The site of a potential future phase of the South Falls residential development sits just south of the Manchester Floodwall. (Mike Platania photo)
Fountainhead Real Estate Development and WVS Cos. wrapped up work last year on South Falls I, a 14-story residential tower at 111 Hull St. in Manchester.
The $100 million project rose on the site of a former paper mill and stands adjacent to the Manchester Floodwall, with many units offering views of the James River and downtown skyline.
But as its name implies, that first building is just the beginning for South Falls.
The developers are currently working through the design of South Falls II just to the west of the first site, and are pondering the possibility of South Falls III on a slice of land upstream along the floodwall.
While Fountainhead’s Tom Papa said phase two is likely to be similar in size to the first 256-unit tower, the third leg will be a deviation.
The final parcel in question is not even half of an acre. Papa describes it as “the last little opportunity to activate something along the riverfront before you run out of land.”
If they go through with it, WVS and Fountainhead would look to build condominiums, not apartments, in what’s planned as a 10-story building with 20 units.
However, the developers aren’t sure if they want to be the ones to build it.
A rendering of the planned South Falls III tower. Tom Papa said they designed it to be adjacent to, but not on top of, the forthcoming South Falls II tower. (Courtesy of Walter Parks Architects)
Papa said he and WVS’ Richard Souter and Jason Vickers-Smith are considering listing the South Falls III land for sale as they’re harboring some reservations about straying from their tried-and-true model of apartment developments and into condos.
“Most of us are just not condominium developers. There are people that are really good at it,” Papa said. “We know how to build them, but we just don’t want to do everything else that is associated with condominiums.”
“None of us are anxious to be the one that goes to condo board association meetings,” he said.
Recurring questions about increasing ownership in the city led the group to have Walter Parks Architects draw up a condo building on the 8,000-square-foot South Falls III site to see whether it would fit without obstructing views of neighboring buildings.
“When you’re putting buildings up, especially along the riverfront, you want to make sure there’s room for them to breathe,” Papa said. “It just happened that with the curve of the floodwall, it spaced nicely and it was in a place that worked.”
In addition to the extra headaches associated with condo development, Papa said WVS and Fountainhead’s other forthcoming projects, such as the final phases of the Locks along the Kanawha Canal and their planned spring 2022 groundbreaking for South Falls II, are also factoring in the decision to potentially sell the phase-three site.
Papa said they haven’t gone so far as to hire a broker to market the parcel, noting that they’re not totally committed to offloading it.
“We probably would eventually come to a consensus and build it,” Papa said. “But it really would be putting us out of our misery if somebody else takes it on.”
The site of a potential future phase of the South Falls residential development sits just south of the Manchester Floodwall. (Mike Platania photo)
Fountainhead Real Estate Development and WVS Cos. wrapped up work last year on South Falls I, a 14-story residential tower at 111 Hull St. in Manchester.
The $100 million project rose on the site of a former paper mill and stands adjacent to the Manchester Floodwall, with many units offering views of the James River and downtown skyline.
But as its name implies, that first building is just the beginning for South Falls.
The developers are currently working through the design of South Falls II just to the west of the first site, and are pondering the possibility of South Falls III on a slice of land upstream along the floodwall.
While Fountainhead’s Tom Papa said phase two is likely to be similar in size to the first 256-unit tower, the third leg will be a deviation.
The final parcel in question is not even half of an acre. Papa describes it as “the last little opportunity to activate something along the riverfront before you run out of land.”
If they go through with it, WVS and Fountainhead would look to build condominiums, not apartments, in what’s planned as a 10-story building with 20 units.
However, the developers aren’t sure if they want to be the ones to build it.
A rendering of the planned South Falls III tower. Tom Papa said they designed it to be adjacent to, but not on top of, the forthcoming South Falls II tower. (Courtesy of Walter Parks Architects)
Papa said he and WVS’ Richard Souter and Jason Vickers-Smith are considering listing the South Falls III land for sale as they’re harboring some reservations about straying from their tried-and-true model of apartment developments and into condos.
“Most of us are just not condominium developers. There are people that are really good at it,” Papa said. “We know how to build them, but we just don’t want to do everything else that is associated with condominiums.”
“None of us are anxious to be the one that goes to condo board association meetings,” he said.
Recurring questions about increasing ownership in the city led the group to have Walter Parks Architects draw up a condo building on the 8,000-square-foot South Falls III site to see whether it would fit without obstructing views of neighboring buildings.
“When you’re putting buildings up, especially along the riverfront, you want to make sure there’s room for them to breathe,” Papa said. “It just happened that with the curve of the floodwall, it spaced nicely and it was in a place that worked.”
In addition to the extra headaches associated with condo development, Papa said WVS and Fountainhead’s other forthcoming projects, such as the final phases of the Locks along the Kanawha Canal and their planned spring 2022 groundbreaking for South Falls II, are also factoring in the decision to potentially sell the phase-three site.
Papa said they haven’t gone so far as to hire a broker to market the parcel, noting that they’re not totally committed to offloading it.
“We probably would eventually come to a consensus and build it,” Papa said. “But it really would be putting us out of our misery if somebody else takes it on.”
Great article that provides some clarity on what’s planned for the Manchester riverfront area! Thanks for digging up some answers Mike! We are all looking forward to the South Falls II groundbreaking! Exciting!
Fully agreed! I’m very much looking forward to South Falls II getting underway as the burgeoning skyline of the Manchester riverfront continues to grow. I hope and pray they will stay the course and move forward with the construction of South Falls III. I love the design and the size — the 12-story building on a much smaller footprint gives the structure a really appealing sense of verticality that the other residential buildings don’t have. If they build both towers — plus the 13-story building across the river along the canal, then Tom Papa’s folks will have quite the presence… Read more »
This is awesome! I love all the density coming into Manchester! Now how about that grocery store?