Richmond, Virginia, USA skyline on the James River.
Apartment sales in Richmond, Virginia, hit a record high of $865.8 million in 2019, up 10 percent from 2018, based on data from Real Capital Analytics. Multifamily construction starts also posted an impressive 7.8 percent gain nationwide last year and an especially strong finish in December, per data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
These statistics probably came as no surprise to readers of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which published them earlier this year.
Virginia’s capital city of Richmond is in the midst of a multifamily construction boom. There are a number of hotspots, but contrasting two in particular – Manchester and Short Pump – shows how multifamily communities are rising in different neighborhoods to meet the needs of diverse generations.
Everleigh Short Pump. Image Courtesy of Greystar.
Thirty years ago, Short Pump was a mostly rural stretch of Henrico County west of the city. Today it is a busy commercial corridor of shopping centers, businesses, apartments and nearby single-family neighborhoods anchored by Short Pump Town Center, a popular shopping complex with 140 stores off West Broad Street.
Short Pump is increasingly becoming an attractive area for senior living, with many current residents moving into this age category, as well as other seniors relocating from elsewhere. Meeting the need for residences for this part of the population are developments like Everleigh Short Pump. This 165-unit apartment community for active seniors ages 55 and up is under construction at 12651 Three Chopt Road. Greystar is the contractor, with design by Poole & Poole Architecture. CIP Finishes will furnish and install toilet and bath accessories, mirrors, blinds, mailboxes, key keepers, shower doors, wire shelving and fire equipment in the building.
Manchester’s growth is a different story. It is in South Richmond across the James River and was once its own city. Thirty years ago, words like historic, industrial or gritty might have come to mind to describe parts of this neighborhood. Today, Manchester is also a magnet for millennials, with pockets of revitalization, a thriving arts scene and riverside recreation at its front door.
There are a growing number of new apartment communities in various stages of development in Manchester. One is The Jamestown, with 269 units planned at 520 West 14th St. We have been contracted to install toilet and bath accessories, framed mirrors, wire shelving, fire equipment, mailboxes, package concierge, bike racks and blinds. Alabama-based development firm LIV owns the project, which is being built by contractor KBS, with design by Charlan Brock Architects.
I am excited we will soon be part of Richmond’s capital developments in Short Pump and Manchester. We also anticipate more activity to come in Central Virginia and points beyond. While many of the multifamily communities we furnish with hardware finishes are in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, we have skilled teams serving other areas of Virginia and the mid-Atlantic.
For more insights on Manchester’s intriguing past and present, Richmond Magazine Writer Harry Kollatz Jr. interviewed some of the people who help define what Manchester is today. He also outlined nine distinct eras in the community’s development, decline and renewal. Here’s his article, “Great Possibilities: Manchester on the Rise.”
– Paul Milde, CEO, CIP Finishes