Project Snapshot: New townhomes on Arthur Ashe Boulevard taking shape, with plans for ADUs

The two infill townhomes by Center Creek Homes are an uncommon sight along Arthur Ashe Boulevard. (Jonathan Spiers photos)

A rare sight along Arthur Ashe Boulevard south of Broad Street has been turning heads of late: new residential construction.

Center Creek Homes is about halfway through its infill development at 413-415 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., where it’s building two three-story townhomes on what used to be a parking lot across from the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

Since submitting its plans to the city two years ago, the company has tweaked the project to include detached rear garages with living spaces above them that could be used as accessory dwelling units.

The garages are shown in relation to the townhomes. (City documents)

The 880-square-foot structures are being added at the request of the homes’ contract buyers, which Center Creek COO Greg Shron said put offers on the properties before construction began.

Greg Shron

“Both of our contract buyers were interested in doing detached garages with suites above them. Technically they’re ADUs, which the city permits by right in this zone. Whether our buyers intend to use them as actual ADUs or just as their own bonus space is up to them,” Shron said.

As construction takes shape on the 3,500-square-foot townhomes, which Shron said were priced at $1.68 million when the contracts came in, Center Creek is seeking a second approval from Richmond’s Commission of Architectural Review for the two-story garage structures. The request was scheduled to go before CAR at its Aug. 27 meeting.

The company had previously secured CAR approval for the townhomes, located in the city’s Boulevard Old and Historic District, as well as a special exception from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals for what Shron described as a minor zoning “quirk.” He said the second CAR approval is needed because the garages would front a city alley.

The two-story garages as they’d appear to the townhomes.

“Even though the ADUs and garages will not be visible from the street, the alley is still a public right of way, which means that CAR has purview over that as well,” he said.

Construction on the townhomes started in late February, two years after the company’s initial plans were submitted. Shron said the needed approvals and the company’s local workload contributed to the delay.

“Part of that was just us working through a backlog of projects. We had a little bit of a queue, and we wanted to make sure that we were being strategic about the sequence that we tackled them in,” he said.

Shron said the homes are targeted for completion by the end of this year or early next year. Center Creek Builders, the company’s in-house contractor, is building the homes. Bowman is the civil engineer.

Each home will have four bedrooms and 3½ bathrooms and feature a recessed top floor with a rooftop terrace overlooking the boulevard.

A rendering of the two townhomes planned to replace a parking lot at 415 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. (File image courtesy Center Creek Homes)

Designed by Richmond architect Chris Wolf, the buildings will feature brick and HardiePlank siding on the exterior and an open floor plan on the first floor with living and dining rooms separated by the kitchen. Bedrooms will fill the top two floors, with a top-floor loft that could be used as a game room or additional bedroom.

Center Creek purchased the 0.18-acre lot, which had been listed for sale in 2021, for $700,000. The site was brought to its attention by Long & Foster agent Dave Seibert, who lists many of Center Creek’s homes.

A view of the townhomes from the alley, where the detached garages would be built.

Shron, a licensed architect, has described the project as designed to be in keeping with the architecture and scale of the surrounding buildings, while also bringing something new to the neighborhood.

“We really are excited to be building something in that prominent of a location, and we’re going to try to do it justice,” he said.

The townhomes are one of several infill projects the company is actively working on in Richmond. On Grove Avenue in the West End, it’s planning a 15-home infill beside a centuries-old house and next to the Malvern Manor apartments.