Plans progressing for pair of infill apartment buildings along Broad St. in Shockoe

The five-story infill at Broad and 18th streets would be fitted between the century-old Branch Public Baths building and other apartments on 18th, shown below. (City documents)

A pair of five-story apartment buildings in the works in Shockoe Bottom at the foot of Church Hill are coming into fuller view.

Conceptual renderings have been submitted to the city for both the five-story infill project that the Vogele family is planning beside the Branch Public Baths building at Broad and 18th streets, and for an as-tall building across Broad Street a block east that’s planned by a group led by local architect Bill Laffoon.

Initially proposed over a year ago, the two projects would add dozens of new apartments along a stretch of Broad that serves as a gateway between Shockoe Bottom and Church Hill. The Vogeles’ project is planned to total 31 units, while Laffoon’s group’s building would total 36.

A perspective drawing of the apartment building planned at 1906-1910 E. Broad St.

Laffoon, of Richmond-based RML Architecture, this month submitted conceptual site plans and perspective drawings of his group’s project to the city’s Commission of Architectural Review, which weighs in on new construction in the city’s designated Old and Historic Districts. A previous zoning confirmation request to the city did not include the perspectives.

The vacant lot on Broad where Laffoon’s group is planning their apartment building. (BizSense file photos)

The plans show the 36-unit building fitted between existing apartment buildings on that block. The new building would fill an undeveloped lot at 1906-1910 E. Broad St. and would include balconies, according to the renderings.

An initial review of the project was scheduled for CAR’s meeting this week ahead of an eventual request for a certificate of appropriateness, which is needed before construction can begin. City planners recommended that the plans include the balconies’ depth for final review, and that parking entrances be moved to the rear of the building, among other feedback.

Laffoon said a request for a certificate of appropriateness would follow, based on feedback from the commission. He said the group has not set a construction date for the project or selected a general contractor.

“We’ll see what the commission has to say,” he said.

The five-story building would connect to the baths building and adjacent building with a stairwell structure fitted between them.

Meanwhile, the Vogele family has secured CAR approval for their project, which would add a five-story building onto the back sides of the Branch Public Baths building at 1801 E. Broad St. and another two-story building beside it at 1805-09 E. Broad.

The existing buildings would be converted into apartments – five in the baths building and six in the other – and they would connect to the new construction with a stairwell structure fitted between them.

The Branch Public Baths building (right) and adjacent building date to the early 1900s.

The new building would fill a parking lot between the existing structures and separately owned apartment buildings along 18th Street. Those buildings – 213-215 N. 18th St. and 213 Rear N. 18th St. – were recently listed for sale with an asking price of nearly $1.7 million.

One South Commercial’s Isaac Weintz and Ryan Rilee are handling that listing for the seller, an LLC tied to Ralph Reahard, owner of Real Property Management Richmond-Metro.

The Vogeles are working with Johannes Design Group on their project, which would add modern architecture behind the two-story brick buildings that were built in the early 1900s. Current tenant Hodges Partnership is planning to move from the 1805-09 building after 15 years there in light of the project.

The new construction would fill the parking lot behind the existing buildings.

Tom Vogele, a California-based attorney, said the market-rate apartments would be comparable to current rents in the area, which he said range from about $1,450 to $1,800 a month. The family also owns the nearby 15-unit Southland Wine Co. Lofts on Oliver Hill Way, which Vogele said are fully occupied.

He said mass timber would be used in the project to cut down on construction noise and reduce the carbon footprint. Solar panels on the roofs also are planned, and plans show the new building units would include balconies.

Vogele said they’d originally aimed to put the project out to bid early next year, pending development plan approvals, but are now targeting the second half of 2025. He said a cost estimate has not been nailed down for the project, which will not involve historic preservation tax credits.

An elevation of the project shows one of three facade options.

“It’s going to cost us a considerable sum, several million dollars, and we hope to have it be a viable project from day one,” he said. “We think it will be, because the area is still strong from a rental standpoint. We think the buildings will be standouts because of the interior finishes and the exterior detailing, the historical nature of the older buildings.”

The projects add to other activity along that stretch of Broad. A few blocks uphill, work is ramping up on the Midas of Richmond location planned at Broad and 21st streets.

Also nearby, work continues on Historic Housing’s 12-story Bakery Loft Apartments tower at 18th and Grace streets.