670-plus apartments coming to Shockoe Bottom area

More than 670 apartments are coming to the Shockoe Bottom area, with about 480 scheduled to open within the next year.

The area has become a mecca for young urban professionals and students from the Virginia Commonwealth University academic and medical campuses wanting to live in apartments, developers say.

"Shockoe Bottom has a reputation as a cool place to live," said Tara Carter, director of operations for Plus Management, a management company for 10 properties.

Developer Phil Roper said he and his business partner conduct in-depth market studies before they embark on a project, including one under way in the area.

"We are surely not going to build in an area that is oversaturated," Roper said.

Rents and occupancy levels are higher in Shockoe Bottom than other areas in Richmond, said Brian White, co-manager of Historic Properties, a developer in the area. "By that measure I don't think it's overbuilt."

Yet rents aren't as high as developers had expected because of the economy, and are likely to become more competitive with the influx of new apartments.

Major projects under way include:

•Cedar Broad Apartments, a 204-unit complex that will wrap in an L-shape around the McDonald's on East Broad Street at North 18th Street near Shockoe Bottom; •Shockoe Valley Heights, a 244-unit apartment complex with 8,500 square feet of retail between East Main and Franklin streets and 20th and 21st streets; and •The Atrium Lofts at Cold Storage north of East Broad Street, a five-building warehouse complex that eventually will have about 310 apartments. The second building, with 76 apartments, is being renovated on East Marshall and 18th streets.

Cedar Broad Apartments

Construction is about to start at Cedar Broad, an all-new development that should open in about a year.

Roper said the planning for Cedar Broad began three years ago. "You don't do this overnight."

The apartments will be 520 square feet to 1,060 square feet -- with 143 one-bedroom apartments, where demand is strongest.

Rents will range from $725 to $1,350 a month.

With the completion of the $23.2 million project, the developers will have about 1,160 apartments in the Richmond area that they built and manage.

He and business partner George Emerson developed the American Tobacco Center, a 153-unit apartment complex on North 20th Street that is 98 percent leased.

They opened the Dill Building, a 55-unit apartment complex at 21st and Franklin streets, a year ago in February. They also did most of the development at Chester Village Green, a new urbanism project in Chester.

"Our occupancy at American Tobacco, our flagship, is so strong that it's very promising for us" in the Cedar Broad venture, Carter said.

Shockoe Valley Heights

The development is a four-phase project involving renovations and new construction.

"We should be done with the entire project by the end of next year," developer Marc Galt said. "It might be earlier if the winds change."

The first building -- Bobber Flats -- opened Jan. 1.

Eight of the 41 apartments there have been leased, "which is not bad for this time of year," Galt said.

Bobber Flats is named for its origins, a bobber and fishing float plant built in 1895.

The apartments, from 550 square feet to 995 square feet, rent for $875 to $1,450 a month.

The cornerstone of Shockoe Valley Heights is a fire station dating back to 1899 and called Engine Company No. 2.

The station is being renovated into 3,000 square feet of retail space with a 1,000-square-foot outdoor patio and three loft apartments upstairs. These three-bedroom, two-bath apartments will rent for $2,200 to $2,500 a month.

It is targeted for completion in May.

Financing has been slow on a new construction phase of the project called Old Stone Row, a 96-unit apartment building. "We are keyed up to start construction in April provided we can secure a bank commitment," Galt said.

The final phase is Trolley Commons with 80 residential units on five floors. Plans call for 3,000 square feet of commercial and 150 parking spaces, plus a deck and a pool. Work is expected to start late this year.

About 200 of the 244 apartments will have balconies. "We're trying to differentiate ourselves," Galt said.

The total project cost is $35 million, offset with $1.6 million in historic tax credits.

The Atrium at Cold Storage

The project is a five-building restoration at the former Richmond Cold Storage complex.

The first building, at Oliver Hill Way and East Marshall Street, took about two years to renovate. The building -- which was originally used to store huge blocks of ice -- opened last fall with 37 apartments and an atrium.

The second building is being converted into 76 apartments with a fitness center and a pool.

"It's still a messy construction site, but we are reasonably far along," said White, Historic Properties' co-manager.

A model apartment will be ready in two months, he said.

"We still have strong occupancy down here in the Bottom, but we haven't be able to be as aggressive with the rent as we would have been if the economy hadn't slowed," White said.

The existing Cold Storage apartments range from 500 square feet to 900 square feet, starting at $855 a month.

Historic Properties is negotiating on loans to renovate the next two buildings and hopes to start construction by early fall.

The multiyear project is estimated at $56 million, offset with $18 million in historic tax credits.

Contact Carol Hazard at (804) 775-8023 or chazard@timesdispatch.com.