Portfolio

The complex spans 3 full blocks and was home to the world’s first successful operation of electric rail transit. At the time of purchase, the complex was vacant and in complete disrepair

A quick closing was important to the Seller. We secured financing, closed on the property, completed architectural design, and started construction within 4 months of receiving an executed Purchase Agreement.The introduction of the commercial space was not required by zoning, but we were excited about introducing street facing commercial spaces to help extend the thriving Cary Town corridor East across Arthur Ashe Boulevard, improving walkability and actively engaging a prominent street corner with the community.

This was our first sky scraper renovation, involving a 1920’s era historic bank branch on Main Street as well as a 13 story addition in the rear.

Installing a pool on top of an existing skyscraper was certainly a challenge, both in design and construction. The building was actually originally designed to support additional floors, which helped as we worked through the structural requirements to support the pool and pool deck. It was the highest pool in the Richmond Region for a few months – until the hotel next door installed a small pool on the top floor.

This was a unique project that involved an entire city block. It was originally developed as a Buick car dealership. Introducing new construction on a historic site can be challenging due to the rules of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) and the National Park Service (NPS). We performed exhaustive research with old Sanborn maps and determined the original boundary lines of the landmark dealership during the historic period of significance. We then presented the information to the VDHR who agreed to allow a boundary line adjustment, restoring the original parcel boundaries, while also enabling new construction on the newly subdivided parcels. The result was a cool renovated group of historic buildings facing Semmes Avenue, with two larger new construction buildings in the rear. This provided an essential nod to the past while also allowing enough density to make the project economically feasible. These two new construction buildings were started in February of 2020 – one month before a whole new set of challenges came in a hurry due to the Covid pandemic.

Originally built by the Linde Air Products company, by 1926 the location was one of only 32 in the country to distribute industrial gases. The building had sat vacant for many years. The last user was the Dagenhart sprinkler company. After they went out of business in 2009 it was purchased by a Norfolk real estate investor. Due to the size of the building and the limited parking it has some of our largest units in Norfolk. The prominent chimney with the word LINDE embossed in the brick chimney has become a local landmark, and can be seen at night throughout the Railroad District and upper Ghent.

Peanut Factory lofts was challenging adaptive reuse of what was at one time the largest peanut brittle factory in the world. The Old Dominion Peanut company had operated in the area since 1913. Over time the operation had grown and took over the adjacent properties and converted former drycleaners and a wheel bearing factory into production space for peanut brittle and the warehousing for unprocessed peanuts and completed peanut brittle. Evidence of the 2007 fire that shut the factory for almost a year still remained, and was on of many challenges encountered during the renovation.

The project had major design challenges. The most challenging was the fact that the entire first floor was over 4 feet into the flood plain. We routinely develop in flood plains with using various engineering and mitigation efforts, but 4 feet was just too much to safely and economically develop. The entire first floor had to be cleaned up and have environmental remediation, but then closed off to the upper floors, all while maintaining an appearance from the outside as if the inside was finished. Because this was a historic school, the hallways were incredibly wide (which needed to me maintained) and we had a large gymnasium. Our in house design team did an amazing job working on the building, gaining density and efficiency anywhere possible, while also abiding by the historic preservation rules. We ended up building 54 very nice and unique apartments (in a 70,000 sq/ft building) while preserving the historic elements of the school, and bringing an iconic building back to life to the benefit of the nice residential community which surrounds the school.

Recipient of Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation’s 2020 Kegley Preservation Award for Best Adaptive Reuse

For decades, this beautiful iconic building was home to the Heironimus Department Store – an institution in Roanoke. The building had been vacant for years when we purchased it. The project was challenging from a historic tax credit perspective. There were internal and open escalators on each floor, which needed to remain visible, creating layout issues for the apartments and other design issues dealing with life safety and fire separation.

Mast General Store ended up locating its first store in Virginia on the ground floor and mezzanine levels. The store is absolutely stunning and a real win for downtown Roanoke and the community at large. Doing a custom buildout for a high end retail space while trying to finish up a 110,000 sq/ft historic renovation was certainly challenging, but well worth the effort.