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 At Commonwealth Properties, LLC, we take seriously our responsibilities as stewards of the land that we own and develop. Although, at times, our objectives may appear to conflict with those of some of our neighbors, we have found that an open and honest dialogue often times serves to illuminate development options that are embraced by all of the parties involved. These challenges often times produce developments that blend better with the existing environment and are more rewarding financially. We strive to work closely with affected neighbors and local officials and staff to incorporate concerns and goals on the front end of our planning process. At The Overlook in the historic Oregon Hill neighborhood of
Richmond, Virginia, our future neighbors objected to the development
of a
proposed apartment project on a 4-acre site overlooking the James
River. We took those objections to heart and, after many months
of meetings, negotiations and redesign work, reached a compromise
with the neighborhood for the development of 82 townhome style
condominiums. These homes will be laid-out in the rectilinear pattern
and will be designed in the Italianate architectural style of the
existing neighborhood. Featuring brick sidewalks, street trees, ornamental street lighting, front porches and parking behind the buildings, this project will incorporate planning elements of the “new urbanism” movement to expand upon this unique location and authentic neighborhood adjacent to downtown Richmond.
We were faced with both
environmental and design challenges at Vista Commons in the Congaree
Vista district of downtown Columbia,
South Carolina. This 7-acre site was previously used by the railroad
as a locomotive yard where work was performed on train cars.
As such, it was a mixture of buried train yard structures, fill
dirt
and coal and even had some minor environmental contamination. |
