A drawing of the planned six-story building at 326 W. Seventh St. (Image courtesy of city documents)
An out-of-town developer’s vision for a full city block in Manchester is taking shape.
Last week, The Beach Co. filed plans for a six-story mixed-use building to replace the Thurston Spring Services facility at 326 W. Seventh St.
The South Carolina-based firm had filed some initial documents with the city for the 2-acre Seventh Street site earlier this year, but details were scant at the time.
Plans show an O-shaped building is planned to include 263 apartments. The center of the building will house a courtyard and pool, with other amenities including a rooftop lounge, gym and 900-square-foot coworking space. A 311-space, podium-style parking deck is also part of the plan.
The building’s commercial space would total about 7,000 square feet and primarily front Seventh Street.
The proposed development would occupy an entire city block in Manchester. (BizSense file photo)
Glave & Holmes Architecture is the project’s architect and Timmons Group is its engineer. A general contractor has not been selected.
Tim Cotter, Beach Co.’s development manager, said this week that he can’t comment much on the project beyond confirming that they’re still pursuing the site.
Thurston Spring Services, a suspension-focused auto shop, has owned the land since at least the 1970s, city property records show. Their land was most recently assessed at a combined $2.4 million.
The project would be the second in Richmond for Beach Co., joining the 221-unit project that’s under construction at 700 Semmes adjacent to the Thurston land. That project is set to welcome its first residents in spring 2023.
While The Beach Co.’s project is planned to rise to the south of Legend Brewing Co., another major project is in the works for a plot to the north of the brewery, as Avery Hall Investments is looking to build a pair of 16- and 17-story apartment towers at 301 W. Sixth St. The Brooklyn-based firm paid a record-setting $6 million per acre for that riverfront land.
A drawing of the planned six-story building at 326 W. Seventh St. (Image courtesy of city documents)
An out-of-town developer’s vision for a full city block in Manchester is taking shape.
Last week, The Beach Co. filed plans for a six-story mixed-use building to replace the Thurston Spring Services facility at 326 W. Seventh St.
The South Carolina-based firm had filed some initial documents with the city for the 2-acre Seventh Street site earlier this year, but details were scant at the time.
Plans show an O-shaped building is planned to include 263 apartments. The center of the building will house a courtyard and pool, with other amenities including a rooftop lounge, gym and 900-square-foot coworking space. A 311-space, podium-style parking deck is also part of the plan.
The building’s commercial space would total about 7,000 square feet and primarily front Seventh Street.
The proposed development would occupy an entire city block in Manchester. (BizSense file photo)
Glave & Holmes Architecture is the project’s architect and Timmons Group is its engineer. A general contractor has not been selected.
Tim Cotter, Beach Co.’s development manager, said this week that he can’t comment much on the project beyond confirming that they’re still pursuing the site.
Thurston Spring Services, a suspension-focused auto shop, has owned the land since at least the 1970s, city property records show. Their land was most recently assessed at a combined $2.4 million.
The project would be the second in Richmond for Beach Co., joining the 221-unit project that’s under construction at 700 Semmes adjacent to the Thurston land. That project is set to welcome its first residents in spring 2023.
While The Beach Co.’s project is planned to rise to the south of Legend Brewing Co., another major project is in the works for a plot to the north of the brewery, as Avery Hall Investments is looking to build a pair of 16- and 17-story apartment towers at 301 W. Sixth St. The Brooklyn-based firm paid a record-setting $6 million per acre for that riverfront land.
The two Beach Company deals and the two AveryHall buildings will bring roughly 1000 new units into Manchester within 100 feet of an entry to Legends Brewery and Restaurant. I’d don’t how one will get a seat in that place!
It should not be easy for developers (or anyone else) to privatize and build on public alleyways. If they want to build over an alley, there needs to be a significant proffer for public benefit.
Separately, retail and entrances should certainly address Commerce Rd as well as 7th street. The character of Commerce road will never improve if the architecture that surrounds it does not address it.
Why would a public alleyway be needed anymore if the entire block it serves is now a single development?
Commerce Road is a major thoroughfare and should have minimal to zero curb cuts into adjacent development. That is unless you enjoy the constant stop-and-go traffic turning in and out of roads like Midlothian Turnpike or West Broad Street.
Besides the alleyway dead ends on a dead end street (McDonough). It has no value to traffic patterns.
Even if the alley has NO use it is publicly owned real estate land and giving it away to developers when real estate taxes are soaring and the city is claiming they have millions in unfunded maintenance…EVERY PENNY COUNTS!
Uhhh. The “giveaway” you are crying about to this new 263 apartment development will include:
1. New Residents paying sales tax, utility fees, and car property tax to the city;
2. Annual property taxes owed by the building owners far and above the low-density industrial use currently in place.
3. Unknown but positive impact to potential future commercial activity throughout Manchester to attract MORE business (maybe a grocery store?), more property taxes, and more sales taxes to come.
“Unknown but positive impact” that will magically attract a grocery store, buy giving things to developers and asking for nothing in return? Suuuuuure.
There is a serious grade issue at the Manchester Bridge where it ends at Commerce Avenue. The architectural value is going to improve with these apartments by several levels. Jeff is correct on several points. the City needs to reopen Commerce Avenue access points to The Manchester Bridge and offer northbound traffic to use it instead of the Mayo Bridge. There are six lanes on the Nanchester Bridge that are vastly under used, yet the state is giddy about spending $100M to rebuild the Mayo Bridge (again within the floodplain!) with no traffic solutions on either riverside. It’s money largely… Read more »
Another BORING apartment building in Manchester. I wish the developers and architects had more of an imagination and built something worth looking at.
Best comment on the design a I saw yesterday, with an image on another website, was comparing the sketch on here to derelict Ramada hotel in Petersburg, The color scheme, scale, and sloping of the land made for a good laugh!
Always cool to see more apartments going up, of course, but as with that other one up near Broad that got announced last week, the parking space to living space ratio is way too big.
As was mentioned by the planning department at recent meetings even if the City gets rid of regulatory parking requirements it was interesting to learn that most of the requirements now come through lenders.
Better than a parking lot full of BEV charging stations!
Big fan of greenhouse gasses?
Dense, walkable neighborhoods that minimize car-dependency are even better than EVs for reducing greenhouse gasses…