S.C. developer The Beach Co. begins work on 227-unit project in Manchester

The 1950s-era Thurston Spring building has been razed. (Mike Platania photos)

More dirt is moving in Manchester as another new development gets underway in the Southside neighborhood. 

The former Thurston Spring Service facility at 314 W. Seventh St. and 311 W. Commerce Road has been demolished ahead of its redevelopment into more than 200 residential units. 

The project is from The Beach Co., the South Carolina-based developer that built the adjacent Eddy on the James building in 2022, its first in Richmond. 

The Beach Co. decided to go for seconds that year when it bought the Thurston site for $7 million and began planning a six-story apartment building for the city block-sized parcel, which Thurston had called home for decades. The suspension-focused auto shop is now located off Willis Road in Chesterfield. 

The proposed development plan has changed since The Beach Co. first proposed it in 2022. The company was initially planning to build 263 apartments, but is now looking to build 206 apartments and 21 townhome-style units, the latter of which would be available for rent, not purchase. 

Tim Cotter, The Beach Co.’s development manager, said the firm decided to change the plan after seeing which types of units were most popular at Eddy on the James. 

“A lot of it was informed by our lease-up next door where larger unit types are doing fairly well. We’re really reacting to what we’re seeing in that market,” Cotter said. 

The townhome-style apartments would reach three stories and have either two or three bedrooms, while the apartment building would still reach six stories. Cotter said the new development would be just over 50 percent one-bedroom units, whereas around 70 percent of the units at Eddy on the James’ are one-bedrooms. 

The building architect is WPA Studios, the local firm formerly known as Walter Parks Architects, and Timmons Group is the engineer. 

Cotter said construction is targeted to begin in early 2026. The company has a few other developments underway in North Carolina and is actively looking for other projects in Richmond, Cotter said. 

“It’s certainly a challenging time but we’re trying to get our projects in the best position to start,” he said. 

The Beach Co. also built Eddy on the James, pictured right.

He said Eddy on the James has stabilized and that it’s still looking for commercial users for the building’s 2,600-square-foot retail space that fronts Seventh and McDonough streets. Thalhimer’s Annie O’Connor and Nicki Jassy have the listing. 

“It’s got a grease trap and vent hood so we’ve held out hope that we would attract some sort of restaurant. We were close with a café, so that’s what we had been patient for – something that’s really like a complementary use,” Cotter said. “I think now we’re broadening the prospect list.”

Elsewhere in Manchester, Avery Hall Investments recently got underway on a pair of 16+ story towers at 301 W. Sixth St. Once complete, that project will bring 550 new units to the area. 

And more than 100 new for-sale townhomes are also in the works in the neighborhood. Manchester Square, a 40-unit townhome development at 600 Decatur St., recently broke ground, and Godsey Properties is set to soon begin work on a 70-townhome development at 301 Maury St. 

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