A rendering of some of the planned condos. (City documents)
An out-of-town homebuilder is looking to the soon-to-be-former headquarters of the region’s largest food bank for its chance to break into the Richmond market.
New Jersey-based K. Hovnanian Homes has filed plans to build 180 condominiums at 1415-1603 Rhoadmiller St.
The 6-acre site is currently the nerve center for local nonprofit Feed More, which is in the process of building a new headquarters north of Lakeside in Henrico.
The proposed development, referred to as The Lofts at Durham Park in city planning documents, would be one of K. Hovnanian’s first projects in the Richmond region. The publicly traded company has a national footprint and has been an active homebuilder in the Northern Virginia area since the 1990s.
- K. Hov’s Mid-Atlantic Division President Gary Chandler confirmed that the firm has Feed More’s land under contract. Feed More CEO Doug Pick declined to comment.
Feed More’s current complex, outlined in yellow, is beside the interstate and across Rhoadmiller Street from The Park at RVA. (BizSense file photo)
Feed More has been operating in two former tobacco warehouses on Rhoadmiller Street for decades, before putting the property on the market last year after securing the site for its new headquarters.
The Lofts at Durham Park would be arranged as “two-over-two” condominiums, an increasingly popular townhome layout where a pair of two-story units are stacked on top of each other in a four-story structure. The existing tobacco warehouses, which total 90,000 square feet, would be demolished to make way for the new homes.
Units at The Lofts at Durham Park are planned to range from 1,600 to 2,500 square feet and be priced from the high $400,000s to mid-$500,00s. Chandler said the firm is hoping to begin construction next spring and have the units hit the market in spring 2026. Kimley-Horn is on the project as landscape architect and civil engineer, according to the filed plans.
Chandler said K. Hov has another deal in the works at an undisclosed site in Henrico County where it’s planning to build 45 detached single-family homes. He said the firm has been steadily increasing its presence south down Interstate 95 from Northern Virginia.
“We see (Richmond) as a major employment area and a viable submarket,” Chandler said. “It’s a natural continuation of our operations.…We hope to do other deals in Richmond.”
The Rhoadmiller development would be in the vicinity of the proposed Diamond District development and within eyeshot of both entertainment venue The Park at RVA and VCU Athletics’ multi-phased athletic complex that’ll span 42 acres to the northwest. Demolition for the first phase of VCU’s Athletic Village is planned to begin this spring.
KHov has been banging on the doors of landowners for several years and appears to be joining the ranks of national builders with a presence locally, joining Ryan, DR Horton and Lennar. As long as the stock exchanges are thriving, they’ll be buying land.
This town home format of two units stacked on top of one another in a four story unit is a good idea for this part of the city. It’s like creating a new neighborhood in otherwise is a giant parking lot.
That is a beautiful cardboard box they want to put up there. Everyone should get used to Hovnanian Homes providing inexpensively constructed homes, and now businesses.
When I say cheap, I am not disparaging folks in need – I am saying this builder makes poorly constructed dwellings (worked with them previously). Bringing in more affordable housing is a good thing (IMHO).
Right. So.. where’s the affordability here?
I am not saying you are disparaging the customer — all I saw about the producer was a suit in the North East where a condo assoc sued because the subfloors weren’t masonry, and the masonry walls were not thick but rather masonry veneer and steel structure behind.
This does not spell poor to me — it spells standard. I bet if they built to a more expensive standard, the product would be more expensive or maybe unbuildible for this market. This isn’t some charity or something.
I would imaging these being in high demand once built. Within walking distance of the Park, Brewers Row, The Diamond District, and VCU athletic village. Wonder if the $400,000 – $500,000 price point would be good investment to purchase a few of them and and rent out much like a duplex? I am by no expert in property management or owning rentals but would love the point of view of someone with that experience?
I am no expert either but I don’t think buying as a rental would work great at that price point — where RE is cheap, it the rental math works, where not, there are no rentals.
Condo communities generally include provisions in their governing documents to limit the percentage of units that can be rented or leased.
Thanks Susan, I was just curious. That is good to know.
“…increasingly popular townhome layout…”
Popular with the build-a-box cheapo set
From what I’ve seen in Nova, the stuff they build is a step up from Ryan and other national builders.
Still incredibly ugly and cheap looking
I don’t think it will look just like this.
Agreed, Shawn. Often times the final product is much nicer looking than the renderings. Line drawings – and even fancy 3D computer renderings – often can’t do justice to actual brick and mortar.
Much nicer?? I find more often than no that they look far worse the renderings. Even the “brick” ones since sometimes on these 2 over 2 condos it is not real brick put up by masons but brick sheet cladding.
Well, yes to the brick sheet cladding but you can’t tell how thick the walls are by looking at them from the outside — real thick brick walls are pretty rare these days and not necessary for most reasons.
You gotta start somewhere George. I’ll let you know when this becomes a wealthy city.
It’s nice to be living in an area when even Not-For-Profits can turn a profit!
High 400-500k for these,2000sf luxury apts.April fools day right?
Can Richmonders afford that? I’m barely paycheck-to-paycheck in a house worth half that. Would love to see them mix in a few cheaper units, even if they are studio size or something. Maybe that’s already available in Scott’s Addition?
Existing brick and concrete floors,how much you got for demolition?
Still nothing affordable for singletons looking to downsize. Also, I’m miffed at being referred to as a “submarket.” Eff off, NoVA money!
Are you seriously taking this personally or are you kidding?
I am pretty sure that I myself am a “submarket” in some ways, and I bet that I would be proud of it if I spent the time to think about which ways.
Oh, I see what this is about — Richmonders thinking Richmond is grander than it actually is… (Shhhhh!… don’t make them mad….)
The State capital that I am from is TOTALLY aware of our sub-ness — which is why many residents call their town Smallbany.
Richmond tends to be a submarket unless one is a sub-player, and for those of us who like smaller affordable cities, that is just fine.
400-500K to sleep next to the interstate ?
Nope. It’s to be “In the Heart of It All.”
I would prefer a lot of other locations myself, but it would be hard to find a comparable place for that price….
Luke, you would be amazed how many people from other states are buying or renting housing in Richmond sight unseen, relying only on pictures they see on the internet. It’s no coincidence that there are numerous projects right now being constructed along the expressways. Soon there will be a lot of transplants with serious buyer/renter remorse.
I’m curious as to the genesis for naming the development “Durham Park” Is it a “Bull Durham” baseball reference? Thanks
My question is, how will this affect the businesses next door? IE: Helping Hands, the SPCA etc. Not to mention the apartments behind them. Are these businesses going to get shut down when they have to close for demolition? They’re literally on the same strip and are physically connected. Parking is about to be even more terrible than it already is in that area too!
parking in the area as a concern is not compelling – everything has acres of parking. There is too much parking in the area frankly, it should be built on.
As for demolition, I imagine it will proceed like any other demolition in the city, nothing novel in the process. I can’t imagine why abutters would have to close