A rendering of the mixed-use building now under construction at Westhampton Commons that’s planned to feature apartments and office space. (BizSense file)
The other companies that will join anchor tenant Bon Secours in the last building taking shape at Westhampton Commons have been revealed.
Investment firm Brockenbrough, nonprofit Red Gates Foundation and accounting firm Bryan Brothers are planning to relocate their offices to the mixed-use building that’s now under construction on the Libbie Avenue side of the West End development, according to Jason Guillot of Thalhimer Realty Partners.
The tenants will fill out the building’s 51,000 square feet of office space along with a Thalhimer residential leasing office and Bon Secours, which was revealed earlier this year as the building’s anchor tenant.
The five-story building is also planned to feature 53 apartments on its upper levels. The office space is to be on the lower two floors of the building.
Brockenbrough will occupy 13,000 square feet in the building, making it the second-largest user there behind Bon Secours, which has leased 26,000 square feet for administrative offices.
The wealth management firm is leaving 1802 Bayberry Court, an office building that’s also currently home to Bryan Brothers, which is taking 5,200 square feet at Westhampton Commons.
Red Gates Foundation will have 5,400 square feet of the building after leaving its current office at 800 E. Canal St. The Thalhimer leasing office also planned for the building will manage the apartments. Westchester Commons also has condos in another building.
Guillot said the Libbie Avenue building was fully pre-leased prior to the start of construction due to strong demand for office space in mixed-use developments.
“Demand for class A office space at Westhampton Commons has been so high that I’m convinced we could have filled this building multiple times over,” Guillot said in an email.
“The headlines declaring that office space is dead are misleading.… For the right location with a mixed-use design and walkable amenities, demand for class A office space is very strong,” he said.
The under-construction mixed-use building at Westhampton Commons, next to the 1917 school building (at left), as seen in mid-November. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Construction on the building started in November and is anticipated to be completed in summer 2025. The building is planned to total 103,000 square feet and anticipated to cost $24 million, contributing to a total project cost that’s on track to reach over $86 million upon completion.
KBS is the general contractor on the project, and Glave and Holmes is the architect. Kimley-Horn is the civil engineer, while O’Neal is handling the mechanical and electrical engineering. Speight Marshall Francis is the structural engineer.
The Libbie Avenue building is the last piece of a decade-long effort to redevelop the Westhampton School property.
Bon Secours in 2012 signed a 60-year lease on the property, as part of a deal struck with the administration of then-Mayor Dwight Jones, to help finance the now-named Washington Commanders’ training camp in Richmond.
Construction for Westhampton Commons started in 2019. Over the years, Bon Secours proposed different ways it would establish a presence at the site, including a nursing school and a dedicated medical office building, before arriving at the current mixed-use building to cap off the redevelopment.
Bon Secours originally planned to oversee the development of the overall project but later tapped Thalhimer to handle the task. The health system had indicated it would handle the final, now-in-progress part of the development itself, but later turned that over to Thalhimer as well.
Excluding the building under construction, Westhampton Commons has cost about $62.2 million to build so far, Guillot has said. A ground-breaking ceremony for the new building was held in early December.
While construction on the building is underway, Thalhimer has yet to be sold the development rights to the 0.74-acre project site at 920 Libbie Ave. from the health system, which has a ground-lease with the city on the overall 4.2-acre Westhampton Commons property.
Thalhimer remains under contract to purchase the development rights. Guillot said this week that the deal was still pending and is subject to approval from Richmond’s Economic Development Authority, which owns the land. Thalhimer would then own the new building and cover the cost of construction.
The arrangement is similar to what was done with the renovated 1917 school building now used as office space, and with the mixed-use building on Patterson Avenue that was built as part of the project.
The Bon Secours deal for the Westhampton lease entails a performance agreement that calls for at least $25 million of investment in the site, a minimum of 120 full-time equivalent jobs and at least $10.8 million in payroll. Guillot said the project met or exceeded its goals by December 2022.
A rendering of the mixed-use building now under construction at Westhampton Commons that’s planned to feature apartments and office space. (BizSense file)
The other companies that will join anchor tenant Bon Secours in the last building taking shape at Westhampton Commons have been revealed.
Investment firm Brockenbrough, nonprofit Red Gates Foundation and accounting firm Bryan Brothers are planning to relocate their offices to the mixed-use building that’s now under construction on the Libbie Avenue side of the West End development, according to Jason Guillot of Thalhimer Realty Partners.
The tenants will fill out the building’s 51,000 square feet of office space along with a Thalhimer residential leasing office and Bon Secours, which was revealed earlier this year as the building’s anchor tenant.
The five-story building is also planned to feature 53 apartments on its upper levels. The office space is to be on the lower two floors of the building.
Brockenbrough will occupy 13,000 square feet in the building, making it the second-largest user there behind Bon Secours, which has leased 26,000 square feet for administrative offices.
The wealth management firm is leaving 1802 Bayberry Court, an office building that’s also currently home to Bryan Brothers, which is taking 5,200 square feet at Westhampton Commons.
Red Gates Foundation will have 5,400 square feet of the building after leaving its current office at 800 E. Canal St. The Thalhimer leasing office also planned for the building will manage the apartments. Westchester Commons also has condos in another building.
Guillot said the Libbie Avenue building was fully pre-leased prior to the start of construction due to strong demand for office space in mixed-use developments.
“Demand for class A office space at Westhampton Commons has been so high that I’m convinced we could have filled this building multiple times over,” Guillot said in an email.
“The headlines declaring that office space is dead are misleading.… For the right location with a mixed-use design and walkable amenities, demand for class A office space is very strong,” he said.
The under-construction mixed-use building at Westhampton Commons, next to the 1917 school building (at left), as seen in mid-November. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Construction on the building started in November and is anticipated to be completed in summer 2025. The building is planned to total 103,000 square feet and anticipated to cost $24 million, contributing to a total project cost that’s on track to reach over $86 million upon completion.
KBS is the general contractor on the project, and Glave and Holmes is the architect. Kimley-Horn is the civil engineer, while O’Neal is handling the mechanical and electrical engineering. Speight Marshall Francis is the structural engineer.
The Libbie Avenue building is the last piece of a decade-long effort to redevelop the Westhampton School property.
Bon Secours in 2012 signed a 60-year lease on the property, as part of a deal struck with the administration of then-Mayor Dwight Jones, to help finance the now-named Washington Commanders’ training camp in Richmond.
Construction for Westhampton Commons started in 2019. Over the years, Bon Secours proposed different ways it would establish a presence at the site, including a nursing school and a dedicated medical office building, before arriving at the current mixed-use building to cap off the redevelopment.
Bon Secours originally planned to oversee the development of the overall project but later tapped Thalhimer to handle the task. The health system had indicated it would handle the final, now-in-progress part of the development itself, but later turned that over to Thalhimer as well.
Excluding the building under construction, Westhampton Commons has cost about $62.2 million to build so far, Guillot has said. A ground-breaking ceremony for the new building was held in early December.
While construction on the building is underway, Thalhimer has yet to be sold the development rights to the 0.74-acre project site at 920 Libbie Ave. from the health system, which has a ground-lease with the city on the overall 4.2-acre Westhampton Commons property.
Thalhimer remains under contract to purchase the development rights. Guillot said this week that the deal was still pending and is subject to approval from Richmond’s Economic Development Authority, which owns the land. Thalhimer would then own the new building and cover the cost of construction.
The arrangement is similar to what was done with the renovated 1917 school building now used as office space, and with the mixed-use building on Patterson Avenue that was built as part of the project.
The Bon Secours deal for the Westhampton lease entails a performance agreement that calls for at least $25 million of investment in the site, a minimum of 120 full-time equivalent jobs and at least $10.8 million in payroll. Guillot said the project met or exceeded its goals by December 2022.
Thalhimer has done a great job developing this. I was admiring it while visiting Pleasants Hardware just the other day. Last night I was told that Canejo is one of the classiest restaurants in town so I have to check that out. Congrats to Jason for putting this together.