JV Lands $68M for Richmond Office-to-Resi Conversion
This is the latest building in the city’s central business district to undergo adaptive reuse.
RPC Capital and Kalyan Hospitality have secured a $68 million note for Altitude on Main, a 302-unit office-to-residential conversion project in downtown Richmond, Va. Octagon Finance issued the unitranche loan, which also includes historic tax credits.
The duo purchased the asset for $26.1 million from Vakos Cos. in March, according to Richmond BizSense. The office building has been vacant for roughly a year after its anchor tenant—the Virginia Department of Social Services—relocated.
The 17-story, 253,547-square-foot office building debuted in 1964 at 801 E. Main St. Upon the conversion’s completion, Altitude on Main will feature 8,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space, a gym, a clubroom, a rooftop deck, as well as 366 parking spaces, among other amenities. Â
The downtown area is a hotspot for some of the biggest conversion projects in Richmond. Just across the street, Douglas Development plans to transform a former Dominion Energy property into a community including 290 multifamily units and 200 hotel keys, Richmond BizSense reported.
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CommercialEdge’s Conversion Feasibility Index is a new tool that weighs the potential adaptive reuse of office properties, accounting for various criteria such as the building’s location, age, depth and floorplate shape, among other characteristics. Altitude on Main’s CFI score clocks in at 85, making it a strong candidate for a residential revamp.
Richmond-Tidewater’s adaptive reuse pipeline
As of April, the Richmond-Tidewater metro had roughly 11.6 million square feet of office product with a CFI score of 75 and up, according to CommercialEdge data. The volume drops down significantly to just 1.3 million square feet, should only properties with a score of 90 and higher be considered.
The market had roughly 200 units underway in three residential adaptive reuse projects containing 50 or more apartments as of April, according to Yardi Matrix information. These included hospitality-to-multifamily transformations as well. Nine other such developments—encompassing more than 1,500 units—were in the planning and permitting stages.
