The former industrial site is just a block north of the Otis apartments in Scott’s Addition. (Google Earth)
It’s a busy end to 2024 for an out-of-town developer that spent nearly $6 million for sites in and around Scott’s Addition in recent weeks.
Last week, Breakwater Cos. bought 1701 Roseneath Road for $4.7 million. The 1.2-acre site spans half a city block and is where Breakwater is planning a five-story mixed-use building.
The Roseneath purchase was preceded by a nearly $1 million deal that Breakwater closed in late November for 4627 W. Broad St., a small building that’s part of the Commonwealth Building assemblage that the developer is planning to raze to make way for a six-story mixed-use building.
Breakwater paid $725,000 for 4627 W. Broad St., which the city most recently assessed at $495,000. Property records list the seller as Kingsly LLC, an entity tied to Byron Chafin of Kingsly Properties.
Principal Andrew Rubin said Breakwater will be ground-leasing the rest of the Commonwealth property, which is separately owned.
The seller in the 1701 Roseneath deal was Richmond Machinery & Equipment, a firm that had been in Scott’s Addition going back decades. It now operates in Goochland.
The Roseneath property was initially targeted for redevelopment by local firm Blackwood Development in 2022, but those plans fell through. Breakwater stepped in earlier this year and closed on the parcel last week. The city most recently assessed the real estate at $2.9 million.
Rubin said Breakwater is at least a year away from breaking ground on the Roseneath development, which is set to include 168 apartments over around 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
A rendering of Breakwater’s planned Broad Street development. (Courtesy Breakwater Cos.)
The Broad Street development will be a similar scale, with 171 apartments and another 5,000 square feet of commercial space across six floors. Work on that site is expected to begin in the next six months, Rubin said.
“I’m pretty excited about the design. I love the project. I’ve been working on it for years now, and I think that it’ll be really a great addition to that transformation that’s going on in that section of West Broad,” Rubin said, referencing the phased Kinsale Center development that’s underway at the corner of Broad and Staples Mill Road.
“If I could draft off of (Kinsale Center’s) great work, that’d be great,” he said.
Chesapeake-based RBA Architects is designing the Broad Street development, and local firm 510 Architects is designing the Roseneath project. Rubin said he has yet to select a general contractor for either development.
Divaris Real Estate’s Read Goode worked the Roseneath deal, and Matt Hamilton of CBRE worked the Broad Street sale.
The former industrial site is just a block north of the Otis apartments in Scott’s Addition. (Google Earth)
It’s a busy end to 2024 for an out-of-town developer that spent nearly $6 million for sites in and around Scott’s Addition in recent weeks.
Last week, Breakwater Cos. bought 1701 Roseneath Road for $4.7 million. The 1.2-acre site spans half a city block and is where Breakwater is planning a five-story mixed-use building.
The Roseneath purchase was preceded by a nearly $1 million deal that Breakwater closed in late November for 4627 W. Broad St., a small building that’s part of the Commonwealth Building assemblage that the developer is planning to raze to make way for a six-story mixed-use building.
Breakwater paid $725,000 for 4627 W. Broad St., which the city most recently assessed at $495,000. Property records list the seller as Kingsly LLC, an entity tied to Byron Chafin of Kingsly Properties.
Principal Andrew Rubin said Breakwater will be ground-leasing the rest of the Commonwealth property, which is separately owned.
The seller in the 1701 Roseneath deal was Richmond Machinery & Equipment, a firm that had been in Scott’s Addition going back decades. It now operates in Goochland.
The Roseneath property was initially targeted for redevelopment by local firm Blackwood Development in 2022, but those plans fell through. Breakwater stepped in earlier this year and closed on the parcel last week. The city most recently assessed the real estate at $2.9 million.
Rubin said Breakwater is at least a year away from breaking ground on the Roseneath development, which is set to include 168 apartments over around 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
A rendering of Breakwater’s planned Broad Street development. (Courtesy Breakwater Cos.)
The Broad Street development will be a similar scale, with 171 apartments and another 5,000 square feet of commercial space across six floors. Work on that site is expected to begin in the next six months, Rubin said.
“I’m pretty excited about the design. I love the project. I’ve been working on it for years now, and I think that it’ll be really a great addition to that transformation that’s going on in that section of West Broad,” Rubin said, referencing the phased Kinsale Center development that’s underway at the corner of Broad and Staples Mill Road.
“If I could draft off of (Kinsale Center’s) great work, that’d be great,” he said.
Chesapeake-based RBA Architects is designing the Broad Street development, and local firm 510 Architects is designing the Roseneath project. Rubin said he has yet to select a general contractor for either development.
Divaris Real Estate’s Read Goode worked the Roseneath deal, and Matt Hamilton of CBRE worked the Broad Street sale.
Andrew is a smart guy who recognized opportunity for growth near Willow Lawn years ago and pursued numerous deals there over the years. He’s controlled the Commonwealth Building site for over a year. It’s terrific to see another deal along the West Broad corridor going forward. There will be a major transformation of the highway between I-I95 and I-64, and perhaps the police will patrol it better in the future as residents occupy it. Motorcyclists, in particular, treat it as a drag strip.
I agree. Continuing to build density will benefit not only citizens but add more tax money to the city coffers.
Congratulations to Read Goode, Matt Hamilton and Andrew Rubin!
It’s become pretty much “old news” that hi density residential and an occasional office project and/or restaurant are the only business developments happening in the city. Would be nice to read that some kind of mid-size tech biz or distribution enterprise or pharma or skilled manufacturing was occasionally in the mix. Good for the mom-and-pops and office workers out there. But critical mass business development is notably absent within the city.
Couldn’t agree more, Landon. Unfortunately, the Austins, Nashvilles and Raleighs of the world seem to snap up all those kinds of developments (particularly associated with relos) before RVA even has a chance to sniff at them. If we could land a few of these, it would help tremendously.
Would be nice to think the incoming administration recognizes this, and actually does something to address these missed opportunities.
Hopefully the mayor, along with the city’s EDA and the Greater Richmond Partnership (which does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to recruiting business relo opportunities for RVA) – plus even the state and the governor’s office could all get involved and work to snag some of these potential home-run relocations. Even just two WINS in this area would be a game-change for Richmond.
Our balkanized local governments are a big part of this problem. A lot of relatively small localities are all chasing the same things, and the City’s high taxes are an additional lead weight.
Don’t forget the corrupt and inept bureaucracy that run everything. I mean every locality has its challenges but Richmond City probably tops #1 (at least in VA) for disfunction that dissuades businesses too!
Corrupt bureaucrats downvoting you.
And, yes, Richmond has NOTHING on places like Chicago.
Be nice to the cats that live there