A ceremonial dirt toss concluded Wednesday’s event to kick off construction of the Riverfront Amphitheater. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
With a new name and with site work already underway, the highly anticipated amphitheater at Richmond’s downtown riverfront is now officially under construction.
Developers of the now-named Riverfront Amphitheater gathered with a crowd of city leaders and supporters Wednesday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony to kick off construction of the $30 million venue on the Tredegar hillside.
Speakers included Coran Capshaw, the Dave Matthews Band manager and music industry executive whose Charlottesville-based Red Light Ventures is developing the 7,500-capacity amphitheater.
Capshaw, a Virginia native, led the development of the 3,500-seat Ting Pavilion amphitheater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. His Red Light Management group also co-manages the 6,800-capacity Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Tennessee.
The 7,500-capacity amphitheater is planned to host about 30 concerts a year. (3North renderings)
Standing uphill from the Riverfront Amphitheater site, Capshaw told the crowd: “It’s been a long road to get here.
“We looked at a lot of sites throughout the Richmond area, and ultimately this is the perfect site,” he said. “I’m confident that this will be a venue that will benefit the whole city and the metro area.”
The amphitheater is scheduled to open in time for the 2025 summer concert season and is planned to host about 30 shows per season. The venue is expected to create more than 300 jobs.
The venue will be operated by Capshaw’s Red Light Events and Live Nation Entertainment, the national concert promotion and ticketing company.
Live Nation, whose involvement had not previously been announced, will secure performers and promote shows in collaboration with Starr Hill Presents, Red Light Management’s promotional arm. Red Light Management is a primary owner of Starr Hill Brewery, which has an outpost in Richmond.
“We’ve wanted to bring more shows to Richmond for a long time now, and we’re going to have a venue that can host some of the world’s best artists while offering their fans a memorable experience right here in downtown Richmond,” said Kelly Flanigan, Live Nation’s president for the Virginia, D.C. and Maryland region.
Added Capshaw: “I’ve got a great partner in this with Live Nation. They’re the biggest concert promoter in the world, and they’ll be helping us bring a great, diverse group of artists to this site here that the whole community can embrace.”
Coran Capshaw speaks about the project alongside Live Nation’s Kelly Flanigan, left, City Councilwoman Ellen Robertson and Mayor Levar Stoney.
Other speakers included City Council representative Ellen Robertson and Mayor Levar Stoney, who noted the economic impacts expected from the amphitheater. The venue is projected to generate over $30 million annually from operational spending and from concertgoers’ off-site spending in the Richmond region.
“This will open up the doors, and folks from as far as Northern Virginia and D.C. can come right to downtown Richmond and spend their money,” Stoney said. “And when they spend their money in this city, we have the ability to invest in the things that we care about: more affordable housing, more resources for our families, more investment in public schools, more investment in our roads.”
The venue is planned to use local vendors for food and beverage concessions and backstage artist hospitality programs, and it will feature Live Nation’s Green Nation sustainability program, which works to reduce single-use plastics and promotes recycling, composting and food donations.
Announced a year and a half ago, the development, previously called Richmond Amphitheater, has been several years in the making. It was given the green light last June, when City Council OK’d a performance grant agreement after coming to terms with the group in May.
According to the agreement, the city is providing a 20-year performance grant based on the new incremental real estate and admissions tax revenue generated by the project to help offset the project cost.
An aerial rendering shows the venue’s footprint on the Tredegar hillside.
The venue will be fitted between the Tredegar Iron Works complex and the filled-in portion of the Kanawha Canal, which follows a curve in the hillside that forms an amphitheater-shaped footprint. Red Light is leasing the roughly 4-acre site from property owner NewMarket Corp., which is headquartered atop the adjacent Gambles Hill property.
The location was selected over other sites considered, including Brown’s Island, which was deemed too narrow, and the nearby Tredegar Green hillside site, which hosts a stage for the annual Richmond Folk Festival and once was floated for a smaller amphitheater project.
In his remarks, Capshaw thanked NewMarket Executive Vice President Bruce Hazelgrove and Chairman Teddy Gottwald “for offering this beautiful venue for the community to use.”
Capshaw also acknowledged Venture Richmond, which puts on the Richmond Folk Festival, Friday Cheers and other events on and around the site. The amphitheater is expected to serve the folk festival and also host civic events such as graduation ceremonies, public forums and city-sponsored cultural events.
Work got underway last fall on the site uphill from the Tredegar Iron Works complex.
As with the folk festival and Friday Cheers, existing parking in the area is expected to accommodate the amphitheater. A release distributed Wednesday notes that “thousands of downtown parking spaces are within walking distance” to the site, which also is accessible to public transit, ride shares, bikes and scooters, and the Downtown Expressway that connects with Interstates 95 and 64.
Site work for the project started last fall. Charlottesville-based Martin Horn is the lead general contractor on the project, working locally with downtown-based contractor Conquest, Moncure & Dunn.
Capshaw with Williams Mullen attorney Philip Goodpasture (right) and Stephen Goddard Jr. (left) of The London Company, a local asset management firm that’s set to be a sponsor of the amphitheater.
Richmond-based 3North is the architect on the project, which also involves engineering firm TRC Cos. in Henrico. Local attorney Philip Goodpasture with Williams Mullen represented the group in negotiations with the city.
The amphitheater is expected to draw musical acts that currently pass over Richmond for venues in Charlottesville, Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia. Names mentioned at the event as currently performing in comparable venues across the country included Dave Matthews Band, Sarah McLachlan, Tyler Childers and Lainey Wilson.
Asked afterward which act would be the first to perform at Riverfront Amphitheater, Capshaw said, “We don’t know yet,” adding that it needs to be built first.
Addressing the crowd, Capshaw said, “With this gathering out here, I’m really grateful. You can almost feel the energy that’s going to come here in 2025.”
A ceremonial dirt toss concluded Wednesday’s event to kick off construction of the Riverfront Amphitheater. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
With a new name and with site work already underway, the highly anticipated amphitheater at Richmond’s downtown riverfront is now officially under construction.
Developers of the now-named Riverfront Amphitheater gathered with a crowd of city leaders and supporters Wednesday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony to kick off construction of the $30 million venue on the Tredegar hillside.
Speakers included Coran Capshaw, the Dave Matthews Band manager and music industry executive whose Charlottesville-based Red Light Ventures is developing the 7,500-capacity amphitheater.
Capshaw, a Virginia native, led the development of the 3,500-seat Ting Pavilion amphitheater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. His Red Light Management group also co-manages the 6,800-capacity Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Tennessee.
The 7,500-capacity amphitheater is planned to host about 30 concerts a year. (3North renderings)
Standing uphill from the Riverfront Amphitheater site, Capshaw told the crowd: “It’s been a long road to get here.
“We looked at a lot of sites throughout the Richmond area, and ultimately this is the perfect site,” he said. “I’m confident that this will be a venue that will benefit the whole city and the metro area.”
The amphitheater is scheduled to open in time for the 2025 summer concert season and is planned to host about 30 shows per season. The venue is expected to create more than 300 jobs.
The venue will be operated by Capshaw’s Red Light Events and Live Nation Entertainment, the national concert promotion and ticketing company.
Live Nation, whose involvement had not previously been announced, will secure performers and promote shows in collaboration with Starr Hill Presents, Red Light Management’s promotional arm. Red Light Management is a primary owner of Starr Hill Brewery, which has an outpost in Richmond.
“We’ve wanted to bring more shows to Richmond for a long time now, and we’re going to have a venue that can host some of the world’s best artists while offering their fans a memorable experience right here in downtown Richmond,” said Kelly Flanigan, Live Nation’s president for the Virginia, D.C. and Maryland region.
Added Capshaw: “I’ve got a great partner in this with Live Nation. They’re the biggest concert promoter in the world, and they’ll be helping us bring a great, diverse group of artists to this site here that the whole community can embrace.”
Coran Capshaw speaks about the project alongside Live Nation’s Kelly Flanigan, left, City Councilwoman Ellen Robertson and Mayor Levar Stoney.
Other speakers included City Council representative Ellen Robertson and Mayor Levar Stoney, who noted the economic impacts expected from the amphitheater. The venue is projected to generate over $30 million annually from operational spending and from concertgoers’ off-site spending in the Richmond region.
“This will open up the doors, and folks from as far as Northern Virginia and D.C. can come right to downtown Richmond and spend their money,” Stoney said. “And when they spend their money in this city, we have the ability to invest in the things that we care about: more affordable housing, more resources for our families, more investment in public schools, more investment in our roads.”
The venue is planned to use local vendors for food and beverage concessions and backstage artist hospitality programs, and it will feature Live Nation’s Green Nation sustainability program, which works to reduce single-use plastics and promotes recycling, composting and food donations.
Announced a year and a half ago, the development, previously called Richmond Amphitheater, has been several years in the making. It was given the green light last June, when City Council OK’d a performance grant agreement after coming to terms with the group in May.
According to the agreement, the city is providing a 20-year performance grant based on the new incremental real estate and admissions tax revenue generated by the project to help offset the project cost.
An aerial rendering shows the venue’s footprint on the Tredegar hillside.
The venue will be fitted between the Tredegar Iron Works complex and the filled-in portion of the Kanawha Canal, which follows a curve in the hillside that forms an amphitheater-shaped footprint. Red Light is leasing the roughly 4-acre site from property owner NewMarket Corp., which is headquartered atop the adjacent Gambles Hill property.
The location was selected over other sites considered, including Brown’s Island, which was deemed too narrow, and the nearby Tredegar Green hillside site, which hosts a stage for the annual Richmond Folk Festival and once was floated for a smaller amphitheater project.
In his remarks, Capshaw thanked NewMarket Executive Vice President Bruce Hazelgrove and Chairman Teddy Gottwald “for offering this beautiful venue for the community to use.”
Capshaw also acknowledged Venture Richmond, which puts on the Richmond Folk Festival, Friday Cheers and other events on and around the site. The amphitheater is expected to serve the folk festival and also host civic events such as graduation ceremonies, public forums and city-sponsored cultural events.
Work got underway last fall on the site uphill from the Tredegar Iron Works complex.
As with the folk festival and Friday Cheers, existing parking in the area is expected to accommodate the amphitheater. A release distributed Wednesday notes that “thousands of downtown parking spaces are within walking distance” to the site, which also is accessible to public transit, ride shares, bikes and scooters, and the Downtown Expressway that connects with Interstates 95 and 64.
Site work for the project started last fall. Charlottesville-based Martin Horn is the lead general contractor on the project, working locally with downtown-based contractor Conquest, Moncure & Dunn.
Capshaw with Williams Mullen attorney Philip Goodpasture (right) and Stephen Goddard Jr. (left) of The London Company, a local asset management firm that’s set to be a sponsor of the amphitheater.
Richmond-based 3North is the architect on the project, which also involves engineering firm TRC Cos. in Henrico. Local attorney Philip Goodpasture with Williams Mullen represented the group in negotiations with the city.
The amphitheater is expected to draw musical acts that currently pass over Richmond for venues in Charlottesville, Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia. Names mentioned at the event as currently performing in comparable venues across the country included Dave Matthews Band, Sarah McLachlan, Tyler Childers and Lainey Wilson.
Asked afterward which act would be the first to perform at Riverfront Amphitheater, Capshaw said, “We don’t know yet,” adding that it needs to be built first.
Addressing the crowd, Capshaw said, “With this gathering out here, I’m really grateful. You can almost feel the energy that’s going to come here in 2025.”
I can’t wait for this development and the shows it will bring. A nice add would be to restore the canal behind it and mirror what it looks like on the canal walk maybe even some fountains so the water does not stagnate. Wishful thinking, I know that would be a huge and expensive undertaking.
Kinda love this idea, William Willis!
I know right! Imagine it ties into the canal walk, browns island, CoStar development, Riverfront Amphitheater and then right into the North Bank Trail making it almost seamless from Rocketts Landing to the Nickel Bridge
First act: the good money is on Dave Matthews Band. There’s that connection and Dave’s legacy in Richmond.
You are usually spot on. But, it will be WSP, ya know the home town boy.
All this talk of Dave Mathews is funny cause look at their 2024 tour in Europe and US. Even the outside amphitheaters like MidFlorida Florida Credit Union and IThink Financial are 20,000 seating. The smallest place doing a quick search is 15,000 seats. As the owners are their managers, we might get a pity appearance but this will just draw those smaller acts that used to flock to Innsbrook After Hours that just aren’t showing up since it became After Hours up in Meadow. And AEG runs VA Credit Union Live (old Classic Amphitheater), but it has NO shows on… Read more »
Remind me again how Foo Fighters didn’t play at the National? For some acts it is not always solely about numbers, its about the fans. Plus having a defeatist attitude and complaining about absolutely everything is what holds Richmond back as much as anything else.
The Foo Fighters show was a one-off because of social media hype from a fan movement. It was 10 years ago and probably wouldn’t have happened with another band. Dave Grohl is well known for being ‘the nicest guy in rock’ who loves doing stuff like that show, the show for the trapped miners in Australia years ago and the drum off with 10yr old Nandi Bushell during Covid. Richmond hasn’t been a draw for large acts for a long time.
Green Day did a surprise pop up for ~800 fans the night before performing at When We Were Young. There are other acts besides Foo Fighters who do this kind of stuff.
What you are saying isn’t wrong but it fails to consider that the dude who has managed Dave Matthews since the outset is the same guy who is developing this amphitheater. When Ting Pav opened in Charlottesville (under one of its mean early corporate names) they had Widespread Panic play 2 nights even though they regularly played much larger venues. End of the day Capshaw will get whoever he wants to play the opening shows.
I think you are overlooking something…this venue will likely be required to equally represent every citizen of Richmond. The equity poison will not care about your taste in entertainment for the most part.
My concerns are gunplay during open air concerts. Getaways are easier. That killed the McDonald’s on Belvidere and Broad. Also parking is an afterthought. Also there’s a homeless community at the bridge that will move in. We’ll see how this works, but look what happened to the Coliseum and Kanawha Plaza and the Flood Zone and Toad’s Place.
Has there ever been any reports of “gunplay” at any of the “open air” concerts at Friday Cheers, Living Loud or Folk Fest events on Brown’s Island 100 yards or so away? What an amazingly odd comment.
That’s what makes it exciting, catch a show, dodge a bullet!
Nobody wants to hear real world. They prefer to keep shoveling until roses grow in it. People will turn away from the truth so they can feel good today. You are 100% correct, they just prefer you not say what everyone is thinking.
Nobody is thinking it but you two whackos, Freddie. Completely without cause or reason.
The total disregard for the portion (now destroyed) of historic canal, the nearby historic neighborhood (that the stage points at), and the surrounding natural riverfront areas is palpable. No real word on sound levels, firework bans, traffic, bathroom availability, police enforcement capabilities, etc. Just a nod at parking. Citizens’ concerns are thrown out the window by City government as it supplies $30 million ‘performance grant’ at a time when it is largely ignoring other crises. The media coverage ‘by press release’ only adds to the oppressive corporate rule here in Richmond.
Cope
As citizens, we are losing so much more than we will ever gain from this.
Only the boring citizens who don’t like having things to do, which should be of no concern to the rest of us. Scott, Things change with time. either adapt, or move. Whining about it on a web forum won’t accomplish anything.
Things change??…a shiny new development deal with a clause that takes all its direct revenue and gives it back to the developer that will supposedly boost activity downtown and create lots of new jobs and supposed ancillary revenue…..sounds like a rinse and repeat since 1969 to me.
Yes, we know you long for the days that Richmond was a crime ridden city with run down buildings. It is more than time to move on from that.
Well call Scott whining is funny when the article boasts like this is a great development deal. 1) All direct revenue from this goes back to the developers 2) the ancillary revenue is a joke because no shows here will bring in large increase in hotels stay or restaurants or tourism any more than Redskins training camp did, and 300 new jobs created by it…where. I can’t see the actually entity creating more than 10-15 full time jobs at the theater itself and maybe a hundred part time and overtime income for people that work for RMC and city police/sheriff… Read more »
Give it a rest, Scott. You don’t need to make the same comments on every article about the Amphitheater.
I don’t care if it doesn’t bring in one dollar of revenue to the city. I honestly don’t. If you can’t get on board with a nice sized music venue that might very well bring in acts like what we see at Meadow Event Park then you simply don’t belong in the city. This is an opportunity for some outdoor shows. Can we not just enjoy more entertainment at our disposal without bitching about it constantly?
I’ll offer a similar response to the many other times you post almost a verbatim version of this post – The City seems to handle traffic pretty well for Friday Cheers, Folk Fest, Living Loud, etc. Those shows – by design – end early and the same will be true here (like also happens at Capshaw’s Cville /Ting Pavilion). Never seen fireworks at a show on Brown’s Island although have seen it for special events by the city – also never seen fireworks at Ting Pav shows. Bathrooms? Is that where you’re planting your flag now? Sucks to walk tot… Read more »
Finally! With the Riverfront Amphitheater and the coming GreenCity Arena, Richmond will draw tons of shows that have passed us by for D.C., Charlottesville, Hampton Roads and the Triangle. Each of those areas is 2.5 hours or less from RVA, so Richmond is well-sited to draw from those places too. Plus, you cannot beat the atmosphere and site. People who only know Richmond from passing through on the interstate will discover the magic of the James. I think it will do well.
Not mentioned in the article, but as can be seen in the picture, CoStar’s new campus is rising in the background. There will be 3,500 people in just those buildings. Not that every one of them will want to see any particular show, but that’s a good part of the audience for any show right on its doorstep. I think the venue will be very will attended.
It’s going to help destroy the magic.
What “magic?” It sounds like you need to go live in the woods so you don’t have to worry about anything encroaching on your space.
Green City’s own website last updated in Oct 2021. The project was proposed in 2020 and has no timetable on its site anymore for construction. Green City will get developed in some way but the arena seems to becoming more and more a distant dream than an actual reality.
That Henrico arena will cost $250M and up in today’s economy and they have no tenants. JPJ was built thru donations for $120M with a natural tenant in it drawing 15,000 per game. The Diamond ballpark will cost in the area of $100M but it has two natural tenants in VCU and the Squirrels. Someone has to fill the new arena 200 or more dates per year to pay those bonds or that responsibility will fall to the taxpayers of Henrico for the next 40 years. Long before those bonds are paid off they’ll need to refit the arena at… Read more »
More cultural arts are good for communities. Always. Cannot wait for the shows to begin!
It will do great if Red Light Ventures and Live Nation Entertainment have control and the city stays out of it.
Five year old kids or trained lab rats pushing buttons could not do worse managing the city than the current leadership.
I get that its hip to bash the city gov but hosting live events on the river is one of the things the city knocks it out of the park on – Friday Cheers, Folk fest, etc
I’m glad to see an underutilized area have more life and investment! This will add more events and bring people downtown, which is exactly what an urban core needs. Now we need to keep improving mass transit so not as many people feel the need to drive downtown.
All of this beautiful green space being lost for this! We have several venues here already that can seat 7500. Robins Center, Siegel Center, Race grounds amphitheater, Diamond, City Stadium. If you want a big act like Tay-Tay, the Race Track can pack in 100,000 people. I’m sorry but I do not share in yalls enthusiasm. Why not bring in a business that can actually produce something, like widgets, while employing people?
I have to think that if these were great venues for 7,500-audience concerts, then they would have taken off by now. The Diamond will be gone in a few years, and the Kickers are the primary tenants at City Stadium. Do the Robins Center and Siegel Center host concerts? Could be, but I’ve never seen any advertised. No offense to the Richmond Raceway and Raceway Amphitheater, but neither is a very appealing environment.
Just goes to show you there is little to no market for concerts in Richmond, VA. What other use does it offer. Graduations? So, you go to concerts for the venue? I’ve been to concerts that can be at any venue or field if the artists are worth my time and $$.
I’d rather see Dave Mathews in Charlottesville.
He used to play as often in Richmond.
You’ll likely still have that choice. The rest of us can choose to watch him here if he so chooses to play here. If not, no big deal. I’m sure the other acts will be fantastic.
I’ve never seen so many people bitch and moan about a concert venue.
The chances of Dave Mathews playing in Richmond is about the same as them opening the Flood Zone again.
It’s nice to see the addition of a 7500-seat outdoor amphitheater near the riverfront. That’s not quite as exciting as a 15,000-seat indoor arena that would have replaced the Coliseum and would have provided far more tax revenue than is being touted by Mayor Stoney for the amphitheater.
Great news. But the name seems like a wasted opportunity. Perhaps there’s still time to course correct. The armchair analysts judging this like its just another venue need to consider the context. There will be those who go to these concerts because of the venue. (And those who won’t just because of the venue.) That’s the power of the brand, and smart brands capitalize on this. That’s why a Starbucks can succeed in a market that is already saturated with coffee shops. I believe there’s an opportunity for this to be an iconic must-play venue. Time will tell whether the… Read more »
After seeing Sierra Ferrell and watch house this past year with reasonable priced tickets right down the hill this will kill that. It was a magical setting that didn’t need to be improved.
All this will do is put live Nation surcharges and ticket scalping into the equation. When you spend this much money building the venue, it always ruins it. Someone has to pay and it is always the ticket buyer.
Most of the talk is about how much money it will bring to Richmond, not how much entertainment it will bring to the normal people in the neighborhoods.
Folks from Northern Virginia and D.C. coming right down are the main reason we have a shortage of affordable housing.