The Columbia building in a pre-1924 photo courtesy the University of Richmond, left, and today.
The next chapter of a historic Fan building’s story might be inked at the auction block.
The Columbia building at 1142 W. Grace St. has gone into foreclosure, and an auction is set for Dec. 12 at the Richmond City Circuit Courthouse. In its almost 200-year history, the building has housed the prominent Haxall family, a Confederate hospital, a University of Richmond department and, most recently, office tenants.
One South Realty is advertising the building for lease, but broker David Kalman would not comment on the listing.
“It was an office building, and that’s what we were trying to lease it as,” Kalman said.
The two-story building, which has 13,700 square feet plus a 6,850-square-foot basement, is owned by Richmond Real Estate Group LLC, a firm controlled by Barry M. Dodson. Richmond Real Estate Group in 2008 took out a $850,000 credit line on the property, which was accompanied by an agreement that allows lender Citizens Bank & Trust to claim income generated by the property in case of default.
It is unclear when the property went into default or how much Richmond Real Estate Group owes on the loan. Skip Jones of Richmond-based FloranceGordonBrown is acting as a substitute trustee on behalf of the lender. Dodson could not be reached by press time.
The Columbia house was built in 1817 by wealthy Richmond mill manager Philip Haxall. The Haxall family sold the property in 1834 to the Virginia Baptist Educational Society, according to Virginia Department of Historic Resources records. The VBES converted Columbia into the main academic building for Richmond College, which later became the University of Richmond, DHR records say.
Columbia also functioned as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War and housed UR’s law school from 1918 until the current law school was built in 1954, according the UR website. The school added a classroom wing to the north end of the original house in 1924.
UR sold the building to Bob Buerlein of the American Historical Foundation in December 1983, Buerlein said, and the AHF maintained its offices and a military museum at Columbia until it sold the property in 2005.
“It was a national historic landmark, and it was historically significant,” Buerlein said. “The place has huge hallways — we had the museum’s glass cases in the hallways, and it looked terrific.”
Richmond Real Estate Group bought Columbia in 2008 for $1 million, according to city records. The property is assessed at $979,000.
The Columbia building in a pre-1924 photo courtesy the University of Richmond, left, and today.
The next chapter of a historic Fan building’s story might be inked at the auction block.
The Columbia building at 1142 W. Grace St. has gone into foreclosure, and an auction is set for Dec. 12 at the Richmond City Circuit Courthouse. In its almost 200-year history, the building has housed the prominent Haxall family, a Confederate hospital, a University of Richmond department and, most recently, office tenants.
One South Realty is advertising the building for lease, but broker David Kalman would not comment on the listing.
“It was an office building, and that’s what we were trying to lease it as,” Kalman said.
The two-story building, which has 13,700 square feet plus a 6,850-square-foot basement, is owned by Richmond Real Estate Group LLC, a firm controlled by Barry M. Dodson. Richmond Real Estate Group in 2008 took out a $850,000 credit line on the property, which was accompanied by an agreement that allows lender Citizens Bank & Trust to claim income generated by the property in case of default.
It is unclear when the property went into default or how much Richmond Real Estate Group owes on the loan. Skip Jones of Richmond-based FloranceGordonBrown is acting as a substitute trustee on behalf of the lender. Dodson could not be reached by press time.
The Columbia house was built in 1817 by wealthy Richmond mill manager Philip Haxall. The Haxall family sold the property in 1834 to the Virginia Baptist Educational Society, according to Virginia Department of Historic Resources records. The VBES converted Columbia into the main academic building for Richmond College, which later became the University of Richmond, DHR records say.
Columbia also functioned as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War and housed UR’s law school from 1918 until the current law school was built in 1954, according the UR website. The school added a classroom wing to the north end of the original house in 1924.
UR sold the building to Bob Buerlein of the American Historical Foundation in December 1983, Buerlein said, and the AHF maintained its offices and a military museum at Columbia until it sold the property in 2005.
“It was a national historic landmark, and it was historically significant,” Buerlein said. “The place has huge hallways — we had the museum’s glass cases in the hallways, and it looked terrific.”
Richmond Real Estate Group bought Columbia in 2008 for $1 million, according to city records. The property is assessed at $979,000.