Demolition underway on crumbling downtown parking deck

The building sits on a roughly half-acre plot at the corner of East Franklin and North Sixth streets. (Mike Platania photos)

One of downtown Richmond’s most blighted structures is coming down. 

Demolition began in recent days on the four-story parking deck and office building at 507 E. Franklin St.

The 70-year-old property has long been vacant and in disrepair. The sidewalks around it have been fenced off for years as the building’s brick façade began falling onto the street. 

Local demolition firm S.B. Cox accelerated the process in early May when it scraped much of the rest of the brick façade, and this week heavy machinery arrived on-site and began pulling down the building’s walls and floors. 

The developers behind the Hotel John Marshall, pictured in the background, have been planning a mixed-use building for the site.

The demolition looks to be the first step toward a redevelopment of the property at the hands of Virginia Atlantic Development, a Virginia Beach-based firm that two years ago filed plans with the city to convert the site into a nine-story mixed-use building. 

It’s unclear where that project stands. Virginia Atlantic President John Camper didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment in recent weeks. 

The Franklin Street property is owned by an entity tied to Greg Granger of Williamsburg-based real estate firm WMBG Rentals. Granger declined to comment when reached this week. 

The planned structure would add over 180 apartments and nearly 10,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space. Virginia Atlantic’s plan of development was approved by the city in 2023.

The new building would add to a flurry of residential development downtown.

Douglas Development is converting a former Dominion Energy office tower into hundreds of apartments and hotel rooms, and a local group is similarly converting the Wytestone Plaza office tower into over 300 units. Those are in addition to the mystery developer that’s plotting a 400-foot high-rise for a vacant downtown plot that could include a variety of uses, including apartments, office, restaurant and hotel space. 

The structure at 507 E. Franklin St. is one of two highly visible structures in the city to land a date with the wrecking ball this year. The former Gusti complex off Broad Street in the Museum District was razed earlier this spring as its owner plans that site’s eventual redevelopment. 

Virginia Atlantic’s other Richmond projects include the redevelopment of the nearby Hotel John Marshall in the early 2010s. 

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