hill resident is kicking off his plans in Richmond with a real estate project in Jackson Ward.
Forrest Frazier, who runs Forrest Fraizer | Architecture, and an investor in Florida have a mixed-use development in the works at 311 N. Second St.
MF Development, which is owned by the unnamed investor and managed by Frazier, purchased the two-story, 2,100-square-foot building last month for $119,000. Plans call for a 1,000-square-foot commercial space and one-bedroom apartment on the first floor, and two one-bedroom apartments on the second floor.
Forrest Frazier
Frazier, 36, launched his architecture firm earlier this year and relocated to Church Hill last month. The new venture is a product of Frazier’s career as an architect working across the country for various firms. The Virginia native and University of Virginia alum most recently worked in New York for architecture firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien and also for Cary Tamarkin. Now Frazier is hoping a network of Richmond friends and family that includes Andrew Basham of Spy Rock Real Estate Group can help him get some legs under his solo venture.
“We grew up in Virginia,” Frazier said of himself and his wife. “We just decided to take the plunge and move to Virginia.”
Frazier said he and his investor have been looking at properties in the Jackson Ward area in particular because of the neighborhood’s ongoing redevelopment and designation as an enterprise zone. He mentioned the swath of surrounding real estate owned by Washington, D.C.-based Douglas Development – the crown jewel of which is Central National Bank building’s 200 apartments – as encouraging reasons to bet on the area.
“Douglas Jemal is kind of developing everything around there,” Frazier said of Douglas Development’s founder and president. “There seems to be a lot of action in the Second Street corridor.”
In addition to the properties Douglas is developing, the action along North Second Street includes the opening of eateries such as Lucy’s and Jkogi, small mixed-use buildings across the street, and retail development around the corner on East Broad Street with the recent arrival of a Walgreens Healthcare store.
“As an architect, it’s fun to feel like you’re contributing to the revitalization instead of the sprawl,” Frazier said.
Frazier said no tenants have been lined up for the North Second Street property formerly used as a salon. He thinks it would be great for a café, juice bar or deli. A contractor has yet to be selected for the job, which should take seven months once construction begins, he said.
They haven’t finalized the cost of the project and are weighing their options of how to finance it.
For now, Frazier’s architecture practice is based out of his Church Hill home as well as an office in New York, where he has three projects underway, including a 25,000-square-foot office development.
In Richmond, Frazier isn’t limiting his projects to one part of town, though he recognizes that some markets might be harder to break into than others.
“Scott’s Addition seems like it’s almost all bought up,” he said. “Manchester is certainly appealing.”
311 N. Second St. is the red brick building with the missing awning. Its neighbor is a bail bond office; that property is not part of Frazier’s project.
Seeing fertile ground in the blocks near the redeveloped Central National Bank building, a recently minted Church Hill resident is kicking off his plans in Richmond with a real estate project in Jackson Ward.
Forrest Frazier, who runs Forrest Fraizer | Architecture, and an investor in Florida have a mixed-use development in the works at 311 N. Second St.
MF Development, which is owned by the unnamed investor and managed by Frazier, purchased the two-story, 2,100-square-foot building last month for $119,000. Plans call for a 1,000-square-foot commercial space and one-bedroom apartment on the first floor, and two one-bedroom apartments on the second floor.
Forrest Frazier
Frazier, 36, launched his architecture firm earlier this year and relocated to Church Hill last month. The new venture is a product of Frazier’s career as an architect working across the country for various firms. The Virginia native and University of Virginia alum most recently worked in New York for architecture firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien and also for Cary Tamarkin. Now Frazier is hoping a network of Richmond friends and family that includes Andrew Basham of Spy Rock Real Estate Group can help him get some legs under his solo venture.
“We grew up in Virginia,” Frazier said of himself and his wife. “We just decided to take the plunge and move to Virginia.”
Frazier said he and his investor have been looking at properties in the Jackson Ward area in particular because of the neighborhood’s ongoing redevelopment and designation as an enterprise zone. He mentioned the swath of surrounding real estate owned by Washington, D.C.-based Douglas Development – the crown jewel of which is Central National Bank building’s 200 apartments – as encouraging reasons to bet on the area.
“Douglas Jemal is kind of developing everything around there,” Frazier said of Douglas Development’s founder and president. “There seems to be a lot of action in the Second Street corridor.”
In addition to the properties Douglas is developing, the action along North Second Street includes the opening of eateries such as Lucy’s and Jkogi, small mixed-use buildings across the street, and retail development around the corner on East Broad Street with the recent arrival of a Walgreens Healthcare store.
“As an architect, it’s fun to feel like you’re contributing to the revitalization instead of the sprawl,” Frazier said.
Frazier said no tenants have been lined up for the North Second Street property formerly used as a salon. He thinks it would be great for a café, juice bar or deli. A contractor has yet to be selected for the job, which should take seven months once construction begins, he said.
They haven’t finalized the cost of the project and are weighing their options of how to finance it.
For now, Frazier’s architecture practice is based out of his Church Hill home as well as an office in New York, where he has three projects underway, including a 25,000-square-foot office development.
In Richmond, Frazier isn’t limiting his projects to one part of town, though he recognizes that some markets might be harder to break into than others.
“Scott’s Addition seems like it’s almost all bought up,” he said. “Manchester is certainly appealing.”