Downtown Richmond is the central business district of Richmond, Virginia. It is generally defined as being bound by Belvidere Street to the west,

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

to the north and east, and the James River to the south. The Fan district borders it to the west, Highland Park to the north, Church Hill to the east, and Manchester to the south.

Buildings and towers

Richmond is now widely considered Virginia's "tallest" city because of many tall buildings in what is Richmond's central business district, surrounding the

Virginia State Capitol The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...

and many government office buildings (many dating to the New Deal). The

James Monroe Building The James Monroe Building is an office building located in Downtown Richmond, Virginia. It is the tallest building in Richmond at and 29 floors. Only 25 of the floors, however, are actually occupiable as the top and middle two are maintenance ...

and SunTrust Plaza tower over 449 ft, and 400 ft, respectively, making them Richmond's tallest buildings, and the state's second and third tallest in the behind the Westin Virginia Beach Town Center at 508 ft. Other towering

skyscrapers A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

include the

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve located in Richmond, Virginia. It covers the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia ...

, Bank of America Plaza, the James Center, Richmond City Hall, the Riverfront Plaza twin towers, the James Madison Building,

Dominion Energy Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas ...

headquarters building, Main Street Center, the Central National Bank, and VCU Medical Center (which includes several hospitals, most over 200 feet, and the new School of Medicine under construction will be 12 storeys). Other important buildings Downtown include the

Richmond Coliseum Richmond Coliseum is a defunct arena located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, with a capacity of 13,500 that was most often used for various large concerts. The arena opened in 1971 and the region is looking to replace the aging facility with a la ...

and the Greater Richmond Convention Center (which includes a tourist information office).

Shockoe Bottom Shockoe Bottom (also known historically as Shockoe Valley) is an area in Richmond, Virginia, just east of downtown, along the James River. Located between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill, Shockoe Bottom contains much of the land included in Colone ...

and Shockoe Slip also have nightclubs, bars, condo towers and lofts in various architectural styles.

History

From the 1800s, downtown Richmond was a booming city, one of the largest in the nation, and a major player in the slave trade market. The district now known as

was the largest and most famous slave trade market in the entire nation, with people traveling from the South to trade, purchase, or sell slaves. When the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

came, though, Richmond became much of a military town, serving as the capital of the newly formed

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. As the war came to an end, the South, in a last resort, deliberately set fire to Richmond, so that when the Union troops arrived, the entire city was ablaze. The troops tried to extinguish the fire, but 80 percent of the buildings of Downtown Richmond was completely burnt to the ground. In the era of

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

, Richmond devised to rebuild and prosper back to the top as it once was, and quickly rebuilt itself. Now that all of the slaves were free, Richmond saw new economic opportunities in other businesses, such as finance, retail, and banking. In the 1920s, America shifted into an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

period, which included the construction of many fancy buildings in Downtown Richmond, notably the Central Bank Building. Also, department retailers saw investment in the downtown sector, and opened up

flagships A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

. This included

Sears & Roebuck Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as ...

Thalhimers Thalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee. Thalhimer's ...

, and

Miller & Rhoads Miller & Rhoads was a Virginia-based department store chain. Throughout its 105-year lifespan, the store played an active role in the Richmond, Virginia community, along with its friendly cross-street rival Thalhimers. The Richmond flagship locat ...

. But the slow yet massive move out into suburban areas began making its mark on Downtown, as these department stores expanded out to the new suburban shopping centers, and eventually Sears closed the downtown store, and Thalhimers and Miller & Rhoads went defunct in the 90s. Although retail was becoming less and less of a viable economy for downtown, banking and big business began booming, and in the 1960s, Richmond began a massive build-out, which included the construction of over 600 buildings. This would go on into the 80s, until the last few skyscrapers were topped out. In 1978, the

, designed by renowned architect

Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward ...

, debuted. Now, the economy of Richmond is booming, with several Fortune 500 companies headquartered there.

Dominion Resources Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas t ...

MeadWestvaco MeadWestvaco Corporation was an American packaging company based in Richmond, Virginia. It had approximately 23,000 employees. In February 2006, it moved its corporate headquarters to Richmond. In March 2008, the company announced a change to sta ...

, and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

are among those headquartered in the downtown district.

built its new headquarters in 2010. However large areas of the town were allowed to fall into disrepair until the creation of large swathes of HUD priority areas in the worst areas. Developers were quick to take advantage of the generous re-development loans especially since there was a ready-made market in the form of students requiring cheap housing.

Residents, apartments, and lofts

The

and Shockoe Slip districts have successfully begun the process of converting tobacco warehouses and factories into lofts and apartments. Canal Walk is under consideration for development both on the residential and service sector sides, however it is not clear whether there is real consumer appetite for additional restaurants, bars and coffee shops in Richmond. HUD developments in the Manchester district are hoping to start converting former factories into apartment and loft complexes. Residential conversion of the historic John Marshall hotel is also aimed to provide inner-city living space for an optimistic planning target for residency. This is echoed by the planned new construction of Shockoe Valley Heights, a large residential development in Shockoe Bottom. The partial redevelopment of

Tobacco Row Tobacco Row is a collection of tobacco warehouses and cigarette factories in Richmond, Virginia adjacent to the James River and Kanawha Canal near its eastern terminus at the head of navigation of the James River (Virginia), James River. History ...

, a huge row of old tobacco warehouses near fashionable Cary Street is now complete and has attracted favorable attention. The economical loft conversions have proved popular among student tenants. Further housing and redevelopment is a theme favored by Mayor Dwight C. Jones, citing plans for large apartment and condominium towers on the Canal Walk and hoping that it will attract tourists to Richmond. Unfortunately this has not occurred, however the planning is now taking a more modest line aimed at enhancing the challenge of a rather dull and empty space. Plans for the demolition of the old Reynolds Metals plant are still awaiting funding of around $50 million to be followed by reconstruction of the old canal system and development of the infrastructure with HUD grant aid before private interests can be offered a suitable development area.

Revitalization success and future plans

Richmond's downtown is rich in history especially from the Civil War and reconstruction period, the "Gilded Age". A great deal of attention has been devoted to the potential tourism holds for the city, however the mainstay remains the VCU facilities and students together with the banking interests that form the backbone of the city. Industry friendly investment in infrastructure has enhanced Richmond's reputation and attracted business through the establishment of areas such as the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, (located north of the

), which markets itself as a premier office park for research. However although much has been done in Richmond towards establishing a true urban core there are still concerns among both civic and private institutions that the city will risk crime and dilapidation in the Downtown areas unless investment is forthcoming. The City of Richmond Downtown Master Plan concretises the official line which is to build upward and create a Condo tower-based residential area Downtown. This will provide "the perfect place to live, work, and play". This will not solve the fact that there are no major national chain stores located in downtown or its direct vicinity. A rapid transport system to provide faster links between Washington and Richmond is also mooted as important to the create of New Richmond according to Mayor Dwight C. Jones: high-speed rail.

Festivals

Downtown Richmond also is home to some of the nation's biggest festivals, including the National Folk Festival from 2005 to 2007, which spawned the

Richmond Folk Festival (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, which is now one of the biggest festivals in the state, drawing as much as 200,000 people in its weekend long schedule. It takes place each year on

Brown's Island Brown's Island is an artificial continental island on the James River in Richmond, Virginia, formed by the Haxall Canal. Part of the city's James River Park, it is the popular venue of a large number of outdoor concerts and festivals in the spr ...

and the surrounding area. There is also the National Beer Festival, which was scheduled to come to Richmond for 2011, but will return next year on account that it was cancelled under mysterious circumstances. There are much more festivals that bring nearly a million people to Richmond every year. There is also the 2nd Street Festival in Jackson Ward, considered part of Downtown, and an Italian Festival, the Que Pasa? Hispanic Festival, and in the holidays, the James Center Grand Illumination.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120405155719/http://www.allnightrva.com/
Richmond Downtown Aerial Photos
* http://richmondriverdistrict.com/ * http://venturerichmond.com/ * http://virginia.org/Listings/HistoricSites/CanalWalk/ * http://jacksonward.com/ * http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php/forum/202-richmond/ * http://city-data.com/city/Richmond-Virginia.html * http://timesdispatch.com/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20120103103032/http://www.richmondgov.com/ {{Richmond, Virginia neighborhoods Downtown Richmond Richmond, Virginia