Mayo Island totals 15 acres and sits between Shockoe and Manchester. (Google Maps)
The largest piece of river-fronting land to hit the market in the city in recent years has found a buyer.
The Capital Region Land Conservancy is under contract to purchase Mayo Island at 501 S. 14th St. for an undisclosed amount.
The pending deal was announced by CRLC Executive Director Parker Agelasto at last week’s meeting of the Manchester Alliance, the Southside neighborhood’s civic association. CRLC is a nonprofit land trust that acquires land and puts it under conservation easements, precluding it from future development.
The 15-acre Mayo Island hit the market in the spring with an asking price of $19 million. City records show that the island sits below a federally recognized 100-year floodplain, meaning that it has a 1 percent chance annually of shallow flooding.
Such flood risks don’t look to be of concern to CRLC, as at Thursday’s meeting, Agelasto said their plan is to have Mayo Island become public green space.
Parker Agelasto
“If successful…Mayo (Island), that has been long-discussed and long-envisioned for a public space, can now become that in the future,” Agelasto said.
“After all the conversations here in Manchester about ‘Where’s our green space,’ I think Mayo is truly going to be the green space that everybody has been yearning for, with a nice walkability from the Hull Street corridor.”
He added that CRLC has made an initial security deposit on the island and is currently in the due diligence phase.
Reached Friday, Agelasto, a former city councilman, declined to comment further.
The Shaia family owns almost all of Mayo Island. A representative for the Shaias didn’t respond to requests for comment by press time.
The only piece of the island the Shaias don’t own is a quarter-acre parcel in the middle of the island at 510 S. 14th St. That parcel is owned by Louis and Virlinda Heindl, who said in an email last week they have not been contacted by CRLC.
It’s unclear whether CRLC would donate the island to the city, as it’s doing with a 5-acre parcel near Great Shiplock Park that’s currently in the process of being put under an easement.
Beyond the potential land deal, changes are also coming to the island’s namesake bridge.
The nearly 110-year-old Mayo Bridge is set to be replaced by the state in a project that’s anticipated to span about three years. Agelasto said Thursday that CRLC has been in discussions with the city and the Virginia Department of Transportation about the project.
“If we do close when we anticipate closing, then we can use the island for staging of the construction – which will accelerate that timeline, which will help everyone in Manchester and Shockoe for the connectivity,” Agelasto said.
“And at the same time, I’m sitting there saying, all that heavy equipment that they’re going to have can take up 8 acres of asphalt (on the Island) and remove it with them.”
Agelasto added that the CRLC is waiting to hear back from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation about a grant it applied for that would help fund the purchase. The grant money would come from the state’s Community Flood Preparedness Fund.
“It’s not a guarantee,” Agelasto said. “(But) we feel very good about where we are at the moment.”
Mayo Island is also currently caught in the middle of a legal spat between its current owners and VCU.
The university had rented a parking lot on the island since 2014, and in May, the Shaias filed a lawsuit against VCU, as well as the state’s comptroller and attorney general, alleging breach of contract and missed lease payments by the university.
The Shaias’ initial lawsuit was nonsuited in July, and a revised suit was re-filed in August. A hearing on the new lawsuit is scheduled for Jan. 17.
Mayo Island totals 15 acres and sits between Shockoe and Manchester. (Google Maps)
The largest piece of river-fronting land to hit the market in the city in recent years has found a buyer.
The Capital Region Land Conservancy is under contract to purchase Mayo Island at 501 S. 14th St. for an undisclosed amount.
The pending deal was announced by CRLC Executive Director Parker Agelasto at last week’s meeting of the Manchester Alliance, the Southside neighborhood’s civic association. CRLC is a nonprofit land trust that acquires land and puts it under conservation easements, precluding it from future development.
The 15-acre Mayo Island hit the market in the spring with an asking price of $19 million. City records show that the island sits below a federally recognized 100-year floodplain, meaning that it has a 1 percent chance annually of shallow flooding.
Such flood risks don’t look to be of concern to CRLC, as at Thursday’s meeting, Agelasto said their plan is to have Mayo Island become public green space.
Parker Agelasto
“If successful…Mayo (Island), that has been long-discussed and long-envisioned for a public space, can now become that in the future,” Agelasto said.
“After all the conversations here in Manchester about ‘Where’s our green space,’ I think Mayo is truly going to be the green space that everybody has been yearning for, with a nice walkability from the Hull Street corridor.”
He added that CRLC has made an initial security deposit on the island and is currently in the due diligence phase.
Reached Friday, Agelasto, a former city councilman, declined to comment further.
The Shaia family owns almost all of Mayo Island. A representative for the Shaias didn’t respond to requests for comment by press time.
The only piece of the island the Shaias don’t own is a quarter-acre parcel in the middle of the island at 510 S. 14th St. That parcel is owned by Louis and Virlinda Heindl, who said in an email last week they have not been contacted by CRLC.
It’s unclear whether CRLC would donate the island to the city, as it’s doing with a 5-acre parcel near Great Shiplock Park that’s currently in the process of being put under an easement.
Beyond the potential land deal, changes are also coming to the island’s namesake bridge.
The nearly 110-year-old Mayo Bridge is set to be replaced by the state in a project that’s anticipated to span about three years. Agelasto said Thursday that CRLC has been in discussions with the city and the Virginia Department of Transportation about the project.
“If we do close when we anticipate closing, then we can use the island for staging of the construction – which will accelerate that timeline, which will help everyone in Manchester and Shockoe for the connectivity,” Agelasto said.
“And at the same time, I’m sitting there saying, all that heavy equipment that they’re going to have can take up 8 acres of asphalt (on the Island) and remove it with them.”
Agelasto added that the CRLC is waiting to hear back from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation about a grant it applied for that would help fund the purchase. The grant money would come from the state’s Community Flood Preparedness Fund.
“It’s not a guarantee,” Agelasto said. “(But) we feel very good about where we are at the moment.”
Mayo Island is also currently caught in the middle of a legal spat between its current owners and VCU.
The university had rented a parking lot on the island since 2014, and in May, the Shaias filed a lawsuit against VCU, as well as the state’s comptroller and attorney general, alleging breach of contract and missed lease payments by the university.
The Shaias’ initial lawsuit was nonsuited in July, and a revised suit was re-filed in August. A hearing on the new lawsuit is scheduled for Jan. 17.
Mayo Island can become a world class passive recreation parkland but the state should not waste building a $100 million bridge across it. Just close the current bridge to traffic and divert that traffic to I-95 and the Manchester and Lee Bridges that serve the same areas. Allow pedestrian and bus traffic only. Shockoe Bottom and Historic Manchester will become safe pedestrian friendly areas.
I think another pedestrian bridge would be awesome. No buses, please.
That’s a great idea, Bruce. No buses, pedestrians only.
I really like Bruce’s idea to simply close the Mayo Bridge to traffic and just utilize it for Pedestrians, as well as maybe having some emergency vehicle access to Mayo Island only. The existing Mayo Bridge crossing could be converted into our city’s version of “The High Line” that is located in New York City. Then we could take the $ 100 million in savings and also apply it into making street improvements to Hull Street Corridor / Manchester street infrastructure, as well as any work required to divert car and truck traffic to: the Manchester Bridge, the currently named… Read more »
I want to add that the bridge itself, though 110 years old, is perfectly safe if we shut down vehicular traffic crossing it. Engineers say that the pilings that support it are good for another 400 years! But the new bridge will not use those pilings. They’ll pour new concrete ones that will not have that shelf life. Does this make any sense?
Why the heck was VCU renting a parking lot there??
Because they require a massive amount of parking for the hospital. They run shuttles from the various parking lots they use for employee parking. This was one of them.
Thanks! I sometimes think of that entity as “MCV” — but, that makes sense.
Excellent news that improves the James River basin for all. Parker Angelasto should be our next mayor.
Agreed this is incredible news. Parker (and all those who are working with him) is doing an awesome job at preserving our green spaces and riverfront. Keep up the great work!!
This job is the perfect fit for Parker. He’s found his place and destiny in the world, preserving environmentally sensitive areas for future generations. He’s our John Muir. Leave him be from city hall.
Good idea. Parker was an excellent city councilperson, my favorite during the 45 years I’ve lived here. He could be our Joe Riley, the long-serving Chaleston, SC mayor who led the transformation of that city into the world-class destination it is today.
Kudos to Parker Agelasto for taking on this worthwhile and game-changing endeavor for the benefit of our city as well as the entire Richmond region! Mayo Island could become the City of Richmond’s version of Central Park in NYC! In the future… People could take a train to Main Street Station (from either the: Northeast Corridor or Southeast Corridor) to arrive in Downtown Richmond. Then they have the option to walk from Main Street Station to Mayo Island, which is only 0.6 miles away. Then the Hull Street corridor in Manchester is only another 0.2 miles away from Mayo Island.… Read more »
Having a Central Park-like space would be wonderful. Unfortunately, Central Park costs about $70m a year to maintain, and Richmond just does not spend money on upkeep, beautification, etc. Look at Belle Isle – it is a dump.
Last week I went to use the toilet at the Belle Isle restroom only to find, to my horror, there was no concierge on duty. Why on earth would anyone from urbane and cosmopolitan NYC choose to grace this barbaric backwater?
We made a mistake and have to live with it, unfortunately.