RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond’s City Council has approved a plan to have RVA Diamond Partners serve as the developer for the massive Diamond District project.
The council signed off on a resolution Monday to pick RVA Diamond Partners for the project, an effort that calls for the redevelopment of a 67-acre site between Hermitage Road and Arthur Ashe Boulevard and the replacement of The Diamond baseball stadium.
The resolution also expresses the council’s support for the business terms and conditions proposed for the development of the district.
The first phase of the $2.4 billion Diamond District project will include a new baseball stadium to replace The Diamond, more than 1,200 housing units, a hotel and retail stores.
RVA Diamond Partners will redevelop nearly 22 acres of land for the new 10,000-capacity stadium and surrounding projects, according to the city’s term sheet with the developer.
Richmond’s new baseball stadium is slated to be ready by the opening day of the 2025 minor league season, a sticking point for the city as Major League Baseball set a deadline for all venues to meet new minimum facility standards.
RVA Diamond Partners’ proposed project will start the design phase of the new baseball stadium “as soon as possible with a commitment to purchase the first $20M of bonds to finance the new baseball stadium,” according to the city.
The proposal from RVA Diamond Partners will also create an 11-acre park and provide that 20% of rental units built will be available to households earning between 30%-60% of the area’s median income. At least 100 of these units will be open for project-based vouchers for public housing residents, according to the city.
Twenty percent of the project’s homeownership units will be for households earning between 60%-70% of the area’s median income. The proposal will also provide a $1 million fund to help affordable home buyers with closing costs and other expenses.
RVA Diamond Partners has a development team made up of Republic, Loop Capital, Thalhimer Realty Partners, Pennrose, NixDev, Southside Community Development, Capstone, M Companies and JMI Sports.
According to its proposal, the design team will be led by SOM, Nelson Byrd Woltz, KEi, 510 Architects, Poole & Poole and Hickok Cole. Stadium design will be overseen by the DLR Group.
The vote was unanimous but Council Vice President Ellen F. Robertson was not in attendance.
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