Developers Spy Rock, Middleburg to build hundreds of apartments around Diamond District

Land in the broader Diamond District area continues to draw developer interest, as two firms – one local, one regional – are planning nearly 600 units in the area.

Richmond-based Spy Rock Real Estate Group in recent days filed plans for a 5-story, 249-unit apartment building at 1600 Rhoadmiller St.

Just days before, Northern Virginia-based Middleburg Communities submitted plans for a 288-apartment and 60-unit townhome development across the street from Spy Rock’s parcel at 2600-2700 Durham St.

Spy Rock’s apartment building would include a rooftop deck.

Combined, the two projects would add nearly 600 market-rate residences to a part of town awash in construction.

The former Feed More headquarters was razed in the late summer to make way for a 200-unit townhome project from New Jersey homebuilder K. Hovnanian, and work is underway on the first phases of both VCU Athletics’ 42-acre Athletic Village and the Diamond District’s mixed-use section.

Spy Rock’s new project would rise on a 2-acre plot and include a 356-spot parking deck.

Of the building’s units, 178 are planned to be one bedrooms, 67 would be two bedrooms and four would have three bedrooms. Amenities would include a pool, gym, courtyard and rooftop deck and club room, which Spy Rock principal Andrew Basham said would look out over VCU Athletics’ nearby fields.

“We thought it was a great opportunity to take our club room, which we typically have put on the ground floor, and move it to the roof so that we have this indoor-outdoor space that allows visibility into track meets, soccer games and field hockey games and whatever might be going on at VCU,” Basham said.

Meanwhile Middleburg, which recently wrapped its first three developments in the Richmond area, is planning to split its project into two sections on the 3.7-acre plot: a 5-story apartment building with 288 units, and 60 4-story townhomes spread across five buildings. The apartments would be supported by a 410-space parking deck, and each townhome would have its own garage.

Ross Magette, Middleburg’s development partner for Richmond, said the company hasn’t decided whether the townhomes would be rentals or for-sale units.

Both the Spy Rock and Middleburg projects are scheduled to begin construction in mid-2026. Both proposals conform with existing zoning and are by-right developments.

Each of the 60 townhomes in Middleburg’s development would include a private car garage.

Each project shares an architect and engineer in Poole & Poole Architecture and Timmons Group, respectively. Basham said Spy Rock selected KBS to be the general contractor on its project, and interior design will be handled by Two Street Studio and Bracey Designs. Magette said Middleburg’s in-house general contractor will handle its project.

A handful of industrial buildings are currently on each site, most of which are used by document storage company EnTrust Records Management.

Basham and Magette said their firms have their respective project sites under contract for purchase. Both 1600 Rhoadmiller St. and 2600-2700 Durham St. are currently owned by Tahoe Partners LLC, which city records show bought them for a combined $4.2 million in the early to mid-2000s. The city most recently assessed the three parcels at a combined $11.7 million.

Over the past decade, Spy Rock has completed a half-dozen multifamily developments in and around Scott’s Addition, including the Symbol Mattress redevelopment on Rockbridge Street and the Brewers Row project near Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Basham said that all of the firm’s past projects in the area have been successful, and that Spy Rock was keen to continue building its presence in the area.

“I think that submarket continues to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, submarket in Richmond, as evidenced by all the outside investment that we’re seeing,” Basham said. “A lot of the larger parcels (in greater Scott’s Addition) are either part of the Diamond District or VCU acquired them. So when you look at opportunities that are 2 acres or more, there’s still a number of them out there, but they’re dwindling.”

Magette said Middleburg, which is also planning a mid-rise apartment complex in Henrico’s Westwood area, is bullish on the Richmond region, and the Rhoadmiller Street area in particular.

“Rhoadmiller is going to be, I think, an extremely active street. It’s right off Hermitage, it’s down into the Diamond District and it’s not taken up by VCU’s Athletic Village, so it has the ability to have some different ownership and some different uses,” Magette said.