26-unit Libbie Avenue condo project to start construction this spring

8.24R Libbie Ave Condos Elevation1

Conceptual elevations show the condo building with varying facades along Libbie Avenue. (BizSense file)

Three years after securing approvals for the project, a development team is about to pull the trigger on more than two dozen new condos in the Libbie-and-Grove area.

Construction is slated to start this spring on a 26-unit condominium development that will replace an existing office building at 417 Libbie Ave.

A group that includes New York-based Urban Generation Living recently applied for city permits to demolish the century-old building, which previously housed Vascular Surgery Associates’ West End office.

The three- and four-story rowhouse-style condos will fill the 0.75-acre property, which is a few doors down from Eagle Construction of VA’s recently completed Row at Westhampton townhomes.

8.24R Libbie Ave Condos Site

This nearly century-old, 3,700-square-foot building and its parking lot are slated to be razed and redeveloped into 26 condos. (BizSense file photo)

UGL, whose local work includes the condo conversion of the former One Monument Avenue complex on Stuart Circle, is working with a group that includes local businessman Stuart Cantor. The group has enlisted Clint Mann of D.C.-based Urban Pace to handle marketing and sales for the condos.

Mann said the group has been refining the project since securing city approvals and purchasing the property in 2022. An LLC affiliated with UGL paid $3.5 million for the site, which the city assessed that year at $2.6 million. It’s currently assessed at about $3.7 million.

Clint Mann

Clint Mann

“We’ve been working very diligently on refining the plan, the interior finishes, the amenity package, making sure that the product we’re delivering meets expectations of the consumers,” Mann said. He said time has also been spent looking at other product that has come on the market, and interviewing potential buyers on what they are desiring.

“A lot of work goes in behind the scenes on projects like this, and we’re now in a position where we can go vertical,” Mann said.

With two to four bedrooms and 2½ to 3½ bathrooms, the homes are planned to range in size from 2,000 to 2,500 square feet, with penthouses ranging from 4,400 to 4,900 square feet. Eight units will fill each of the three main floors, with two elevators providing access to a parking garage.

Mann said pricing for the homes will start around $1.4 million. The price point is comparable to Eagle’s Row at Westhampton townhomes, which have all sold at prices ranging from $1.3 million to $1.9 million for the street-facing units.

8.24R Libbie Ave Condos layout

The building’s configuration along Libbie, with eight condos filling each of the three main floors.

Baskervill is designing the condos, which Mann said would be delivered in late 2026 if construction goes according to schedule. He said the group is in talks with a local builder and should be finalizing a contract in the next few months, when he said new renderings of the units would be released as part of marketing that will include a website.

He said the cost of the project, to be called “417 Libbie,” has not been finalized.

“It’s really going to be the nicest condominium product ever delivered in Richmond,” said Mann, who said he’s familiar with the market and previously helped market the condos at Rocketts Landing. “We’ve put a lot of thought and design in this, hiring Baskervill to do the interiors, and spared no expense to make sure that the interiors exceed expectations at all levels.”

Mann, who spent a year at the University of Richmond and has led Urban Pace, a Long & Foster affiliate, since 2017, said the market has shown demand for higher-end condos in that part of the West End. Across the street from Eagle’s townhomes is the 14-unit Tiber condos, and the area also has seen condos added via several infill developments and the Westhampton on Grove development.

“I think there’s real demand,” Mann said. “If anything, our efforts to reach out to the community, do focus groups and listen for feedback has just affirmed our understanding and belief that there is a missing piece of the market and there is demand for this. This is a location people want to live in, and these are the types of homes that people have expressed interest in.”

8.24R Libbie Ave Condos Elevation1

Conceptual elevations show the condo building with varying facades along Libbie Avenue. (BizSense file)

Three years after securing approvals for the project, a development team is about to pull the trigger on more than two dozen new condos in the Libbie-and-Grove area.

Construction is slated to start this spring on a 26-unit condominium development that will replace an existing office building at 417 Libbie Ave.

A group that includes New York-based Urban Generation Living recently applied for city permits to demolish the century-old building, which previously housed Vascular Surgery Associates’ West End office.

The three- and four-story rowhouse-style condos will fill the 0.75-acre property, which is a few doors down from Eagle Construction of VA’s recently completed Row at Westhampton townhomes.

8.24R Libbie Ave Condos Site

This nearly century-old, 3,700-square-foot building and its parking lot are slated to be razed and redeveloped into 26 condos. (BizSense file photo)

UGL, whose local work includes the condo conversion of the former One Monument Avenue complex on Stuart Circle, is working with a group that includes local businessman Stuart Cantor. The group has enlisted Clint Mann of D.C.-based Urban Pace to handle marketing and sales for the condos.

Mann said the group has been refining the project since securing city approvals and purchasing the property in 2022. An LLC affiliated with UGL paid $3.5 million for the site, which the city assessed that year at $2.6 million. It’s currently assessed at about $3.7 million.

Clint Mann

Clint Mann

“We’ve been working very diligently on refining the plan, the interior finishes, the amenity package, making sure that the product we’re delivering meets expectations of the consumers,” Mann said. He said time has also been spent looking at other product that has come on the market, and interviewing potential buyers on what they are desiring.

“A lot of work goes in behind the scenes on projects like this, and we’re now in a position where we can go vertical,” Mann said.

With two to four bedrooms and 2½ to 3½ bathrooms, the homes are planned to range in size from 2,000 to 2,500 square feet, with penthouses ranging from 4,400 to 4,900 square feet. Eight units will fill each of the three main floors, with two elevators providing access to a parking garage.

Mann said pricing for the homes will start around $1.4 million. The price point is comparable to Eagle’s Row at Westhampton townhomes, which have all sold at prices ranging from $1.3 million to $1.9 million for the street-facing units.

8.24R Libbie Ave Condos layout

The building’s configuration along Libbie, with eight condos filling each of the three main floors.

Baskervill is designing the condos, which Mann said would be delivered in late 2026 if construction goes according to schedule. He said the group is in talks with a local builder and should be finalizing a contract in the next few months, when he said new renderings of the units would be released as part of marketing that will include a website.

He said the cost of the project, to be called “417 Libbie,” has not been finalized.

“It’s really going to be the nicest condominium product ever delivered in Richmond,” said Mann, who said he’s familiar with the market and previously helped market the condos at Rocketts Landing. “We’ve put a lot of thought and design in this, hiring Baskervill to do the interiors, and spared no expense to make sure that the interiors exceed expectations at all levels.”

Mann, who spent a year at the University of Richmond and has led Urban Pace, a Long & Foster affiliate, since 2017, said the market has shown demand for higher-end condos in that part of the West End. Across the street from Eagle’s townhomes is the 14-unit Tiber condos, and the area also has seen condos added via several infill developments and the Westhampton on Grove development.

“I think there’s real demand,” Mann said. “If anything, our efforts to reach out to the community, do focus groups and listen for feedback has just affirmed our understanding and belief that there is a missing piece of the market and there is demand for this. This is a location people want to live in, and these are the types of homes that people have expressed interest in.”

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Zach Henderson
Zach Henderson
15 days ago

It would appear that the 2 street facing structures are former residences that have been added on to over the years. I’d be curious to know the story of those homes.

Joseph Carlisle
Joseph Carlisle
15 days ago
Reply to  Zach Henderson

If I had to guess they both were probably sold.

Carroll W. Aldridge II
Carroll W. Aldridge II
15 days ago

Ah, another project OK’ed that will drawf the surrounding environs. As the article states the demand is there & it will meet the needs of the people…I suspect if surveyed the vast majority of the inhabitants of that area would not approve of this project…that the needs of the developer are what is being served…A growing trend in the area west of the museum district: buy up, then build up. This completely changes the neighborhood character. No warm & fuzzies here juz dollar signs…Overall I suspect people do not care to live around such developement..

Charles Frankenhoff
Charles Frankenhoff
15 days ago

We need housing. The city needs new tax dollars, so it doesn’t just raise rates on existing homeowners.
This is a great location in an urban village for million dollar homes. It’s not exactly bringing down the neighborhood to say the lease. It will not change the neighborhood character.
It will personally mess with me, as I drive through there a lot, but that’s a small price to pay for living in a city

Martha Lee
Martha Lee
15 days ago

Agreed. This area of town is part of what makes Richmond, RICHMOND. Do we really need another Anytown, USA that mimics Short Pump? Keep the character and ditch the buy up, build up. And to Ms. Gardner’s point below….how’s that affordable housing thing going?

Joseph Carlisle
Joseph Carlisle
15 days ago
Reply to  Martha Lee

There is no character. It’s two dingy old buildings slapped together and utilized as a law office. Density and more housing is needed. Sure these are not very affordable, but the more people per acre only help support the businesses that give Richmond its charm.

Justin Reynolds
Justin Reynolds
15 days ago
Reply to  Martha Lee

What character does the current building have exactly? It’s a mishmash of two older homes now being used as an office building, and it could easily be in “anytown USA” already. This development will look better and it’ll be a higher use, which is what Richmond needs.

Carroll W. Aldridge II
Carroll W. Aldridge II
14 days ago

Believe that Ms Lee is referring to the overall character of the neighborhood which until the Tiber was a mixture of one & two story structures with an occasional exception. Previously there were height restrictions regarding several buildings on Grove Ave. Now it seems anything goes. Libbie Ave. is a narrow street & a very busy one. It is only going to get worse.

Garry Whelan
Garry Whelan
15 days ago

This is a minute down the street from Eagle’s Row and Tiber, very similar developments. Good urban planning sees higher density closer to main thoroughfares and this aligns with other recent developments in this area. I strongly suspect this will continue to be a desirable neighborhood and more density can complement what’s already there.

David Humphrey
David Humphrey
15 days ago

Yes, 2-story development is being replaced with …. 3-story development. Bit of an addition but nothing earth shattering.

Connor Matthew
Connor Matthew
15 days ago

I am usually one who hears “that would bring too much traffic” and thinks it is a bunch of NIMBYs who just do not want their local area to change. But as someone who does not live near here and only occasionally travels in that part of town, I cannot help but think that area cannot handle anymore traffic. Between the growth of Libbie and Grove and the considerably bigger growth at Patterson and Grove, how will that section of Libbie handle the increase in vehicle/pedal/foot traffic? I know the stop light Libbie and Cary helped that intersection, but I… Read more »

Betsy Gardner
Betsy Gardner
15 days ago
Reply to  Connor Matthew

Thanks for the understanding of the traffic. It is a huge concern that the city tends to gloss over. Our previous councilman approved these because he was very pro-development, pro-vertical and anti-car. There are 3 schools within blocks and lots of pedestrian traffic. In my time in the area, I’ve learned you can’t fight it. The best you can hope for is to be vocal, attend the prerequisite meetings and hopefully get adjustments to help all of the above. I find it funny because there’s a great deal of noise about more and “affordable housing” in the city. These will… Read more »

Charles Frankenhoff
Charles Frankenhoff
15 days ago
Reply to  Betsy Gardner

if you pour water anywhere into a pond it raises the water level. If you build any kind of housing it increases housing availablity and helps affordable housing. It’s a very basic math equation.

Martha Lee
Martha Lee
15 days ago
Reply to  Betsy Gardner

Spot on.

Joseph Carlisle
Joseph Carlisle
15 days ago
Reply to  Betsy Gardner

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. The city needs infill development of all shapes and sizes especially by our mixed use/walkable hubs. 26 dense units is better than 26 single family homes being built into a forest or park.

Polgar Concertado
Polgar Concertado
15 days ago
Reply to  Betsy Gardner

Right, Betsy. Just what the Westhampton folks want is more affordable housing in their neighborhood.

I live blocks away, and this will certainly be an improvement to what is there now. 26 condos isn’t going to significantly move the traffic needle, and most likely at least half of them will not be the owner’s primary residence anyway.

Charles Frankenhoff
Charles Frankenhoff
14 days ago

A very good point. At any given moment 3/4 of the inhabitants, all of who are likely to be 65 and over, will be at their beach or river house

Justin Reynolds
Justin Reynolds
15 days ago
Reply to  Betsy Gardner

That’s not how affordable housing works. A rising tide raises all ships and we need more of all kinds of housing. The Libbie/Grove area is in high demand and this is only a modest increase in density with a much better use of the space.

Landon Edwards
Landon Edwards
15 days ago
Reply to  Connor Matthew

Traffic, and also parking. I suppose we’ll see more of the angular vs. parallel parking spaces to accommodate the increased density. And of course bike lanes are a must-have. So maybe a 5 or 6 ft wide sidewalk? Eventually Libbie and Maple will both become one-way streets in opposite directions.

Charles Frankenhoff
Charles Frankenhoff
15 days ago
Reply to  Landon Edwards

I hope not one ways. They are horrible, and anti urban.
Virginia has the worst traffic engineers I swear. They make traffic much worse than it should be

Landon Edwards
Landon Edwards
15 days ago

You’ve evidently never lived in North Carolina.

Andrew Smithe
Andrew Smithe
15 days ago
Reply to  Landon Edwards

One way streets here would be a great improvement!

Joseph Carlisle
Joseph Carlisle
15 days ago
Reply to  Andrew Smithe

Cars tend to drive faster on one way roads, so it would be dangerous to pedestrians. We don’t want that, so bidirectional is the way to go.

Polgar Concertado
Polgar Concertado
15 days ago
Reply to  Andrew Smithe

Not a chance they make Maple one way.

Joseph Carlisle
Joseph Carlisle
15 days ago
Reply to  Landon Edwards

One way streets would lead to increased car speeds which increase the risk of pedestrian safety. Bidirectional traffic flow is safer.

Landon Edwards
Landon Edwards
14 days ago
Reply to  Landon Edwards

My prediction about one way traffic relies on the city’s history of doing stupid things to the roads. It’s not a personally preferred option.

Charles Frankenhoff
Charles Frankenhoff
15 days ago
Reply to  Connor Matthew

As someone who drives through it daily, it will be a minor pain during construction, no more. The load from 26 homes will be tiny.
It’s the city. Living cities have traffic, or they become dead cities.
The bigger traffic issue is how bad the paving is on Libbie, that road really needs to be repaved

Craig Davis
Craig Davis
12 days ago

Sure the load from this in a vacuum may not be debilitating … but add the Tiber and the Row and the ones on top of the old
Westhampton theater and the ones catty corner across the other side of the street and others that have been proposed and accumulated effect is there is undeniably more traffic and the load is decidedly not tiny. The 2 new traffic lights on grove, new light on Cary weren’t added for fun. Saying this as someone who lives fairly close by and navigates the area multiple times a day.

Joseph Carlisle
Joseph Carlisle
15 days ago
Reply to  Connor Matthew

It’s 26 units of needed density. It’s not going to effect traffic.

Bruce Milam
Bruce Milam
15 days ago

The Libbie corridor and all that is east of it is subject to a great transformation to higher densities over the next 20 years. The location is just too good to fail to change. There will be pushback from nostalgic neighbors but they too will cave in to higher and higher offers for their property as “tear downs”. It’s all part of a natural growth cycle of urban landscapes.

Carroll W. Aldridge II
Carroll W. Aldridge II
15 days ago
Reply to  Bruce Milam

Actually neighbors whether current, contemporary or nostalgic are what make up neighborhoods. Without them & how they value their neighborhoods is what makes them – the neighborhoods desirable…Over development & with it traffic & congestion usually leads to decay & the hunt for new property to develop & save. There is no such thing as a natural growth cycle in urban landscapes. Insightful urban planning calls for comprehensive planning with adequate amenities for the current population & well as new residents…Open areas, green spaces, parks, like Byrd, Bryan, Marymont etc.. This area will be developed that is for sure but… Read more »

Will Wilson
Will Wilson
15 days ago

Claiming there’s “no such thing as a natural growth cycle in urban landscapes” is blatant ignorance of history—before exclusionary zoning distorted it, this process thrived and was able to provide all types of housing for people. Over-planning has choked neighborhoods, limiting housing supply and leaving only the wealthiest with any real choice about where to live.

Carroll W. Aldridge II
Carroll W. Aldridge II
15 days ago
Reply to  Will Wilson

Fully aware of my history, studied urban planning at the graduate level …& yes you are correct, modern day zoning has changed things a great deal…however a cities urban core & the modern suburban environs that results are not a naturally occurrence of organic growth. Many factors are involved…traffic, congestion, economic & in Richmond’s case racial…high density has it’s plus & minus’s..Sometimes people just want out…there was a reason why planned cities, “Reston” were created. The area from Old Three Chop Rd..and the Museum District is a area in many ways unique to Richmond. Yes some parts of it may… Read more »

Rogearvin Bernadina
Rogearvin Bernadina
15 days ago

I get your point, but Richmond needs less sleepy, and more BOOM! We’ve done the “pretty but sleepy” thing for decades. Keep the beauty, juice it up. More and better.

Arnold Hager
Arnold Hager
14 days ago

Perhaps the BOOM is better off in the entertainment district so the “pretty but sleepy” can have some peace and quiet that they are paying for.

Michael Morgan-Dodson
Michael Morgan-Dodson
15 days ago
Reply to  Will Wilson

Yep, blame zoning. Before we had zoning we had such paradises for LMI families. Tenement that squeeze as many people in a little space with no amenities just the code basics as all those people need. And someone PLEASE show me a place we zoning changes have led to anything more than MORE unaffordable housing. No study or report as shown any increase in affordable units, just more units. DC is a good example it has “densed up” especially past NOMA and thousands and thousands of units since early 2000s. Nothing really affordable. NOVA is going higher and adding density,… Read more »

Will Wilson
Will Wilson
15 days ago

The localities you mentioned are relaxing zoning in narrow slices – the vast majority of their land use has remained unchanged. Whatever development you see in DC is for below what the market would provide in a more permissibe environment in which land use is liberalized more broadly- not just along metro lines.

Arlington’s missing middle was shot down, DC has height limits – these are without a doubt poor examples. But look at zoning-less Houston. Look what is happening in Austin, in Minneapolis. Those cities are broadly allowing denser housing on every lot and prices are moderating.

Last edited 15 days ago by Will Wilson
Justin Reynolds
Justin Reynolds
15 days ago

That’s not how housing affordability works. We have a crazy shortage and lots of either corporate or out of town buyers. We need a ton of housing nationally in areas where people actually want to live to stabilize prices. Every bit helps.

Lee Clark
Lee Clark
15 days ago
Reply to  Bruce Milam

Very true. Look at other growing urban areas in the country. It is happening everywhere that is considered desirable. I am surprised it did not occur earlier. We are experiencing generational change.

Boz Boschen
Boz Boschen
15 days ago
Reply to  Bruce Milam

A reminder to get involved in the zoning refresh project!
https://www.rva.gov/planning-development-review/code-refresh

Charles Frankenhoff
Charles Frankenhoff
15 days ago

Looks like a good project in a good location. There is certainly a LOT of demand for this if done well, thinking about the demographics of the customers

Thomas Carter
Thomas Carter
15 days ago

Hopefully, the construction will include more than wood framing between units for improved sound isolation and fire resistance. Some of the recent projects have on Libbie Avenue have looked like tinderboxes before the finished exteriors concealed what was underneath.

Polgar Concertado
Polgar Concertado
15 days ago

Though it’s been closed for several years now, the existing building (serving as a Medical Office building) generated far more traffic than this new condo development ever will.

Craig Davis
Craig Davis
12 days ago

Is that an opinion or prediction or is there some basis for that?

Polgar Concertado
Polgar Concertado
12 days ago
Reply to  Craig Davis

Medical office buildings churn through patients every day. A building that size was probably seeing at least 10 new patients an hour (probably more). That’s roughly 80 cars per day (not including all the staff at the beginning and end of the day).

Craig Davis
Craig Davis
9 days ago

so it was a guess. got it.

Michael Boyer
Michael Boyer
14 days ago

Seems to me the infill residence homes and condominiums in the Libbie and Patterson area are very well planned and are above average material and workmanship.I think when some of the construction winds down you’ll see some more usual traffic patterns without workers and deliveries blocking street lanes and shoulders.
The new homes on Westview Ave,did take some second looks from me.

Joshua Bilder
Joshua Bilder
14 days ago

Nicest condominiums ever delivered in Richmond ? Obviously this kid hasn’t seen Sterling Row