Site work for the project started last week with demolition of a building on 18th Street. The old Weiman’s Bakery building is visible at left. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
With more land to work with and more units added in, Louis Salomonsky is moving forward with his plan for a 12-story apartment tower at the former Weiman’s Bakery property in Shockoe Bottom.
The longtime Richmond developer filed a revised plan with the city last week that shows a somewhat reworked development with 212 apartments, up from 145 in an earlier proposal.
The project also includes an additional quarter-acre parcel at the corner of Grace and 18th streets that’s planned to house an adjoining five-story parking deck. Initial site work on that parcel got underway last week with demolition of an adjacent unused building.
An LLC tied to Historic Housing, the Shockoe Bottom-based firm that Salomonsky leads with business partner David White, purchased the parcel in May from the Loving family for $1 million, property records show. The parcel, at 1715 E. Grace St., was assessed by the city at $615,000.
An image of the 12-story tower and three-story wing as they would appear along 17th Street. (City of Richmond documents)
Salomonsky said the additional land allowed a rework of the project, which city planners are reviewing. An earlier plan had called for a two-story deck and other parking incorporated within the roughly half-acre Weiman’s site.
“We acquired some more property from the Lovings, and that enabled us to create a parking deck that would facilitate more units for the property,” Salomonsky said Friday. “We’re in for final approvals for everything from the city.”
Called the Bakery Loft Apartments, the development would consist of the 137-foot-tall tower and five-level parking deck, as well as a three-story wing along 17th Street with street-level commercial storefronts and townhome-style units above.
The base of the tower would include a two-story commercial space totaling 5,100 square feet, as well as a lobby. Additional commercial space in the parking deck would front 18th Street and total about 1,500 square feet, comparable to the 17th Street storefront space.
A view from East Grace Street of the tower and parking deck.
Access to the parking deck would be off Grace Street, and additional surface parking within the development would be accessed via an entrance off 17th. Plans call for a total of 213 spaces, considerably higher than the 98 spaces required by zoning and the 85 spaces previously proposed. The project would also include 80 bicycle spaces, above a required 59.
The parking deck’s upper level would feature a greenspace amenity that could include a dog park, plants, grills and games. A ground-floor pool would be located at the center of the development with additional amenities.
The apartments would be largely one-bedroom units averaging 660 square feet in size, with 19 two-bedrooms averaging 875 square feet. Salomonsky said about 20 percent of the units would be designated as workforce housing, meaning they would be rentable to tenants making 60 to 110 percent of the area median income.
Salomonsky said he would like for a portion of the apartments to be short-term rental units, though he said financing requirements would dictate that.
“I would like to do a certain percentage of short-term rentals, particularly for people coming to Richmond who want to rent a short period of time until they find a home or an apartment,” said Salomonsky, who had also considered a hotel at the site.
Salomonsky said the building would be constructed using precast concrete, which he said would reduce sound between units.
“We’re enthralled, because this is 7,000-pound concrete,” he said, adding that sidewalks typically have a density of 3,000 pounds per square inch. “Seven thousand pounds is like a diamond; it’s waterproof. It makes the building virtually soundproof in the apartments.”
Salomonsky’s SWA Architects is designing the building, with Beau Woodrum the lead architect. Historic Housing is the developer and SWA Construction is the contractor on the project, which Salomonsky estimated at $42 million.
The latest proposal comes four years after Salomonsky had the former industrial site rezoned to TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal District, a zoning classification allowing greater building heights and density in areas in the vicinity of the Pulse rapid-transit bus line. With the zoning in place, the development plan requires only administrative approvals and would not go before the Planning Commission or City Council.
At 12 stories in height – the maximum allowed in a TOD-1 district – Salomonsky said the building would be the tallest new construction in Shockoe Bottom.
“Certainly, the project is unique,” he said. “It’s the only zoning 12 stories high in the area, and will probably be the only 12-story-high zoning in the Bottom. If you look at the drawings, you’re going to see some good architecture. It’s a tall building and it’s going to feel comfortable in the area.”
The old Weiman’s Bakery building at 127 N. 17th St. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
Salomonsky and White have owned the Weiman’s site since 2014, when they purchased it for $1.87 million, around the time that the area was being pitched for a mixed-use development that would have included a baseball stadium to replace The Diamond. The same year, they paid $250,000 for 120 N. 18th St., the standalone building that was demolished last week.
The 8,800-square-foot Weiman’s building housed the bakery for seven decades, from 1945 until it closed in 2013. Plans show that the design of the building’s façade would be incorporated into the new development, though Salomonsky said the building will be razed with the façade rebuilt from the original materials. The project does not involve historic preservation or other tax credits.
Historic Housing’s other projects include another 12-story tower: The Icon apartments in Scott’s Addition.
Site work for the project started last week with demolition of a building on 18th Street. The old Weiman’s Bakery building is visible at left. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
With more land to work with and more units added in, Louis Salomonsky is moving forward with his plan for a 12-story apartment tower at the former Weiman’s Bakery property in Shockoe Bottom.
The longtime Richmond developer filed a revised plan with the city last week that shows a somewhat reworked development with 212 apartments, up from 145 in an earlier proposal.
The project also includes an additional quarter-acre parcel at the corner of Grace and 18th streets that’s planned to house an adjoining five-story parking deck. Initial site work on that parcel got underway last week with demolition of an adjacent unused building.
An LLC tied to Historic Housing, the Shockoe Bottom-based firm that Salomonsky leads with business partner David White, purchased the parcel in May from the Loving family for $1 million, property records show. The parcel, at 1715 E. Grace St., was assessed by the city at $615,000.
An image of the 12-story tower and three-story wing as they would appear along 17th Street. (City of Richmond documents)
Salomonsky said the additional land allowed a rework of the project, which city planners are reviewing. An earlier plan had called for a two-story deck and other parking incorporated within the roughly half-acre Weiman’s site.
“We acquired some more property from the Lovings, and that enabled us to create a parking deck that would facilitate more units for the property,” Salomonsky said Friday. “We’re in for final approvals for everything from the city.”
Called the Bakery Loft Apartments, the development would consist of the 137-foot-tall tower and five-level parking deck, as well as a three-story wing along 17th Street with street-level commercial storefronts and townhome-style units above.
The base of the tower would include a two-story commercial space totaling 5,100 square feet, as well as a lobby. Additional commercial space in the parking deck would front 18th Street and total about 1,500 square feet, comparable to the 17th Street storefront space.
A view from East Grace Street of the tower and parking deck.
Access to the parking deck would be off Grace Street, and additional surface parking within the development would be accessed via an entrance off 17th. Plans call for a total of 213 spaces, considerably higher than the 98 spaces required by zoning and the 85 spaces previously proposed. The project would also include 80 bicycle spaces, above a required 59.
The parking deck’s upper level would feature a greenspace amenity that could include a dog park, plants, grills and games. A ground-floor pool would be located at the center of the development with additional amenities.
The apartments would be largely one-bedroom units averaging 660 square feet in size, with 19 two-bedrooms averaging 875 square feet. Salomonsky said about 20 percent of the units would be designated as workforce housing, meaning they would be rentable to tenants making 60 to 110 percent of the area median income.
Salomonsky said he would like for a portion of the apartments to be short-term rental units, though he said financing requirements would dictate that.
“I would like to do a certain percentage of short-term rentals, particularly for people coming to Richmond who want to rent a short period of time until they find a home or an apartment,” said Salomonsky, who had also considered a hotel at the site.
Salomonsky said the building would be constructed using precast concrete, which he said would reduce sound between units.
“We’re enthralled, because this is 7,000-pound concrete,” he said, adding that sidewalks typically have a density of 3,000 pounds per square inch. “Seven thousand pounds is like a diamond; it’s waterproof. It makes the building virtually soundproof in the apartments.”
Salomonsky’s SWA Architects is designing the building, with Beau Woodrum the lead architect. Historic Housing is the developer and SWA Construction is the contractor on the project, which Salomonsky estimated at $42 million.
The latest proposal comes four years after Salomonsky had the former industrial site rezoned to TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal District, a zoning classification allowing greater building heights and density in areas in the vicinity of the Pulse rapid-transit bus line. With the zoning in place, the development plan requires only administrative approvals and would not go before the Planning Commission or City Council.
At 12 stories in height – the maximum allowed in a TOD-1 district – Salomonsky said the building would be the tallest new construction in Shockoe Bottom.
“Certainly, the project is unique,” he said. “It’s the only zoning 12 stories high in the area, and will probably be the only 12-story-high zoning in the Bottom. If you look at the drawings, you’re going to see some good architecture. It’s a tall building and it’s going to feel comfortable in the area.”
The old Weiman’s Bakery building at 127 N. 17th St. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
Salomonsky and White have owned the Weiman’s site since 2014, when they purchased it for $1.87 million, around the time that the area was being pitched for a mixed-use development that would have included a baseball stadium to replace The Diamond. The same year, they paid $250,000 for 120 N. 18th St., the standalone building that was demolished last week.
The 8,800-square-foot Weiman’s building housed the bakery for seven decades, from 1945 until it closed in 2013. Plans show that the design of the building’s façade would be incorporated into the new development, though Salomonsky said the building will be razed with the façade rebuilt from the original materials. The project does not involve historic preservation or other tax credits.
Historic Housing’s other projects include another 12-story tower: The Icon apartments in Scott’s Addition.
Onward and upward, adding to the Richmond skyline! I like it. I like his idea of some short term rentals too. Many developers are adding Air BNBs to their rental communities.
Even though full time Airbnb rental units of rental apartments are 100% ILLEGAL under City law but hey what does that matter. City Code still says Airbnb must be owner occupied (or primary resident) at least 185 days per year by the said party. They can not be full time Airbnb units
Well, that’s interesting. Id say it’s not strictly adhered to.
I think folks can go through the special use permit process to do this legally, which is probably what was implied here as well
Funny article says “With the zoning in place, the development plan requires only administrative approvals and would not go before the Planning Commission or City Council.” So how does that imply a special use permit for Airbnb?? All SUPs go through PC and Council! And if you are talking the individual tenants, they only need management/building owner approval not an SUP for their unit. But again article implies a certain percentage of units will be set-aside for short term rentals. I am guessing he is talking corporate rental units rented by the week or month and owned by his firm… Read more »
The key may be that he says “he would like” for some of the units to be short term rentals. The implication being that the developers have not yet started any process to make this happen, and that it has not been decided. There is no reason that they could not seek this approval after the building is built or during construction.
I agree. It looks great. They are positively impacting the city!
The city needs to let them make this building 14 to 16 stories but 37 stories would be best to deal with Richmond’s run away rental market by making more housing.
I wish the parking structure would be built with level flooring so it could more easily be converted to another use when “the future” gets here.
I would be interested to know what the “future” holds where people don’t have cars? You will probably never see another subway system built in a major city, even light rail cost $80M a mile to build now and the bus system is only practical if you are going less than five miles on one or two main roads. I guess if everyone works at home, they eat and shop within a mile of their apartment and they never go on vacation or to visit relatives one might not need a car. In the future we might not need cars… Read more »
I get that! But think about how rich and bored you’d be to know what lies ahead. It would be very tiring. There will be other means of travel and other means of everything.I still recall how fascinated I was when my office installed its first 286 computers. What could possibly be next?!!
I was not insinuating I know what lies ahead and think having lower personal automobile use is a very noble goal, I think our planning and zoning needs to keep that in mind. However I think (much like the current “energy crises”) that the current reality needs to be the basis for planning not some “pie in the sky” goal that is not attainable. There have been lots of “anti parking” comments on this site for any future building being planned. Once again, it’s a great goal but I was actually curious how do the people that think we will… Read more »
There are good examples of that in major markets.
Lovely rendering. Tenants will appreciate the soundproofing.
I’m sure people in Church Hill will soon start complaining that it ruins their view of the valley.
It looks like an Insbrook office building. It has no historic character and brings nothing to the neighborhood architecturally, which is a shame because the name of the company is historic housing and they have done a nice job on some of the other buildings in the neighborhood. Coincidentally precast concrete is what the prison up the street is made out of. It looks completely out of place in the neighborhood. Its a template that they used in Scotts Addition and has nothing to do with the historic architecture and history of Shockoe Bottom. Considering one of the largest auction… Read more »
The larger building is ugly for sure but I am glad to see 17th Street kept as 2-3 story historic looking blend of styles and they are keeping the old Bakery façade. But yeah 12-story will tower over Devil’s Half Acre. I thought City was going to buy some of the land near here (maybe not this block) for the future museum or was that another mayoral fib!
Happy to see the city’s housing capacity increasing. Curious to know if the “workforce” units set aside for low-to-medium income residents will work as intended, whatever that might be. I also lack expertise on these other relevant topics that I hope BizSense followers will consider: (1) “Daylighting Urban Creeks” Exhuming Shockoe Creek might provide a delightful opportunity to recover a forgotten natural urban asset. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/aug/29/river-runs-global-movement-daylight-urban-rivers But de-engineering this underground culvert back up to a surface waterway might not be practical. Mid-century, the city rerouted Shockoe Creek underground in an involved project that joined that creek with Richmond’s notorious Combined Sewage… Read more »