The first 13 units of The Parkline townhomes now line the Downtown Expressway. Another 13 are planned beside them along Stafford Avenue. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
The first homes in a trio of residential developments at the former Dominion Energy complex near the Fan are beginning to turn over along a transforming stretch of the Downtown Expressway.
A baker’s dozen of modern townhomes at Stafford and Grayland avenues make up the first batch of The Parkline, an infill development by a group that includes WVS Cos., Lory Markham and Walter Parks.
The three- and four-level homes, some with rooftop decks, front the expressway across Stafford from a former Dominion Energy complex that anchored the power company’s real estate holdings there.
The three- and four-level homes, some with rooftop decks, vary in styles and appearances inside and out.
The nearly 5-acre assemblage was sold off in recent years, with WVS picking up a 1-acre parking lot that The Parkline is replacing. Another 13 units are planned along Stafford once the initial units are all sold.
As of last week, nine of the first 13 homes had sold or been put under contract, according to the project’s website. Sales started over the summer with a happy hour event highlighting local artists whose works were displayed in the units. One South Realty Group’s Michelle Rosman and Patrick Sullivan are listing the homes.
Among the artists on hand were Markham and Parks, who created some of the stained-glass transom windows that adorn each of the townhomes’ front doors, which likewise vary in design.
The units feature open floorplans and stairways.
Their respective companies, Markham Planning and Walter Parks Architects, led the project’s planning and design, while WVS led the build along with general contractor J.D. Lewis Construction.
The homes range from about 1,800 to 2,300 square feet in size and are priced from the mid-$500,000s to $825,000. Units can be personalized with options, and each includes an attached garage with access from Apple Alley, which was improved for the project.
The alley runs from Stafford to Addison Street, where a pedestrian bridge across the expressway provides access to Byrd Park, the Carillon and Maymont. That access, along with the site’s linear layout, inspired The Parkline’s name, Markham said.
Lory Markham discussing the designs on a recent tour.
“You can be at Shields Lake, the Carillon, Maymont, the James River. Even though the (expressway) feels like a barrier, you’re really there in a minute, because you can walk across this pedestrian bridge,” she said. “We wanted to try to, in the name, connect that our location is close to these parks.”
With oversized windows and wood floors and accents, the homes are designed in a style called Japandi, which combines Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics with a focus on organic surroundings. Skylights add more light to the rooms, which feature different floorplans with upstairs kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms and a downstairs flex room that can be a third bedroom or office.
Parks emphasized the oversized single-car garages, which he described as hard to come by in the Fan. A few of the units have two-car garages. The homes also feature open stairways, gas stoves, tankless water heaters, and other systems and appliances.
The homes are designed in a style called Japandi that emphasizes organic surroundings.
The Parkline makes up part of a trifecta of projects that are transforming the former Dominion Energy properties, which are just south of the Cary Street Station redevelopment of the former GRTC bus depot.
Across Stafford from the townhomes, D.C.-based developer Audeo Partners is in the process of converting the former Dominion buildings at 2400 Grayland Ave. into 125 apartments. The company also is planning a pair of new four-story buildings totaling 221 apartments to replace the parking lot at 2501 Grayland Ave.