The 12-story tower at 2201 Westwood Ave. is Carvana’s 30th car vending machine in the country, and one of its tallest. (BizSense file)
Have you seen the architecturally-startling, glass and metal, 12-story Carvana high-rise car vending machine at the intersection of Westwood and Hamilton avenues near I-195? The experience made me aware of other towers about town, old and new.
The Hogwartsesque granite clocktower of Old City Hall downtown is undergoing restoration as part of a massive makeover of the Virginia General Assembly office complex. The twin towers of the Jefferson Hotel, a glorious Renaissance revival marvel on West Franklin Street, are being cleaned and repointed. Meanwhile, inexplicably, the modernist bell tower of the Belgian Friendship Building at Virginia Union University at Lombardy Street and Brook Road has been marred since huge initials, “VUU,” were affixed to its peak, making it a mere signpost. More pleasantly, just a few blocks south of the VUU campus, a standalone, 12-story apartment tower is under construction on West Broad: It transforms architecturally this previously unrelentless horizontal stretch of West Broad Street.
But it’s the recently completed Carvana tower at 2201 Westwood Ave., a giddy celebration and container of used cars, that has local folks atwitter. I was standing in a downtown theater lobby during the New Year’s weekend when an in-the-know couple button-holed me: “The neighbors are in an uproar over that building,” the wife gushed, “What do you think?” I told them that I found the crystalline structure a fresh addition to the cityscape. Besides, when was the last time the chattering class got even mildly riled up over a new building? (Probably in 2018 upon completion of the Institute for Contemporary Art, the Steven Holl Architects-designed statement at Broad and Belvidere streets)
WHN Architects of Charlotte, N.C.-designed Carvana’s international-style high rise that can display 43 vehicles. Catamount Contractors was the builder and Kimley-Horn the engineer. The structure is a combination automobile display case, holding facility, and car vending machine that awaits customers who have prepaid online.
“At least the cars aren’t spread out on a surface parking lot,” noted one of my friends. Carvana does own a 183-acre vehicle processing lot in Chesterfield County where cars await delivery to the in-town vending tower.
“Are the cars real?” is the question a friend’s middle school age daughter asked her father when they recently drove by the Carvana tower.
It does have the aura of a mechanical toy since this automated vehicle delivery system pushes out a car like a cuckoo clock expels a cuckoo bird, only at a lower level. It’s therefore not surprising that the manufacturer of the mechanical system is Nussbaum Corp., a family-owned operation based in Kehl, Germany in the southwestern region of Baden-Wurttemberg where the cuckoo clock was perfected in the 1600s.
If the 12-story glass tower and its movable parts deliver considerable drama, the base of the tower is a conservative, brownish-hued brick structure that contains offices and a detailing bay.
The meshing of towers and automobiles has long fascinated architects and engineers. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was engaged in 1924 to design an automotive tower of sorts for the top of Sugarloaf Mountain near Frederick in the Maryland countryside for Gordon Strong, a Chicago-based entrepreneur. Wright devised a spiraling ramp, designed to lure motorists up to overlooks, eateries and an observatory. The client, however, pulled the plug when he sensed that there was too much Wright and not enough nature in the scheme. Years later, in 1947, Wright attempted unsuccessfully to build a 14-story parking tower in downtown Pittsburgh, a concept that flummoxed city planners.
Much more basically, I remember seeing for the first time as a teenager in 1966 the stack hydraulic parking lifts along the New York City sidewalks, next to Broadway theaters or wedged between Soho iron front warehouses.
So, despite the response of Richmond’s West End or North Side residents, on Richmond’s Westwood Avenue Carvana has upped the ante in a refreshing way with its 30th car vending machine nationwide. Our culture is about nothing if not about automobiles, so for a community in search of subjects for new monuments, what’s more American than a tower of cars, especially overlooking an interstate highway?
The 12-story tower at 2201 Westwood Ave. is Carvana’s 30th car vending machine in the country, and one of its tallest. (BizSense file)
Have you seen the architecturally-startling, glass and metal, 12-story Carvana high-rise car vending machine at the intersection of Westwood and Hamilton avenues near I-195? The experience made me aware of other towers about town, old and new.
The Hogwartsesque granite clocktower of Old City Hall downtown is undergoing restoration as part of a massive makeover of the Virginia General Assembly office complex. The twin towers of the Jefferson Hotel, a glorious Renaissance revival marvel on West Franklin Street, are being cleaned and repointed. Meanwhile, inexplicably, the modernist bell tower of the Belgian Friendship Building at Virginia Union University at Lombardy Street and Brook Road has been marred since huge initials, “VUU,” were affixed to its peak, making it a mere signpost. More pleasantly, just a few blocks south of the VUU campus, a standalone, 12-story apartment tower is under construction on West Broad: It transforms architecturally this previously unrelentless horizontal stretch of West Broad Street.
But it’s the recently completed Carvana tower at 2201 Westwood Ave., a giddy celebration and container of used cars, that has local folks atwitter. I was standing in a downtown theater lobby during the New Year’s weekend when an in-the-know couple button-holed me: “The neighbors are in an uproar over that building,” the wife gushed, “What do you think?” I told them that I found the crystalline structure a fresh addition to the cityscape. Besides, when was the last time the chattering class got even mildly riled up over a new building? (Probably in 2018 upon completion of the Institute for Contemporary Art, the Steven Holl Architects-designed statement at Broad and Belvidere streets)
WHN Architects of Charlotte, N.C.-designed Carvana’s international-style high rise that can display 43 vehicles. Catamount Contractors was the builder and Kimley-Horn the engineer. The structure is a combination automobile display case, holding facility, and car vending machine that awaits customers who have prepaid online.
“At least the cars aren’t spread out on a surface parking lot,” noted one of my friends. Carvana does own a 183-acre vehicle processing lot in Chesterfield County where cars await delivery to the in-town vending tower.
“Are the cars real?” is the question a friend’s middle school age daughter asked her father when they recently drove by the Carvana tower.
It does have the aura of a mechanical toy since this automated vehicle delivery system pushes out a car like a cuckoo clock expels a cuckoo bird, only at a lower level. It’s therefore not surprising that the manufacturer of the mechanical system is Nussbaum Corp., a family-owned operation based in Kehl, Germany in the southwestern region of Baden-Wurttemberg where the cuckoo clock was perfected in the 1600s.
If the 12-story glass tower and its movable parts deliver considerable drama, the base of the tower is a conservative, brownish-hued brick structure that contains offices and a detailing bay.
The meshing of towers and automobiles has long fascinated architects and engineers. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was engaged in 1924 to design an automotive tower of sorts for the top of Sugarloaf Mountain near Frederick in the Maryland countryside for Gordon Strong, a Chicago-based entrepreneur. Wright devised a spiraling ramp, designed to lure motorists up to overlooks, eateries and an observatory. The client, however, pulled the plug when he sensed that there was too much Wright and not enough nature in the scheme. Years later, in 1947, Wright attempted unsuccessfully to build a 14-story parking tower in downtown Pittsburgh, a concept that flummoxed city planners.
Much more basically, I remember seeing for the first time as a teenager in 1966 the stack hydraulic parking lifts along the New York City sidewalks, next to Broadway theaters or wedged between Soho iron front warehouses.
So, despite the response of Richmond’s West End or North Side residents, on Richmond’s Westwood Avenue Carvana has upped the ante in a refreshing way with its 30th car vending machine nationwide. Our culture is about nothing if not about automobiles, so for a community in search of subjects for new monuments, what’s more American than a tower of cars, especially overlooking an interstate highway?
Was this a tongue in cheek article? You are comparing this tacky, ugly, vending machine to a clock tower? The bell tower of the Belgian Friendship Building is a mere “sign post”, but a tower filled with broken down cars reading “CARVANA” 12 stories up is an architecturally-startling building ?!?!? You are kidding, right? You have to be kidding. This building never should have been allowed in this city. Tacky, ugly, gimicky, and probably empty within two years.
Although I must admit I was skeptical at first, I like the Carvana tower. It is unusual and when lit up at night, in its multi-neon colors, it is a nice addition to the otherwise bland skyline. From an engineering point of view it is pretty neat to think of the mechanics of how it works. The real genius of the tower is the fact that it does not require acres of flat surface area for a sales lot. Nothing worse than seeing acre after acre of cars at the dealerships. And yes the VUU tower is a mere “sign… Read more »
This article must be a joke.
I think it looks rather unique. There are plenty of uglier structures in American cities these days.
Empty in two years? No disrespect but are you clueless to the current shortage and extremely high resale values that will prompt people to continue to sell their old vehicles? And when things normalize, you do realize the EV revolution is upon us? That is even more gas guzzlers being sold back. While I actually agree that there may be a time this stands empty of cars (I’m sure someone will have a clever condo repurpose), 2 years is about… 20 too short. Also, I do not believe anyone is disagreeing that this is a gimmick. Literally the ENTIRE point… Read more »
Obviously you haven’t been following Carvana’s issues lately, giving them two years might be generous. It’s practically empty right now…
The key to writing proper satire is to not make it too obvious that it’s satire. If that was the intent then bravo sir
I wish there was a “community contract” for companies that alter the landscape. Something in place that says the company, when it eventually goes out of business, MUST take down any unattractive installations/buildings/whatever. I realize that is a slippery slope. But when companies go above two or three stories, it starts to affect our appreciation of our environment. I’d hold Top Golf to this contract as well. But hey, what do I know.
The problem is: who gets to decide what is “unattractive”?
Those who don’t wear masks… aka the entitled. 😉
Perhaps if the tower was filled with rare and antique cars naysayers would see it differently – it could even be a draw for tourism. With neighbors like Topgolf, Shield n Sheath, and Triangle Rock Club, it’s funny to imagine how it could be repurposed. How about a high end restaurant with panoramic views?
panoramic views of what?!?
depends on your perspective, literal and figurative, and of course, timing.
Does this company make money? Nope, serious cash burn. How serious? How does $1.1 BILLION sound? These are the dipsh1ts that are building the car vending machines? Perhaps it is actually a time machine, back to the dot.com bubble – remember that, when all those companies that didn’t actually make any money were around? This is their poster child. But aside from the tackiness, how does this thing get re-purposed when the company goes belly up? Enjoy your eyesore, whoever approved this.
Matt, that frame structure would be as easy to disassemble as most any other structure. Or even a monument.
This guy gets it
Unlike some of other commenters, I don’t necessarily have an aesthetic issue with the tower, but I do take issue with this sentence in the last paragraph: “Our culture is about nothing if not about automobiles, so for a community in search of subjects for new monuments, what’s more American than a tower of cars, especially overlooking an interstate highway?” Richmond’s culture is about much more than automobiles. While the interstate system has significantly impacted the landscape in the last 75 years, Richmond’s transportation history is much more intrinsically linked to the James River and the railroads that predate the… Read more »
Ever since I moved to Richmond in 2008, everyone here nay says almost every new building project or improvement. It’s a wonder how anything new gets built at all. I’m glad things are still being build and improved upon despite people being negative about almost everything in the city.
“Haters are gonna hate.” There are negative nellies out there in social media land.
That’s because almost everyone that comments here are armchair quarterbacks that don’t build ANYTHING. All the excellent architects, developers, and contractors that I know NEVER comment on here because they are too busy doing their jobs.
J. Sid – perhaps. but it is possible, that busy people have opinions worth sharing. I have little doubt this media source caters to, and has a reader base filled with, the professions mentioned above in addition to many others. In my opinion, it’s wonderful to have comments that are not solely negative in focus, but it is also important to share any opinion, particularly when it is well versed in the areas covered or left out.
You make a good point, Seth. For some reason, many Richmonders have a need to denigrate anything new, particularly anything that is cutting-edge or innovative. You should have seen some of the comments about the Markel Building, VCU’s Institute for Contemporary Art and, at one time, the Best Products retail stores. I’m glad there are others who can appreciate these unusual structures.
Richmond Biz Sense needs more Ed Slipek.
Great to see a piece of your here, Ed!! Keep up the great writing!!
An extremely well written treatise and right on point. Cheers, good sir.
Carvana’s tower is doing it’s intended job. We are all aware of their Richmond presence and talking about them. It took Car Max exponentially more ad dollars to
gain comparable market presence.
Like it or not, it is here for the long haul.
It’s hard to name other National Brands
that chose to come to Richmond in the past couple of years.
Carvanna towers are shutting down all around the country. Corrupt practices. States are kicking them out.
Proof? Link?
All I found was one of 4 or 5 in NC that was banned from selling for 90 days due to an issue with state registrations.