Project Snapshot: Soda Flats apartment building reaches the finish line in Scott’s Addition

The new building abuts the Hofheimer building on West Broad Street. (Mike Platania photos)

A long-planned Scott’s Addition development has reached the finish line. 

The Soda Flats Apartments building from developer Bank Street Advisors was recently completed at 2820 W. Broad St.

The new structure stands next to the Hofheimer building near the intersection of Broad and Arthur Ashe Boulevard. It counts 89 apartments plus Broad Street-facing commercial space. 

The development process for the building traces back to the spring of 2020 when Bank Street filed plans for the 0.4-acre site that at the time housed a car repair shop. 

Bank Street, which has done plenty of work in the Arts District/Monroe Ward area with the One Canal apartments and the Quirk Hotel, kicked off construction of Soda Flats in 2022 by razing the auto shop and digging down for the building’s 58-space, subsurface parking deck. 

The majority of its 89 apartments are one-bedroom units.

The building was designed by SMBW and built by CK Bosworth Construction. Bank Street principal Christian Kiniry said they wanted the building to have a “classic” look to it. 

“It’s, to me, an architecturally timeless design. The idea was, we’d rather do something timeless than something that’s new and flashy,” Kiniry said. “We spent a lot of time on the windows and the skin of the building. We tried to make it more of a classic style.”

Named for a soda bottling facility that was once in the area, Soda Flats reaches seven stories with units offering views of the Fan, Diamond District, Science Museum and Scott’s Addition. 

“Honestly, there’s not a bad view from one apartment in the building,” Kiniry said. “I think that’s one of the small design things that help a building be successful.”

A handful of the units have already been leased, Kiniry said. One-bedroom units, which make up the majority of the units at the Soda Flats, average around 660 square feet and range in rent from $1,600 to $1,755. Amenities include a pool, gym, clubhouse and dog-washing room. 

On the ground floor is 5,500 square feet of commercial space for which Taylor Long Properties’ Robert Marshall has the listing. Kiniry said the commercial space could be divided into two suites, and that they’re open to all sorts of tenants. 

“We’ve spoken to restaurants, personal trainers, physical therapy groups and office-type users,” he said. “I would love to do a market concept there, we just have to find the right operator.”

Soda Flats’ pool and patio area is in the rear of the building.

With this project completed, Kiniry said Bank Street is now monitoring the financial market and interest rate environment as they plot their next development. 

He said they’re working through the plan of development process with the city for 219-225 W. Broad St., where they’ve been planning an 8-story mixed-use building. 

“We would love to do 219-225 West Broad. We have to make sure we get the right banking tools,” Kiniry said. “Like a lot of other developers, we’re just trying to make the numbers work. Construction costs are still high and interest rates are still high.”

Bank Street is also on a team with Machete Group, the Houston firm that’s helping design the new Flying Squirrels ballpark, that’s vying for Richmond’s City Center development RFP process. Bank Street and Machete’s proposal for the area that now houses the Richmond Coliseum includes a 40-story hotel, among other buildings. 

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