The Lovings have owned land in the Bottom for decades. (Mike Platania photos)
Fresh off winning a city-sponsored RFP to convert a Shockoe Bottom parking lot into housing, one of the neighborhood’s most prolific development groups is already working on its next big project next door.
Historic Housing last week filed rezoning applications to transform three properties currently owned by the Loving family near Main Street Station, with a plan to eventually build more than 400 dwelling units across the sites.
The largest of the three parcels is at 1601 East Grace and 1600-1610 East Franklin streets, which is a 1.1-acre lot that spans an entire city block and currently houses a three-story, 1910s-era Loving’s warehouse, which is the only building across the three properties. Historic Housing’s preliminary plans show a 225-unit building on that site with a to-be-determined amount of commercial space.
The second parcel is a 0.6-acre parking lot at 200-222 N. 17th St., where Historic Housing is looking to build 173 units.
The third site is a block to the east at 1800 E. Grace St. That 0.4-acre surface lot could potentially hold 52 units, according to the rezoning documents.
Historic Housing is seeking to have the properties rezoned to TOD-1 Transit Oriented Nodal District, which allows for up to 12 stories and both residential and commercial uses. Under the city’s latest Code Refresh draft, the parcels would be rezoned to MX-13, which is similar to TOD-1 but allows for up to 13 stories.
Historic Housing managing partner Daniel Salomonsky said the proposal is part of the firm’s ongoing effort to invest in and revitalize Shockoe Bottom, but declined to comment further.
In total, Historic Housing is looking to build 450 units across the 2.1-acre Loving assemblage, though Salomonsky said all those plans are subject to change.
Per city planning documents, Historic Housing is under contract to purchase the Loving sites, which were most recently assessed by the city at a combined $5.9 million. Local engineering firm Timmons Group is listed in preliminary planning documents, and The Shockoe Partnership, the neighborhood’s civic group, filed letters of support for the development.
A 20,400-square-foot warehouse is the only building on the three properties being eyed for redevelopment.
Salomonsky runs Historic Housing with Brian White and David White. The firm has been developing apartments and commercial space in the area for decades and recently finished construction of The Bakery, a 12-story mixed-use building across the street from the Loving properties.
Nearby at 212 N. 18th St., the firm is in line to redevelop a city-owned parking lot into an eight-story, mixed-income apartment building it’s calling Seabrook. Historic Housing won a city-issued request-for-proposals for the project earlier this month. That deal is pending approval from Richmond City Council.
The smallest parcel is a gravel lot across from Ironclad Coffee Roasters and The Bakery.
The Loving family, known for their now-closed Loving’s Produce business, have owned the properties dating back to at least the 1960s, per city property records.
It’s not the first time in recent years some Loving-owned lots in the Bottom were eyed for redevelopment.
In 2020 another local developer, Macfarlane Partners, was eyeing more than five acres of Loving-owned lots north of Broad Street for a sizable mixed-use development via another TOD-1 rezoning request.
That rezoning was approved in 2021, however the development is no longer in the works. Macfarlane Partners managing member Charles Macfarlane said circumstances around the development changed in the years following the rezoning and that he’s no longer pursuing that project.
The Loving properties are separated by the train tracks from the site of the city’s planned slavery commemorative site, which is to the west, closer to Interstate 95. Now called The Shockoe Project, the campus’ first phase opened this year within Main Street Station, and planning for the second phase is ongoing.
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