An embroidery company previously operated on the site. (Mike Platania photo)
A planned multifamily project near The Diamond looks to be moving forward, possibly with a new developer at the plate.
Earlier this month the 3.4-acre plot at 1613 Ownby Lane sold for $8.75 million, city records show.
While the land had been eyed for more than a year by D.C.-based Capital City Real Estate for a five-story, 314-unit apartment building dubbed “The Porter,” the buyer in the Aug. 13 sale was an entity tied to Mid-America Apartment Communities.
Mid-America is based in Memphis, Tennessee, and owns about 300 apartment communities nationwide, most of which are in the Southeast. Its seven local holdings include the MAA West Creek near the intersection of Broad Street Road and State Route 288, and the MAA Pavilion Place apartments near Genito Road and Charter Colony Parkway in Chesterfield.
A rendering of the site’s proposed development. (Courtesy Newmark)
It’s unclear whether Capital City is still involved in the project. The firm, which entered the Richmond market with the Commodore development in Manchester, did not respond to requests for comment. Mid-America could not be reached.
Regardless of who will lead the project, The Porter looks to be moving forward. Its plan of development was approved by the city late last year and in recent weeks a slew of demolition and building permits have been filed for the project.
KBS is signed on as the project’s general contractor.
The land sale was brokered by Newmark’s Garrison Gore, Victoria Pickett and Charles Wentworth. A one-story warehouse sits on the plot, which the city most recently assessed at $4.5 million. The seller was Vatex Corp., an embroidery firm that had owned the property since 1985, when it bought it for $2 million.
The site is near the future Diamond District, which has shown plenty of forward momentum this summer. It’s also near VCU’s planned Athletic Village, demolition for which recently got underway with the razing of the former Greyhound bus maintenance center at 2701 Hermitage Road.
Across Hermitage Road from the Ownby Lane site is the old Cobb Lumber facility, which Breeden Construction is planning to redevelop into a six-story, mixed-use project. Construction on that development has yet to begin.
I think that we’ll see a number of these “shuttered” sites come off the shelf in the next 12 months as interest rates drop. The demand for more housing is clearly evident. Congrats to The Newmark crew for closing this out for Dr. Ben.
From your keyboard to God’s eyes, my friend! 🙏🙏🙏 Great to see the Scott’s Addition/Diamond District/Hermitage Road area continue to boom.
Hopefully the forthcoming interest rate drops will also reinvigorate the currently dormant construction situation over in Manchester. Several large and quite impressive projects (Avery Hall, Hourigan, among others) have been on pause for the past 18 or so months as developers have been waiting for the Fed to start the interest rate pullback. I’m hopeful that the next 12 months will see development in Manchester get rolling again.
Can’t tell, but if the base is brick (as it should be), and the design retains the rounded edges and apparent undulations, it would be a nicer project so many we’ve seen in the general area.
💯 %, Mark. It’s a really sweet design and a nice change from the designs we’ve seen in recent years. Definitely love the creativity.
yes better than what we have been seeing as of late. Just a question, does anyone know what corner we are seeing in the rendering?
My best guess is the corner of Hermitage and Ownby. That’s where the signage belongs.
Based on the way Ownby curves, matching the undulation in the design of the building (far left edge of the rendering), my best guess is that the viewpoint in this drawing is looking southeast, with Ownby in front (going left) and Hermitage (mainly only the sidewalk visible) on the far right edge of the picture..
This corridor from Broad to Ownby, coupled with the Diamond redevelopment is really going to be something to see. It’s an exciting time to watch Richmond grow!