Richmond's big apartment conversions
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Richmond is among the top cities in the country when it comes to apartment conversions, according to a study from RentCafe.
What's happening: Adaptive reuse apartments — that is, existing structures that have been turned into apartments — surged in the past two years, and Richmond is ranked sixth in the country when it comes to the number of apartment conversions.
Between 2020 and 2021, Richmond had 797 total apartments added through adaptive reuse, representing 2.8% of all apartment conversions nationwide, per the report.
- Total conversions of buildings to apartments over the past two years has jumped 25% compared with the previous two-year period.
Why it matters: Richmond, like the rest of the country, is facing a housing crisis, particularly for affordable housing, and adaptive reuse can help.
Zoom in: The study did not list the projects, but pre-pandemic, Manchester alone had more than 1,000 apartments under construction.
Be smart: Adaptive reuse apartments aren't new to Richmond. In the 1980s, developers began converting the city's centuries-old tobacco warehouses into Tobacco Row apartments, helping revitalize the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood.
Other notable Richmond apartment conversion in the past decades include:
- The Richmond Dairy Apartments, from a factory to 99 Jackson Ward apartments.
- Miller & Rhoads Residences, from a vacant department store to 111 downtown apartments.
- Lee School Lofts in the Museum District.
- The 23-story downtown Central National Bank building to the 200-unit Deco at CNB.
Of note: There were 5,625 apartments added in Richmond through building conversions from the 1950s-2019, RentCafe noted in a separate report.
- Factories were the most frequent building type converted.
State of play: These days, office buildings are the most popular type of building to convert nationwide, representing 40% of conversions from 2020-21, followed by factories (15.5%), hotels (12.8%) and warehouses (9%).
The latest: More apartment conversions are in the works. More than 300 units are planned for the Wytestone Plaza building at 801 E. Main St. A total of 188 apartments are coming to 629 E. Main St., and Cool Lane Commons will bring 86 low-income rentals to a former nursing home on the city and Henrico line.