At 510ft CoStar's new sig Richmond tower will be city's tallest (Cana: real estate, construction)

[aquest1]

Real estate data powerhouse CoStar Group is adding to its downtown Richmond Innovation Campus by constructing two new buildings, including a new signature tower at 510ft, making it Richmond’s new tallest. It would also potentially be the new tallest in the state, depending on the status of the The View at Tysons - Iconic Tower, which is a 600ft proposal that has seen delays.

With this $460 million expansion of their downtown Richmond campus and adding an additional 2,000 employees, CoStar will also become the largest technology company and one of the largest private employers in Richmond. Expected completion is in 2024.

Press and Renderings: https://richmond.com/business/watch-...me-top-story-1
Official Announcement: https://www.costar.com/article/50838...on-in-richmond


My own poor quality photo of rendering snapped from presentation: https://flickr.com/photos/aquest1/51...etaken-public/


My own low quality photo snapped from presentation: https://flickr.com/photos/aquest1/51...etaken-public/
Mods, feel free to remove, if not permitted.

Beyond being a nice, long awaited addition to Richmond's skyline, the new jobs and investment add to the momentum going on in the city, even during a pandemic.

[mpier015]

This is great news. Thanks for this

[eandslee]

There is some debate right now on the exact height of this as CoStar’s news page says that this will only be 425 ft tall. Somehow news outlets got the 510 ft figure and we are working to get the REAL and accurate answer over at Urban Planet - Richmond. The discussion of this is pretty lively over there if you want to check it out. We’re also usually pretty quick to find out about all the new developments on the way and we are tracking everything. It’s a team effort, since not one of us can keep track of it all by ourselves. So if you like Richmond development/economic news, come over and join us!

https://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/forum/202-richmond/

[aquest1]

Originally Posted by eandslee

There is some debate right now on the exact height of this as CoStar’s news page says that this will only be 425 ft tall. Somehow news outlets got the 510 ft figure and we are working to get the REAL and accurate answer over at Urban Planet - Richmond. The discussion of this is pretty lively over there if you want to check it out. We’re also usually pretty quick to find out about all the new developments on the way and we are tracking everything. It’s a team effort, since not one of us can keep track of it all by ourselves. So if you like Richmond development/economic news, come over and join us!

https://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/forum/202-richmond/

I check you all out from time to time! Awesome group and much livelier than anything on cd about Richmond.

To me, the debate about the height here is reminiscent of the Gateway Plaza. At several points in the build, the developer put out new renderings, announced reductions in height followed by a sizable increase in height, additional renderings and finally announced naming rights going to an entirely different company than the one that initiated the high rise’s development. And there was a mix of renderings and real estate materials floating around that were sometimes off the mark.

Obviously, CoStar is a bit more organized. But, no general contractor has been selected from what I understand, though I believe it will be Hourigan Construction with Timmons Group. Pickard Chilton has not even provided their own press release on being selected as architect, or officially released any renderings of their own. Incidentally, they just received an award from AIA Connecticut on Dominion’s 600 Canal Place next door.

My expectation is that some of the details are still in flux and the original plan may have been for a 425 ft building. However, unlike the Costar news page out of NJ, the company’s official press release does not mention height at all. And as widely reported as this 510 ft number is, it could actually reflect a more timely understanding of where things stand. I’m closer to the folks at Richmond Biz Sense and I know for a fact that they verify by speaking directly with someone in the organization before publishing. But again, this is just a possibility. I’ll be looking out for Pikard Chilton’s press, even though they also shy away from highlighting height.

[eandslee]

Originally Posted by aquest1

I check you all out from time to time! Awesome group and much livelier than anything on cd about Richmond.

To me, the debate about the height here is reminiscent of the Gateway Plaza. At several points in the build, the developer put out new renderings, announced reductions in height followed by a sizable increase in height, additional renderings and finally announced naming rights going to an entirely different company than the one that initiated the high rise’s development. And there was a mix of renderings and real estate materials floating around that were sometimes off the mark.

Obviously, CoStar is a bit more organized. But, no general contractor has been selected from what I understand, though I believe it will be Hourigan Construction with Timmons Group. Pickard Chilton has not even provided their own press release on being selected as architect, or officially released any renderings of their own. Incidentally, they just received an award from AIA Connecticut on Dominion’s 600 Canal Place next door.

My expectation is that some of the details are still in flux and the original plan may have been for a 425 ft building. However, unlike the Costar news page out of NJ, the company’s official press release does not mention height at all. And as widely reported as this 510 ft number is, it could actually reflect a more timely understanding of where things stand. I’m closer to the folks at Richmond Biz Sense and I know for a fact that they verify by speaking directly with someone in the organization before publishing. But again, this is just a possibility. I’ll be looking out for Pikard Chilton’s press, even though they also shy away from highlighting height.

I was able to reach out to Mike Plantania (the author of the article at RBS) and this was his response when I asked about height and the on-going debate about it:

Thanks for reading and reaching out. That's a good catch and something that got us mixed up. We're working to correct the story now.

At Friday's press conference, Andy Florance cited the 510 feet figure and called it the tallest in the state, which turns out isn't the case.

The CoStar tower will be 425 feet tall but will be 510 feet high above sea level. So it won't be the tallest building in the state, and you're right it'll be just shy of being the tallest in Richmond, though it may soon be with the Monroe Building's future in doubt.

The whole tallest vs. highest thing has been confusing in the past. A few years ago two local rooftop bars got in a spat over who held the title for tallest rooftop bar in the city, and we got a local engineering firm to break out some heavy-duty equipment to measure it precisely. It made for a pretty funny story. We'll have to try a similar approach once the CoStar building is built.

Cheers,
Mike

They have since fixed the article, but this was such a disappointment to so many on Urban Planet - Richmond. However, this is a huge investment and commitment to Richmond - it is such good news no matter how tall the tower is! Secretly, I'm hoping they make some changes to the height between now and groundbreaking. I can't imagine that CoStar would want to be out-done by other towers taller than its own, right?!

[aquest1]

Originally Posted by eandslee

I was able to reach out to Mike Plantania (the author of the article at RBS) and this was his response when I asked about height and the on-going debate about it:

Thanks for reading and reaching out. That's a good catch and something that got us mixed up. We're working to correct the story now.

At Friday's press conference, Andy Florance cited the 510 feet figure and called it the tallest in the state, which turns out isn't the case.

The CoStar tower will be 425 feet tall but will be 510 feet high above sea level. So it won't be the tallest building in the state, and you're right it'll be just shy of being the tallest in Richmond, though it may soon be with the Monroe Building's future in doubt.

The whole tallest vs. highest thing has been confusing in the past. A few years ago two local rooftop bars got in a spat over who held the title for tallest rooftop bar in the city, and we got a local engineering firm to break out some heavy-duty equipment to measure it precisely. It made for a pretty funny story. We'll have to try a similar approach once the CoStar building is built.

Cheers,
Mike

They have since fixed the article, but this was such a disappointment to so many on Urban Planet - Richmond. However, this is a huge investment and commitment to Richmond - it is such good news no matter how tall the tower is! Secretly, I'm hoping they make some changes to the height between now and groundbreaking. I can't imagine that CoStar would want to be out-done by other towers taller than its own, right?!

Thank you for the update! They Domion'd us lol. It's as if they know they'd be disappointing folks by just being transparent. But you're right, it's still an incredible investment, nearly have a billion dollars-worth, that will have ripple effects for other development in the area and along the river front downtown. Plus, we still have prime real estate for that truly dynamic tower (and some) we're hoping for. I have high hopes for that plot next to 600 Canal Place

[eandslee]

Originally Posted by aquest1

Thank you for the update! They Domion'd us lol. It's as if they know they'd be disappointing folks by just being transparent. But you're right, it's still an incredible investment, nearly have a billion dollars-worth, that will have ripple effects for other development in the area and along the river front downtown. Plus, we still have prime real estate for that truly dynamic tower (and some) we're hoping for. I have high hopes for that plot next to 600 Canal Place

I do too! I hope a company will come to Richmond and bring its HQ...and I hope Dominion will let go of it. It really is a very prime piece of real estate and THE perfect spot for a 35+ foot tall tower that is iconic! I'm dreaming....[sigh]

Yeah, Dominion tried the same thing. Who uses sea level to measure how tall an office tower is? Stupid.