The Bow Tie site is one of the largest developable plots of land near the Scott’s Addition area. (BizSense file)
A group of Washington, D.C.-area developers just bought themselves a front row seat at the southern edge of the Diamond District.
Level 2 Development, SJG Properties and FCP have purchased a portion of the Movieland At Boulevard Square property at 2700 W. Leigh St.
The firms paid $15.5 million for 6 acres of West Leigh-facing wooded land owned by Movieland owner Bow Tie Partners. The deal did not include the movie theater complex or its parking lots, which will continue to operate as usual.
An early rendering of the planned 375-unit building. Courtesy Level 2
Level 2 principal David Franco confirmed the deal Tuesday and said the group is planning a five-story, 375-unit apartment building for the site. It’ll be within eyeshot of Arthur Ashe Addition, a mixed-use project Level 2 and SJG are working on at 1117-1209 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
The deal closed late last week and equates to roughly $2.6 million per acre. For comparison, Level 2 and SJG paid $3.8 million per acre for the 3.3-acre Arthur Ashe Addition site last summer.
The site sits just south of The Diamond and the surrounding 60 acres that make up the Diamond District, which is the subject of a competitive RFP process fielded by the city.
FCP is a Maryland-based private equity firm with whom Level 2 has done deals in the past. With FCP handling some of the financing for the project, Level 2 and SJG will focus on building out the new apartment building, which they’re hoping to break ground on in early 2023.
While Arthur Ashe Addition will include nearly 30,000 square feet of commercial space to go with its 290 apartments, Franco said the latest project along West Leigh will be purely residential.
David Franco
“We just don’t think that part of Leigh (Street) is really much of a pedestrian thoroughfare,” Franco said. “There’s just no pedestrian linkage between Scott’s Addition and anywhere down West Leigh. Maybe that’ll change in 10 or 15 years.”
Franco said they’re still figuring out the breakdown of unit sizes and rental rates, though he noted they’ll be comparable to the rest of the market.
“One thing that’ll make it unique is the range of unit types that we’ll be having,” Franco said. “We’ll have three-bedroom units so there’ll be opportunities for families. There’ll also be townhouse units that are multi-level units.”
Planned amenities for the unnamed project include a pool, lounge and gym. The building will front West Leigh Street, and behind it will be 415 surface parking spaces.
“This is a bit different since there won’t be structured parking,” Franco said. “The amount of area just supports the ability to build 375 units and accommodate them (without a parking deck).”
A general contractor has not been selected for either of Level 2’s upcoming projects in Richmond. Poole & Poole Architecture is designing both.
Franco said they hope to have the architecture of the West Leigh project pay homage to the neighboring Movieland theater that was a historic renovation project of a former steam engine factory dating back to 1900.
The Bow Tie site is one of the largest developable plots of land near the Scott’s Addition area. (BizSense file)
A group of Washington, D.C.-area developers just bought themselves a front row seat at the southern edge of the Diamond District.
Level 2 Development, SJG Properties and FCP have purchased a portion of the Movieland At Boulevard Square property at 2700 W. Leigh St.
The firms paid $15.5 million for 6 acres of West Leigh-facing wooded land owned by Movieland owner Bow Tie Partners. The deal did not include the movie theater complex or its parking lots, which will continue to operate as usual.
An early rendering of the planned 375-unit building. Courtesy Level 2
Level 2 principal David Franco confirmed the deal Tuesday and said the group is planning a five-story, 375-unit apartment building for the site. It’ll be within eyeshot of Arthur Ashe Addition, a mixed-use project Level 2 and SJG are working on at 1117-1209 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
The deal closed late last week and equates to roughly $2.6 million per acre. For comparison, Level 2 and SJG paid $3.8 million per acre for the 3.3-acre Arthur Ashe Addition site last summer.
The site sits just south of The Diamond and the surrounding 60 acres that make up the Diamond District, which is the subject of a competitive RFP process fielded by the city.
FCP is a Maryland-based private equity firm with whom Level 2 has done deals in the past. With FCP handling some of the financing for the project, Level 2 and SJG will focus on building out the new apartment building, which they’re hoping to break ground on in early 2023.
While Arthur Ashe Addition will include nearly 30,000 square feet of commercial space to go with its 290 apartments, Franco said the latest project along West Leigh will be purely residential.
David Franco
“We just don’t think that part of Leigh (Street) is really much of a pedestrian thoroughfare,” Franco said. “There’s just no pedestrian linkage between Scott’s Addition and anywhere down West Leigh. Maybe that’ll change in 10 or 15 years.”
Franco said they’re still figuring out the breakdown of unit sizes and rental rates, though he noted they’ll be comparable to the rest of the market.
“One thing that’ll make it unique is the range of unit types that we’ll be having,” Franco said. “We’ll have three-bedroom units so there’ll be opportunities for families. There’ll also be townhouse units that are multi-level units.”
Planned amenities for the unnamed project include a pool, lounge and gym. The building will front West Leigh Street, and behind it will be 415 surface parking spaces.
“This is a bit different since there won’t be structured parking,” Franco said. “The amount of area just supports the ability to build 375 units and accommodate them (without a parking deck).”
A general contractor has not been selected for either of Level 2’s upcoming projects in Richmond. Poole & Poole Architecture is designing both.
Franco said they hope to have the architecture of the West Leigh project pay homage to the neighboring Movieland theater that was a historic renovation project of a former steam engine factory dating back to 1900.
Article after article about new investment in the growth of Richmond. It’s obvious that national capital believes this city is on the cusp of major improvements and population increases. It’s obvious that the naysayers are wrong that the city is deteriorating from the demonstrations and political events of the last two years. This city has a strong foundation.
Entirely too much parking, especially for a project with no commercial element that is directly adjacent to hundreds of existing unused parking spaces. “We just don’t think that part of Leigh (Street) is really much of a pedestrian thoroughfare,” Franco said. “There’s just no pedestrian linkage between Scott’s Addition and anywhere down West Leigh. Maybe that’ll change in 10 or 15 years.” This is such a bizarre statement since there already are pedestrian connections in the form of a built-out sidewalk network and nearby facilities like the ProtoPath and a park right across the street— not to mention buffered bike… Read more »
If these groups purchased the property then it how is it “city land”? If they think their potential customers/lessors drive cars then a parking lot seems like a good business decision. If they think they’ll have a majority of bikers and commuters then I assume they’d use the land in a different manner.
‘Stewards of city land’ I agree – how feudal.
The term “city land” means land within the city. It if was owned by the City of Richmond, I would have identified it as “City land”.
Please don’t confuse facts with truth.
They are pushing the development to one side for a reason-large contiguous parking lot is most likely intermediary use and there will be a phase 2. Let’s keep in mind – this is a DC development outfit.. They don’t need lectures about urban land use.
The city can build all the buffered bike lanes and proto paths they want – he’s being completely objective..heck the BLVD itself is pedestrianally pathetic much less Leigh St. Do I want to see mixed uses spread east to Carver ..yes! But real cities are not as economically simple as the Sim Cities prog-urbanists perceive them to be.
A truly bizarre statement is “Entirely too much parking, …”. The idea that everyone will be within walking distance, take Ubers or the Pulse in our city is a noble concept, but generally unrealistic. A person with three kids, who lives in the county, still needs a place to park when they visit the city.
I think they should at least have 1 unit of parking for each housing unit to be safe in that when VCU started building up their area they didn’t add new parking to the parking decks and it got really messy with parking.
I have no idea why you think people driving into the city would be allowed to park their cars in the privately owned lot for these apartments, but they won’t.
These individuals can find parking in one of the many thousands of existing parking spots or pay for on-street parking or in a lot. We are fortunate to live in a region with virtually no traffic and an abundance of parking spaces. We don’t have a parking problem in Richmond. We have a “people don’t want to walk more than two blocks for parking” problem. They can also forgo the car and try taking the bus like thousands of their neighbors do every day. But I’m not concerned with just the hypothetical person with three kids coming to the city,… Read more »
David Franco shouldn’t count on families for his 3 bedroom units unless the city school system makes a miraculous recovery. Regardless of how many apartments are built in the city when it comes time for children to go to school there is an out migration to the Counties, or private schools, with the exceptions being the zones where Mary Mumford and William Fox are located.
Don’t forget the Patrick Henry, Westover Hills and Southampton options. Fox and Mary Mumford are the “flag ships” but there are other groups investing in other schools too.
You mean Antifa is teaching CRt in schools?
Three bedroom apartments are being rented by three single people, not families. These developers are smarter than you assume.
I personally think their is a shortage of 3 bedroom apartments and notice that a lot of places are anti three bedroom apartments.
That’s true.