RICHMOND, Va. -- Renderings released by Richmond planning officials reveal what the city’s booming neighborhood could look like in the future.
The concepts were displayed Tuesday night during a Richmond 300 meeting about the Greater Scott’s Addition Redevelopment Study at Diversity Richmond on Sherwood Avenue.
The renderings are part of the city’s Master Plan and the vision the City Planning Commission will use for decision making.
Greater Scott’s Addition Draft Framework Plan by WTVR CBS 6 on Scribd
“My first thought was ‘Wow!’” said Trevor Dickerson, president of the Scott’s Addition Boulevard Association. “This is an urban, dense streetscape. What you may see in Washington, D.C., for example.”
The renderings showed The Diamond baseball stadium and the Arthur Ashe Boulevard transformed into high-rises with glass store fronts. A bike path and landscaped sidewalks are sandwiched between restaurants and apartment buildings.
A large vacant lot situated beside The Diamond would be replaced with a vast greenspace and art structures, according to the renderings.
“These renderings are meant to guide that conversation, zoning ordinances and things like that, to encourage that scale of development,” Dickerson explained. “My only hope is that we don’t look to leapfrog the current area that’s being developed - the historic district with the warehouses.”
Some sidewalks in the neighborhood sit unfinished and residents have complained about lack of lighting for years.
“This is probably a long-term, long-scale look in the future,” Dickerson said. “A few decades down the road.”
Officials listed VCU’s Athletic Village plans and market forces as several unknowns that could impact the plan. The Richmond 300 plan projected the site for a possible new baseball stadium at the Virginia ABC headquarters on Hermitage Road.
A draft of the Richmond 300 Plan is scheduled to be released the week of April 13.
Two summit meetings are scheduled on April 22 and 30, while May 10 marks the end of the comment period on the draft plans.
