A site plan of the 44th Street complex, which would consist of six apartment buildings, a clubhouse and parking. (City documents)
An apartment complex for lower-income renters that’s been three years in the making is set to move forward after a seven-figure land deal.
Norfolk-based developer The Lawson Cos. recently purchased a 6.5-acre tract at 700 W. 44th St., where it’s planning a 144-unit complex with apartments targeted to renters making below 80 percent of the area median income.
Lawson paid $2 million for the wooded site, which is south of Forest Hill and northeast of the intersection of Westover Hills Boulevard and Midlothian Turnpike. The site is between the Ashton Square Apartments off Westover Hills and the Norcroft Townhomes off the turnpike.
The seller was 700 West LLC, a Virginia Beach-based entity tied to Dave McCormack’s Waukeshaw Development that purchased the 6.5-acre property in 2018 for $146,500. The city has assessed the land at $110,000.
Lawson filed a development plan with the city in 2021 that calls for six three-story apartment buildings with 24 units each, along with a 3,700-square-foot clubhouse with a business center, fitness center and pool, grilling area, maintenance building and 256 parking spaces, as well as six short-term and 36 long-term bicycle spaces.
Elevations of the three-story buildings planned for the 44th Street apartments.
According to a performance grant agreement that Richmond City Council approved for the project last November, 108 of the units will be rented to households making 51 to 80 percent of the area median income, and 36 will be for renters making 50 percent AMI and below.
Specific rents for the units have not been released. An email to a Lawson spokesman was not returned Tuesday afternoon.
Called 700 West 44, the complex will consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 710 to 1,100 square feet, according to a description on the company’s website. Construction is slated to begin this year and finish in early 2025.
The city’s performance agreement, which provides grant funding to incentivize the development if certain benchmarks are met, puts the overall project cost at $20.3 million.
The project is among Lawson’s latest in Richmond. It’s also developing a five-story, 116-unit apartment building at the southeast corner of Hull Street and Commerce Road in Manchester. Its other projects include the 200-unit Foundry Apartments along the interstate near Virginia Union University, and the 96-unit Alexander at 1090 Apartments at 1090 German School Road.
This will be a great addition to the area. Whatever happened to the plan for daylighting Reedy Creek? I never understood how it would work as close as it is to some of the buildings in this area, but it certainly would be beneficial.