The Housing Interpreter: Putting Richmond on the Map

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Housing InterpreteR CURRENT TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE AND THE RICHMOND REGION A PUBLICATION OF THE RICHMOND ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

DECEMBER 2014

PUTTING RICHMOND ON THE MAP:

New Developments to Spur Tourism in 2015 and Beyond IN THIS ISSUE: • REALTOR® FAYE HAGER’S 7-YEAR RICHMOND HOSTEL PROJECT TO OPEN ITS DOORS IN SUMMER 2015 • KATIE AND TED UKROP’S QUIRK HOTEL WILL IMMERSE VISITORS IN RICHMOND CULTURE • THE VALENTINE REVAMPED: NEWLY COMPLETED RENOVATIONS WILL ENHANCE VISITOR EXPERIENCES

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REALTOR® FAYE HAGER’S 7-YEAR HOSTEL PROJECT IN PROGRESS

A sign outside 7 North Second Street, where the first Richmond hostel will be located.

Richmond REALTOR

Faye Hager watched her dream and 7-year campaign spring to life this September, as local construction company J.W. Enochs broke ground on Richmond’s first hostel. “I felt like I got married. I was on a high,” Hager said. ®

The venture began when Faye met with John Wills, of the Potomac Council of Hostelling in Washington, DC. Faye discovered the value of hostels while traveling through Europe, and shared John’s sentiment that Richmond was in need of a hostel.

They recruited a group of volunteers, gathered ideas, and initially rented a building on Broad Street, for which they hoped to secure the funding to purchase and use as the hostel site. “It was included in the Friday night Art Walk for a while,” Hager said. They were unable to secure the funds needed for the project within their timeline, but Faye did not scrap the idea. “I’ve been called relentless,” she noted.

“Hager is excited to share the local ‘flavor’ and love of the city with visitors, through partnerships with local businesses that can enhance vistors’ experiences.”

Eventually, Hostelling International (HI)—a large, world-wide network of hostels—took an interest in the project, and purchased a surplus building under state ownership, previously used as a women’s detention center. The brick building was originally constructed as a regional office for the Otis Elevator Company in the 1920s.

Pictured, left to right: George Stone (J.W. Enochs Contractor), Faye Hager (Realtor® and project founder), and Katie Zacherle (Director of Development, HI) beam with joy, while touring the building’s interior renovation progress

HI agreed to fund $2.3 million of the total amount needed to complete the project, and challenged proponents of the hostel in Richmond to raise the additional $500,000 to fill in the gap by December 1, 2014. Faye, along with Katie Zacherle, HI’s Director of

Development, and their volunteers, rose to the challenge with enthusiasm and tenacity. Some local backers of the project include Jim and Ted Ukrop, the MeadWestvaco Foundation, and Doug Pick, CEO of FeedMore. “It’s an amazing opportunity this city has

Pictured, left to right: George Stone, Katie Zacherle, Faye Hager, and Jim Lee (President of Lee Construction Consultants, LLC) inspect rooms in the hostel currently under renovation.

A view from the rooftop, where Hager hopes to eventually add a ‘green space.’

to be a bridge to the rest of the world,” Pick said.

Hopewell-based contractor J.W. Enochs is conducting renovations on the building, which initially focused on updating the exterior and have progressed to interior work within the last few months. “We wanted to work with someone local, with experience working on historical buildings,” Hager said. J.W. Enochs has notably worked on renovations of the Virginia State Capitol Building and the historic Beacon Theatre in Hopewell.

Hager is excited to share the local ‘flavor’ and love of the city with visitors, through partnerships with local small businesses that can enhance visitors’ experiences. “Virtually everything going into the hostel will be made by local vendors,” she said. “Programs will also be offered—adventure trips, tours, and themed food evenings. We want to partner with local libraries on programming, and we will have bikes and canoes available to rent,” she added.

She literally squealed with delight, when shown the space which will hold these rental items.

The hostel is slated to open in the summer of 2015, with a celebratory “pajama party.” It will have 50 beds in both shared and private rooms, for about $20-$28 a night. The location is near Bike Route 1, which runs across the East Coast—providing an additional draw for visiting cycling enthusiasts during the UCI Road Wold Championships in September.

“We’re going to be a hub for creative, innovative young people,” said Zacherle. “[The project] aligns with the goals of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce and Venture Richmond. People who come visit cities in this way and make connections tend to return.”

For more information, visit hiusa.org.

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KATIE AND TED UKROP’S

QUIRK HOTEL WILL IMMERSE VISITORS IN RICHMOND CULTURE

A

t 201 W. Broad Street, an Italian renaissance revival style mid-rise building—which was built in 1916 for the J.B. Mosby and Co. Dry Goods Store—is in the midst of transformation into a stylish, modern boutique hotel, intended to immerse visitors in the unique culture of Richmond.

Katie and Ted Ukrop, the founders of this development, initially received their inspiration for the project when they stayed at the 21C Museum Hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. That hotel— which contains a contemporary art museum, awardwinning restaurant, and cultural civic center—was constructed inside a series of 19th-century tobacco and bourbon warehouses. It opened in 2006, and has since been ranked among the top ten hotels in the world by Condè Nast Traveler magazine readers in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

The visit sparked an interest between the Ukrops in combining a hotel with an art gallery, and their individual talents and professional experience have made them uniquely and aptly suited to embark on the project together.

Ted Ukrop has been involved in several major development projects, including the transformation of the old Richmond Memorial Hospital into upscale condominiums, “Ginter Place,” and the conversion of the Berry Burke building at 525 E. Grace St. Katie Ukrop is the director of the Quirk art gallery, which opened in 2005 at 311 W. Broad St. and exhibits eclectic pieces by established and emerging, local and international artists.

The Ukrops have owned the 43,855-squarefoot building at 201 W. Broad St. since 1997— contemplating a purpose beyond its most recent use for office space and apartments. Last summer, Ukrop purchased the adjoining property at 207 W. Broad St., to become the new location of Quirk gallery, and the final piece was in place to begin the hotel/art gallery project.

3North Architects—which has worked on the Grove Park Inn and the Homestead Resort—is the architectural firm selected for the project. W.M. Jordan Co. is the general contractor (some local examples of their work include the Maymont Nature Center, VCU School of Engineering, and Westminster Canterbury of Richmond). Pilar Proffitt and Richmond native Robert Bristow, of Poesis Deisgn, are designing the hotel’s aesthetics. They are a husband and wife design team.

Plans for the hotel include a cut-through from the hotel lobby to the adjoining gallery, an openair courtyard, a coffee shop, a restaurant, a bar, a lounge, and meeting rooms. “We’re designing it for the community, and we feel like if we can attract the community then people are going to want to stay here,” said Ted Ukrop.

Colorado-based Destination Hotels and Resorts will operate the hotel. Estimating that the rooms will generally be priced between $150 and $200 per night, Ted Ukrop predicts that the price point should fall close in line to the Linden Row Inn and below The Jefferson.

The timing for a project of this nature seems impeccable, given the establishment of the city’s Arts and Cultural District in 2012, the current development of the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art (just down the street), and Richmond’s selection as host city for the UCI Road World Championships in 2015.

The project completion deadline has been set to just before the cycling event, in September of 2015.

“We both really, really love Broad Street, and I feel like the time is right, and Richmond is ready, to have a unique hotel like this,” said Katie Ukrop. “I’m hoping that this will even push us into a better Broad Street and a better Richmond.”

“It will definitely add more foot traffic to Broad Street, and hopefully everybody in the area will benefit,” Ted Ukrop said.

DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

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The Valentine Revamped Newly completed renovations will enhance visitor experiences, and the future of “Richmond’s attic.”

After a multi-million dollar, year-long series

of renovations, the museum that tells Richmond’s many stories has unveiled its fresh new spaces to the public. Along with the renovated spaces will be brand new exhibits and programming in the coming year.

The main gallery of The Valentine now hosts an ongoing exhibition called “This is Richmond, Virginia.” It is arranged in themes, rather than timelines, to allow for greater flexibility in rotating 1.6 million objects in the collection. The thematic sections of the exhibit will be introduced by the five questions: Why the fall line? Where do we live?

What do we produce? Who has a voice? What do we value? Local decorative arts painter Nancy Beck has hand painted a stunning 1856 Ellison map of Richmond on the refinished hardwood floors in this space.

In The Stettinius Community Galleries, windows that were boarded up in the 1970s were opened up to allow a large amount of natural light into the gallery and offer passersby a glimpse into the interior. Walls were taken down

to open up the space and light fixtures have been updated. “The light fixtures were so old that we had to search for off-market replacement bulbs and order them from Japan,” said Domenick Casuccio, Director of Public Relations & Marketing.

This space will now host a changing exhibit to explore community issues, beginning in January with “Made in Church Hill,” a collaboration between Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond, and Church Hill Activities & Tutoring (CHAT). Everything in the exhibition has been made in Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood.

Each month, from January through June, The Valentine will also host a series of conversations focused on Richmond neighborhoods that have experienced diversification and changes. The Valentine will offer tours of these neighborhoods on the Saturdays following conversations.

A room off the lower level hallway, which previously displayed vintage neon signs, has been converted into a modern and elegant multi-purpose room, complete with NanaWalls (floor-to-ceiling

Pictured below: Part of a 1856 Ellison map of Richmond, painted on the floor by local artist Nancy Beck

A sign introducing a new exhibit at The Valentine

folding glass walls that retract into pockets, to seamlessly open up a space). This room will be used as a meeting and rental space, and will host photographs or portraits. It is to be named the “Markel Room.” Most of the neon signs are now displayed on the Gray Family Terrace.

Another recent renovation, which will dramatically affect The Valentine’s exhibitions, is the creation of dedicated galleries for the Costume and Textile Collection. This is the first time a space has been dedicated at The Valentine specifically to costumes and textiles. The Klaus and Reynolds Textile Galleries will host the largest collection of its kind in the South, comprised of items worn, used, made or sold in Virginia from the 1600s to the present.

A new position for a costume and textile curator was also created this year, and filled in September by Kristen Stewart.

The Valentine’s vision is to play the roles of active convener of civic conversations that will have a forceful impact on Richmond communities, leader among regional and national urban history museums and organizations, and the principal steward of Richmond’s history. These recent developments, completed in October of this year, have brought the museum referred to as “Richmond’s attic” several steps forward into its bright future.

For more information on 2015 exhibits and tours offered by The Valentine, visit thevalentine.org.

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