VCU to replace former on-campus Chili’s restaurant space with $9M catering facility

VCU is planning to replace existing restaurant space at Cary & Belvidere Residential College with a $8.5 million catering facility. (Jack Jacobs photo)

The ground level of a VCU dorm that’s been home to several eateries over the years is being teed up for a new purpose.

VCU is planning to renovate nearly 18,000 square feet of space in the Cary & Belvidere Residential College to make way for a new headquarters for the university’s catering operations.

The $8.5 million project, which would feature a catering kitchen and event space, would operate out of the street-level portion of the building at 355 W. Cary St. that has been utilized as space for restaurants, including the long-running Chili’s location that closed last year.

The project would give VCU Catering a larger facility in which to operate. The catering arm is currently based in the Shafer Court Dining Center at 810 Cathedral Place, and the relocation is intended to make it more efficient and better able to support events on campus. The relocation would also create space at Shafter Court to expand dining options for students there, according to a university memo regarding the project.

VCU has determined that the foot traffic in the area around the Cary and Belvidere dorm isn’t sufficient to support restaurants, and the planned catering facility is considered a better use of the space.

The renovations are expected to begin in the fall, according to VCU spokesman Mike Porter. The project is subject to approval by the university’s board of visitors, which is scheduled to vote on whether to add the project to VCU’s six-year capital projects plan this week.

The project’s consideration by the board comes about a year after Chili’s closed at the dorm, capping off a 16-year stint in the building. Chili’s opened in the building in 2008, about a month after the five-story, 400-plus-beds dorm opened to residents.

Portions of the 17,700 square foot area of the building slated for the catering facility were also formerly occupied by Starbucks and Cary Street Market & Deli, which closed in 2020 and was replaced by Avo Kitchen, a health-focused eatery that still operates in the building.

Avo is scheduled to close as part of the pending renovation project, Porter said. The same menu and allergy-friendly options served at Avo is also available at Market 810 in the Shafer Court Dining Center.

In other recent VCU news, the university’s real estate foundation earlier this year purchased the Rite Aid drug store that’s up the road at the corner of Belvidere and Broad streets. The university said last month there are no specific plans for that property and that Rite Aid will continue to lease its building and parking lot.

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