Richmond Times Dispatch: “Bank of America Building Downtown To Get Major Facelift”
The 24-story Bank of America Financial Center in downtown Richmond is about to get a major facelift.
The building’s new owners are planning a multimillion-dollar renovation over the next eight months. The work will include refacing the exterior and upgrading the lobby and exterior courtyard.
The building, at 1111 E. Main St., was purchased in February for $42 million by District Bay Realty Advisors, a Washington, D.C., real estate investment firm, and Joe Ersek, a Washington developer.
The purchase also included two parking garages and a four-story office pavilion along Main Street.
District Bay, the former Verris Capital, also owns Stony Point Shopping Center, off Huguenot Road in South Richmond where Martin’s Food Markets is an anchor tenant, through an independent investment entity.
Michael Wheeler, a managing partner with District Bay, said the beige exterior of the Bank of America building will be recoated in a white masonry material that will give it a crisp, clean look and appear as if it is shimmering.
“This is our second project in Richmond,” Wheeler said. “This is a market we continue to find very attractive and I think our improvements will be very well received,” he said.
“The exterior renovations underway at the building will significantly improve the image,” said Malcolm Randolph, leasing representative for the building and a senior vice president with CBRE | Richmond, a commercial real estate firm in Henrico County. “This is a major step toward bringing (the building) to a modern finish level that businesses expect in a downtown office tower.”
The 513,480-square-foot building, which was built in 1973, is 25 percent vacant.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, the main tenant and one of the largest employers in the Richmond area, occupies four floors and has a retail branch on the first floor. Also on the first level is a FedEx Office Print & Ship Center.
Wheeler said he and his partners are batting around ideas for other retail options, possibly food vendors, for the first floor.
Other major tenants in the building are Commonwealth of Virginia and the Sands Anderson PC, McCandlish Holton and DurretteCrump law firms.
Randolph and Scott Durham, also with CBRE | Richmond, are handling the market and leasing for the building. chazard@timesdispatch.com (804) 775-8023
Source: http://www.richmond.com/business/local/article_6094343a-70a3-54f5-bf9c-e39ec91f65d9.html