GRTC selects former Public Safety Building site for new bus transfer station

Regional transit agency GRTC has selected the Public Safety Building property as its preferred site for a planned permanent bus transfer station. (Images courtesy GRTC)

Nearly a year after GRTC opened its current temporary bus transfer hub in downtown Richmond, the transit agency has decided it wants to see the permanent replacement rise just across the street.

The GRTC Board of Directors voted Thursday to select the city’s former Public Safety Building property at 500 N. 10th St. as its preferred site for a permanent bus transfer station.

The transfer hub would act as a nexus point for GRTC bus routes across the region, which would converge there to connect and transfer riders in a central place. It is planned to be built as part of a mixed-use development, which would feature apartments and retail space in addition to the GRTC facility.

The selection of the site comes after a monthslong study by GRTC to find a suitable location for the facility. The agency had narrowed it down to either the site of the now-demolished Public Safety Building, or the adjacent parking lot where GRTC operates its temporary transfer station.

GRTC spokesman Henry Bendon said the former Public Safety Building site was recommended by the study and deemed the best location for multiple reasons. It can be developed without disrupting operations at the temporary facility, and there’s more potential for development at the Public Safety Building site, which is larger than the site being used now.

GRTC hired HR&A Advisors, VHB and Design Collective to conduct the study, and the final report was issued in May.

The transit authority next will seek permission to secure the property from the city, which owns the 3-acre site. Bendon said it hasn’t been determined yet whether GRTC would lease the property or plan to buy it from the city.

Bendon said GRTC’s board voted unanimously to select the Public Safety site, which is bordered by Ninth, 10th and East Leigh streets. The board is made up of representatives from the city’s government as well as representatives from Henrico and Chesterfield governments. Richmond and Chesterfield jointly own GRTC.

In a prepared statement, GRTC board Chairman Tyrone Nelson called the vote to select the site a step forward for public transportation in the region.

“This project will continue the advancement of public transit in the Richmond region, and
we are proud to be working together and with the city to develop better options for our riders
and the region,” said Nelson, who is also a Henrico supervisor.

GRTC is planning to build a bus transfer station as part of a mixed-use development that would rise on the site of the former Public Safety Building in downtown Richmond.

Bendon said that the development plan for the downtown transfer station project hasn’t been finalized, but that generally GRTC has strong interest in retail space and apartments at the project.

GRTC previously shared a tentative development plan of 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and about 500 apartment units for the Public Safety Building site. The project also could potentially feature office uses or a hotel. Conceptual renderings included in the site-selection study show a bus station and retail space on the street level, and apartments and other uses on the upper stories. The transfer station is currently planned to feature 10 bus bays.

The project is expected to be developed through a public-private partnership. Bendon said there isn’t yet a cost estimate for the project. GRTC expects construction would not start before 2025.

“We anticipate this being a large project and it will take time to do it right,” Bendon said.

In the meantime, GRTC will continue to use the adjacent temporary transfer station. The city also owns that lot. GRTC has a five-year lease that ends in 2027. The temporary transfer station has 12 bus bays and opened in September of last year.

GRTC’s decision brings clarity to the future of the now-razed Public Safety Building site in the wake of VCU Health’s failed attempt to redevelop the property. That failed deal forced VCU Health to pay for the demolition of the Public Safety Building. Virginia Commonwealth University later considered the site for a dentistry school, but now plans for that project to be built on the MCV campus.

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