Spy Rock pays $6M for site next to Diamond District

Mike Platania

The stage is set for a new multifamily development in the Diamond District area. 

Spy Rock Real Estate Group last week paid $6.4 million for the 2-acre site at 1600 Rhoadmiller St., where it’s planning a 5-story, 247-unit apartment building. 

The sale closed April 13 and went for about $2.3 million above the property’s most recent assessed value of $4.1 million. The per-acre price comes out to just over $3 million. The seller, an LLC tied to Miller Isley, was represented by CBRE’s Eric Williford and Jason Hetherington.

Spy Rock unveiled its plans for the property last fall. The project, which can be built by right, would include a 355-spot parking deck, pool, gym and rooftop deck, among other amenities. 

The 70-year-old, 66,000-square-foot warehouse currently on the site will be razed to make way for the new development. It was previously used by document storage firm Vital Records Control.

Spy Rock principal Andrew Basham said demolition should begin in the next few weeks and that construction will follow immediately after. 

The new apartment building is being designed by Poole & Poole Architecture and interior designers Two Street Studio and Bracey Designs. KBS Inc. is the general contractor and Timmons Group is the engineer. 

Spy Rock’s building would add to a bustling part of the Diamond District area. To the north is the first phase of VCU’s Athletic Village, to the south is a 200-townhome development that’s rising on the former Feed More property, and to the east is where Middleburg Communities is planning a 288 apartment and 60 townhome complex. 

Spy Rock has long been a player in and around Scott’s Addition, having redeveloped a former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Roseneath Road into The Preserve apartments in 2015, and the former Symbol Mattress factory into a mixed-use complex on Rockbridge Street in 2016.

A block south of the Rhoadmiller Street site, Spy Rock, along with StyleCraft Homes, also developed the Brewers Row multifamily development around Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s Ownby Lane taproom and the Mason Yards condominiums in the northeast corner of the neighborhood.

Spy Rock is also staying busy elsewhere in the region. Earlier this month the developer’s proposal for a 7-story mixed-use building in Henrico’s Westwood area was recommended for approval by the county’s Planning Commission. That new building would rise at 1921-1925 Westmoreland St., not far from where Spy Rock developed The Alder on Dabney a few years ago. The firm’s also working on a 200+-unit affordable housing complex in South Richmond.