Lynchburg Business

Following the Master Plan: What’s Next for Jefferson Street

Issue: June 2010 by Johanna Calfee in Architecture, Engineering & Construction

Rain gardens, high-end condos and a multipurpose stage probably aren’t among the first things most people envision when they think of downtown Lynchburg. But city officials and investors alike are hoping that the changes being made to Jefferson Street and the riverfront area, both now and in the near future, will also help to change that perception and ultimately create a thriving business sector.

Though the “Riverfront Master Plan” has been in the works since 2000, with the opening of the new 13-acre Riverfront Park on May 21, which coincided with the first Friday Cheers of the season, the plan is coming to life more than ever, despite the many revisions its undergone during the past decade.

“Everyone is excited to see the difference in terms of all the elements of Cheers being condensed into the park,” Chris McCune, Events Manager at Lynch’s Landing, said. “We have so much more space now. Before, the most we could have at the Community Market was 4,700 people and that got a little cramped, whereas 4,700 at Riverfront Park is much more spread out.”

The central focus of the new park is its elevated multipurpose stage, complete with electric and water. Charles Grant, Construction Manager for the City of Lynchburg, believes that, in addition to events like Friday Cheers, it will also be used for festivals, shows and concerts.

“That stage plaza is multipurpose. It can be for a wedding, or serve as a nice place for a mother and child to have a small picnic lunch, so it’s not just for Friday Cheers,” Grant said. “Not only can the city use it, but when outside venues come in, they can put on a much larger event that entertains 3,500 to 4,000 people.”

Surrounded by rich vegetation, the stage acts as a distraction to the most cutting edge portion of the park—which, in fact, has everything to do with the flowers and plants that surround it. Grant says that these strategically placed “rain gardens” go far beyond adding greenery to Riverfront Park.

“What we’ve really done with the rain gardens is create a storm water management system that will create a flow from Washington to 5^th Street and from Commerce Street to the river,” he said. “The storm water will be collected in a reservoir, which allows it to soak into the ground. It could collect quite a bit of rain before it overflows.”

If the water collected does overflow though, there are two back-up systems in place. First, that water saturates the lower level of the park’s grounds in an attempt to allow the earth to reabsorb it. If that doesn’t work, the water is then filtered into underground pipes before being carried back into the river.

“The idea is that it manages that storm flow. All those pavers along the road [on Jefferson Street]…the water is channeled into those pavers,” Grant explained. “We’ve spent $200 million plus since 1998 and it’s one of the most innovative storm water management systems in the country.”

While that might seem like a high price to pay for less flooding, Grant also contends that what this system provides is more opportunity and peace of mind for commercial and residential developers interested in Jefferson Street and the lower half of downtown.

“Any private sector developer that comes down there will see that and instead of having to build open reservoirs or ‘pools’ like you see around many residential properties, they have this system already in place,” he said.

The improvements made to Jefferson Street have already enticed several local and outside developers to draw up plans to build new residential buildings or restore old ones into commercial, residential or mixed-use spaces. One such developer is Invest Lynchburg LLC, the investors behind James River Place, a development of 14 upscale, riverfront condos with a starting price of $289,000 to be built across from Riverfront Park.

Terri Proffitt, Sales Agent for Consensus Real Estate, which has partnered with Invest Lynchburg to promote James River Place, says that even in this recovering economy, the continued demand for housing downtown creates confidence that the time is right to develop there.

“This project presents a new lifestyle opportunity for Lynchburg that hasn’t existed here before—riverfront living with upscale housing,” Proffitt said. “Our opportunity is to use all the advantages of modern, high-quality construction and place it into the riverfront historic setting to give people the best of both worlds.”

Currently, James River Place is in the pre-selling phase, which is expected to last through the summer. Proffitt estimates that Phase I of the project’s construction will take about 15 months to complete, once it breaks ground. According to James River Place’s website, amenities like private balconies, on-site covered and reserved parking for condo owners and a rooftop terrace for entertaining offer potential buyers an exclusive opportunity.

“We envision a beautiful and unique environment along the riverfront that includes recreation, entertainment, restaurants, shops and great places to live…Our project is one more piece fitting into place for the City’s Riverfront Masterplan,” Proffitt said.

While James River Place is currently the only new development of its kind, Grant says that many restoration projects are in the planning or first stages on and around Jefferson Street. Examples include the nearly 44,000 square foot former Piedmont Flour Mill at 1329 Jefferson, which was purchased last September by Lynchburg Mill LLC. The four Richmond men behind the LLC plan to turn the building into apartments, though Grant says they are currently working on securing investors for that project.

Right next door, the 110-year-old building at 50 Washington Street, was purchased by Tony West, who also helped develop the hip new restaurant, Robin Alexander, just two blocks up the street. According to a sign on the building, West is already preleasing commercial and residential spaces, though remodeling has yet to begin.

As for commercial development, Grant says that an architectural firm is looking to move its headquarters to the riverfront area, though he wouldn’t elaborate beyond that. He did stress, however, that the city’s involvement in helping these types of projects along is all a game of timing.

“Jefferson Street South is our focus now, and that will help revitalize the private business sector, which is very important to the overall growth of that area,” he said. “We do put priorities on what should come next based on business owners down there. We have a very good relationship with them, so we try to coordinate with them to meet their project needs. Ultimately, it’s about economic development.”

The addition of 60 new parking spaces around Riverfront Park will also help foster business and foot traffic on Jefferson Street, according to Grant, and the nine projects his team currently has in the works are all aimed at giving more people easier access to the riverfront area.

“The project that we are getting ready to bid will be an elevated sidewalk that stretches from 10 ½ Street down to Waterstone Pizza,” Grant said. “That sidewalk will be about 400 feet long, so it’s a short walkway, then it ramps down and there you will find additional parking areas. For future condos and residential spaces that are built, this elevated sidewalk will give people who live there easy access to everything.”

Grant says that construction on the elevated sidewalk will take about a year, and is slated to start in late June or July of this year. Construction is also set to begin soon on a handicap accessible ramp in the same area.

“We are also planning to build an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) ramp that goes up the hill of 11^th Street. That lets someone who is ADA come down the ramp. It will be the first link from uptown to let an ADA person come down to the Bluffwalk,” he explained.

Working with a reduced 2010 budget of $500,000 for improvements (down from $1.5 million over the past two years), Grant says they are squeezing as much life out of that money as possible. As for the money the city has already spent downtown, he believes that the return on investment has been well worth it.

“For Lynchburg, we’ve seen $10 to $15 million come back for every $1 million we’ve invested,” Grant said. “In 2004, when we finished 9^th Street, the property values were unbelievable. And not all of it was from what we did, but it did encourage people to bring residential spaces and restaurants downtown. Some of the best restaurants in the city now sit near the riverfront.”

As for the future of downtown, Grant, Proffitt and McCune all believe that following the Masterplan is critical to bringing the riverfront back to its old glory while “creating an environment where private investors can feel confident about putting money toward new projects,” according to Proffitt.

“In my opinion, it gives that place of community where people can feel like, I can take a picnic and blanket down to the park, I can ride my bike or go walking, it’s good for photographs, and it is just a place for community—it’s a community space,” McCune said.

For Grant, the bigger picture lies in the examples of other, larger cities like Charleston, South Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee, that have already built what Lynchburg’s downtown is in the midst of creating in the Bluffwalk.

“What we find in every case is that the city must invest in a part of the city that used to be industrial,” he said. “When you do that, property values soar, and then the city comes to life.”

Renderings courtesy of CJMW Architecture ©