Thalhimer Realty Partners buys Reynolds South Plant for $9.2 million

Thalhimer Realty Partners Inc. has purchased the 17-acre Reynolds South Plant in the Manchester district for $9.25 million.

The property at 7th and Hull Streets is the former location of Reynolds Packaging Group’s foil manufacturing plant. 

Zoned for mixed-use development and with a riverfront location south of the James River, the property is considered a key commercial development piece in the Manchester area.

It consists of more than seven city blocks with historic buildings that can be converted to multi-family, retail and office uses.

“This has been called one of the most significant riverfront properties in Richmond. Due to the modified zoning and relative ‘blank slate” for a developer to work with, in time, this could easily rival the North of the river financial district in mixed-use development,” Trib Sutton, senior vice president for CBRE|Richmond, said in a statement.

The CBRE team of Sutton, Rob Dirom, Scott Boyers, Scott Durham and John Carpin represented the seller, Pactiv LLC, a Reynolds affiliate, in the transaction.

The team also was responsible for the sale of the North Plant property in February 2012 for $7.3 million. The North Plant was a similar manufacturing plant situated on 6.8 acres in the central business district with frontage along the Kanawah Canal and the James River. Its buyer, Fountainhead Properties and the WVS Cos., recently finished the first phase of development – 174 apartments along with retail space.

In recent years, the historic Manchester area has been a magnet for apartment development in Richmond.

Drew Wiltshire, a vice president with Thalhimer Realty Partners, who along with associate Matt Raggi represented the firms’ investors in the deal, said a mixed-use project is planned.

In the initial phase, which should get underway in early 2014, the company plans to convert three existing warehouses into 263 apartments, he said. Another six acres of the parcel could accommodate up to 500,00 square feet of Class A office.

Plus the company, a subsidiary of Richmond-based Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, is considering retail. 

 
“Given the size, location, the proximity to the river and the Central Business District, and nearly 3,000 housing units within a mile, there are a variety of good options. With not much retail in Manchester to serve these units, we think a part of the redevelopment plan would be to put in some retail,” Raggi said.