The 69,000-square-foot building at 3805 Cutshaw Ave. (Photo by Burl Rolett)
An apartment development might soon rise from the ashes of a West End office building that went up in flames almost three years ago.
Washington-based C.A. Harrison Companies is ready to move forward on a $7 million, 66-unit apartment conversion at the Daniel Building at 3805 Cutshaw Ave., the site of a 2011 fire that spared the five-story building but caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of interior damage.
Chris Harrison, managing member of C.A. Harrison, said he hopes to start work in March or April, more than a year and a half after he first submitted development plans to the city.
He expects renovations on the 69,000-square-foot property to take about 12 months. Todd Dykshorn of Architecture Design Office designed the project. Harrison plans to bid the project out to contractors in the near future.
A rendering of the project. (Courtesy of C.A. Harrison Companies)
As construction booms in nearby Scott’s Addition, Harrison hopes his project will fill a gap in the market on the other side of the interstate.
“Sometimes people are looking for something that’s not the norm,” Harrison said. “That area, I think, is underserved with new housing. I don’t think there’s a project over there that’s been built in about 20 years.”
Harrison will put 64 one- and two-bedroom apartments and two three-bedroom units in the five-story office building. Apartments will range from 562 square feet to 1,200 square feet.
Harrison is under contract to purchase the Daniel Building, with the deal scheduled to close 60 days after the city grants a special-use permit for the renovation. The property is owned by Daniel Group LLC, which has owned it since 2002. Its 1.3 acres includes a surface parking lot that fronts Hamilton Street.
Harrison’s project is expected to go before the Richmond planning commission Feb. 3, having been pushed back from the Dec. 6 meeting.
After the planning commission hears the special-use permit application, the plan will go before city council for final approval.
The Daniel Building will be the second Richmond area apartment project for C.A. Harrison Companies: The firm put up a 75-unit building at 2001 E. Broad St. in 2010.
Most of C.A. Harrison’s holdings are the D.C. area. The firm is working on a $50 million project in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Harrison said he is interested in doing more business in the Richmond market.
“There’s a lot of a push to move back to the urban core, and we like that about Richmond,” Harrison said. “And we like that we’re able to come here and compete and there’s not a major REIT or publicly held developer that controls the market.”
The Scott’s Addition area has seen a run of apartment development recently. The industrial neighborhood bounded by North Boulevard and Interstate 195 has about 600 apartment units planned or under construction.
Harrison said his location is central to the Fan and major transportation routes but distant enough to keep the project out of a Scott’s Addition leasing dogfight.
“We were looking for something that was kind of off the beaten path,” Harrison said. “Although our competition is the projects that are in Scott’s Addition, we really don’t have any competition where we are.”
The Daniel Building’s closest competitor in the apartment market is at 3600 Broad St., where Philadelphia-based PMC Realty Group rehabbed the former eight-story 3600 Centre building over the past two years and just received a certificate of occupancy for the last of its 191 units in December.
After less than a year of leasing, that building is roughly 46 percent spoken for, property manager Beth Beasley said.
“It’s definitely an up-and-coming area,” she said. “The overall location seems to work for people.”
The 69,000-square-foot building at 3805 Cutshaw Ave. (Photo by Burl Rolett)
An apartment development might soon rise from the ashes of a West End office building that went up in flames almost three years ago.
Washington-based C.A. Harrison Companies is ready to move forward on a $7 million, 66-unit apartment conversion at the Daniel Building at 3805 Cutshaw Ave., the site of a 2011 fire that spared the five-story building but caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of interior damage.
Chris Harrison, managing member of C.A. Harrison, said he hopes to start work in March or April, more than a year and a half after he first submitted development plans to the city.
He expects renovations on the 69,000-square-foot property to take about 12 months. Todd Dykshorn of Architecture Design Office designed the project. Harrison plans to bid the project out to contractors in the near future.
A rendering of the project. (Courtesy of C.A. Harrison Companies)
As construction booms in nearby Scott’s Addition, Harrison hopes his project will fill a gap in the market on the other side of the interstate.
“Sometimes people are looking for something that’s not the norm,” Harrison said. “That area, I think, is underserved with new housing. I don’t think there’s a project over there that’s been built in about 20 years.”
Harrison will put 64 one- and two-bedroom apartments and two three-bedroom units in the five-story office building. Apartments will range from 562 square feet to 1,200 square feet.
Harrison is under contract to purchase the Daniel Building, with the deal scheduled to close 60 days after the city grants a special-use permit for the renovation. The property is owned by Daniel Group LLC, which has owned it since 2002. Its 1.3 acres includes a surface parking lot that fronts Hamilton Street.
Harrison’s project is expected to go before the Richmond planning commission Feb. 3, having been pushed back from the Dec. 6 meeting.
After the planning commission hears the special-use permit application, the plan will go before city council for final approval.
The Daniel Building will be the second Richmond area apartment project for C.A. Harrison Companies: The firm put up a 75-unit building at 2001 E. Broad St. in 2010.
Most of C.A. Harrison’s holdings are the D.C. area. The firm is working on a $50 million project in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Harrison said he is interested in doing more business in the Richmond market.
“There’s a lot of a push to move back to the urban core, and we like that about Richmond,” Harrison said. “And we like that we’re able to come here and compete and there’s not a major REIT or publicly held developer that controls the market.”
The Scott’s Addition area has seen a run of apartment development recently. The industrial neighborhood bounded by North Boulevard and Interstate 195 has about 600 apartment units planned or under construction.
Harrison said his location is central to the Fan and major transportation routes but distant enough to keep the project out of a Scott’s Addition leasing dogfight.
“We were looking for something that was kind of off the beaten path,” Harrison said. “Although our competition is the projects that are in Scott’s Addition, we really don’t have any competition where we are.”
The Daniel Building’s closest competitor in the apartment market is at 3600 Broad St., where Philadelphia-based PMC Realty Group rehabbed the former eight-story 3600 Centre building over the past two years and just received a certificate of occupancy for the last of its 191 units in December.
After less than a year of leasing, that building is roughly 46 percent spoken for, property manager Beth Beasley said.
“It’s definitely an up-and-coming area,” she said. “The overall location seems to work for people.”