The townhomes on Decatur Street would be either three or four floors. (City documents)
Dozens of new for-sale homes are inbound to Manchester after a change of plans by a group of local developers.
WVS Cos. and Fountainhead Real Estate Development are planning to build 40 townhomes on the 1-acre lot at 600 Decatur St.
The group had previously proposed a 167-unit apartment building on the property that would have served as a second phase of The Box, a 118-unit apartment building they built at 501 Decatur St., catty-corner to the new site. But those plans were recently scrapped in favor of townhomes.
WVS principal Jason Vickers-Smith cited a few reasons they switched from apartments to townhomes, including the fact that WVS and Fountainhead have hundreds more apartments in their queue nearby. Those projects include a second phase of South Falls, a final phase of the Locks along the canal downtown, and a new seven-story building that’ll rise on the former Plant Zero site along Hull Street.
“This is basically a diversity play. We have a lot of more apartments to build, so this would give us a chance to build a different product,” Vickers-Smith said. “Secondly, we think that there’s an underserved market of new homes for people that want to live in a walkable, urban area.”
The site initially was planned to house a second phase of The Box. (Mike Platania photo)
He added that high construction costs and interest rates have made it easier to finance smaller, for-sale developments than a mid-rise apartment building. WVS also is going the townhome route on a former Dominion Energy lot on South Stafford Avenue in the Fan, where it has 26 units under construction.
The townhomes are planned to be three or four stories and will range from 1,350 to 1,950 square feet with a garage. The development would be configured with two rows of eight townhomes facing Decatur Street with four rows of six townhomes behind them. The lot would be connected by a pedestrian walkway.
Vickers-Smith estimated that each townhome would be listed at between $400,000 and $500,000.
“It seems hard to say that $400,000 is in the ‘getting on the property ladder’ kind of price point, but that’s the reality for new homes now,” he said. “It’s the cost to build things, that’s really what drives (the price). It’s just not really feasible to build something that meets all the requirements for less than that.”
Construction of the Decatur townhomes awaits permit approval from the city and Vickers-Smith said the builders are aiming to begin work this summer. The development can be built by-right and doesn’t require a special-use permit or rezoning. Timmons Group is the project engineer and Walter Parks Architects is the architect.
A pedestrian pathway is planned to connect the rows of townhomes on Decatur Street.
Another Manchester development in which Walter Parks is involved was delayed earlier this week when the Richmond City Council deferred a vote on a 60-unit mixed-use apartment building at 1401-1407 Hull St.
Parks is taking on that development with Richard Smith of RJ Smith Cos. and Malcome Sargent of SRC Construction. The new, five-story building would replace a trio of vacant one-story buildings on a quarter-acre lot across from the Hull Street Public Library.
The proposed development has drawn the ire of some locals who spoke at Monday’s council meeting. They cited concerns about the changing character of the neighborhood, a lack of community outreach by the development group, and parking.
A vote on the project’s special-use permit was initially on council’s consent agenda; however, Councilwoman Anne-Frances Lambert made a motion to continue the matter to council’s March 25 meeting. Lambert said she felt the matter warranted more discussion and didn’t “feel comfortable voting for something the community hasn’t had a good discussion on.”
The townhomes on Decatur Street would be either three or four floors. (City documents)
Dozens of new for-sale homes are inbound to Manchester after a change of plans by a group of local developers.
WVS Cos. and Fountainhead Real Estate Development are planning to build 40 townhomes on the 1-acre lot at 600 Decatur St.
The group had previously proposed a 167-unit apartment building on the property that would have served as a second phase of The Box, a 118-unit apartment building they built at 501 Decatur St., catty-corner to the new site. But those plans were recently scrapped in favor of townhomes.
WVS principal Jason Vickers-Smith cited a few reasons they switched from apartments to townhomes, including the fact that WVS and Fountainhead have hundreds more apartments in their queue nearby. Those projects include a second phase of South Falls, a final phase of the Locks along the canal downtown, and a new seven-story building that’ll rise on the former Plant Zero site along Hull Street.
“This is basically a diversity play. We have a lot of more apartments to build, so this would give us a chance to build a different product,” Vickers-Smith said. “Secondly, we think that there’s an underserved market of new homes for people that want to live in a walkable, urban area.”
The site initially was planned to house a second phase of The Box. (Mike Platania photo)
He added that high construction costs and interest rates have made it easier to finance smaller, for-sale developments than a mid-rise apartment building. WVS also is going the townhome route on a former Dominion Energy lot on South Stafford Avenue in the Fan, where it has 26 units under construction.
The townhomes are planned to be three or four stories and will range from 1,350 to 1,950 square feet with a garage. The development would be configured with two rows of eight townhomes facing Decatur Street with four rows of six townhomes behind them. The lot would be connected by a pedestrian walkway.
Vickers-Smith estimated that each townhome would be listed at between $400,000 and $500,000.
“It seems hard to say that $400,000 is in the ‘getting on the property ladder’ kind of price point, but that’s the reality for new homes now,” he said. “It’s the cost to build things, that’s really what drives (the price). It’s just not really feasible to build something that meets all the requirements for less than that.”
Construction of the Decatur townhomes awaits permit approval from the city and Vickers-Smith said the builders are aiming to begin work this summer. The development can be built by-right and doesn’t require a special-use permit or rezoning. Timmons Group is the project engineer and Walter Parks Architects is the architect.
A pedestrian pathway is planned to connect the rows of townhomes on Decatur Street.
Another Manchester development in which Walter Parks is involved was delayed earlier this week when the Richmond City Council deferred a vote on a 60-unit mixed-use apartment building at 1401-1407 Hull St.
Parks is taking on that development with Richard Smith of RJ Smith Cos. and Malcome Sargent of SRC Construction. The new, five-story building would replace a trio of vacant one-story buildings on a quarter-acre lot across from the Hull Street Public Library.
The proposed development has drawn the ire of some locals who spoke at Monday’s council meeting. They cited concerns about the changing character of the neighborhood, a lack of community outreach by the development group, and parking.
A vote on the project’s special-use permit was initially on council’s consent agenda; however, Councilwoman Anne-Frances Lambert made a motion to continue the matter to council’s March 25 meeting. Lambert said she felt the matter warranted more discussion and didn’t “feel comfortable voting for something the community hasn’t had a good discussion on.”
Interesting decision and one we’ll likely see repeated over and over. So many fell into the apartment density business that they overlooked the potential of for-sale housing. It’s much more easily financed in today’s market. And home ownership contributes greatly to the stabilization of neighborhoods. Home owners want sidewalks, better schools, police protection and local stores. They vote! Applause, applause!
I’d be curious if this development is successful would potentially move Tom Papa to push forward with his proposed South Falls III condo tower on the Manchester riverfront. He has previously expressed hesitation to get into developing condos, saying he has limited experience in “for sale” kind of projects.
Will be interesting to see if somehow his planned 11-story condo building could eventually become a reality on the coattails of this development.
I agree with Bruce. There is a growing chorus of experts who say multifamily residential has been overbuilt in the US. But there continues to be a severe shortage of single family homes.
Interesting. I simply wish the townhouses didn’t necessarily look like… apartments. One of the great things about the Fan and other areas with townhouse style development is the variety, which helps build character. I always thin of townhouses like these as investments people will eventually rent out.
I really like this project and think it will be very successful. The new condos in Scott’s Addition are selling well and I see a lot of similarities here.
Bruce, I agree with you whole-heartedly. I also believe that developers are missing an opportunity to target many empty nesters with a higher-end for-sale housing product.
Bruce: Where exactly are the “better schools,” in Manchester?
We can always count on Brian to say something negative about the city. How is Green City arena coming along, Brian?