The riverfront was the site of two of the most noticeable new developments in 2024. (Photo courtesy SkyShots Photography)
The most ballyhooed development news in 2024 came out of the Diamond District, where work on the Flying Squirrels’ new ballpark began after years of anticipation, but dirt was moving all over Richmond this year.
Among the most prominent developments in the city are happening along the water, where the Richmond Amphitheater and CoStar’s 26-story office tower are taking shape.
Construction on both projects shifted into high gear this year as the amphitheater’s framework became visible over the summer, and the venue’s first acts have been announced in recent weeks, including “Weird Al” Yankovic. CoStar’s tower and an adjacent six-story multipurpose building have been going vertical just to the east as the data company aims to have it completed in 2026.
Over along the Haxall Canal, an old hydro plant is being converted into Padel Plant, a multi-use racquet sports venue, and to the east near Rocketts Landing, the city is fielding ideas for the long-anticipated redevelopment of the Intermediate Terminal building. Some steps were also taken towards expanding Rocketts Landing itself.
Downtown
Dominion’s Eighth & Main office tower is now set to be converted into apartments and hotel rooms. (BizSense file photos)
The broader challenges facing the office real estate market nationally washed ashore in Richmond this year, as the owners of the Riverfront Plaza towers and the Bank of America Center began facing scrutiny from their lenders.
Another downtown office building is facing a rather different fate. Dominion Energy recently sold its Eighth & Main office tower to Douglas Development, which is now planning to convert the 20-story building into hundreds of apartments and hotel rooms.
The state government also stayed busy downtown in 2024, kicking off a master planning process for Capitol Square and moving to demolish the entirety of the Pocahontas Building on East Main Street.
VCU/The Fan
The 15-story Parc View at Commonwealth building was completed this year.
One of the tallest new residential buildings to rise in recent years was completed this year along Grace Street near VCU, as Chicago developer Pinecrest debuted its 15-story Parc View at Commonwealth tower. Construction on a much smaller, but long-planned, mixed-use development a few blocks down Grace Street also got underway.
Infill development was the name of the game in the Fan, including on some former Dominion-owned real estate on Grayland Avenue. A dozen new townhomes on that land were completed, and a D.C. developer began planning a new-construction, 221-unit apartment complex next door to replace an old Dominion parking lot. A slew of other infill projects are also under construction along West Cary Street.
Museum District/West End
An updated rendering of the planned Kinsale Center.
In the Museum District, construction of a sizable new mid-rise apartment building kicked off at Grove and Thompson, and the residential conversion of the former Saint Gertrude High School was completed. The neighborhood is also set to see changes in 2025, as a local developer picked up a vacant bank branch that sits on nearly two acres, and the derelict former Gusti complex in the Museum District’s northeast corner are set to be demolished.
Farther west in the Willow Lawn area, work on Kinsale Capital Group’s mixed-use Kinsale Center project at the corner of Broad and Staples Mill ramped up, and the Reynolds family unveiled plans to redevelop the Reynolds Crossing office park as a mixed-use destination.
Manchester/Southside
Lynx Ventures’ NOON Hioaks was completed this year, and many more affordable housing developments were proposed.
Affordable housing proposals were common in the Southside in 2024. Examples include a 266-unit development at Semmes and Cowardin, a 400-unit community in South Richmond and a final phase of the yearslong New Manchester Flats development.
The proposals mark a rising trend of affordable units being planned and built around the city.
Market-rate apartments filled the Manchester area’s pipeline, with 260 units planned for Semmes and Cowardin, and two dilapidated buildings along Hull Street are set to be replaced by a pair of mid-rise apartments.
Scott’s Addition
The bustling neighborhood was so busy in 2024 that it warranted a recap of its own. Read it here.
Chesterfield
Over in Chesterfield County, the long-in-the-making The Lake mixed-use development broke ground this year. The 105-acre development kicked things off with a trio of commercial buildings as a precursor to additional commercial and residential development for the project, including a 13-acre recreational lake and 6-acre surf pool.
The first mixed-use building and office building at Springline is expected to be completed in 2025. Also in 2025, a second mixed-use building and a Hilton hotel are anticipated to break ground. (BizSense file)
The Springline at District 60 redevelopment project saw its first few buildings, among them a mixed-use project with 300 apartments and an 150,000-square-foot office building, rise in 2024 after breaking ground the previous year. Those two projects are slated to finish up next year. Shamin Hotels unveiled its vision for a $100 million Hilton it is planning for the development on Midlothian Turnpike.
Chesterfield saw major industrial projects announced in 2024, such as a proposed nuclear fusion power plant that would be built on a 94-acre site near Chester by Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup spun out of MIT.
Other big projects announced this year included Denmark-based Topsoe’s plan to build a $400 million facility to manufacture solid oxide electrolyzer cells, and Swiss commercial humidifier maker Condair Group’s acquisition of a 400,000-square-foot warehouse for a new production facility.
Henrico
A conceptual site plan shows potential building layouts for the Glenwood Farms redevelopment. (County documents)
There’s plenty going on in the Henrico County development scene, as well.
In eastern end of the county, plans were announced during the year for a massive overhaul of the blighted Glenwood Farms apartment community. Developers Spy Rock Real Estate and Crescent Development, as part of a public-private project with the county, are planning 950 residential units across the site.
Near Sandston, the massive Landmark community from Godsey Properties continued taking shape in 2024. The latest plans call for “active adult” apartments beside a commercial component that could include a grocery store on a 15-acre portion of the 100-acre development at Williamsburg and Dry Bridge roads.
To the north, the transformation of the former Virginia Center Commons mall property and surrounding areas continued throughout the year. While Rebkee Co. and Shamin Hotels are redeveloping the mall with restaurants, hotels and hundreds of apartments, condos and townhomes, Bristol Development closed a land deal to tee up a new apartment project in the area of its own.
Goochland
Goochland supervisors recently voted to approve the rezoning request needed to build a large e-commerce fulfillment center in the northeastern part of the county. (Image courtesy of Goochland County)
One of the biggest stories of the year in terms of square footage came earlier this month when BizSense revealed that the massive “Project Rocky” fulfillment center is back on the drawing board with Amazon secured as its tenant. California-based Panattoni Development Co. is once again driving the Rockville facility a year after it was initially scrapped. Applications now describe the project as a five-level building totaling 3.1 million square feet of space.
Solar
The Scott Solar facility in Powhatan is among several solar projects that are operational or still in the works. (Courtesy Dominion Energy)
While building massive solar farms on agricultural land has been a trend in recent years, some parts of the region soured on such projects in 2024. Hanover County supervisors rejected a proposal for a solar array on a 1,500-acre site. And Powhatan County took the souring a step further by approving an amendment to its zoning ordinance that eliminated solar farms as a conditional use on agriculturally zoned land. The move means it is now impossible to get county approval to build new solar farms on land with those designations.
Petersburg
Gov. Youngkin giving remarks at October’s ribbon-cutting. (Photo courtesy governor’s office)
The slow but steady trend of redevelopment in parts of downtown Petersburg continued this year, as the once-dormant Hotel Petersburg was restored and reopened after a $23 million rehab.
New Kent
Matan Cos. is planning to begin the development of its New Kent Logistics Center project with a 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse. (Courtesy Matan Cos.)
Lastly, rural New Kent County was in on some development action during the year. Developer Matan Cos. spent $15 million to buy 289 acres where Interstate 64 meets Emmaus Church Road in the western part of the county. It plans 2 million square feet of new industrial space across four buildings.
Another sizable New Kent industrial project is in the works from Goochland-based CarMax, which is building a nearly 80,000-square-foot auction and repair facility on a 44-acre site at 16931 Eltham Road in the eastern part of the county.
Despite those two sizable projects, New Kent still appears to be keeping a tight grip on the pace of development. County supervisors rejected Virginia Beach-based Boyd Homes’ plans for Liberty Landing, which would have featured 60,000 square feet of commercial space as well as 290 home on a 118-acre site on Route 60 and across from the Five Lakes subdivision.
The riverfront was the site of two of the most noticeable new developments in 2024. (Photo courtesy SkyShots Photography)
The most ballyhooed development news in 2024 came out of the Diamond District, where work on the Flying Squirrels’ new ballpark began after years of anticipation, but dirt was moving all over Richmond this year.
Among the most prominent developments in the city are happening along the water, where the Richmond Amphitheater and CoStar’s 26-story office tower are taking shape.
Construction on both projects shifted into high gear this year as the amphitheater’s framework became visible over the summer, and the venue’s first acts have been announced in recent weeks, including “Weird Al” Yankovic. CoStar’s tower and an adjacent six-story multipurpose building have been going vertical just to the east as the data company aims to have it completed in 2026.
Over along the Haxall Canal, an old hydro plant is being converted into Padel Plant, a multi-use racquet sports venue, and to the east near Rocketts Landing, the city is fielding ideas for the long-anticipated redevelopment of the Intermediate Terminal building. Some steps were also taken towards expanding Rocketts Landing itself.
Downtown
Dominion’s Eighth & Main office tower is now set to be converted into apartments and hotel rooms. (BizSense file photos)
The broader challenges facing the office real estate market nationally washed ashore in Richmond this year, as the owners of the Riverfront Plaza towers and the Bank of America Center began facing scrutiny from their lenders.
Another downtown office building is facing a rather different fate. Dominion Energy recently sold its Eighth & Main office tower to Douglas Development, which is now planning to convert the 20-story building into hundreds of apartments and hotel rooms.
The state government also stayed busy downtown in 2024, kicking off a master planning process for Capitol Square and moving to demolish the entirety of the Pocahontas Building on East Main Street.
VCU/The Fan
The 15-story Parc View at Commonwealth building was completed this year.
One of the tallest new residential buildings to rise in recent years was completed this year along Grace Street near VCU, as Chicago developer Pinecrest debuted its 15-story Parc View at Commonwealth tower. Construction on a much smaller, but long-planned, mixed-use development a few blocks down Grace Street also got underway.
Infill development was the name of the game in the Fan, including on some former Dominion-owned real estate on Grayland Avenue. A dozen new townhomes on that land were completed, and a D.C. developer began planning a new-construction, 221-unit apartment complex next door to replace an old Dominion parking lot. A slew of other infill projects are also under construction along West Cary Street.
Museum District/West End
An updated rendering of the planned Kinsale Center.
In the Museum District, construction of a sizable new mid-rise apartment building kicked off at Grove and Thompson, and the residential conversion of the former Saint Gertrude High School was completed. The neighborhood is also set to see changes in 2025, as a local developer picked up a vacant bank branch that sits on nearly two acres, and the derelict former Gusti complex in the Museum District’s northeast corner are set to be demolished.
Farther west in the Willow Lawn area, work on Kinsale Capital Group’s mixed-use Kinsale Center project at the corner of Broad and Staples Mill ramped up, and the Reynolds family unveiled plans to redevelop the Reynolds Crossing office park as a mixed-use destination.
Manchester/Southside
Lynx Ventures’ NOON Hioaks was completed this year, and many more affordable housing developments were proposed.
Affordable housing proposals were common in the Southside in 2024. Examples include a 266-unit development at Semmes and Cowardin, a 400-unit community in South Richmond and a final phase of the yearslong New Manchester Flats development.
The proposals mark a rising trend of affordable units being planned and built around the city.
Market-rate apartments filled the Manchester area’s pipeline, with 260 units planned for Semmes and Cowardin, and two dilapidated buildings along Hull Street are set to be replaced by a pair of mid-rise apartments.
Scott’s Addition
The bustling neighborhood was so busy in 2024 that it warranted a recap of its own. Read it here.
Chesterfield
Over in Chesterfield County, the long-in-the-making The Lake mixed-use development broke ground this year. The 105-acre development kicked things off with a trio of commercial buildings as a precursor to additional commercial and residential development for the project, including a 13-acre recreational lake and 6-acre surf pool.
The first mixed-use building and office building at Springline is expected to be completed in 2025. Also in 2025, a second mixed-use building and a Hilton hotel are anticipated to break ground. (BizSense file)
The Springline at District 60 redevelopment project saw its first few buildings, among them a mixed-use project with 300 apartments and an 150,000-square-foot office building, rise in 2024 after breaking ground the previous year. Those two projects are slated to finish up next year. Shamin Hotels unveiled its vision for a $100 million Hilton it is planning for the development on Midlothian Turnpike.
Chesterfield saw major industrial projects announced in 2024, such as a proposed nuclear fusion power plant that would be built on a 94-acre site near Chester by Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup spun out of MIT.
Other big projects announced this year included Denmark-based Topsoe’s plan to build a $400 million facility to manufacture solid oxide electrolyzer cells, and Swiss commercial humidifier maker Condair Group’s acquisition of a 400,000-square-foot warehouse for a new production facility.
Henrico
A conceptual site plan shows potential building layouts for the Glenwood Farms redevelopment. (County documents)
There’s plenty going on in the Henrico County development scene, as well.
In eastern end of the county, plans were announced during the year for a massive overhaul of the blighted Glenwood Farms apartment community. Developers Spy Rock Real Estate and Crescent Development, as part of a public-private project with the county, are planning 950 residential units across the site.
Near Sandston, the massive Landmark community from Godsey Properties continued taking shape in 2024. The latest plans call for “active adult” apartments beside a commercial component that could include a grocery store on a 15-acre portion of the 100-acre development at Williamsburg and Dry Bridge roads.
To the north, the transformation of the former Virginia Center Commons mall property and surrounding areas continued throughout the year. While Rebkee Co. and Shamin Hotels are redeveloping the mall with restaurants, hotels and hundreds of apartments, condos and townhomes, Bristol Development closed a land deal to tee up a new apartment project in the area of its own.
Goochland
Goochland supervisors recently voted to approve the rezoning request needed to build a large e-commerce fulfillment center in the northeastern part of the county. (Image courtesy of Goochland County)
One of the biggest stories of the year in terms of square footage came earlier this month when BizSense revealed that the massive “Project Rocky” fulfillment center is back on the drawing board with Amazon secured as its tenant. California-based Panattoni Development Co. is once again driving the Rockville facility a year after it was initially scrapped. Applications now describe the project as a five-level building totaling 3.1 million square feet of space.
Solar
The Scott Solar facility in Powhatan is among several solar projects that are operational or still in the works. (Courtesy Dominion Energy)
While building massive solar farms on agricultural land has been a trend in recent years, some parts of the region soured on such projects in 2024. Hanover County supervisors rejected a proposal for a solar array on a 1,500-acre site. And Powhatan County took the souring a step further by approving an amendment to its zoning ordinance that eliminated solar farms as a conditional use on agriculturally zoned land. The move means it is now impossible to get county approval to build new solar farms on land with those designations.
Petersburg
Gov. Youngkin giving remarks at October’s ribbon-cutting. (Photo courtesy governor’s office)
The slow but steady trend of redevelopment in parts of downtown Petersburg continued this year, as the once-dormant Hotel Petersburg was restored and reopened after a $23 million rehab.
New Kent
Matan Cos. is planning to begin the development of its New Kent Logistics Center project with a 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse. (Courtesy Matan Cos.)
Lastly, rural New Kent County was in on some development action during the year. Developer Matan Cos. spent $15 million to buy 289 acres where Interstate 64 meets Emmaus Church Road in the western part of the county. It plans 2 million square feet of new industrial space across four buildings.
Another sizable New Kent industrial project is in the works from Goochland-based CarMax, which is building a nearly 80,000-square-foot auction and repair facility on a 44-acre site at 16931 Eltham Road in the eastern part of the county.
Despite those two sizable projects, New Kent still appears to be keeping a tight grip on the pace of development. County supervisors rejected Virginia Beach-based Boyd Homes’ plans for Liberty Landing, which would have featured 60,000 square feet of commercial space as well as 290 home on a 118-acre site on Route 60 and across from the Five Lakes subdivision.
I am impressed with the diversity of projects.
Great round-up, Mike. Really well done! If I might add to your list a few more significant projects that have gotten underway or were completed in 2024: (NOTE: I’m focusing only on the city in this list) DOWNTOWN: CoStar/VCU Arts and Innovation building at Belvidere and Broad is well underway – construction having begun during the second half of this year. Two tower cranes grace the westernmost portion of Monroe Ward. VPM headquarters/Public Broadcasting studios — in the Arts District, construction has gotten underway at 15 E. Broad Street (between Foushee and 1st streets) – and a tower crane has… Read more »