Historic BullStreet building to become apartments. Here’s when renovations will start
Renovation of the massive Babcock Building in the BullStreet District into 208 apartments is set to begin in the first half of next year, the Richmond, Va.-based developers told city officials on Monday.
Plans are to turn the iconic building with its distinctive red cupola into a whopping 146,000 square feet of living complete with a pool, dog park, grilling garden, lounges and exercise facilities.
The work would be done in three phases, with the first phase opening in the second half of 2021 and the others by the second half of 2022, Katie Coleman of Clachan Properties told the city’s BullStreet Commission on Monday.
A year ago, the future of the Babcock Building was thrown into question when when a fire caused minor structural damage. In addition, the more than century-old building has sustained heavy weather damage since the fire.
The Babcock developers have ample experience converting historic buildings, particularly textile mills, in Virginia and North Carolina. They have been working for years to leverage historic tax credits from the National Park Service for the Babcock Building project, company president Hugh Shytle said.
The building — which is actually 12 buildings melded together — is oddly shaped, making it difficult to convert, Shytle said. Also, the park service won’t allow the large corridors and open spaces to be reconfigured, he said.
City Councilman Howard Duvall, chair of the commission, called the Babcock project a “linchpin” of the BullStreet District.
“It is key to the rest of the project,” he said.
Babcock would be one of the main anchors of the district along with Segra Park minor league baseball stadium and the REI Co-op, which is currently being built.