Downtown makeover is moving right along

After more than two years of construction, the former Miller & Rhoads department store will reopen next year as a hotel, condominium and retail complex in downtown Richmond.

Set for a February opening, the building, which dates to 1888, will offer meeting, convention and banquet facilities, as well as 250 hotel rooms and 133 condominiums, some with original marble or wood floors.

"We're finding that everyone in Richmond has a Miller & Rhoads story and we see ourselves as part of a new Miller & Rhoads story," said Brian McGhee, general manager of the complex's Hilton Garden Inn Richmond Downtown.

Alongside the Hilton, the Miller & Rhoads Condominiums offer 49 floor plans. One hundred of the units are priced below $300,000, said Eddie Boettner, executive administrative officer for the developer, HRI Properties.

The Miller & Rhoads projects were just two of 60 planned or under way in downtown Richmond discussed yesterday as part of the Venture Richmond Downtown Development Forum at the National Theater.

Despite a dismal economy, most of the projects are proceeding as planned. Two presenters from out of state said the number of development plans in Richmond was impressive.

"Downtown Richmond is moving like you've never seen it," said Boettner, who is based in New Orleans. "As we see it, Richmond's not falling on tough times, like so many other markets are."

About 230 people attended a morning session about under way or newly completed projects, said Lucy B. Meade, Venture Richmond's director of marketing and development.

Hotels, theaters, condominiums, office buildings, a federal courthouse, retail space, and a ballpark were discussed, representing anticipated investments from $2.5 million on Hull Street in South Richmond to $338 million in Shockoe Bottom.

The project updates included: