This iconic, round office building in Richmond’s Museum District sold for $1.2M

One of Richmond’s most Instagram-worthy buildings has sold for $1.2 million.

Located on the corner of Thompson Street and Floyd Avenue in the Museum District,  the 1950s-era, circular building previously served as headquarters for Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market, a local organic grocer. The building sold on April 23 but Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced the sale last week.

Rick Hood, the grocery store’s former owner and an architect who previously practiced at Richmond’s Glavé Newman Anderson, bought the building in 2015 for $300,000.

In 2017, Hood went to work renovating the building. Partnering with a project team that included Richmond-based Walter Parks Architects, Dunlap & Partners Engineers, Four Winds Design, Sadler & Whitehead and J.A. Heisler Contracting, Hood’s restoration “kept the architectural integrity of the existing structure but also enhanced functionality and aesthetic details,” according to a news release issued last week about the sale from Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer Capital Markets Group.

The renovated building at 3540 Floyd Ave. won the 2021 American Institute of Architects Virginia Test of Time Award, which recognizes a structure that is 25 years old or older that still stands “as originally designed in appearance and in good condition.”

The western exterior courtyard of the building has been often used for community gatherings, such as events for Historic Richmond, according to Hood. “We can accommodate 125 people there,” he said.

After Hood sold his organic grocery store in 2023 to Florida-based Healthier Choices Management, he put the round office building up for sale.

It sold last month to an entity tied to real estate developer Dan Hargett, founder and CEO of Richmond-based Roka Partners, according to the release. Hargett did not immediately return a request for comment. Hood declined to comment about Hargett’s plans for the circular building.

After the extensive renovation, Hood said he didn’t make “much money” on the sale. “A little, but that was fine,” he said. “I wanted to do a nice job.”

This wasn’t a quick flip for Hood. “It was something that just gave me a lot of satisfaction to to bring back a special building that the community values and then to frankly … find someone that really wanted to continue to treat it in that way, and I think Dan Hargett is just the right person to do it.”

Dr. William Higgins Jr. was responsible for bringing the iconic building to the Museum District. When considering a new office in the 1950s, Higgins Jr., consulted with his friend Leslie Cheek Jr., an architect and director at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, according to the news release. He took Cheek’s advice and hired David Yerkes, a Washington, D.C.-based architect.

“It was done very, very well by Yerkes,” Hood said. “And you know the details and the quality of the materials. All the trim was redwood. And it’s old growth redwood, so all of it remains today in good shape.”

Dr. Jack Ashworth went on to practice for more than a half century — until 2016 — in the 2,750-square-foot office building. In the release, Ashworth praised the way the building’s floor-to-ceiling windows allow morning light to stream inside.

The transaction was handled by Catharine Spangler of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group.