Baseball may be leaving Northside; full-scale development on Boulevard proposed
It should come as no surprise to Northside residents that the long-discussed move of the baseball stadium from North Boulevard to Shockoe Bottom is back on the table again. As part of the proposal for the 60+ acres of city-owned land surrounding the Diamond along the Boulevard and Hermitage Road, Highland Properties has pitched a second proposal for a baseball stadium and transportation hub alongside Main Street Station in Shockoe Bottom. Michael Martz at the Times-Dispatch has been reporting on this story:
The company chosen by Richmond to develop public property along North Boulevard and in Shockoe Bottom has plans for $785 million in construction in those two areas, including a baseball stadium downtown.
Highwoods Properties, in a presentation this afternoon to Richmond City Council, outlined plans for a new, 6,500-seat stadium between East Franklin Street and East Broad Street as part of a proposed $363 million town center in Shockoe Bottom.
The 19-acre project would include an interpretive center or museum to chronicle the area’s history in the slave trade.
Meanwhile, the project along Boulevard would become a major $422 million mixed-use development. (Click the above image for a look at the proposed development.)
Meanwhile, Highwoods will begin discussions with the regional authority that owns the 23-year-old Diamond to clear it from the 65-acres of publicly owned property along the Boulevard and make way for a proposed $422 million mixed-use development there.
The proposed project also would clear away the Arthur Ashe Center, owned by Richmond public schools, while memorializing the late, Richmond-born tennis star in some other way within the development. The developer plans discussions with Virginia Commonwealth University and Richmond Sports Backers about relocation of Sports Backers Stadium, which lies next to the Diamond.
Richmond also would have to move the city vehicle maintenance and public-works complex that sprawls over 30 acres between the Boulevard and Hermitage Road.
Mayor Doug Wilder provided more details in his periodic Mayor’s Vision newsletter:
The vision for the Boulevard is a market driven, intimate mixed-use development, with a combination of residential, office, hotel, and retail, including a box retailer (i.e. Target, etc) similar to the new West Broad Village development in the West End. This tract of land is centrally located and easily accessible to so many Richmond neighborhoods, including Sherwood Park, the Fan, Ginter Park, Highland Park, and the Museum District.
For copies of the presentation and other materials delivered by Highlands to city officials last week, visit the the mayor’s website and scroll to the bottom of the page.
I am surprised at the lack of critical reviews on this development proposal. Put aside the stadium/commercial renderings for the Bottom (which I love) and you are left with a suburban development within the city’s core.
We cannot let this type of development move forward without thoughtful consideration by the surrounding community. I for one am surprised that they would propose a monstrous residential community that looks like something I would find in Short Pump.
More importantly, this development company has chosen to take guidance from the surrounding industrial areas and develop a plan that sets back buildings from the streets and forces vehicular traffic to remain the primary mode of transportation.
I would highly recommend anyone in the adjoining neighborhoods – Fan, Northside, Carver – to look at what the city of Austin did with a similar track of land in a similar setting. Their old airport, once condemned, was replaced with a true mixed use development that is now the pride of the city:
http://www.muelleraustin.com/explore/
Again, we cannot let this type of development – suburbia in the city – go unchecked. Raise some hell, Richmond. We don’t get this type of opportunity very often.
Ok. Forget the stupid housing. This west end mini city thing is ugly and will go ut of style in 10 years
. However, bring it on.Here is my list of what i want;
I want a target
and a whole foods grocery,
I want independent coffee shop
I do not want a Walmart,
Starbucks
Other then that I still say scrap the apts… and bring on the stores.
Rad – Go here, Comrade.
http://chpn.net/news/2008/10/27/city-unveils-development-proposals-for-shockoe-boulevard/#comment-55015
TRUST ME. I am a Probation officer. I know what is going on up there, and there is more to it then just the kids.
But having stuff on the boulevard means REVENUE. That is what we need. I want baseball, but it isnt a #1 priority…. however, i deal with the schools alot and they ARE a mess. Until they get it together they will screw up 5.00 or 5 million.. hopefully this new change and turnover will help.
But I am a product of the Richmond Public School System.. and there were problems back then that are STILL problems so i suggest not holding your breathe.
I feel like I’m watching lemmings run off a cliff. Because other municipalities have a ballfield by a river, Richmond has to follow the same path? THERE’S NO PLACE TO PARK downtown. There’s too much history that will end up paved over. No one seems to give a thought about the run off damages to the river and subsequently to the Bay. Wilder claims the developers say there’s no good way to have baseball on the Boulevard because it’s not accessible? Hello? And Shockoe Bottom is more so? By that logic, any retail put on the Boulevard won’t do well either, if there’s no access! NO to mega box stores on Boulevard. YES to all things sports related: baseball, tennis, swimming, & limited, locally owned retail/restaurants. It’s the Boulevard. Not Short Pump. The Boulevard deserves a unique style & grace, befitting the area north of the museum district. Not the mind numbing shabbiness of the far west end’s retail dumping ground.
RE #2 Betty –
I was thinking that a good spot for a Target might be the old Miller & Rhodes building on Broad, with maybe a Barnes & Noble somewhere around there, too. Like Anchor stores in a mall, encouraging other, smaller businesses to be more comfortable in the shadow of the larger ones.
It would be great to have a Whole foods in that section of Downtown, too.
I believe this is an excellent opportunity for “placemaking” instead of just your basic run-of-the-mill retail development. I would love to see a small park incorporated into the design, and a public outdoor stage of some kind for concerts and festivals.
These are some cool websites that involve the concept of “placemaking”….
http://www.pps.org
(Has a great free e-newsletter – link at bottom right.)
http://www.places-journal.org
LOVE that idea..maybe even pretty walkways and sitting areas
RE: #5 Liz – exactly! What works in one place or city will not automatically work in another – Festival Marketplaces were all the rage back in the 70′s and 80′s…and we all know how well the 6th Street Marketplace worked out when Richmond decided to jump on that bandwagon. Hasn’t there been baseball played at the Diamond location since the 1940′s (anyone remember Parker Field?) – and attendance or access was never an issue. Shockoe Bottom is not the place for a stadium, and the Boulevard is not the place for an in-town version of Short Pump. The historic character and unique qualities of the Bottom and the position of the Boulevard as a gateway to the City are too important to squander with this plan!
Shannon at #6: where is the Miller and Rhoads Building that you’ve mentioned? You’re not talking about the building where the new hotel/condos are being built, are you?
Shannon- Have you not gone past the old Miller & Rhodes lately? It is in the middle of development and has been for quite some time. Developers are nearing the end of their project which turns that block into a Hilton Garden Inn/high end apts and condos.
On another note, Church Hill and Northside residents have 2 Target locations within 10 mins of them. How much closer do you need to be? If you want to walk to your Target then I would suggest living off Libbie or near the new White Oak Plaza. I thought the beauty of living downtown, in distinct, historic neighborhoods was about getting away from the box stores. I love Target as much as the next person but I don’t want to live right next to one.
Another thing to keep in mind, Targets and Wal Marts rarely come by themselves. They are almost ALWAYS accompanied by other chains…. thus, bringing all that short pump mini-city look right into your neighborhood. Be careful what you ask for.
I think Shannon is referring to the non-descript art deco-ish building next to the Lowe’s on Broad Street (on the NW corner of Broad and Allen). It actually would make some sense for the city to develop that stretch of Broad into more of a large retail block — Kroger, Lowe’s, etc.
revenue. revenue. And shopping helps bring people back that may not like the west end but like to shop…
wait a minute… our schools suck…no one is coming back… sorry. Youre right. I have lived in the city almost my entire life (30 yrs in 23220)I am tired of having to go out to the west end for ANYTHING.
I too would love to see some big name shops (Macy’s, Sear’s, Penny’s, etc)come into the city. I remember shopping downtown and it was so nice not to have to go to the west end. It would be even nicer to have mass transit also involved in the plan, other than GRTC, but I don’t think that will occur in my lifetime.
I stand corrected.
I was actually referring to the downtown location – which I avoid, generally, right now because of congestion that I had attributed to the new courthouse, as well as other messy building/remodeling projects. To be truthful, I don’t really pride myself on staying in the know with the myriad of condo ventures, etc., that continue to grow up around us.
I guess I was mostly talking in general terms, using that one spot as an example of large structures that used to be well-frequented as retail, reviving them to meet the more modern requirements. I wouldn’t say that I love Target. At all. I was just responding to what some other folks were saying that they would like to see located more conveniently for them. Tower Records in NYC comes to mind, anchoring that section of other, more independent retailers. Like that.
Good point, though, in post 12.
By the way – if we think traffic is bad now, along that one stretch, wait until they start tearing up the Bottom.
Yikes.