In well over a decade, Richmond hasn’t seen a single new hotel project in city limits, Lina Velasco, the city’s Director of Planning and Building Services told City Council at its Nov. 19 meeting.
But Richmond’s ongoing development boom has the city currently reviewing not one, but two hotel projects: one in Marina Bay, and the other in Hilltop.
On Wednesday, Dec. 11, the city’s Design Review Board is set to review proposed designs for a four-story, 102-room Home2 Suites Hotel by Hilton in a vacant lot at 2121 Meeker Ave., adjacent to the CVS store and across from Armistice Brewing Company.
A fitness center, indoor pool and 134-stall parking lot are included in the hotel design, according to city planning officials. The site is designed to accommodate two future commercial pad building locations, and the project also features a civic space along Meeker Avenue.
Also in the works is a 104-room Marriott Residence Inn proposed to locate in the parking lot adjacent to Macy’s at the Shops at Hilltop, which is undergoing a significant transformation that includes proposals for two hotels, 3,500 residential units, office and retail on a re-imagined mall property.
They are just two of many recently completed, under construction, and under review projects providing a growth spurt in Richmond. As of October, there were 434 residential units under construction, 1,023 residential units approved and 745 under review, Velasco told City Council at the Nov. 19 meeting. Also, over 120,000 square feet of warehouse/logistical space were recently completed, while an additional 417,500 square feet are under construction and another 446,000 square feet are under review.
The largest single project under review in Richmond is the controversial Point Molate Mixed-Use Project, a proposal that includes 1,500 residential units and 624,000 square feet of flex space that could include commercial and/or additional residential. That square footage includes rehabbing the existing historic buildings and incorporating at least 40,000 square feet of retail space, city staff said.
What follows is recently completed, under construction and under review projects in the city as of Nov. 19.
