A developer has begun demolishing the former Feed More warehouse on Rhoadmiller Street in Richmond to make way for a new residential development.
The New Jersey-based K. Hovnanian Homes plans to build a 180-unit condominium development near The Park and Interstate 95 called The Lofts at Durham Park.
On Monday, the 115-year-old warehouse had been leveled to piles of rubble.
The Central Virginia Foodbank purchased the 5-acre property at 1415 Rhoadmiller St. in 1999. Then the foodbank merged with Meals on Wheels to become Feed More. The property included a 64,000-square-foot, brick warehouse built in 1910 and a smaller building erected in 2007, according to city records.
Last year, Feed More moved to a new, $48 million location at 8020 Villa Park Drive. The nonprofit sold the warehouse to K. Hovnanian for $13 million.
The city issued a demolition permit in late August, and the developer has hired a local firm, Baker Development Resources, to provide permitting consulting and S.B. Cox as the demolition contractor, according to city records.
K. Hovnanian plans to build 2-over-2 condominiums, which are four-story residences that resemble townhouses. One resident owns the bottom two floors, and the other owns the top two floors. Hovnanian said it plans to build 180 units, plus driveways. Residents will have their own address, either for Rhoadmiller Street or the newly created Durham Park Mews.
The neighborhood, a former warehouse district that the city officially calls “The Diamond,” is undergoing a transformation. About 40 acres, from Rhoadmiller Street to Robin Hood Road, is set to become Virginia Commonwealth University’s athletics village. And VCU Health has purchased the former Pet Dairy facility to build a new development for the Pauley Heart Center.
It’s all across Hermitage Road from the Diamond District, the city’s massive mixed-use project surrounding CarMax Park.