Ordinance 2007-321 (PDF) which seeks to “declare a public necessity to acquire the Lehigh property, along the riverfront near the old Annabel Lee dock“, towards using the land as public greenspace and also as part of the Virginia Capital Trail, comes before City Council on Monday, May 12. [via]

A public hearing on the Richmond Downtown Master Plan in front of the City Planning Commission has been announced for Monday, May 19th @1:30PM. The Commission will consider adoption of the plan and recommendation for approval to City Council; the public is encouraged to attend the meeting. (event flyer)

The future of the James River in today’s RTD is a great overview of the issues that will be part of Monday night’s RTD Public Square on the James River. The discussion of “the single greatest physical asset that we have in the Richmond metropolitan area” will certainly touch on the balance between private and public interests, public access to the river, the preservation of natural areas, the impact of private development, and what role the local government should play.

The image above of the proposed development at Cedar & Broad Streets was shown at the SBNA meeting last night. Much thanks to Walter Parks Architect for the presentation and the rendering.

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There will be a meeting tonight on the project proposed for Cedar and Broad. The meeting will be held 5:30-6:30PM @ Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant (formerly Wildcats).

Cesca Waterfield’s Live It | Richmond’s Lofty Standard Of Living in this week’s Brick gives some coverage to the downtown loft tour from a few weeks back:

“I loved seeing the creative reuse of these buildings. I was really impressed by the mixture of adaptive reuse and new construction at the Reserve,” Daab points out. “But the greatest part of the tour was when I realized later that my Saturday consisted of touring beautiful loft living spaces, attending an intimate acoustic concert in a new gallery space, and [sharing] a meal and drinks with friends in a tavern, all within blocks of each other in an area of the city that would have been deserted on a Saturday night just a few years ago.”

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Venture Richmond’s Downtown Loft Tour featuring 13 lofts in 9 buildings across 5 downtown neighborhoods is this Saturday, April 5, from 10AM to 4PM. Advance tickets are $20 and include a charter bus from location to location. [via]

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Richmond Business & Commercial News reminded us about Walk Score, a site that “calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.”, part of an effort to recognize the benefits to our health, the environment, and our communities of living in walkable neighborhoods. This site puts a number on how easy it is to go day-to-day without relying in a car in Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, and Tobacco Row; Manchester is still a little ways out.

It is estimated that Richmond’s 2007 population was 200,123 people, the first time in over a decade that the number has been over 200,000. The last official tally of the city population was the 2000 census which recorded 197,790 residents. Some estimates of the city population in the intervening years have been as low as 193,000. [via]

“People want walkable neighborhoods, the convenience of living close to work and the authentic architectural character that Richmond has,” [Jack Berry, executive director of Venture Richmond] said. “The city used to be a tough sell. That’s just not the case in the same way that it used to be.”

Richmond.com alerts us to the soon-to-open Savor, in the Corrugated Box Building, 201 W. 7th St. The restaurant’s focus will be on breakfast & lunch (pastries, salads, sandwiches, etc), but they’ll also offer dinner to go.

Opening is projected for next week (paperwork pending, ‘course).

The Dill Building at 21st and Franklin Streets was built in 1854, a decade that saw “the greatest years of factory-expansion prior to the Civil War”. Built as a tobacco factory for a company run by Joseph G. Dill, the upper stories were removed in 1941 after a fire. Emerson Construction has worked to bring the building back and hopes to have apartments for rent this fall.

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In a conversation with Richard Souter, vice president of the WVS Companies, the Rocketts Landing Captain’s Blog gives a short and neutral overview development issues with Lehigh Cement, the Capital Trail, Echo Harbor, and the proposed public marina at Intermediate Terminal.

Venture Richmond has announced a Downtown Loft Tour that will feature 13 lofts in 9 buildings across 5 downtown neighborhoods. The Downtown Loft Tour will be April 5 from 10AM to 4PM. Advance tickets are $20 and include a charter bus from location to location. [via]

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The RTD’s Launching Rocketts profiles 4 of the 110 pioneering multi-generational residents of the ground-breaking New Urbanism development at Rocketts Landing.

Representatives of the Wilder administration presented the outline of a marina project to the city council yesterday. Wilder’s proposal includes land also spoken for by the proposed Echo Harbor project and would include a marina with more than 150 boat slips. The project is estimated to cost around $17.7 million, with much of the cost expected to be made-up by selling nearby land and from developer fees. [via]

The City of Richmond Planning Commission invites interested members of the public to participate in a seminar on Form-Based Code on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 @6PM at City Council Chambers at City Hall. Form-Based Code is a type of zoning that regulates patterns of development by focusing on the relationship of buildings to each other and the street. The seminar will include presentations on the legal and practical aspects of this type of zoning. The presenters include Dan Slone with McGuire Woods LLP and Geoffrey Ferrell with Ferrell Madden Lewis LLC.

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The fifth of the recently announced neighborhood-level Downtown Plan meetings is scheduled for tonight to discuss the James River (River, Islands & Riverfront Area). The meeting will be held at the Main Library (101 East Franklin Street) from 6-8PM.

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