Douglas Development bought the Tiffanie’s Manor adult care facility in Monroe Ward for $3.3 million this week and plans to convert it into apartments. (BizSense file)
Douglas Development is in a deal-making mood in Richmond.
The Washington, D.C.-based firm, which owns dozens of properties in the city but has been quiet on the acquisition side in recent years, has closed two deals in the last month.
The latest was its purchase this week of the Tiffanie’s Manor adult care facility at 115 N. Jefferson St. for $3.3 million.
That deal was preceded by Douglas’ $4.4 million acquisition of the Massad House Hotel portfolio at 11 N. 4th St. in late December. An additional four buildings and three parking lots along East Main street near North 4th and 3rd streets were also included in the sale.
Norman Jemal
Douglas Development Managing Principal Norman Jemal said the Tiffanie’s Manor building is set to be converted into apartments.
“We’re still working through plans. It’ll be around 40 units,” Jemal said. “It’ll be primarily residential, but there could potentially be some commercial space.”
The 33,000-square-foot building was built in 1925 and stands three stories tall. Tiffanies’s Manor was founded by Dolores Gatling in 1988 to provide assisted living care for adults with mental disorders. Gatling’s daughters, Josephine Gatling and Sandra Gatling-Bennett, have since taken over the business and were the sellers in the Douglas deal.
Josephine Gatling had previously said that she intended to help Tiffanie’s residents find new places to stay following the sale. As of Wednesday afternoon, Tiffanie’s Manor’s phone line was disconnected and Gatling could not be reached.
The deal closed Jan. 31, city records show. The building was most recently assessed by the city at $2.5 million.
Jemal said they might explore using historic tax credits to help fund the building’s renovation, and that he expects light interior demolitions to begin on it “rather imminently.”
While Douglas has a clearer plan for the Tiffanie’s Manor building, Jemal said the firm is still weighing its options for the Massad House Hotel and the surrounding retail, restaurant and office buildings that Douglas Development bought.
He said the three-story hotel building, which closed in late 2021 after a six-decade run downtown, is likely to be one of two things.
The Massad House Hotel closed late last year after 60 years in business. (Mike Platania photo)
“We’re evaluating it as a hotel as well as for multifamily,” he said. “It’s a well-located building with good bones that’s in need of modernization and renovation.”
The Massad and Tiffanie’s Manor deals are the first two acquisitions Douglas Development has made in Richmond in recent years. While it has left much of its Arts District holdings unimproved, it has remained busy with some of its other downtown properties. It converted the former Stumpf Hotel at 728 E. Main St. into apartments and its currently wrapping up work on a similar conversion of the old Virginia Department of Environmental Quality building at 629 E. Main St.
The firm has been so interested in downtown that in the wake of the Navy Hill project’s failure, Jemal’s father, Douglas, also made an unsolicited offer to renovate the Richmond Coliseum.
With the DEQ apartment project on track to be completed in May, Jemal said they’ll be turning their attention to its dozen-plus Monroe and Jackson Ward properties, beginning with 200 and 201 E. Broad St., which are scheduled to be renovated as mixed-use projects.
Douglas Development bought the Tiffanie’s Manor adult care facility in Monroe Ward for $3.3 million this week and plans to convert it into apartments. (BizSense file)
Douglas Development is in a deal-making mood in Richmond.
The Washington, D.C.-based firm, which owns dozens of properties in the city but has been quiet on the acquisition side in recent years, has closed two deals in the last month.
The latest was its purchase this week of the Tiffanie’s Manor adult care facility at 115 N. Jefferson St. for $3.3 million.
That deal was preceded by Douglas’ $4.4 million acquisition of the Massad House Hotel portfolio at 11 N. 4th St. in late December. An additional four buildings and three parking lots along East Main street near North 4th and 3rd streets were also included in the sale.
Norman Jemal
Douglas Development Managing Principal Norman Jemal said the Tiffanie’s Manor building is set to be converted into apartments.
“We’re still working through plans. It’ll be around 40 units,” Jemal said. “It’ll be primarily residential, but there could potentially be some commercial space.”
The 33,000-square-foot building was built in 1925 and stands three stories tall. Tiffanies’s Manor was founded by Dolores Gatling in 1988 to provide assisted living care for adults with mental disorders. Gatling’s daughters, Josephine Gatling and Sandra Gatling-Bennett, have since taken over the business and were the sellers in the Douglas deal.
Josephine Gatling had previously said that she intended to help Tiffanie’s residents find new places to stay following the sale. As of Wednesday afternoon, Tiffanie’s Manor’s phone line was disconnected and Gatling could not be reached.
The deal closed Jan. 31, city records show. The building was most recently assessed by the city at $2.5 million.
Jemal said they might explore using historic tax credits to help fund the building’s renovation, and that he expects light interior demolitions to begin on it “rather imminently.”
While Douglas has a clearer plan for the Tiffanie’s Manor building, Jemal said the firm is still weighing its options for the Massad House Hotel and the surrounding retail, restaurant and office buildings that Douglas Development bought.
He said the three-story hotel building, which closed in late 2021 after a six-decade run downtown, is likely to be one of two things.
The Massad House Hotel closed late last year after 60 years in business. (Mike Platania photo)
“We’re evaluating it as a hotel as well as for multifamily,” he said. “It’s a well-located building with good bones that’s in need of modernization and renovation.”
The Massad and Tiffanie’s Manor deals are the first two acquisitions Douglas Development has made in Richmond in recent years. While it has left much of its Arts District holdings unimproved, it has remained busy with some of its other downtown properties. It converted the former Stumpf Hotel at 728 E. Main St. into apartments and its currently wrapping up work on a similar conversion of the old Virginia Department of Environmental Quality building at 629 E. Main St.
The firm has been so interested in downtown that in the wake of the Navy Hill project’s failure, Jemal’s father, Douglas, also made an unsolicited offer to renovate the Richmond Coliseum.
With the DEQ apartment project on track to be completed in May, Jemal said they’ll be turning their attention to its dozen-plus Monroe and Jackson Ward properties, beginning with 200 and 201 E. Broad St., which are scheduled to be renovated as mixed-use projects.
Meanwhile the City allows them to be in constant violation of even the most basic building codes with their buildings in Jackson Ward. Crumbling facades, broken glass, etc, are no worries for the City nor the predator developer.
Indeed this is disappointing news as Douglas Dev. has not been a good steward in the City. Most are their building are unimproved and foster slum-like conditions. This company should be challenged at every step to force them into compliance.