City Center negotiations down to one development team, sources say

The 9-acre City Center site is anchored by the Richmond Coliseum, which is to be demolished. (BizSense file photos)

Richmond’s search for its preferred development team for the seemingly stagnant City Center redevelopment project is said to be down to one team and in final negotiations as the slow-moving process enters a third year.

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, just one of the four project finalists – Capstone Development – remains in active negotiations with the city. Richmond has been leading the selection process after issuing a joint solicitation in late 2022 with the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority.

The 9-acre project would replace the Richmond Coliseum with a 500-room convention center hotel and a mix of office, retail and housing development.

The city and GRCCA have not officially selected or announced a City Center developer and aren’t expected to by the end of this year, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations.

But the sources said those negotiations are solely with Capstone at this point, suggesting that the three other finalists – City Center Gateway Partners, led by Capital Square and Shamin Hotels; Richmond Community Development Partners, led by Machete Group and Bank Street Advisors; and Lincoln Property Co. – are no longer in contention.

The timing means a selection will not be announced before the end of Mayor Levar Stoney’s term. Stoney’s administration initiated the project in the wake of the unsuccessful Navy Hill plan, a larger redevelopment effort that didn’t go forward and involved some of the same properties.

Mayor-elect Danny Avula, who takes office in January, has said his administration will see City Center through.

In addition to its new construction components, City Center also would involve the rehab of the neighboring Blues Armory building and include infrastructure improvements, parking and transit facilities, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and public open space.

Renderings from Capstone’s proposal for City Center last year. (City documents)

Capstone, a minority-owned firm based in Maryland, is already known to city administrators for its role as the hotel developer for Diamond District Partners, the development team leading the mixed-use portion of Richmond’s ballpark-anchored Diamond District project.

In addition to hotels, Capstone’s portfolio includes residential and mixed-use projects, typically in urban locations, according to its website. Capstone CEO Norman Jenkins did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

Capstone’s team includes D.C.-based retail developer Edens, and Ventas, a life sciences-focused real estate investment trust out of Chicago. Also on the team are Atlanta-based architecture firm Cooper Carry and Richmond-based general contractor W.M. Jordan Co.

A map shows the City Center project area outlined in orange. (BizSense file)

The four City Center finalists were narrowed down from an initial field of five teams that responded to the November 2022 solicitation. Formal proposals were released in May 2023, and in subsequent months at least two of the teams reworked their proposals to include a taller convention center hotel, with City Center Gateway Partners pitching a 30-story hotel and Richmond Community Development Partners proposing 40 stories.

Richmond Community Development Partners, led by Houston-based Machete Group and local firm Bank Street Advisors, is a variation of a same-named team that was the runner-up for the Diamond District, the 67-acre mixed-use development replacing The Diamond with a new baseball stadium.

In the past year, negotiations for City Center were said to be ongoing with just two of the teams: Capstone, and the City Center Gateway Partners team led by local firms Capital Square and Shamin Hotels.

A site tour in 2022 kicked off the selection process, which is entering a third year.

A development team selection had been targeted for the summer of 2023, after being pushed back from an initial goal of that spring. Little has been said about the selection process since, though in October the Richmond Economic Development Authority met in closed session to discuss disposition of land and awarding a contract for City Center. No action was taken after the closed session.

Earlier this year, administrators proposed putting $3 million in the city budget toward demolishing the Coliseum to help ready the City Center site. City Council opted instead to put those funds toward Richmond Public Schools and other priorities.

The duration of the selection process has been attributed to complexities involved in financing for City Center, which the city is looking to maintain a stake in through long-term ground leases. The city-owned properties were transferred in 2022 to the EDA, which would maintain ownership through the ground leases, similar to its agreements for the new Diamond District ballpark.

Asked for comment on City Center, Lincoln Saunders, Richmond’s chief administrative officer who represents the city on the GRCCA, said he couldn’t comment on the status of the teams.

“Negotiations continue,” Saunders said. “I’m optimistic that a final deal can be announced early in the new year.”

Saunders is stepping down as CAO at the end of this month. Mayor-elect Avula has said Senior Deputy CAO Sabrina Joy-Hogg would serve as interim CAO after Saunders’ departure.