The site of the vacant bank branch has been marketed as a redevelopment opportunity. (Mike Platania photo)
A prime piece of West Broad Street real estate looks to be spoken for.
The site housing a former Wells Fargo branch at 3501 W. Broad St. is under contract to be sold to a mystery buyer, according to sources familiar with the deal.
Wells Fargo, which owns the property, closed the branch late last summer and made the 9,900-square-foot building and its 1.15-acre parcel available for purchase. Sitting on the southern side of West Broad at North Thompson Street, the plot sits in the Museum District and faces the western edge of Scott’s Addition.
While it’s unclear who the buyer is or what the plans are for the plot, the property was part of the 2021 Pulse Corridor rezonings that changed its designation to TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal district, which allows for new construction of up to 12 stories.
The lot is being marketed by Thalhimer as a redevelopment opportunity. Brokers David Smith and Will McGoogan have the listing. Smith declined to comment on the pending sale.
No plans have been filed with the city for the site in recent months.
The bulk of the parcel is a surface parking lot. The vacant branch dates to 1979. City records show that the plot most recently was assessed at $4.7 million.
Development along the south side of Broad Street has been less common than on the north side, where multiple apartment buildings have gone up in recent years, and more are on the way.
The largest nearby slice of the Museum District that’s poised for eventual redevelopment is the former Gusti Restaurant Equipment & Supply site, which totals 2 acres near the intersection of Sheppard Street and Cutshaw Avenue. Local developer Steve Leibovic bought the land in 2019 with plans to clear the existing, blighted buildings and build a sizable mixed-use project, but work has yet to begin.
Wells Fargo’s property abuts Interstate 195 and sits across from a pair of five-story apartment buildings that are nearing completion on a former International Mission Board parking lot.
Work is also well underway a bit further south in the Museum District. A Georgia-based developer recently demolished a vacant senior living facility at the intersection of North Thompson Street and Grove Avenue to clear the way for a new six-story apartment building.
Wells Fargo also recently closed branches in Innsbrook, along Belt Boulevard in the Southside and in Monroe Ward.
The site of the vacant bank branch has been marketed as a redevelopment opportunity. (Mike Platania photo)
A prime piece of West Broad Street real estate looks to be spoken for.
The site housing a former Wells Fargo branch at 3501 W. Broad St. is under contract to be sold to a mystery buyer, according to sources familiar with the deal.
Wells Fargo, which owns the property, closed the branch late last summer and made the 9,900-square-foot building and its 1.15-acre parcel available for purchase. Sitting on the southern side of West Broad at North Thompson Street, the plot sits in the Museum District and faces the western edge of Scott’s Addition.
While it’s unclear who the buyer is or what the plans are for the plot, the property was part of the 2021 Pulse Corridor rezonings that changed its designation to TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal district, which allows for new construction of up to 12 stories.
The lot is being marketed by Thalhimer as a redevelopment opportunity. Brokers David Smith and Will McGoogan have the listing. Smith declined to comment on the pending sale.
No plans have been filed with the city for the site in recent months.
The bulk of the parcel is a surface parking lot. The vacant branch dates to 1979. City records show that the plot most recently was assessed at $4.7 million.
Development along the south side of Broad Street has been less common than on the north side, where multiple apartment buildings have gone up in recent years, and more are on the way.
The largest nearby slice of the Museum District that’s poised for eventual redevelopment is the former Gusti Restaurant Equipment & Supply site, which totals 2 acres near the intersection of Sheppard Street and Cutshaw Avenue. Local developer Steve Leibovic bought the land in 2019 with plans to clear the existing, blighted buildings and build a sizable mixed-use project, but work has yet to begin.
Wells Fargo’s property abuts Interstate 195 and sits across from a pair of five-story apartment buildings that are nearing completion on a former International Mission Board parking lot.
Work is also well underway a bit further south in the Museum District. A Georgia-based developer recently demolished a vacant senior living facility at the intersection of North Thompson Street and Grove Avenue to clear the way for a new six-story apartment building.
Wells Fargo also recently closed branches in Innsbrook, along Belt Boulevard in the Southside and in Monroe Ward.
Looking forward to how developers plan to improve this neglected gateway into this part of the city. This is a dead zone marked by the expressway and parking lots in need of some thoughtful place-making.
In my wildest dreams, I’d love to see something like the Cap in Columbus, Ohio. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/project_profiles/oh_cap_union_station.aspx
Agreed, what’s up with that old car repair/dealership lot at the corner of Hamilton, 3716 W. Broad? It’s had that fencing around it forever. Assessed at $1M and just sits in a prime location. And that other lot directly across Broad that’s always vacant? Or maybe it’s two lots, 3817 W. Broad is the only address I see. Estes can’t need that much parking. I never see anyone using the lot around the brick building. And a few blocks down 2900 W. Broad is a completely blighted block, directly across from thriving business and new residential builds. Do we just… Read more »
2900 block was mentioned in the article. Purchased by a developer in 2019 with plans for a condo project that would take up the entire block through to Grace except for 4 residential buildings that would remain. Nothing has been done since then, though. The block wasn’t blighted when he bought it, those were functioning businesses. It’s decayed in the intervening time.
And while the City is at it, make Dominion remove the 4 year old barricades at their imploded building site…and how about that crumbling building at Franklin and 8th with the weedy fence. Both need to be GONE!
Not only are the barriers still up, they’re still taking up a full lane of the road all the way around the site. I work next door to that site and the missing lane of 8th makes traffic a real pain in the afternoons.
That project is pretty cool.Although it will never happen in Richmond VA.
Yeah, I am not sure why he is dreaming this particular dream, even though he gets points for realizing that he is dreaming.
Columbus is doing a lot better than Richmond and is MUCH larger. Might as well say we should do things that Paris does or build a moon base.
Shawn Harper in the 1400s: “Movable type? Like the royals and clergy would let the population be literate. Not enough people can read to make this worthwhile. Might as well say we should do things like try to see into the heavens.” Shawn Harper in the 1600s: “Telescopes? What is so important in the sky that people would waste their time looking through a metal and glass tube? Might as well say we should try to replace horses and beasts of burden with metal boxes powered by tiny explosions.” Shawn Harper in the 1800s: “Automobiles? Why would people want to… Read more »
It’s a great site for a hotel and a perfect size for one comparable to the Shamin site on Arthur Ashe Blvd.
Why do you feel more hotels are needed in that area?
If Shamin thinks so, I think so. They’d be my market analysts!
Yes, it would be nice if someone built something IMPRESSIVE that could be seen from the highway, that is if a hotel would do well there — I am pretty clueless about the hotel market generally though. Residential seems a no-brainer right now.
Any updates on the Steve Leibovic property mentioned- Cushaw/Shepard/Broad? It continues to be boarded up, has broken windows, and mostly covered with graffiti.
Over the years, there have beem fires in the buildings and in makeshift trash cans/barrels.
No progress has been made in this hazardous street corner.
I’d love to see progress there too. I used to live on Grace within sight of the Gusti property, which was a thriving business at the time. The plans shown when the property was sold seemed like it would be an asset to the area, but 4 years of inactivity have made that whole area less attractive and less safe. Something needs to be done with such a visible parcel. Maybe the whole time he was just sitting on it in hopes to resell once surrounding values increased?
Blighted buildings ?! Better than the ugly Soviet Style apartment towers…
I’m not convinced you’ve actually seen Soviet silos — they are much worse.
Ooooo! Mystery Buyer…..!