Virginia Housing to build new $15M parking deck across from Allianz Amphitheater

by Mike Platania

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The new deck would rise on a grassy area (in red) behind the Virginia Housing headquarters, pictured left. The new amphitheater is pictured right. (Courtesy SkyShots Photography)

Virginia Housing is looking to provide some extra parking for its employees – and potentially for concertgoers at downtown’s newest music venue.

The public-private affordable housing finance agency is planning to build a four-story parking deck near its headquarters at 601 S. Belvidere St. 

In addition to supporting the Virginia Housing workforce during work hours, the 281-space deck would also be open for public use during evenings and on weekends, an arrangement Virginia Housing leadership acknowledged could help provide parking for concertgoers at the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront that’s nearing completion across the street

The new deck would rise on a Virginia Housing-owned, 1.3-acre grassy area at 111 Spring St.

About 340 employees work at the Belvidere headquarters, and Steven Mintz, Virginia Housing’s Deputy Chief Counsel, said the organization currently has around 390 parking spaces on-site. 

“(The new deck) is designed to be slightly more than we need today,” Mintz said. “It’s meant to accommodate us for the foreseeable future.”

Public use of the deck is also part of the plan. Janet Wiglesworth, Virginia Housing’s Chief Operations Officer, said the deck is being “intentionally designed to be made available to the public during evenings and weekends,” and that it would be available, but not free, for the public to park there. 

“The money we receive will help us maintain it, and if it’s wildly popular maybe we’ll get some money to help us defray the cost of construction,” added Mintz. “Of course, the mission of Virginia Housing is statewide affordable housing, so to the extent we can recoup some of the investment, that money will just go back into our main mission.”

Virginia Housing estimates the deck would cost around $15 million to build. Hourigan Construction is the general contractor and CPL, the new, post-acquisition name for Commonwealth Architects, is the designer. 

The proposal still needs approval from Virginia Housing’s Board of Commissioners, which is set to vote on it at its April 28-29 meeting. If approved, the new deck could be completed by next summer. 

A few years ago Virginia Housing had been mulling another construction project at its Belvidere headquarters in a 100,000-square-foot expansion, but delayed those plans during the pandemic. Wiglesworth said those plans remain on pause. 

Virginia Housing, formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA), oversees the administration of federal low-income housing tax credits in the state and provides loans and grants to homebuyers, among other services. 

The post Virginia Housing to build new $15M parking deck across from Allianz Amphitheater appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

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