Four development teams advance in City Center solicitation

March Madness is only getting started, but the City of Richmond already has its final four selected in its search for a City Center development team.

The city announced Monday night it is inviting formal proposals from four of the five respondents to its November solicitation for the redevelopment project that would replace the Richmond Coliseum with a mixed-use development and convention center hotel.

The four teams are:

Capstone Development LLC, a Maryland-based firm that’s the hotel developer for RVA Diamond Partners, the team picked last year to develop the Diamond District.

City Center Gateway Partners, led by locally based Capital Square and Shamin Hotels, D.C.-based Dantes Partners, North Carolina-based Ancora and Virginia Beach-based Gold Key | PHR.

Lincoln Property Company, a Dallas-based firm that has developed commercial and residential properties across the U.S. and in Europe.

Richmond Community Development Partners, the runner-up for the Diamond District that’s led by Houston-based Machete Group.

Eliminated from the list was Sterling Bilder LLC, a local development firm led by Josh Bilder that had previously vied for the city’s Navy Hill project, a larger redevelopment effort that didn’t go forward and involved some of the same properties.

The city’s announcement said the selected teams were chosen “due to their experience developing hotels and large mixed-use urban redevelopment projects.” The request for offers invites the four teams to submit formal proposals by April 20 at 3 p.m.

Teams intending to respond are required to notify the city by 3 p.m. this Friday. Requests for clarification are due March 31, and an addendum with questions and answers will be posted on the project website, where the full RFO also is posted.

A map shows the City Center project area outlined in orange. (City documents)

The teams are vying for development of the 9-acre City Center assemblage that includes the shuttered arena and the site of a long-sought convention center hotel.

The project involves demolishing the Coliseum, adaptive reuse of the neighboring Blues Armory building, infrastructure improvements, and development of a 500-room hotel to support the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Also required is office and retail space, new housing including lower-income units, parking and transit facilities, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and public open space.

Tourism officials have said for years that a convention center hotel is needed because existing downtown hotels do not have the capacity to serve the convention center to its fullest potential. An additional 500-room hotel that would supplement the facility is viewed as the solution to bringing more business to the convention center.

The teams’ proposals are to be evaluated based on criteria spelled out in the RFO and by a panel comprised of the Richmond Economic Development Authority, the GRCC Authority and city representatives. A development team selection could be made in the spring.

This story will be updated.