The most important element of the volleyball courts appears to be in place: sand.

I wonder if people will be extra jazzed about volleyball after watching the game during the Olympics. On the other hand, the Olympics might be tad intense for people who like to play volleyball at the beach.

For anyone who thinks the Olympics is just a little too serious, check out this classic clip:

Click here to go to the Richmond Volleyball Club’s homepage.

Below is a rendering:

Also, start warming up that spike serve. Two sand volleyball courts will soon provide a beachy diversion near the Power Plant.

 

Rocketts Landing resident Brian Wetmiller,  27, and his brother Matthew won first place in their age bracket at last weekend’s Muddy Buddy Race.

The run/bike/obstacle course in Chesterfield’s Pocahontas Park – which includes a trudge through a giant mud pit – has a cult following. Participants come from as far as Washington D.C. and Raleigh to compete. Many of the racers are fast and in great shape. (I know because I was there last year).

The Times-Dispatch’s Bill Lohman described it, “The early-morning event was serious in the sense that entrants run and pedal as fast as they can under less-than-ideal surfaces and conditions. But it had a festival feel, with more than a few participants competing in costumes. There were superheroes with capes, as well as a couple of Smurfs. One participant ran and pedaled in a pale-green bathrobe and a hot-pink shower cap. He appeared to be fast.”

Brian is a Cedar Works resident.

Well, not the delightful 70 degree summer weather, sigh.

I flew to Boston and immediately boarded a bus for New Hampshire. If gas prices keep rising, Virginians will start riding buses between cities, too. But where I really had a glimpse of things to come was on a lake in rural New Hampshire.

A former railroad track along Lake Mascoma has been turned into a bike/walking path. The Virginia Capital Trail will likely run along a current railroad grade along the James River. There’s something innately appealing about walking along water. I didn’t take a dip in Lake Mascoma, but I could have. That’ll be a nice option in Richmond.

I also spent half a day in Cambridge, which is just outside of Boston. The streets are alive with pedestrians and shoppers in a way no Richmond area – save perhaps Carytown – can match. The neighborhoods are dense, with mostly three-decker houses, and that means there are more than enough people to support coffee shops and pubs. And like Richmond, universities are a major employer in that area (Harvard and MIT), so there’s a youthful vibe.

Of course, Boston is not perfect. Many of my friends who are buying homes can’t afford to live within a 45-minute drive of their jobs.

And when they go bowling, they use pint-sized balls. 

The crew race was part of the James River Adventure Games, that crazy weekend of outdoorsy sports two weeks back which included the Xterra Race. (Is it me, or does everyone in Richmond seem to be training for a triathlon?)

Mark Willis, a member of the Virginia Boat Club, said there were 64 boats.

Teams came from Raleigh and Maryland.

If you’ve never learned to row and want to try, the Virginia Boat Club is offering another one of its novice classes. The open house is July 1 at 6:00 p.m. at the old Richmond Raft Company lot. The course meets three times per week for four weeks and costs $240.

Extra thanks to Eric Simon for the great photos. You can see more here.

People really like to talk about, and presumably shop for, home decorations and furnishings.

I know this because heat be damned, hundreds of Richmonders stopped by the Grand Opening at 210 Rock on Saturday afternoon.

They oohed and ahhed.

They asked things like, “Where can I get that clock,” and “What’s the square footage of this closet?”

I kept hearing, “I looove that rug.”   And, “That would look great in our place, wouldn’t it?”

I didn’t know you could have such strong feelings for a rug. Or that one has to match a lamp with an accent wall. (Impressed I know what an accent wall is, ehh?)

The last time I walked through 210 Rock, I was stepping over paint buckets and wires.
This time it felt like I was in one of the New York City apartment buildings you see advertised in the New York Times or Wall Street Journal.

Judging by the names of the apartment layouts –SoHo, Gramercy, TriBeCa – that’s an intentional move by the architects. To be sure, 210 Rock has a different vibe than the other buildings at Rocketts. It bucks the traditional warehouse style in favor of contemporary lines and angles. Many units have a floor-to-ceiling window bay.

As for the particulars on 210 Rock, the units range in price from the mid $200,000s up to the $600,000 range. The penthouse has already been sold (More on the project-wide popularity of penthouses in a later post). 

If you were at the Grand Opening, please share your thoughts of the model units with me by emailing captain@rockettsblog.com.

People seem to wag the finger at companies that looked the other way or winked a little too hard at the line on a loan application that asks for household income.

I called a Rocketts resident / mortgage lender to see what’s really going on locally. Tommy Samuel, who works for Countrywide, said he’s having one of his best months ever.

But financing for condos has gotten harder, he said. “The guidelines are getting more stringent,”

“They’re cracking down on the ratio of owner occupied versus investor occupied.”

Rocketts remains an approved project, in part because of low investor to owner ratio. Samuels has approval from Countrywide to lend money through Fannie Mae for the Sky Line, Fall Line, and Cedar Works buildings. He’s working on it for 210 Rock.

Samuels also said he sees the foot traffic coming through the property on the weekends, which tells him interest is up considerably compared to other projects around town.

“I see 100 people on a Saturday. I think it’s because it’s on the river. It’s just exciting, you know.”

A family of Blue Herons have made like Tom Sawyer in downtown Richmond and built a home on an island just off 12^th street.

They're quasi celebrities, having been featured in a Times-Dispatch article.

It's not the sort of thing you'd expect in larger cities, such as Boston or New York. And apparently it's rare. Herons normally keep away from humans.

Last week I saw something even cooler: a bald Eagle lifting off from next to the Nickel Bridge. He (not sure of gender, but let's call him a him) flew west following the water. I watched, mesmerized. It was all very patriotic.

Side note: Ben Franklin wanted the American bird to be the turkey instead of the eagle. In a 1784 letter to his daughter he wrote:

"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him … For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

I love the way Ben Franklin wrote. He would have been a big hit on the Web.

The Pool opens on Saturday.

Each time I check the pool site, it seems like the Shoemaker’s Elves had been come during the night and added some new feature. The landscaping and sod just went in yesterday.

Poor Eight Belles. Although it’s unclear how many casual Derby fans watching at parties across the Southland noticed the filly’s post-race accident.

Judging by the various shindigs I attended on Saturday, including the Richmond Ballet’s Derby Day soiree at Rocketts Landing, the Kentucky Derby is more about partying than rooting for a speedy equine.

The Ballet fundraiser at Rocketts was probably as close as I’ll ever get to the actual Kentucky Derby. So many floppy hats and bright colored dresses. To my delight, one guy had a belt with horses on it.

The Ballet has been hosting the affair at Rocketts Landing for three years. Last year at was closer to the water in what will become the clubhouse. This year it was under a tent. There was a band and – as you might expect of a fund raiser for a ballet – some dancing.

The party usually raises around $25,000 for the Ballet, which was the first professional dance company in Virginia. Currently it has 18 full-time dancers, according to the website.

And then there’s Gillies Creek Park. Less than a mile from Rocketts Landing, it’s the unsung hero of the park system. You might even say it’s the new kid on the block – and it’s never crowded, unlike, say, Belle Isle.

The 45-acre greenway has an 18-hole disk golf course, lighted horseshoe pits, ball fields and walking trails. The park even has a dirt bmx track.

On Sundays in the spring and fall, throngs of adults (many of whom wish they were still kids) don colorful T-shirts and cleats and gather at Gillies Creek to play touch football. But don’t be fooled. The participants take it very seriously. I’ve spotted players wearing eye-black and seen numerous altercations, including between women.

The River City Sports and Social Club organizes the leagues, and each season more teams join. Gillies Creek is still improving. According to the City’s website, future plans call for a volleyball court and horse stables that would be home to the police mounted patrol.

The pool house was just a concrete remnant when I was last on the property, which was two weeks ago, max.

Now it looks like, well, a pool house.  The pool already looks inviting, too. And now there are steps up from the pool area to the main level.

Neither is Rocketts Landing. A man. Wait, or an Island. Err … what I’m trying to say is that Rocketts Landing is part of the resurgence of a once-thriving part of town. A new shop or boutique, or some new warehouse conversion seems to wrap up every month in the East End.

While Rocketts will have its fair share of retail, residents can also walk to Shockoe Bottom and pop in to a growing number of shops.

Part of the momentum stems from all the new residents at the Tobacco Row apartments who want and need local options. Part of that growth is from intrepid business owners like Erin Ooms and Mike Tyler. Both have opened shops within the last year along a stretch of Main Street that historically had trouble retaining businesses.

Six weeks ago, Ooms opened GlobeHopper Coffeehouse & Lounge Coffee House (2100 E. Main Street). Along with another business partner, Ooms is trying to bring something new to Richmond, and to that part of town. She left a job at an insurance company in the West End to open GlobeHopper. The shop has live jazz and karaoke on the weekends, as well as coffee-shop staples.

“I’ve live downtown and been scouting this area for years,” Ooms said.

Ooms said she looked at property closer to VCU, but that she really wanted the building where her shop now operates. “This is a 24-hour area, with the residents, and businesses and nightlife.”

Coffee shops are notoriously difficult businesses, and the rate of failure is high. But Ooms said she’s been watching the area and counting traffic to make sure her business plan was viable. And with all the growth on the horizon, she thinks the situation will keep improving.

Indeed, next-door to GlobeHopper, a former fire station has a zoning application sign, which means something is in the works. (Anyone who knows please send email to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com).

And a bit father west, Mike Tyler is celebrating the one-year anniversary at YeRen Outdoor Adventure. The shop sells and rents bikes and outdoor gear and apparel. Tyler said he thinks the area is about to take off. That’s why he chose to open there.

Talk about being in the neighborhood before it was hip.

In the mid 1980s, Ken Aspinall bought several acres on Orleans Street (just across the railroad tracks from Rocketts Landing) to build a paper plant for Manchester Industries.

Back then, the City had property they wanted developed. As president of the company, Aspinall thought it would be a good location to serve local customers, as well as an affordable one. And a dryer one. A previous plant closer to the river had been flooded numerous times.

The company owns almost an entire block now, renting out space to several other businesses. Aspinall said he’s happy to have new neighbors and has enjoyed watching the rebirth of the area – including the construction at Rocketts Landing. Industry and residential can coexist nicely, he says.

And talk about practicing what you preach.

Two weeks ago, Aspinall closed on a home in Fall Line. Right now he and his wife are getting ready to put their West-End home on the market while they decorate the new unit.

“We’re happy to see the riverfront being developed,” Aspinall said. “These things can be great growth machines.”

For the New York City native, moving to Rocketts is a return to a more urban lifestyle.

And then there’s the commute: About five minutes by foot.

“The river is definitely our golden goose, says Richard Souter, a Rocketts Landing’s developer. “And to date it has been vastly underutilized.”

Sometimes the same activity can be both a sport and something far less enjoyable.

Running is fun, if the Monument 10K is any judge. Running away from wild animals or robbers, not so fun.

Swimming can be a hoot (especially when you try to talk under water). Other times it’s trying not to drown.

And then there’s crew. It brings to mind slaves in the hold of ship paddling in unison;. “STROKE.STROKE. STROKE.”

The same commands reverberate off the bank of the James, usually being shouted by the smallest person in the boat. To make matters even more painful, rowers get up absurdly early. The VCU Crew Team meets down at Rockets Landing before dawn. They’re off the water by the time most of us are getting ready for work. The reason: the water is less choppy in the morning.

But crew isn’t just for college students in sweaters. “You don’t have to be super competitive, like they are in college. It’s fun just to get out on the water and paddle up and down. It’s low impact and good aerobic exercise,” said Mark Willis, president of the Virginia Boat Club. (Willis and his wife, who also rows, moved to Rocketts Landing in January.)
“I took this up a couple of years ago. I was a runner for 30 years. I got into it for cross training, and I see lots of people learning to row in my same demographic (50s).”

They seem to be part of a trend. Around 20 intermediate rowers came out two weekends ago for the Virginia Boat Club’s open house.

Willis said there will likely be another open house at the end of April. And in June there’s a regatta (fancy word for a race) on the James. Boats compete from around the Mid-Atlantic. I’ve been promised there’s beer and food.

Please send comments or story ideas to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

A prince gets out of a fancy car at an even fancier hotel. The bellhop promptly grabs the luggage from the trunk and carries it into the lobby. When he returns to the car the queen looks at the bellhop and asks, “Can you please bring in my son?”

A little surprised, the bellhop responds, “Of course, but why can’t he walk,” figuring the prince suffers some type of disability.

“Well, why should he?” the queen retorts.

I laugh every time I tell it. Like any good observant joke, the humor lies in exaggerating reality into an absurdity.

If you laughed at that joke, you might enjoy this story on Slate, which talks about Disney World and how most visitors aren’t used to the walkability of it all.  “It turns out that the most far-fetched fantasy in Disney World isn't the magic spells, the haunted buildings, or the talking animals. It's the fact that there aren't any cars.”

The point is: Human beings are meant to move their legs. That’s why we have them.

Not to mention it’s a pleasurable way to get around. When you walk places, you’re more aware of your surroundings. When I stroll around the property at Rocketts Landing, usually with my eyes fixed on the ground in hopes of spotting some Civil War treasure (sadly, to no avail), I always cherish the time away from the cubicle, and away from my well-worn swivel chair.

This week I saw a fisherman just off-shore. Then there are the Herons nesting upriver. You can read more about that here.

But walking isn’t for everybody. That’s why there’s the Segway. According to Style Weekly, a Segway dealer plans to open in Shockoe Slip.

Please email Segway jokes or story ideas to: captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

Julie Young writes, “The only amenity in the place so far is the big one, the James River, but Rocketts Landing, phase one, is home to 110 pioneering residents – empty nesters, young families and single professionals. The first homeowners began moving in last June.”

The story included profiles of four sets of homeowners:

Stephen, Crista, Jonathan and Andrew Laprade
Henrico County police officer, librarian; 7-year-old twin sons
Cedar Works -- 1,500-square-foot first-floor

 “Until the construction calms, the bus stops on busy state Route 5 to let off two passengers from Mehfoud Elementary School -- 7-year-old twins Jonathan and Andrew Laprade.”

Bob and Jill Wright
Retirees; four grown children
Fall Line -- 1,900-square-foot fourth-floor condo 

“Moving out of a 3,800-square-foot West End colonial and into a two-bedroom city condo meant more than just downsizing for Bob and Jill Wright. It was a leap of faith.”

Gabe Corbett
Single real-estate agent
Fall Line -- first-floor, 1,420-square-foot condo

“Corbett, 37, bought a two-story condo in the Fall Line building only a few yards from the James River. "What intrigued me was the thought of living next to the river, being in walking distance of retail, the sheer number of units they've planned to build in the next eight to 10 years, as well as the [biking/walking] trail linking Richmond and Williamsburg," he said.”

Danny and Peggy Broaddus
Retirees; two grown daughters
Cedar Works -- fifth-floor, 1,800-square-foot condo

"One of the biggest draws for us is that it's a real neighborhood. At that time, it was on paper but we knew the way it was planned out, it was going to be a true neighborhood. We wanted something that was diverse, where we could walk down the sidewalk and meet neighbors and be a part of a real community."

Between swirling political currents and colorful master plans, keeping track of East End development can be vexing.

But after chatting with Richard Souter, vice president of the WVS Companies (the developer), it doesn’t seem so complex. Construction continues on schedule at Rocketts Landing and will likely start within the Richmond City limits this year. Most of the recent debates (and headlines) deal with land slightly west of Rocketts.

“We’re really just looking to the City (Staff and Council) to decide what they want,” Souter said. “They need to answer some internal questions, and then we’re only too happy to help them in whatever we can.”

In case you haven’t been following along, some of the locations and issues include:

Lehigh Cement: A cement distribution facility along the river. The land could be used as a park. Currently, a train supplies materials to the silos. “If the train tracks go away, people will have safe unobstructed access to the river from the land side,” Souter said.

The Capital Trail, which I’ve blogged about before, would follow the track en route to downtown Richmond.

Echo Harbor: Adjacent to Lehigh. Developers want to put in high rises here, but the city doesn’t approve, according to local news reports. To make matters more confusing, a new master plan painted the area as green, suggesting the land could be a park. That’s just a suggestion. It’s privately owned, and thus would have to be purchased by the City.

Intermediate Terminal: City-owned land adjacent to where Rocketts is building a marina. This area could be developed into a public marina. Kiran Krishnamurthy reported in a February Times-Dispatch story that the “Wilder administration says a public marina, paired with a private one at Rocketts Lading, could usher in water-based tourism, including tall ship festivals.”

The City Council will discuss a possible public marina again on April 14.

Please send story ideas to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com.

Construction started yesterday on the pool.  The hole was 4 feet deep when I stopped by around 3:30.

The digging part could be done in a week, according to a back-hoe operator. Yes, I interviewed a back-hoe operator.

Quick poll: what’s the best flotation device:

1: kick board
2: old-school orange life jacket
3. floaties
4. rescue buoy
5. other

Please send answers to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

Depending on your geographic location, catering trucks go by a slew of different names. There’s the seemingly ubiquitous taco truck or the less-desirable roach coach.

Most days the local chuck wagon comes by Rocketts Landing around noon.

But for Juan and Veronica Lopez, who serve piping hot Mexican food from the window of the mobile eatery, the day starts earlier in the morning. Typically, the couple fills the truck’s food containers at a local restaurant and preps food for quick delivery, on demand. Then they drive to construction sites in the vicinity of downtown.

Most chuck wagons service particular parts of the Metro Area, sticking to established routes to develop a consistent customer base, Juan said.

“We usually serve around 40 to 50 meals at lunch,” Juan told me when I stopped by for a soft-shell taco (heavy on the onions) earlier in the week.

For the laborers, it’s a chance to get a hot meal, cold soda and a bit of friendly chit-chat (usually in Spanish).

If you don’t have the means to track down Juan and Veronica’s chuck wagon, they also told me that they are preparing to open a restaurant near the corner of Staples Mill and Glenside. Like the catering truck, the restaurant will serve traditional Mexican food.

Please send the name of your favorite Mexican restaurant to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com.

For the residents at Rocketts Landing, Amanda Madden needs no introduction. They’ve already popped into her office to ask for an extra set of keys. Or called when the water gets cut off (par for the course as the buildings go up). Or read a mass email asking residents not to put mops and brooms in the trash chutes. Or where to pay the association fees and when they are due.

I stopped in this week to learn more about how Madden handles all that goes into building a new community.

By keeping a checklist on her at her at all times, I learned. In addition to handling 25 calls and 25 emails a day from new residents, she’s also working on plans for the pool and adding a recycling station. 

“The key is to prioritize my day,” Madden said. “But, honestly, sometimes I get anxious while I am getting ready for work just thinking about all the things I’ve got to do.”

“The key is to carry a notebook and keep a list of the things I’ve missed.”

We’ve got a list, too, for cool story ideas. To add one, please email captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

When construction at Rocketts Landing wraps up in a few more years, residents and visitors will be able to get to and away from the multi-use development by a multitude of conveyances.

I’ve already blogged about the marina, which allows for easy access to the James River waterway. But for those who favor two wheels over a keel, the Virginia Capital Trail offers a health (as well as environmentally) conscious alternative.

The 50-mile path will eventually stretch from Williamsburg to Richmond, connecting the state’s first capital with its current one. The multi-use path, as it’s being called (roller blades, equines and even unicycles are welcome), will meander past old plantations along Route 5, and then hug the James River as it snakes past Rocketts Landing.

The project is being constructed piecemeal, with sections in downtown Richmond near Bottom’s Up Pizza and parts near Chickahominy and in Williamsburg already in place. The final route should be open to the public around 2012.

“This is going to be really cool,” said Beth Weisbrod, executive director of the Capital Trail Foundation. “Richmond is taking a major step in the direction of a bicycle/pedestrian friendly city, which has big benefits for everyone.” The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is handling the paving and bridge-building. The Foundation is raising money for other amenities, such as signs, benches and outreach education. To learn more about volunteering, click here.

In May, 1,000 bikers will pedal the route to raise money for the Foundation. The event, called the Capital to Capital Bike Ride, is sponsored by Rocketts Landing, who will also construct the section of the trail that passes through the property.

For those who prefer a longer ride, say…crossing the entire nation, the Capital Trail will also be part of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. Yes, it’s for real, and yes, it passes through Richmond. I met a California-bound bicycler last year in the Fan.

If similar trails are any indicator, the Virginia Capital Trail will likely be a boon to area hospitality-related businesses and an asset that promotes Richmond as a historic tourism destination.

The Virginia Creeper Trail, a bike trail in Southwest Virginia, draws throngs of bike-enthusiasts. It connects Damascus with Abingdon along what used to be a railroad track. It’s a delightful ride, since the railroad grade is always gentle, which makes for easy pedaling. Inns and bike shops have sprung up in the area, and the Virginia Creeper Trail even graces the ubiquitous state tourism map.

Please email captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com with bike stories, especially ones of your worst fall.

Steve Filmanowicz from the Congress for the New Urbanism, says that it’s a growing trend and “part of rediscovery of cities, a rediscovery of urban fabric.”

In a recent phone interview, he told me, “It’s the most authentic, character-rich fabric out there, these existing city buildings. They were created at time when warehouses were made incredibly solid. Transportation of the day really emphasized good urban buildings.”

I cruised around the internet and found other adaptive reuse projects that share the Rocketts Landing’s virtues (traditional neighborhood design, walkability, proximity to downtown …)

Check it out:    

Pointe East      

A defunct coastal Maine power plant is now upscale housing with a marina. This one isn’t necessarily close to a booming metropolis, but it is creating its own downtown, with big city amenities to match.

A local reporter described it, “The site for development used to be a coal-fired, then oil-fired electric generating plant that closed in the early 1990's. The large brick building that once housed massive Westinghouse turbines will remain, transformed into an office/retail space that includes the marina and boatworks. Where towering oil tanks stood (three of them to be exact) will now be the scene of homes and condominiums, an underground garage, and open land.”

American Locomotive Works:

Along the Woonasquatucket River in Rhode Island, the American Locomotive Works sits

just outside downtown Providence (which reminds me of Richmond in a lot of ways). The 18.5 acre site is poised to be Providence’s newest neighborhood with homes and shops.

The website describes it, “Casual dining, retail shops, loft-style offices, a charming diner, and brand new river front residences combine to create the city's newest destination.”

Shoal Point:

A former oil plant turned mixed-use development in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada).

“The project involves the re-development of a former Chevron bulk oil plant into an energy efficient and environmentally sustainable mixed-use development. The Canadian Government has recognized the project as a model for sustainable building design in Canada. Shoal Point has received numerous local and provincial design awards.”

Mueller

A former airport in Austin is getting turned into a mixed-use development with parks and bikes paths. “In the spirit of traditional Austin neighborhoods, Mueller's neighborhoods will include a wide range of housing types, contributing to a diversity of lifestyles.”

Airports tend to make neat urban planning experiments because they include so much land – all the better for adding those extra amenities like parks and golf courses. 

Finally, if you like checking out cool renderings, click here to see some award-winning urban design projects from around the world.

Please send comments or other examples of adaptive reuse to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com.

But when you’re building a cohesive waterfront that includes a pool house, fitness center, bike path and snack bar, things get a little more complicated.

After dozens of iterations and more than a year of planning, architects at Rocketts Landing have settled on the design for the community pool. Final plans reveal the pool will be 15 feet wide by 40 to 50 feet long with a small waterfall and sitting area. The plan is to have it ready for Richmond’s brutal summer heat. 

Words don’t do the design justice, but it’s a modern shape with some cool edges and angles. Swimmers will be able to see the James River and also gander downtown at the skyline. Well, maybe not from under water. The deck area surrounding the pool will be terraced, and a design firm has already selected the chairs and other decorations that will eventually adorn it. Cue the sunscreen and beach balls.

A snack bar will be next to the pool house. The community center, which will be located a bit farther downriver, is still being finalized. (Look for a future post on that adaptive reuse of a former industrial building.)

Douglas Aquatics will start construction in 30 to 45 days once all the permits are finalized.

Send suggestions, story ideas or flotation devices to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

But when you’re building a cohesive waterfront that includes a pool house, fitness center, bike path and snack bar, things get a little more complicated.

After dozens of iterations and more than a year of planning, architects at Rocketts Landing have settled on the design for the community pool. Final plans reveal the pool will be 500 square feet with a small waterfall and sitting area. The plan is to have it ready for Richmond’s brutal summer heat. 

Words don’t do the design justice, but it’s a modern shape with some cool edges and angles. Swimmers will be able to see the James River and also gander downtown at the skyline. Well, maybe not from under water. The deck area surrounding the pool will be terraced, and a design firm has already selected the chairs and other decorations that will eventually adorn it. Cue the sunscreen and beach balls.

A snack bar will be next to the pool house. The community center, which will be located a bit farther downriver, is still being finalized. (Look for a future post on that adaptive reuse of a former industrial building.)

Douglas Aquatics will start construction in 30 to 45 days once all the permits are finalized.

Send suggestions, story ideas or flotation devices to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

 According to Kiran Krishnamurthy’s story in Wednesday’s Times-Dispatch, some critics told the Planning Commission meeting Tuesday evening that the plan is “too specific in its proposals for privately owned property.”

 Other entities are going on the record in favor of the plan.  Krishnamurthy writes: “Groups such as Historic Richmond Foundation, the James River Association and the Virginia Boat Club, praised the plan last night.  They lauded the vision of a pedestrian-friendly, urban city that promotes and even expands public access to the river.”

 Meanwhile Style Weekly ran a cover story about Rachel Flynn, Richmond’s director of community development.  Flynn came to Richmond after working in a similar role in Lynchburg.

 “Tall and slender with short brown hair and cheeks her 48 years are gently making fuller, the Harvard-trained Flynn envisions a buzzing downtown filled with residents and retail shops with a focus on public amenities and green space, which she believes ultimately add economic value to private enterprise,” writes Amy Biegelsen.

“Transit adds value to communities no matter the economic climate. A few sprawling suburban and exurban communities will experience short-term growth due to a booming population, but it is the neighborhoods and communities with strong connectivity that will thrive in the long-term. Transit has the ability to increase (or at least sustain) value because it provides more people with access to commerce in a given area; it also improves one's quality of life in congested metropolitan areas like Washington D.C.”

 There’s no better form of transit than two feet. (Unless maybe you have a bike or a horse.)  Realtors and landlords say values will never drop substantially in the Fan because homeowners and renters like to walk to restaurants, classes at VCU, the gym…. 

 Public transportation isn’t a huge draw for most Richmonders – at least not just yet.  But reducing the daily commute can lead to substantial savings.

 The average commute nationwide is 16 miles one way. For someone who works 45 weeks a year (conservative estimate) that’s 7,200 miles per year.  If the average car gets around 25 miles per gallon, that’s 288 gallons of gas a year (again, on the low side). At $3 a gallon, that’s almost $1,000 a year. Or $10,000 per decade. And that’s just the fuel savings.   

Shorter commutes mean more free time. Walking to work means better mental and physical health.

Less dependence on foreign oil means … well … whatever it means it’s gotta be a good thing.

 Please send comments, concerns or commuting horror stories to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

 The 60-unit, seven-story building opened just in time for residents to huddle around the Christmas tree. Fifty percent of the units have sold, including all the penthouses. Design Physics was the architect.  Are there any other penthouses in Richmond?    

I have been to the top of the Hotel John Marshall (defunct). It’s magnificent, although a little beaten-up.  Whenever it gets renovated, it'll be the cat's meow. 

Please send comments, picture of your penthouse or story suggestions to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com.

There were several condos lit up with trees and holiday cheer, but it seemed kinda stalker-ish to snap photos of them from down below.   You'll have to make do with this one of the bridge. 

Happy New Year!  Please send comments, story ideas or wrapped presents to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com

When McDonald’s says billions served, we get the point – they’ve fried a lot of hamburgers.  But how many is a billion?  It doesn’t really even sound that much more than a million.

Rocketts Landing is a big project.  The cost has been estimated at $500 million (or half-a-billion, if you prefer).  When it’s completed, it will house more people than some incorporated towns in Virginia.

Here’s a closer look at some of the numbers:    

Current construction crew: 300 contractors.  That equals five-and a-half football teams or seven-and-a-half baseball teams. 

Peak manpower during the last year was closer to 500, or about half the number of workers at CarMax corporate headquarters. (Check Richmond's largest employers here).

Amount of concrete poured: 25,000 cubic yards, or enough to fill eight Olympic swimming pools. 

Stone used: 25,000 tons.  That’s 50,000,000 pounds or roughly 5,000 adult elephants.  Put another way, imagine more than 6,000 full-size pickups.

Pipe and conduit: 35,000 feet, or 6.6 miles – a hair more than a 10k. 

Concrete pavers: 40,000 square feet installed so far, enough to cover almost 9 NCAA/NBA size basketball courts. 

Finished space: 545,000 square feet certified for occupancy, which is a little less than ten football fields (end zones included).

Yeah, it’s a big project.  Look for another statistical update in the next month or two.

Please send questions, comments or better comparisons to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com.

You know you’ve thrown a good party when navigating from the beer and wine table to the appetizers requires a sideways turn and the “excuse-me; pardon-me” shuffle.

Around 200 people packed a heated tent at Rocketts Landing Saturday to view the 15^th Annual Parade of Lights. Some were new residents at Rocketts Landing enjoying their first year on the property. Others were taking a gander for the first time.

Of course, when there’s booze, steak and a live band, people tend to come out of the woodwork. (I suppose that’s why you send out invitations and ask people to RSVP.)                                                                             
As the eight-piece band belted Otis Reading and Frank Sinatra, party-goers shuffled in and out of the tent to gaze at the procession of motor boats cruising in a circle.

The boats then lined up and made their way down river to the Varina-Enon Bridge, 14 miles away.

 The Parade of Lights dates back to 1989, when Harvey Price, a dockmaster at Kingsland Reach Marina in Henrico County, decorated his boat for the holidays and puttered along the river. According to the James River Advisory Council, people at first laughed at Price. Then they joined him. In 1992, JRAC made the winter cruise a yearly event.

 This was the first year Rocketts Landing hosted the party, though turnout and the prime viewing spot suggest it won’t be the last.

 JRAC’s Chairman Ralph Hambrick said it was the most fun he’d ever had watching the Parade of Lights.

 Others enjoyed seeing Rocketts Landing for the first time.

 “The way the city is coming up and the marinas that are coming, this will be the place to be,” said Greg Bilyeu, a Richmond resident. “It’s nice to see Richmond moving towards developing the waterfront because the James has always been such a big part of the city.”

 As new Rocketts Landing residents, Bob and Jill Wright said they already savor the sunsets. The Parade of Lights is an added bonus, the couple said.

 “We came last year (to see the Parade of Lights) and next year at this time we can watch from our balcony.”

 Added Jill, “We share in the vision of wanting to see this place turn into something special."                                                                                                                                                                                              

 Please email questions and comments to captainsblog@rockettsvillage.com.   

USP Rocketts LLC, a developer based in Northern Virginia, plans on building Echo Harbour, a $160 million development that could includes 210 condos, a restaurant, health club and other jazz, not a park, as planners intimated on their green sketch. 

 “It is a pretty upsetting thing when you wake up and the property you’ve paid millions of dollars for is tagged with the label ‘public open space,’ said a James W. Theobald, a representative of Echo Harbour.

 Martz is also reporting that Fred Shaia, who owns Mayo Island, might have different ideas than a fall-line park.

 “Shaia likes much of what he sees … But he thinks the city needs to allow income-producing developments that include housing and businesses along with open space on the river,” writes Martz.

I attended one and there was a definite excitement in the air – certain, “we’re all in this together” sorta vibe.

Not that anything in the report came as news to Richmond residents who interact with their surroundings daily.  Paid for by the City, the report stressed the same principals that Rocketts Landing is implementing, such as mixed use and access for all to the River. 

In Tuesday’s Times-Dispatch, Michael Martz writes, “The plan looks to the past for ways to draw people of all incomes downtown to live, work and play.  Instead of big new buildings, it envisions sidewalk storefronts, more trees, places to bicycle or walk and incentives for people to live nearer their jobs and for artists to settle in downtown neighborhoods.”

 Richmond.com writes that, "There will be flashpoints of controversy and times you will get exhausted from working on certain aspects," said Victor Dover of Dover Kohl & Partners, which researched, designed and created the plan."  

The plan calls for an eventual streetcar or trolley system.  It also recommends improving the James River Park system by adding more green space and turning privately-owned Mayo Island into a park of some sort.   (I recall one of the consultants draw an analogy that the James to Richmond should be like Central Park to New York City).

The private sector has already put millions behind the same ideals.  Just look at Vistas on the James and Tobacco Row. 

Richmond bloggers are debating the plan.  You can read more at rivercityrapids.

At both Rocketts Landing and the Lucky Strike complex in Tobacco Row, power plants are getting face-lifts (and, complete with internal renovations, the architectural equivalent to liposuction, as well).

Architects seem to derive extra satisfaction from altering the function of a building – for them it’s like rescuing puppies – in a process they call “adaptive reuse.”

To my highly uneducated eye, it seems this process usually goes one way – from former industrial use to residential or light commercial use. If someone has an example of a house turned power plant, please share.

But I digress.

I stopped by Rocketts Landing yesterday. Construction crews are pouring new cement floors in the old power plant, which used to provide the juice for Richmond’s street cars.

The project could be completed as early as next summer. The building will house restaurants and some marina-related functions, such as the harbormaster and bath houses. You can read more about the marina below. Look to the Captain’s Blog in the near future to learn what restaurants are coming …

Happy Thanksgiving.

How long they’ve gone neglected is anyone’s guess, but it’s easy to imagine a dock here teeming with workers unloading cargo off of ships from Boston or Marseille.

And such idle thoughts wouldn’t be too far fetched. The north bank river used to house the Port of Rocketts, an active commercial center in the 1700s where goods from the interior of Virginia were loaded on ocean-going ships, and vice versa.

Of course, that was “Back in the Day,” as the kids are fond of saying.

Except for some early morning sculls, the waterfront sits mostly idle. The area near the shore – a steep 30-ft drop that makes descending a risky endeavor (or, to put it another way, the kind of slope that would be fun to slide down) – is overgrown with weeds.

But soon the remnants of this industrial past will be part of the Village at Rocketts Landing. In early summer 2008, crews will start turning this long-abandoned section of waterfront into a 125-slip marina, attracting Richmonders to the area once again (though this time they more likely will be sipping margaritas on the deck of a motor boat than unloading a vessel packed with spices).

The City of Richmond also plans on getting in on the waterfront redevelopment by adding a public marina on the adjacent Intermediate Terminal. The jointly-operated waterfront will share a cohesive design, a harbor master and amenities such as a bath house. The train tracks that run through this stretch of land will also be removed and replaced with the Rocketts Landing section of the 50-mile Virginia Capital Trail.

So how do you build a marina?

With heavy equipment and people who hopefully know how to swim.

According to Jason Vickers-Smith, of The WVS Companies (the company overseeing the development of Rocketts Landing), the process begins when the river bottom is cleared of debris, including boulders and refuse from previous industrial use.

“This one is a lot easier than some because the river is deep near the banks,” Vickers-Smith said.

Vickers-Smith, who built a 158-slip marina in 2001 on the Potomac River for a development calledBelmont Bay, said the banks must then be reinforced to prevent erosion and to create a consistent shore line. Then a dock will be set against the bank, and steps inlaid to allow boaters access to the greenway/bike trail above.

The final step involves installing the floating docks and providing electricity, water, and telephone and cable access.

Construction could start as early as July 2008 and would take about a year to complete.

History of the waterfront:

Richmond never really ceased to serve as a commercial port. Nowadays, four container ships steam into the Port of Richmond on the south bank, where workers unload bottled water, frozen fish and pick up cars (Jeeps and Fords) as well as campers and apples destined for Iceland and Europe.

Rocketts Landing developed early in Virginia’s history.

In Notes on Virginia, Matt Gottlieb writes, “The community developed as a transition point between the plantation society around it and the area’s emergence as a multicultural mercantile center, dependant on the antebellum traffic of seagoing ships and the James River and Kanawha Canal bateaux.”

A brief history lesson:

           - Marquis de Lafayette visited the Port of Rocketts in 1824.

           - During the Civil War, the area was turned into a Confederate Navy shipyard.

           - Abraham Lincoln arrived there to tour the burned Confederate Capital.

           - The residential neighborhoods around the port developed as

 places of commerce with diverse populations that worked around

 ships from all over the world. 

The port also served as a transition point from the Kanawha Canal, where boats ferried people and goods from the state’s interior. Important export crops that passed through this area included coffee, flour and tobacco. Timber from the Great Dismal Swamp also made its way through here on its way to the Cedar Works, where it was then manufactured into products to be put on train cars for the rest of the growing nation.  

Who will use the new marina?

Upon completion in 2009, the marina will house 125 boats. The slips at Rocketts Landing will be made available to residents first, though, if not all of them are rented, the open spots will be made available for rent by the public. The city-owned slips, meanwhile, will immediately be open to the public, allowing boaters to tie up their rigs and enjoy area shops.

Vickers-Smith said he expects all of the slips to be used by Rocketts Landing residents after about five years.

Most of the slips will be used for recreational vessels (as opposed to live-aboards), and all will be able to handle boats 30 feet and longer.

After about five years, Vickers-Smith expects all the slips to be used by Rocketts Landing residents. Rocketts Landing is even in discussions to partner with the boat manufacturer Sea Ray.