RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Four teams have been picked to submit proposals for the first phase of Richmond’s City Center redevelopment project.
The city’s plans to redevelop a 9.4-acre site downtown in Richmond’s City Center Innovation District require that the developer replace the shuttered Coliseum with an “urban innovation district destination” that includes a hotel, housing, office space and shops.
Proposals should also include a plan to repurpose the historic Blues Armory building, which could be reused as a space for entertainment, a hotel, offices, housing and more.
The Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond (EDA) and the Greater Richmond Convention Center Authority (GRCCA) narrowed the teams down to a final four: Capstone Development, LLC, City Center Gateway Partners, Lincoln Property Company and Richmond Community Development Partners.
“The teams were chosen due to their experience developing hotels and large mixed-use urban redevelopment projects,” the city said in a release Monday announcing the teams.
According to the city, the City Center district project will be anchored by a headquarter hotel to support the Greater Richmond Convention Center with at least 500 guest rooms. The city’s request for offers states that the EDA’s goal is to have 20% of all housing units be “affordable.”
Proposals for rental units must include options for households earning as low as 60% of the area median income (AMI) — $48,360 for a family of two in 2022— to households earning 110% of the AMI.
For-sale units in the redeveloped district must include units affordable to households with incomes as low as 80% of the AMI.”
The team selected will have to demolish the Coliseum and finish “any necessary environmental remediation” within a year after the city transfers the parcel of land it sits on to them, according to the city.
The glass atrium structure connected to the Blues Armory and the small building on the other side of the former 6th Street Marketplace will also have to be demolished.
Teams have until 3 p.m. on March 17 to let the city know whether they will submit a proposal and final submissions are due no later than 3 p.m. on April 20.
Here is some background on the firms vying for the project:
Capstone Development LLC: Capstone Development is a real estate development and investment firm based in Maryland. Its portfolio includes hotels, apartments and mixed-use projects. Capstone is also the hotel developer for Richmond’s Diamond District project.
City Center Gateway Partners: This development team includes two Richmond area companies, Capital Square and Shamin Hotels, D.C.-based Dantes Partners, North Carolina-based Ancora and Virginia Beach-based Gold Key | PHR.
Lincoln Property Company: Lincoln Property Company is an international real estate firm based in Dallas that has developed several commercial and residential projects. Some of these include the Colorado Center in Denver, 1030 15th Street in D.C. and Legacy Union in Charlotte.
Richmond Community Development Partners: Richmond Community Development Partners is the same development team that was named a finalist for the Diamond District project but was ultimately not selected. For that proposal, the team had JMA Ventures, the Machete Group and Tryline Capital as master developers.
