The top five daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from Aug. 16 to Sept. 13 included news that LL Flooring is selling 219 stores and other assets to an entity connected to F9 Group, which is owned by Lumber Liquidators’ founder and former CEO, Tom Sullivan.
The owner of a home and mental health care services business pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud and six counts of making false statements. (Aug. 28)
After declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Henrico County’s LL Flooring signed an agreement to sell 219 stores and other assets to F9 Investments. (Sept. 7)
With confetti flying and a DJ playing walk-up music for Richmond’s mayor and other luminaries, the Richmond Flying Squirrels announced Wednesday that Fortune 500 company CarMax will be naming sponsor for the Squirrels’ new ballpark starting with the 2026 season. The replacement for the Richmond Diamond will be known as CarMax Park, officials with the Double-A Minor League Baseball team revealed.
Although Squirrels President and Managing Partner Lou DiBella said that the deal with CarMax had been signed several months ago, few other details were revealed about the transaction, including the amount CarMax agreed to pay and how long the sponsorship will last.
“We haven’t disclosed the financial conditions for the contract, but what I will tell you is, we’re super thrilled to be able to ensure that the Squirrels are going to be here for a very long time,” CarMax President and CEO Bill Nash said following Wednesday’s news conference held at the Bon Secours Training Center, the former training location for the Washington Commanders. Nash also declined to say how long the naming rights will continue, but added, “We’re involved with them for a very long time in the future.”
In August, the Richmond Economic Development Authority’s board approved a 30-year lease and stadium development agreement between the EDA and the Flying Squirrels, in which the Squirrels will pay $3.2 million in annual rent for the next 10 years, with the rates decreasing after that point.
The mood Wednesday was celebratory, with former Squirrels CEO and current senior adviser Todd “Parney” Parnell serving as emcee and a crowd of fans, officials and others receiving hand towels printed with “CarMax Park.” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who shepherded the $2.4 billion Diamond District redevelopment project centered around the new baseball stadium, called the corporate sponsorship a “big freakin’ deal.”
The multiuse Diamond District project is planned to include 2,800 residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space and 195,000 square feet of retail and community space. A team known as Diamond District Partners is developing the project; it includes Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners, Chicago-based Loop Capital, Pennrose, Capstone Development and multiple Virginia-based partners.
During the event, Parnell revealed new renderings of CarMax Park, which is expected to be finished by spring 2026; a ceremonial groundbreaking will take place Friday.
DiBella said that there will be several outdoor areas around the field in CarMax Park, with capacity for about 2,000 people standing, and 8,000 fixed seats. The venue also will host concerts and comedians when baseball games aren’t scheduled, and it will have indoor areas that can be used for community events, DiBella said, calling the park “a great social center for the community” that will have programming year-round, instead of just during baseball season.
But the park’s prospects weren’t always so sunny, as DiBella had sounded a warning bell in 2023 that he wasn’t sure that the new stadium — built to meet Major League Baseball’s requirements for all Minor League facilities — would be finished in time for the spring 2025 deadline, and could mean the departure of the team from Richmond.
Ultimately, the city received a one-year extension from MLB to finish the new stadium by 2026, which is expected to cost approximately $110 million and will be funded with $170 million in general obligation bonds issued by the city.
Speaking at the news conference, DiBella acknowledged the long wait for a new stadium, which dates back to 2010, the Squirrels’ debut season in Richmond, when city officials first promised to build a ballpark to replace the nearly 40-year-old Diamond that previously was home to the Richmond Braves Triple-A team.
Although CarMax’s involvement will not influence the funding structure for the stadium, its investment will be considered part of the team’s revenue stream, which is important, as the Squirrels’ rent has risen every year since the team has played in Richmond and is among the highest rents for any Minor League team, DiBella said.
Richmond Flying Squirrels senior adviser Todd “Parney” Parnell embraces team president and managing partner Lou DiBella as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney looks on at a Sept. 4, 2024, news conference announcing the team’s new stadium naming sponsor, CarMax. Photo by Kate Andrews
On stage Wednesday, DiBella called the groundbreaking and pending start of construction “a miracle. … Fifteen years and something like $3 million in legal fees and multimillion dollars in consultancy fees, and I can’t tell you how many hours of work that got thrown away … during different [city] administrations. Frankly, an awful lot of meetings where you didn’t feel like there was honestly a commitment. I gotta say this, you gotta give credit to the people that got it done, and the people that got it done were this city council, this administration and the community leaders that are now our friends.”
In particular, DiBella cited Stoney and Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders for their roles in moving the stadium process forward, noting that “you guys got ‘MFed’ enough by me. Lincoln and I, it was so tense with us for so long,” DiBella said, “but I never doubted [Saunders’] commitment to this day. The biggest winners today are the citizens of Richmond.”
Stoney, a two-term mayor who is running for the Democratic nomination for Virginia lieutenant governor, noted that “15 years ago, the city made a promise to the Flying Squirrels, and fast-forward to 2024, we are keeping our promise, and with the 30-year lease, with the CarMax partnership, I am proud to say that the Squirrels are here to stay.”
The event was a bright spot for Stoney and Saunders, a friend of the mayor appointed as the city’s CAO in 2020, who have come under fire lately after reports in the Richmond Times-Dispatch revealed alleged misuse of procurement credit cards by some city officials, including former spokesperson Petula Burks, and a lack of transparency and timeliness in answering Freedom of Information Act requests for city documents.
There are still a few bumps in the road on the way to seeing the Diamond District become reality, including a $40 million lawsuit among current and former partners in the joint development team building the Diamond District, but DiBella said that he doesn’t expect the lawsuit to cause a delay in building the stadium, the construction of which the Squirrels team is overseeing. “It better not,” he said, laughing. “But no, I don’t believe it [will].”
Peter Woodfork, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of minor league operations and development, said that beyond providing a new stadium with amenities for fans, the replacement of the Diamond is also an upgrade for players and others who work for the team. “This is an extremely important step for all of us … to have a facility that young men and women who work in baseball operations that allows them to do their job, anything from clubhouses to female facilities to batting cages,” he said.
Although Woodfork emphasized that “every expectation” is that the new ballpark will be open for 2026’s baseball season, “if something negative happened, we’d have to regroup on our side.”
Richmond City Council this spring pitched a bit of a curveball on financing of the city’s new baseball stadium.
On May 8, councilors approved a plan that they say would save the city money and get the replacement stadium — part of the proposed Diamond District — completed in time to meet the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ 2026 season deadline.
Davenport & Co., the city’s financial adviser, recommended issuing $170 million worth of general obligation bonds to finance the Diamond District’s stadium and first-phase infrastructure work, rather than community development authority bonds, as planned.
That would put the city on the hook for paying off the bonds if projected revenue falls short, although the new structure would also have economic benefits, including a lower interest rate that is expected to reduce costs by $215 million over the next 30 years. Also, if the bonds were issued by July 1, the state would have chipped in $24 million through its sales tax incentive program, but Richmond missed that deadline.
“When cities take on the role of developer, they are assuming risk for taxpayers,” Terry Clower, director of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis, says. “In this case, there are compelling reasons for the change in financing that recognizes market conditions and a particular state tax incentive.”
However, attorney and activist Paul Goldman filed a lawsuit in May, challenging the city’s plan to issue the bonds without a November ballot referendum.
“It’s the public’s money; it’s not the politicians’ money,” and residents should get a vote, Goldman argues, but his lawsuit was tossed out in June by Richmond Circuit Court Judge W. Reilly Marchant. The only way to force a referendum without a court order was to have roughly 11,000 Richmond voters’ signatures within 30 days of the city’s notice of the ordinance’s adoption, published May 12.
That’s a “task worthy of Hercules,” Goldman says. “It can’t be done unless you’re going to spend a fortune.” On June 28, Goldman said he wouldn’t appeal the court’s decision.
However, for Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, the Squirrels’ new stadium is on deck.
“We are full speed ahead on delivering a world-class baseball stadium and an exciting new neighborhood for ALL to enjoy,” Stoney said June 10 in a statement. “The Flying Squirrels are here to stay in Richmond!”
In his 30-plus years in Minor League Baseball, Parnell has built a reputation for bringing in the crowds. In 2022, the Squirrels — the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants — led all 30 Double-A teams in total and average attendance. It was the first time in franchise history the team achieved that milestone. Known for his collection of brightly colored “Parney pants,” Parnell was promoted to team CEO in 2020, after serving as vice president and chief operating officer.
After 13 years in Richmond, the Squirrels are now getting a new stadium, after the city’s approval in May of a $90 million, 9,000-capacity ballpark, set to be completed in time for the 2026 season, a year after a Major League Baseball deadline.
The Diamond, the team’s current home, is nearly 40 years old and was required under new MiLB standards to be replaced, or else the team would move to another city. Although Parnell didn’t speak out publicly about the matter, the team’s president and managing partner, Lou DiBella, warned the city earlier this year that it needed to accelerate its design plans.
A Messiah College graduate, Parnell serves on the Richmond Region Tourism board.
Richmond City Council voted unanimously May 8 to approve the $2.44 billion Diamond District project, which includes a replacement for the aging stadium that’s home to the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball team.
The Diamond District’s first phase, expected to cost $627.6 million, includes a 9,000-capacity, $90 million-plus baseball stadium and a hotel with at least 180 rooms from a high-end brand, such as Hilton or Westin. The project also will include more than 3,000 rental and for-sale residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and another hotel.
“This game-changer development will bring a high-quality baseball stadium, good-paying jobs, affordable housing, new small businesses, billions in investment, and green space,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement.
As part of the agreement, the city transferred 61 acres of land to the Richmond Economic Development Authority for sale to development team RVA Diamond Partners LLC, which includes Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners, Washington, D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp., Chicago-based Loop Capital Holdings LLC and San Diego venue developer JMI Sports.
Richmond is anticipating $118 million in financing for the stadium’s construction. The agreement sets $80 million as the minimum Community Development Authority (CDA) bond proceeds for the construction of the baseball stadium and public infrastructure, and the city will fund the first phase’s infrastructure with $23 million in Capital Improvement Plan General Obligation bonds.
Design work for the new stadium was scheduled to begin in May, with construction slated to start in August 2024 and finish by December 2025, and the Squirrels opening the spring 2026 season there — a year past a deadline previously set by Major League Baseball for all Minor League Baseball facilities to meet new standards. The Diamond, which opened in 1985, is considered too old to renovate and must be replaced.
The Squirrels are expected to sign off on the new stadium by July 1, the last hurdle remaining to keep the team in Richmond.
“City Council approval of the development agreement for the Diamond District is a big step in the continued revitalization of Richmond, one that the Squirrels are happy to be a part of,” Lou DiBella, president and managing partner of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, said in a statement. “We look forward to continued momentum with respect to the design and construction of our long-awaited home.”
Richmond City Council members voted unanimously Monday to approve the $2.44 billion Diamond District mixed-use development, which aims to include a replacement for the 38-year-old stadium of the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball team by the end of 2025. Councilors also approved an ordinance to convey 61 acres of city-owned land to the Richmond Economic Development Authority, which will then sell it to the Diamond District development team.
“We’re about to see a major development that is going to radically transform not just one portion of the city, but it’s going to impact the entire city,” Council President Michael Jones said before the vote Monday night. “I’m excited about that. Who can’t get behind baseball? But it’s not that I’m just behind athletics. I’m behind jobs. I want to see men and women from around the city working. I want to see our young people — North Side, South Side, wherever — learning trades. … I’m excited about what the future holds for the city and where we are headed.”
Monday’s vote gives the RVA Diamond Partners LLC development team the city’s go-ahead to move forward on the project, which includes building a 9,000-capacity, $90 million-plus baseball stadium and a hotel with at least 180 rooms in Phase 1, which is expected to cost a total of $627.6 million.
However, one more significant stakeholder must weigh in: the Flying Squirrels and Major League Baseball, which set an April 2025 deadline for all Minor League Baseball facilities to meet certain standards. The Diamond, which opened in 1985, is considered too old to renovate and must be replaced. The Diamond District plan calls for the demolition of the smaller Sports Backers Stadium next to the Diamond, where the replacement Squirrels ballpark will be constructed. The city will pay an estimated $25 million for a new Sports Backers Stadium in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University, which will include the new stadium in its Athletic Village project adjacent to the Diamond District.
Included in the development agreement is a set of deadlines for the design, demolition, groundbreaking and completion of the new stadium:
Schematic design: May-August 2023
Design development: August-December 2023
General contractor design budgeting, bidding and materials procurement: August 2023
Construction documents: November 2023-June 2024
Demolition of Sports Backers Stadium, mass grading, environmental remediation: February-April 2024
Groundbreaking for new stadium: April 2024
Ballpark construction: August 2024-December 2025
The stadium is expected to cost at least $90 million, and the city is anticipating $118 million in financing for the stadium’s construction.
The agreement sets $80 million as the minimum Community Development Authority (CDA) bond proceeds for the construction of the baseball stadium and public infrastructure, and the city will fund the first phase’s infrastructure with $23 million in Capital Improvement Plan General Obligation bonds, according to a PowerPoint presentation made available earlier this month.
The city also will add additional land parcels to the Incremental Financing Area, beyond the 67-acre Diamond District, to help fund the project, and $10 million in property sales will help reduce the stadium bond debt. The city agrees to pay incremental tax revenue for nine fiscal years, including a hotel use surcharge of 2% within the district and a 0.25% consumer purchase surcharge on all purchases within the CDA district.
The project also will include more than 3,000 rental and for-sale residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and two hotels.
The city also must rezone the 67-acre Diamond District and create the Stadium Signage Overlay District, create a Community Development Authority and design standards, and reach lease agreements with the Flying Squirrels and Virginia Commonwealth University. The developer must also submit the subdivision of the land to Richmond City Council to create the new Diamond District.
RVA Diamond Partners includes Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners, Washington, D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp., Chicago-based Loop Capital Holdings LLC and San Diego venue developer JMI Sports.
Rufus Williams, managing director of LoopWealth, a division of Loop Capital, said Monday that the team of developers is “excited about this project … and look forward to working with our partners and members of the city to make this happen. It has been quite a process getting to now.”
“Tonight, with the City Council’s approval of the Diamond District Partners agreement, we are one step closer to putting shovels in the ground and delivering a critical development project for the city and people of Richmond,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement Monday night. “This game-changer development will bring a high-quality baseball stadium, good-paying jobs, affordable housing, new small businesses, billions in investment, and green space.”
Several council members and others involved in the Diamond District process acknowledged Richmond’s long baseball stadium conversation. In 2008, the Richmond Braves Triple-A team left for the Atlanta area in part over the aging stadium, and the Squirrels, which moved to Richmond in 2009, expected to be at a new downtown stadium by 2012, but the plan failed. Most recently, the city was forced to move forward on a new stadium or lose the team, with MLB stadium standards set to be enforced in 2025.
In a statement Monday, Lou DiBella, president and managing partner of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, said, “City Council approval of the development agreement for the Diamond District is a big step in the continued revitalization of Richmond, one that the Squirrels are happy to be a part of. We look forward to continued momentum with respect to the design and construction of our long-awaited home.”
DiBella had expressed concern in April over the delay of firm plans for the stadium and surrounding development. “This is not about your Flying Squirrels wanting a new ballpark,” DiBella said in a statement April 11. “If there isn’t a stadium built that meets prescribed MLB guidelines, is suitable for professional baseball, and is worthy of the great City of Richmond, there will be no Opening Day 2026 in RVA.”
The Richmond Flying Squirrels are worried that a new stadium may not be ready by April 2025 as needed to meet new Major League Baseball regulations, according to the Minor League Baseball team’s president and managing partner, Lou DiBella. In a statement Tuesday, DiBella said that there has been “very little progress” from the city and its chosen development team toward getting a new stadium built on time.
“Since the Diamond District was announced, there has been very little progress for plans for a new stadium,” DiBella said. “Much needs to get done, but we are out of time to meet the requirements of Major League Baseball. This is not about your Flying Squirrels wanting a new ballpark. If there isn’t a stadium built that meets prescribed MLB guidelines, is suitable for professional baseball, and is worthy of the great city of Richmond, there will be no Opening Day 2026 in RVA.
“Sadly, with imminent deadlines looming, we cannot be confident that the future of the Squirrels in Richmond is secure. The next three or four weeks will be critical with respect to moving forward in the hometown that we love.”
DiBella referred to MLB’s new requirements for MiLB stadiums that must be met by the start of the 2025 season — or else the city will lose its team. The state of the aging Diamond, which was built in 1985 as home of the Triple-A Richmond Braves team, has been a persistent problem for both the Braves, who relocated to the Atlanta region in 2008, and the Double-A Flying Squirrels, who moved to Richmond in 2009 amid promises of a new downtown stadium plan that failed. The Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team also plays at the Diamond.
In 2014, ownership of the Diamond was transferred from the Richmond Metropolitan Authority to the city, but Richmond officials didn’t take action toward replacing the Diamond until late 2021, under new stadium standards set by MLB in 2020.
The city’s last major announcement about the Diamond District took place in September 2022, when the city announced it had selected a joint venture known as RVA Diamond Partners LLC as the project’s developer. The group includes Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners; Washington, D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp.; Chicago-based Loop Capital Holdings LLC; and San Diego venue developer JMI Sports. According to the city’s announcement, the group committed to purchase the first $20 million of bonds needed to finance the stadium. Since September, however, there have been no public updates on a construction timeline or design specifics on the new ballpark.
RVA Diamond Partners released a statement Tuesday night: “RVA Diamond Partners (RVADP) continues to work with city leadership and staff to finalize the legal, financial and programmatic details required to bring this bold and ambitious project to fruition. This work includes detailed programmatic and design discussions with both the Flying Squirrels and VCU for the new ballpark that will anchor the Diamond District.
“Our team meets regularly with the Squirrels, VCU, the city and our design and construction partners to ensure that we have a plan for a financeable ballpark that not only meets the needs of the teams and MiLB but delivers a fantastic fan experience through thoughtful integration with the public spaces, retail, residential, commercial and hospitality uses planned for the broader Diamond District.
“RVADP has committed itself to this project since the award in September, and we continue to work towards a groundbreaking as soon as possible.”
MLB’s new rules require that all Minor League stadiums include improved field lighting, better training facilities for players and larger clubhouses, among other standards. The Diamond also had to make about $3.5 million in renovations and repairs before the start of the season last week after an inspection, using funding allocated by Richmond City Council.
DiBella’s statement prompts questions about the larger Diamond District plan — a $2.44 billion project that would include a new ballpark, 2,800 residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and two hotels. Although the new ballpark, which is expected to seat 10,000 and cost approximately $80 million, is the Diamond District’s centerpiece, the surrounding mixed-use development is the largest project in the city’s recent history and is expected to take about 15 years to complete.
The cost of the baseball stadium and public infrastructure will be financed with Community Development Authority (CDA) bond financing, the city said in September 2022, which would not require Richmond to repay bonds if there is a shortfall. Bond financing will be repaid with tax revenue generated in the 67-acre development property, including taxes on real estate, businesses, meals, hotel revenue and baseball admissions. Local portions of the state sales tax, lease payments and other revenue will also be part of the deal.
The city released a public statement Tuesday evening: “The city of Richmond is committed to completing this important, intentional project. While there is still some work to be done, RVA Diamond Partners and the city have been working tirelessly together to ensure we bring a stadium and fully realized development that lives up to its potential, provides significant economic investment, and delivers for our residents and the Squirrels. We look forward to creating a thoughtful area for residents to live, work, play and raise a family.”
The city of Richmond announced Monday it has selected a joint venture including Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners to build a new baseball stadium for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, as well as a mixed-use development surrounding the stadium, revitalizing the area into a new neighborhood to be known as the Diamond District.
The entire project is expected to cost $2.44 billion, with the first phase costing a minimum capital investment of $627.6 million, according to information provided by the city Tuesday. A Richmond City Council resolution to officially select RVA Diamond Partners LLC, sponsored by the mayor and seven city councilors, is scheduled for a vote Thursday. Because the venture involves the sale of city-owned land, seven out of nine council members must approve the motion.
Other partners in the RVA Diamond Partners joint venture include Washington, D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp., Chicago-based Loop Capital Holdings LLC and San Diego venue developer JMI Sports. According to the city’s announcement, the group committed to purchase the first $20 million of bonds needed to finance the stadium, which is required to be completed and open for the 2025 Minor League Baseball season.
According to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, the parent company of Thalhimer Realty Partners, the ballpark will have a capacity of 10,000, and the rest of the project will include 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and two hotels with a total of 330 rooms.
The project also will include 2,800 residential units — both rental and 157 condos for sale — available at different price points, with 20% of rental units priced for households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income, and 100 apartments under project-based vouchers for public housing residents. Twenty percent of all residences for sale will be priced for households earning between 60% and 70% of area median income, and the developers will put up a $1 million fund to assist home buyers with closing fees and associated costs.
The cost of the baseball stadium and public infrastructure will be financed with Community Development Authority (CDA) bond financing, the city said, which would not require Richmond to repay bonds if there is a shortfall. Bond financing will be repaid with tax revenue generated in the 67-acre development property, including taxes on real estate, businesses, meals, hotel revenue and baseball admissions. Local portions of the state sales tax, lease payments and other revenue will also be part of the deal.
An 11-acre park will also be part of the development, as well as open space and walkable blocks, connecting the Diamond District with the trendy nearby Scott’s Addition neighborhood, southwest from The Diamond across Arthur Ashe Boulevard. According to the city, the developers also wish to partner with the city’s School Board to develop a technical training center at the former Altria site on the city’s South Side, where the ONE Casino & Resort was set to be built.
The replacement of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, a nearly 40-year-old building that contains a 6,000-seat athletic facility and basketball court, will not be part of the first phase of the Diamond District development, but the Richmond City Council is expected to vote on a resolution to prioritize funding for recreational and extracurricular activities for city youth and young adults. The resolution pledges that the city will pursue “recreational and organizational opportunities previously served by the center on sites in the general proximity of the Diamond District prior to the transfer of the parcel” on which the Ashe Center is located and the future demolition of the center, which has been deemed too expensive to repair and maintain.
A 10-person panel that includes city employees and two City Council members chose the winning project, after 15 proposals were sent in. Last month, the city announced it had narrowed its choices to two teams: RVA Diamond Partners and Richmond Community Development Partners, which included San Francisco-based commercial real estate company JMA Ventures, Houston-based Machete Group and Tryline Capital, which has offices in Connecticut and New York, the Richmond office of Gilbane Building Co., Richmond-based Davis Brothers Construction Co. and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Odell Associates Inc.
Virginia Commonwealth University, which will use the new ballpark for off-season sporting events, and the Richmond Flying Squirrels will pay leases to use the stadium, the city has said. VCU plans to build a 40-acre athletic village east of the Diamond District, which could be made available to city residents through a separate use agreement, the city’s legislation says.
The replacement of The Diamond, the 37-year-old home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels AA baseball team, was the chief factor in the project’s timing. Lou DiBella, president and managing general partner of the Squirrels franchise, said Monday night in a statement: “The Richmond Flying Squirrels are proud to be an anchor tenant of this proposed revitalization and development of the Diamond District, a natural extension of the growth of our beloved hometown. The Squirrels will be the most well-known neighbors in a new, diverse and dynamic neighborhood. We commit to being a great neighbor and to making memories together for decades to come.”
In 2020, Minor League Baseball revamped its facilities requirements to include indoor batting cages, coaches’ rooms, locker rooms for female employees and other features that the aging Richmond stadium lacks. A document released last month by the city said, “A new ballpark must be built to keep Minor League Baseball in Richmond beyond the 2024 season.”
The entire multiphase project is expected to be completed in up to 15 years, with the inclusion of housing, hotel and retail space (and possibly office space), in addition to the stadium.
“This proposal meets our goals to equitably revitalize an underdeveloped part of our city and maximize its potential to enhance the quality of life for all Richmonders,” Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement. “Commitments to affordable housing, minority business engagement, publicly accessible open space and a new ballpark mean that the Diamond District will be enjoyed by, built by and benefit all residents of our city. The Diamond District has long been a diamond in the rough. I look forward to seeing it shine.”
Standing near the grand entrance of upcoming entertainment venue and food hall The Park at RVA, Orcun Turkay says he’s excited for the future of Richmond’s newly branded Diamond District. He calls it “Scott’s Addition 2.0,” referencing the trendy adjoining neighborhood.
Exact plans for the Diamond District, which will include a replacement for the city’s Minor League Baseball stadium, The Diamond, are not yet set, but Richmond City Council is expected to choose a developer soon.
Excitement about the new district is fueling adjacent projects like The Park at RVA, which plans to open this fall.
Located along Interstate 95 within view of The Diamond, The Park at RVA will offer duckpin bowling, mini-golf and multiple bars and restaurants, as well as a 200-seat venue for music and comedy shows. It will be housed in a 55,000-square-foot space on the second floor of a two-story industrial building owned by the project’s lead investor: Alexandria-based heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor Michael & Son Services Inc. (CodeRVA, a regional magnet school for computer science,
is the first-floor tenant.)
Turkay, The Park at RVA’s managing partner and vice president of operations, says the venue will offer more entertainment options under one roof than anywhere else in Richmond: “You can go to food halls and arcade bars, but not everything at once.”
Plans to redevelop the area surrounding The Diamond into a new mixed-use, mixed-income district built around a new stadium started a few years ago during discussions for the city’s Richmond 300 master plan for growth. This summer, the city narrowed the field to three competing development teams, which were pared to two finalists in August. There’s pressure to move forward, as work must begin quickly on a new Richmond Flying Squirrels stadium to meet newly adopted league facility standards and open by March 2025.
Greater Scott’s Addition Association board members have endorsed development team RVA Diamond Partners, a joint venture including Washington, D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp., Chicago-based Loop Capital Holdings LLC and Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners Inc. “We made it extremely clear to the city … that we want this to happen,” says Rob Long, president of the board. “This is an awesome project.”
The city of Richmond announced Wednesday that six competing development teams have been chosen out of 15 applicants to continue in the competition to redevelop the Diamond District area near the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ stadium.
The city requested applications late last year for the 67.57-acre site, which would include a new AA baseball stadium and a more walkable multiuse development connecting the new stadium with the Scott’s Addition neighborhood and Virginia Commonwealth University’s athletic village. The teams announced Wednesday include:
Diamond District Gateway Partners
MAG Partners
Richmond Community Development Partners
RVA Diamond Partners
Vision300 Partners LLC
Weller Development Co. and LMXD
Specific details — including all of the people and companies backing the six competing development proposals — have not yet been provided by the city, but some were formed specifically for the project.
According to a person involved with Vision300 Partners, which formed in 2020, the entity is “a local and diverse group” that includes about 40 Richmond-area businesses and community organizations, including lead developer Freehold Communities, which has a presence in Richmond; developer Spy Rock Real Estate Group; building company Hourigan; staffing firm Astyra Corp.; Canterbury Enterprises; Shamin Hotels; lead architect HKS; and engineering firm Timmons Group. The group also includes the Metropolitan Business League, the Better Housing Coalition and the YMCA of Greater Richmond, as well as former NFL player Mike Robinson and former soccer pro Greg Simmonds, who are involved with youth sports.
“We recognize there is a lot of interest in transforming this area based on the number of responses received,” said a statement from Vision300, noting that its proposal would align with the city government’s Richmond 300 master plan. “We’re a diverse group of local Richmond leaders who care deeply about the city’s development, design, youth development, community investment and wellness. Each of us is working in multiple ways to create a better future. We see this project as an opportunity to bring local government, business, and nonprofits together to move the region forward.”
MAG Partners is a woman-owned urban real estate company based in New York City; Weller Development Co. is a Baltimore-based real estate development firm, and LMXD is a mixed-income development-focused affiliate of L+M Development Partners Inc., a real estate development firm based in New York.
Richmond City Councilor Katherine Jordan, who represents the district where the development would take place and is one of two city councilors on the advisory panel, said Thursday that she wouldn’t provide further information on the three other partnerships in order to keep the process competitive. However, she said that the panelists were “intrigued by teams with local partners,” and that to her knowledge, all six groups have local members now.
Brambly Park Winery opened in Richmond’s popular Scott’s Addition neighborhood in summer 2020, offering an outdoor gathering area and an indoor events space. Photo by Shandell Taylor
According to the city, these six groups must provide additional requested information about their proposals by April 25 at 3 p.m. to continue the process. The new intermediary step is intended to obtain more detailed plans for the city’s evaluation panel — a group of 10 city and VCU representatives — to review. The application requests details on financing, project goals, development team organizational charts and a fully outlined project plan with deadlines and benchmarks, among other information.
The city expects to further narrow down the group of applicants during the week of May 9 and expects to host a public meeting during the week of May 24. Finalists will then submit their final formal requests by the week of June 6, and the panel will announce its preferred development team later in the month. At that point, Richmond City Council will vote on the final plan, which must pass with seven out of nine votes.
Jordan said that the council vote required seven votes instead of a simple majority because the development involves the transfer of city-owned land.
Rob Long, owner of the River City Roll bowling alley and president of the Greater Scott’s Addition Association, says that his group has held off on hearing from applicants so far, preferring to wait until the list of 15 was winnowed down. “I think now that we have a shortlist, all six finalists will sit down and get our input,” he said Wednesday in an interview with Virginia Business. “Our job as an association is to offer whatever guidance we can to make this neighborhood better, keep the current character of the neighborhood intact.”
Business owners in Scott’s Addition, which has quickly pivoted from a mostly industrial community to a mixed-use residential, retail and office neighborhood over the past decade, are interested mainly in the project bringing a “world-class ballpark” with an experienced builder, as well as broader community uses for that stadium when the Flying Squirrels aren’t playing home games. “VCU and the Squirrels want that,” Long said.
Other key priorities business owners have identified for the project, Long said, include affordable housing, green space and walkability from the stadium to the Scott’s Addition neighborhood — an often perilous journey across multiple lanes of traffic on Arthur Ashe Boulevard — as well as allowing locally owned businesses to take priority over national chains in the development. “We welcome conversations with all six groups.”
Jordan noted that the proposed Cordish Cos. casino project at the Bow Tie Cinemas property off Arthur Ashe Boulevard, a project she opposed and was ultimately passed over in favor of the One Casino + Resort on the South Side, was different from the Diamond District, which has been discussed extensively during the Richmond 300 planning sessions and other meetings to redevelop the area.
“I would say the primary difference from the [North Side] casino is [that] people love the Squirrels,” she said. “To me, we’ve got the buy-in for these uses. The casino didn’t have that. It was problematic from the start.”
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