
The honeycomb-styled parklet in front of Ms. Bee’s old location on Brookland Park Boulevard. (Google Maps image)
While she’s finished relocating her Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar to its new location in Jackson Ward, owner Brandi Battle-Brown hasn’t forgotten about the custom-designed parklet that remains in front of her old Northside storefront.
Battle-Brown is planning to move the once-controversial parklet from Ms. Bee’s old space on Brookland Park Boulevard to its new location at 323 N. Adams St.
The restaurateur, who also owns the adjacent Hive Bar & Grill at Adams and Marshall streets, has secured city approval to relocate the parklet – a parking space-sized patio intended for outdoor dining – to a spot right in front of the Adams Street storefront that previously housed Saison Market.

The parklet will take up the equivalent of one parking space in front of the Adams Street storefront. (City documents)
The honeycomb-styled structure will take up the equivalent of one curbside parking space, with temporary plastic safety bollards placed around it, as was the setup at its Brookland Park location. In all, the parklet and bollards will fill a length of 30 feet, leaving enough room for two vehicles to park between the parklet and the stop sign at Marshall.
The parklet is one of seven that popped up in Richmond as an open-air dining option during the pandemic, when indoor dining was restricted. A city-funded program provided five parklets to qualifying businesses that applied for them, while two other parklets – Ms. Bee’s and another at Jackson Ward gallery Art180 – were funded separately with grants and private funds.
The Art180 parklet, which is just around the corner from the new Ms. Bee’s, was part of a larger project to enhance Marshall’s intersection with Brook Road and remains placed beside the gallery at 114 W. Marshall St. In her application to the city, Battle-Brown noted the proximity of the parklets and said hers would help promote and facilitate activity in the neighborhood.
“The (Ms. Bee’s parklet) represents our commitment to enhancing the vibrancy and inclusivity of the Jackson Ward Art District,” Battle-Brown’s application stated. “This parklet will transform a portion of the street into a lively, green oasis where people can relax, socialize, and participate in various activities, thereby enhancing the neighborhood’s cultural and social fabric.”
City planning staff agreed in their review of the application, finding the Adams Street location “to be excellent for encouraging greater street activity and greater small business success in the Jackson Ward Neighborhood.” The review by the city’s Urban Design Committee was approved by the Planning Commission in November.
Last month, Battle-Brown said she is planning to move the parklet to Adams Street this spring, following some refurbishment to address weathering that has occurred to the wooden structure since it was placed three years ago.
She said she expects the parklet to get more use than it did on Brookland Park Boulevard, where opposition from some nearby business owners resulted in a redesign and reduction in size of the original structure, which was two parking spaces long and included a canopy. Battle-Brown said the refurbished parklet would include umbrellas.

Brandi Battle-Brown outside the old Ms. Bee’s on Brookland Park Boulevard in 2021. (BizSense file photo)
“I think that it will have better use in the Jackson Ward area. It’s a lot more traffic in that area,” she said. “I have a lot of traffic from VCU students and more student life in the area overall.”
Battle-Brown said she’s looking for a company to help her with the move and is in talks with several firms about assisting with the refurbishment, potentially pro bono. HKS Architects designed the parklet pro bono, and the structure was funded with private donations and a $20,000 grant that Venture Richmond helped secure.
Meanwhile, Battle-Brown said business at the new Ms. Bee’s and next door at The Hive has been going well. She opened The Hive two years ago in the former Saison restaurant space and had planned a market next door before deciding to use that space for Ms. Bee’s.
As for the five city-funded parklets, four remain in their original locations: in front of Stir Crazy on MacArthur Avenue in Bellevue, Hot for Pizza on Leigh Street in Carver, Scoop on Strawberry Street in the Fan, and the former Nile restaurant in Church Hill.
Nile closed its storefront a year ago, but that parklet remains at the space on 29th Street. Fan restaurant Joe’s Inn gave back its parklet after a few months. The status of that parklet could not be confirmed with the city in time for this story.

The honeycomb-styled parklet in front of Ms. Bee’s old location on Brookland Park Boulevard. (Google Maps image)
While she’s finished relocating her Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar to its new location in Jackson Ward, owner Brandi Battle-Brown hasn’t forgotten about the custom-designed parklet that remains in front of her old Northside storefront.
Battle-Brown is planning to move the once-controversial parklet from Ms. Bee’s old space on Brookland Park Boulevard to its new location at 323 N. Adams St.
The restaurateur, who also owns the adjacent Hive Bar & Grill at Adams and Marshall streets, has secured city approval to relocate the parklet – a parking space-sized patio intended for outdoor dining – to a spot right in front of the Adams Street storefront that previously housed Saison Market.

The parklet will take up the equivalent of one parking space in front of the Adams Street storefront. (City documents)
The honeycomb-styled structure will take up the equivalent of one curbside parking space, with temporary plastic safety bollards placed around it, as was the setup at its Brookland Park location. In all, the parklet and bollards will fill a length of 30 feet, leaving enough room for two vehicles to park between the parklet and the stop sign at Marshall.
The parklet is one of seven that popped up in Richmond as an open-air dining option during the pandemic, when indoor dining was restricted. A city-funded program provided five parklets to qualifying businesses that applied for them, while two other parklets – Ms. Bee’s and another at Jackson Ward gallery Art180 – were funded separately with grants and private funds.
The Art180 parklet, which is just around the corner from the new Ms. Bee’s, was part of a larger project to enhance Marshall’s intersection with Brook Road and remains placed beside the gallery at 114 W. Marshall St. In her application to the city, Battle-Brown noted the proximity of the parklets and said hers would help promote and facilitate activity in the neighborhood.
“The (Ms. Bee’s parklet) represents our commitment to enhancing the vibrancy and inclusivity of the Jackson Ward Art District,” Battle-Brown’s application stated. “This parklet will transform a portion of the street into a lively, green oasis where people can relax, socialize, and participate in various activities, thereby enhancing the neighborhood’s cultural and social fabric.”
City planning staff agreed in their review of the application, finding the Adams Street location “to be excellent for encouraging greater street activity and greater small business success in the Jackson Ward Neighborhood.” The review by the city’s Urban Design Committee was approved by the Planning Commission in November.
Last month, Battle-Brown said she is planning to move the parklet to Adams Street this spring, following some refurbishment to address weathering that has occurred to the wooden structure since it was placed three years ago.
She said she expects the parklet to get more use than it did on Brookland Park Boulevard, where opposition from some nearby business owners resulted in a redesign and reduction in size of the original structure, which was two parking spaces long and included a canopy. Battle-Brown said the refurbished parklet would include umbrellas.

Brandi Battle-Brown outside the old Ms. Bee’s on Brookland Park Boulevard in 2021. (BizSense file photo)
“I think that it will have better use in the Jackson Ward area. It’s a lot more traffic in that area,” she said. “I have a lot of traffic from VCU students and more student life in the area overall.”
Battle-Brown said she’s looking for a company to help her with the move and is in talks with several firms about assisting with the refurbishment, potentially pro bono. HKS Architects designed the parklet pro bono, and the structure was funded with private donations and a $20,000 grant that Venture Richmond helped secure.
Meanwhile, Battle-Brown said business at the new Ms. Bee’s and next door at The Hive has been going well. She opened The Hive two years ago in the former Saison restaurant space and had planned a market next door before deciding to use that space for Ms. Bee’s.
As for the five city-funded parklets, four remain in their original locations: in front of Stir Crazy on MacArthur Avenue in Bellevue, Hot for Pizza on Leigh Street in Carver, Scoop on Strawberry Street in the Fan, and the former Nile restaurant in Church Hill.
Nile closed its storefront a year ago, but that parklet remains at the space on 29th Street. Fan restaurant Joe’s Inn gave back its parklet after a few months. The status of that parklet could not be confirmed with the city in time for this story.
it would be better if the city made it very easy for restaurants to put tables on the sidewalk like so many other cities do.
No one ever went to Paris and said there were too many cafes
To be fair, Paris has narrower streets and less on-street parking – which could and should be done in the few blocks around Adams and Marshall.
Paris famously has many wide streets and boulevards with immense ROWs. And when I lived there, they certainly had their fair share of on-street parking spots. Luckily they have been eliminating a lot of them in recent years to make more space for people and more sustainable and city-appropriate forms of transportation.
As someone who has had a gun waved at them because I was forced to walk in the street with the stroller and dog because a business was blocking the sidewalk, not sure if agree with your proposal.
Removing two parking spaces to provide a public seating space for restaurant goers to sit and enjoy a juice/meal should not be controversial. We, as Americans, need to rethink our relationship with the urban street. At one time, streets around Richmond were filled with merchants selling goods, horsedrawn carriages, cars, and people walking – all of whom could coexist on a daily basis.
We don’t have enough parking downtown to begin with and now they want to take 2 spaces away so people can sip juice? Nope. Find a building big enough for tables or they can take it to go.
‘They’ are leaving two parking spaces and using one. People who prefer take out are legally allowed (by them) to park for 15 minutes in loading zones.
There are thousands upon thousands of on-street parking spots (many free) in the city and roughly 25% of downtown is surface parking. Richmond does not have a parking problem unless your problem is not being able to park on the same block as your destination. Even then you can often get lucky. Saying “we don’t have enough parking” is just flatly incorrect or argued in bad faith. And now we’re going to take away a place where several paying customers can enjoy their purchases from a small business so 1 or 2 people can use public property to store their… Read more »
100% false but cute story
I’ve almost NEVER had any serious issues parking in Richmond. The worst it ever gets is “It took me 5 to 10 minutes to find a space a block or two away”. Hardly a travesty
Richmond has plenty of parking. It’s easy to park here. That doesn’t mean we should make it hard, of course
If its that much available parking in Richmond why can’t we just close the entire street to motor vehicles? New Orleans is an example.
It’s heterogeneous of course. The only street that would make sense to close would be Carytown. I’d be fine with that, but we’d need bigger parking garages behind it.
Ironically we also need some central parking garages in Scott’s addition to support the area. Street parking is less important than the certainty of parking.
And we do need to make it easy for people from the counties to drive in to support local businesses
I’ve never seen them anywhere near busy enough to need extra space. They could do what Saison had done in the past, table and chairs outside without removing parking. It’s fine though, they’ll sadly learn the hard way. Making it harder to patronize doesn’t improve the situation for anyone
Are you serious? Horsedrawn carriages? Check your shoes at the door. You going to pay $20 an hour for a pooper scooper person? That would really add ambiance to the meal.
at one time mail was delivered by pony express and there were no phones. Doesn’t make it better
You have a very romantic conception of the Past — wonder why it is past, have we been tricked out of it?
There needs to be a balance between getting customers to a restaurant and having some place for them to eat outside. There are not enough customers living in those areas to support all of the restaurants and shops so you need to draw them in from outside the area. The reality is that means you need some level of parking. The sidewalks also still need to have space for people to walk (that is the main purpose of sidewalks).
100% accurate all the way around, thank you.
I for one have never understood the attraction of sitting out on a sidewalk to dine. So, they ban smoking inside only to sit outside in polluted air. I did once at Buddy’s on Robinson St. and that was enough for me. How many flies can one swat away while trying to eat? I guess if you just people watch or watch traffic go by there may be something to it. Do you often interact with strangers passing by? Drop crumbs to the hungry?
Maybe it’s just not for you, then. You’re allowed to not like something.
I don’t believe motor vehicles and people sitting around in the street mix,even if you do have some sort of railing.Keep it on the sidewalk.