The four-story building at 1322 W. Broad St. includes 19 apartments and ground-floor commercial space. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
He didn’t have it on the market. But when a buyer came calling for his apartment building at 1322 W. Broad St., the prospect of putting the proceeds toward other projects he wants to tackle ended up too alluring for David Gammino to pass up.
David Gammino
The local developer sold the building he’d rehabbed seven years ago for $4.1 million in a deal that closed Feb. 23. The four-story building, at Broad and Bowe streets a block east of Lombardy, consists of 19 apartments and a ground-floor commercial space.
The buyer is a group that includes Ali Semir of James River Housing Partners and Ralph Reahard of Real Property Management Richmond Metro. The acquisition is the latest along Broad for James River Housing, which last year purchased the mixed-use building at 20-22 E. Broad for $3.2 million. It also owns the Simon Cycle building at 10-14 W. Broad St., which it bought in 2018 for $2 million.
Semir said the building was brought to their attention by Capstone’s Cole Carns and Ron Corrao, who represented Gammino in the transaction. Capstone’s Eric Liebich was also involved in the deal.
“It looked like an awesome deal, and our motivation was adding an additional great-looking building on Broad Street,” Semir said. “We were drawn to the appeal and the development style, and the attention to detail by David Gammino was incredible here.”
Gammino, who bought the century-old building in 2013, said the units had performed well since his City & Guilds firm rehabbed it two years later. He said the project had cost about $2.3 million, on top of the roughly $1 million he paid for the property.
The 25,000-square-foot building and 0.13-acre parcel are now assessed by the city at $3.3 million.
“It’s a nice building and a great location,” said Gammino, whose Urban Dwell firm had been managing the property. “I wasn’t looking to sell it. I just received a cold call and an offer.”
The commercial space at 1322 W. Broad St. previously housed an Aroma Cafe coffee shop. (BizSense file photos)
Gammino said the sale allows him to pursue a pair of projects he’s now able to work on simultaneously: an assisted-living facility rehab on Chamberlayne Avenue, and an expansion of the 22-room Hotel Cape Charles that he co-owns with his wife Kathryn on the Eastern Shore.
“It was a strong offer and I had these other two things in the hopper, and I wanted to move forward on both of those things,” Gammino said. “I probably wouldn’t have sold it if I didn’t have those two other projects in the feasibility pipeline. This sale made financing both of those much, much easier.”
He said he’s under contract to purchase Madison House, an assisted living facility at 3212 Chamberlayne Ave., which he’s planning to upgrade with an unnamed operator on board. And in Cape Charles, he has a contract on a building adjacent to the 22-room hotel that he’s planning to use for a 12- to 13-room expansion.
Rents to rise, commercial tenant to stay
Totaling 10 one-bedroom and nine two-bedroom apartments, the Broad Street building also houses Capital Station, a business incubator for first-time entrepreneurs run by LaMar Dixon. Semir and Reahard said Dixon’s lease on the 2,700-square-foot space will carry over and is set to run through April 2024.
The building’s commercial space houses a business incubator led by LaMar Dixon, left.
Dixon said he’s planning to open the space this spring after holding off due to COVID restrictions. He said the incubator, originally planned for a former bank building on Brookland Park Boulevard, has about 25 members so far.
Ralph Reahard
The 19 apartments were fully leased at closing and currently rent from $985 a month for a one-bedroom to $1,350 for a two-bedroom.
Reahard, who will handle property management, said the rents will be increased to bring them more in line with the market.
“We think they’re a little bit below market. We’re going to be pushing them a little bit,” Reahard said. “I think a lot of folks, going into COVID, were a little cautious, especially up and down that (corridor). It was kind of like rents got put on pause for a year.”
Reahard said rents are planned to increase 7 percent on renewal and 15 percent with new leases. Semir added that they’re approach to the building otherwise would be in line with their other Broad Street properties.
“We’re just going to operate it as efficiently as possible,” Semir said.
Since making its first acquisition five years ago, James River Housing now owns 250 units and manages a portfolio valued at $45 million, according to its website. Its portfolio includes properties in Virginia, the D.C. area and Georgia. Semir runs the firm along with fellow principal Kevin Bohm.
Ali Semir
In 2019, it purchased a 24-property assortment of rowhouses, detached homes and duplexes from Richmond-based Clachan Properties for $5.1 million. Other properties include a Shockoe Bottom mixed-use building at 1710 E. Franklin St., which it bought for $2.8 million in 2017.
Semir and Reahard are also part of the group that’s redeveloping the former Caravati’s site in Manchester into 188 apartments.
They worked with local attorney Reiner Smith on the Broad Street deal and with Kinloch Capital on financing. Semir said they’re actively looking for additional deals in the city.
“We’d love to look at any deal, on and off Broad Street,” he said. “We’re more driven based on how the property fits and looks in our portfolio.”
Meanwhile, Gammino is working to line up his next project in town: a five-story apartment building he’s planning in Jackson Ward, beside his City & Guilds and Urban Dwell offices at Leigh and Second streets.
The four-story building at 1322 W. Broad St. includes 19 apartments and ground-floor commercial space. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
He didn’t have it on the market. But when a buyer came calling for his apartment building at 1322 W. Broad St., the prospect of putting the proceeds toward other projects he wants to tackle ended up too alluring for David Gammino to pass up.
David Gammino
The local developer sold the building he’d rehabbed seven years ago for $4.1 million in a deal that closed Feb. 23. The four-story building, at Broad and Bowe streets a block east of Lombardy, consists of 19 apartments and a ground-floor commercial space.
The buyer is a group that includes Ali Semir of James River Housing Partners and Ralph Reahard of Real Property Management Richmond Metro. The acquisition is the latest along Broad for James River Housing, which last year purchased the mixed-use building at 20-22 E. Broad for $3.2 million. It also owns the Simon Cycle building at 10-14 W. Broad St., which it bought in 2018 for $2 million.
Semir said the building was brought to their attention by Capstone’s Cole Carns and Ron Corrao, who represented Gammino in the transaction. Capstone’s Eric Liebich was also involved in the deal.
“It looked like an awesome deal, and our motivation was adding an additional great-looking building on Broad Street,” Semir said. “We were drawn to the appeal and the development style, and the attention to detail by David Gammino was incredible here.”
Gammino, who bought the century-old building in 2013, said the units had performed well since his City & Guilds firm rehabbed it two years later. He said the project had cost about $2.3 million, on top of the roughly $1 million he paid for the property.
The 25,000-square-foot building and 0.13-acre parcel are now assessed by the city at $3.3 million.
“It’s a nice building and a great location,” said Gammino, whose Urban Dwell firm had been managing the property. “I wasn’t looking to sell it. I just received a cold call and an offer.”
The commercial space at 1322 W. Broad St. previously housed an Aroma Cafe coffee shop. (BizSense file photos)
Gammino said the sale allows him to pursue a pair of projects he’s now able to work on simultaneously: an assisted-living facility rehab on Chamberlayne Avenue, and an expansion of the 22-room Hotel Cape Charles that he co-owns with his wife Kathryn on the Eastern Shore.
“It was a strong offer and I had these other two things in the hopper, and I wanted to move forward on both of those things,” Gammino said. “I probably wouldn’t have sold it if I didn’t have those two other projects in the feasibility pipeline. This sale made financing both of those much, much easier.”
He said he’s under contract to purchase Madison House, an assisted living facility at 3212 Chamberlayne Ave., which he’s planning to upgrade with an unnamed operator on board. And in Cape Charles, he has a contract on a building adjacent to the 22-room hotel that he’s planning to use for a 12- to 13-room expansion.
Rents to rise, commercial tenant to stay
Totaling 10 one-bedroom and nine two-bedroom apartments, the Broad Street building also houses Capital Station, a business incubator for first-time entrepreneurs run by LaMar Dixon. Semir and Reahard said Dixon’s lease on the 2,700-square-foot space will carry over and is set to run through April 2024.
The building’s commercial space houses a business incubator led by LaMar Dixon, left.
Dixon said he’s planning to open the space this spring after holding off due to COVID restrictions. He said the incubator, originally planned for a former bank building on Brookland Park Boulevard, has about 25 members so far.
Ralph Reahard
The 19 apartments were fully leased at closing and currently rent from $985 a month for a one-bedroom to $1,350 for a two-bedroom.
Reahard, who will handle property management, said the rents will be increased to bring them more in line with the market.
“We think they’re a little bit below market. We’re going to be pushing them a little bit,” Reahard said. “I think a lot of folks, going into COVID, were a little cautious, especially up and down that (corridor). It was kind of like rents got put on pause for a year.”
Reahard said rents are planned to increase 7 percent on renewal and 15 percent with new leases. Semir added that they’re approach to the building otherwise would be in line with their other Broad Street properties.
“We’re just going to operate it as efficiently as possible,” Semir said.
Since making its first acquisition five years ago, James River Housing now owns 250 units and manages a portfolio valued at $45 million, according to its website. Its portfolio includes properties in Virginia, the D.C. area and Georgia. Semir runs the firm along with fellow principal Kevin Bohm.
Ali Semir
In 2019, it purchased a 24-property assortment of rowhouses, detached homes and duplexes from Richmond-based Clachan Properties for $5.1 million. Other properties include a Shockoe Bottom mixed-use building at 1710 E. Franklin St., which it bought for $2.8 million in 2017.
Semir and Reahard are also part of the group that’s redeveloping the former Caravati’s site in Manchester into 188 apartments.
They worked with local attorney Reiner Smith on the Broad Street deal and with Kinloch Capital on financing. Semir said they’re actively looking for additional deals in the city.
“We’d love to look at any deal, on and off Broad Street,” he said. “We’re more driven based on how the property fits and looks in our portfolio.”
Meanwhile, Gammino is working to line up his next project in town: a five-story apartment building he’s planning in Jackson Ward, beside his City & Guilds and Urban Dwell offices at Leigh and Second streets.
How wonderful, raising rents. As our supply goes up, operator demand for more tenant money rises. What a trend.
Rising rents suck, but they often involve factors outside of the control of landlords. Say, for example, when your assessment goes up 18% and the city council refuses to to lower the tax rate to compensate. Multiply that by two decades.
The increase in rent is a perfect example of “Wage-Price Spiral”. We broke this trend last month; hopefully this is a positive sign.
This is super exciting news all the way around for all parties. David Gammino always had a good reputation for his skills in the courtroom and now in the real estate realm.
I would love to see a follow up story on Dixon and Capital Station. Has he paid back the $200k the city gave him to develop that bank building that was never even started? He was “unaware of the default judgement” of $200k? What advice has he given to start up businesses when his biggest success has been scamming incentive money? It has been two years since he says he was going to work with the city to repay. I guarantee you that this “incubator” is some sort of shell game to put grant money in his own pocket. Keep… Read more »
well that’s how all the developers do it, right?
does he have a seminar for people sto sign up for?
Dixon is not the developer. He’s a tenant.
No. It’s not how developers “do it”. This type of money has very strict guidelines and reporting in exchange. Dixon is now playing dumb, because probably a fraction of that $200k was spent on some 3D renderings to show the future of the project and a graphic designer to create some posters and website. The rest has probably been spent on “business expenses” like auto lease payments, “business trips” (vacations), furnishings, and office rent (places where he actually sleeps). Think about what you paid in real estate taxes to the city last year. I paid almost $4k. So, that would… Read more »