A rendering of the planned townhomes. (Courtesy Macfarlane Partners/3North)
The redevelopment of a Near West End church property is set to go forward.
On Monday, Richmond City Council approved Macfarlane Partners’ special-use permit request to develop nearly three dozen townhomes at the former Seventh Street Christian Church site at 4101 Grove Ave.
Seventh Street was founded in the 1830s as Sycamore Christian Church and was based on Seventh Street downtown before moving to the Grove Avenue site in 1950. About two and a half years ago the church began to explore a sale of the Grove property, which had become too large for Seventh Street’s congregation’s needs.
It ultimately chose a proposal from Macfarlane Partners, a local development firm led by Charles Macfarlane, who initially planned to keep the church’s sanctuary and build a mix of 72 townhomes and condominiums around it.
After gathering feedback from the neighborhood, Macfarlane decided to tweak the plans to raze the sanctuary while also reducing the project’s density by more than half; he scrapped the plans for the condos and is now planning to build only 33 townhomes on the site.
The proposal finally landed on city council’s consent agenda at its Nov. 9 meeting, where every member except for Councilwoman Reva Trammell voted to approve the development. Macfarlane said he’s thrilled to have received the city’s approval.
“It’s been a long process. It was a lot more nuanced and detail-focused than I would’ve anticipated,” Macfarlane said. “We’re pleased with the approval, now we need to deliver on what the plan is.”
A redesign of the townhomes included increasing the units’ setbacks from Malvern Avenue.
The townhomes will be arranged in about six different rows on the 2-acre property, and each unit will reach three stories, span about 2,700 square feet, and include a two-car garage. The project will also include a pocket park at the corner of Grove and Malvern and a commemoration marker for the former church building, which dates back about 75 years.
Macfarlane said all of the units will be for-sale and are expected to be priced between $1.25 million and $1.45 million. Macfarlane said they’ve already received interest from around 10 individual buyers.
“It’ll be a specific group that we’re targeting. A lot of them are going to be empty nesters, people wanting to downsize or (to be in) a walkable neighborhood,” he said.
Macfarlane said he’s now working on both finalizing financing for the development and selecting a homebuilder to be a joint venture partner on it. 3North is the project architect. Macfarlane’s under contract to purchase the property and is scheduled to close early next year.
Seventh Street Christian Church, meanwhile, is now based out of 2106 N. Hamilton St. in Henrico’s Westwood area.
Just a few weeks before approving Macfarlane’s request, council shot down a 21-unit townhome project that was proposed near Byrd Park.
Another townhome proposal just to the west of the Seventh Street site will have to wait to learn its fate, as council delayed a vote on Center Creek Homes’ SUP request for an eight-unit townhome project that would replace an 18-unit apartment building near Libbie and Grove. Center Creek’s request is now set to be heard by council at its Dec. 14 meeting.
Monday was a busy day in council chambers at City Hall. Prior to council’s formal meeting, Richmond CAO Odie Donald gave a presentation to the body outlining potential budget shortfalls that the city’s facing in the wake of a potential increased sales tax and reduced meals and property taxes.
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