A rendering of VPM’s planned headquarters that would feature TV and audio studios in addition to event space. (BizSense file images)
VPM has taken another step forward with its plans to relocate to downtown Richmond.
The public media nonprofit recently bought for $4.2 million a 0.7-acre parcel at 13-17 E. Broad St., where the organization intends to build its future headquarters.
The deal follows VPM’s June announcement, in which it unveiled plans to build a five-story, 53,700-square-foot building envisioned to serve as the home of VPM’s news operations as well as a venue for civic programs and events.
The facility is slated to rise on what’s now a parking lot next to the Waller & Co. jewelry store, and the parcel fronts both Broad Street and Grace Street. The seller was an LLC tied to Fred Shaia. The property’s assessed value is $2.2 million, according to online city records.
The property’s acquisition by an LLC tied to VPM was recorded with the city Monday.
The headquarters building is planned to feature studios for TV, audio and digital operations in addition to a ground-floor studio for the community and a space to hold live-broadcast events.
In addition to that building fronting Broad Street, VPM also plans to build a 1,500-square-foot, one-story building to front Grace Street. A parking structure is also expected to be built as part of the project.
Clark Construction has been tapped to be the project’s general contractor. SMBW is the project architect.
VPM in mid-2023 anticipated it would break ground on the project this coming spring, with a planned move-in date of 2026. The organization is currently based at 23 Sesame St. in Chesterfield, where it has been headquartered for six decades.
VPM spokeswoman Benae Mosby on Tuesday didn’t provide details regarding the project’s cost, nor the future of the Chesterfield facility or planned use of the small building slated to rise on Grace Street, which were all said to be things under consideration at the time of the project’s announcement in June.
A rendering of VPM’s planned 1,500-square-foot, one-story building that would front Grace Street as part of a larger project to build a new headquarters facility in downtown Richmond.
VPM President Jayme Swain previously said in June that VPM was considering selling or leasing parts of the Chesterfield property to other users. She said at the time that VPM planned to maintain a presence at the Chesterfield site because it would continue to need to use the two, 1,000-foot-tall broadcast towers there after the Richmond headquarters is operational.
Swain has previously said the plan to relocate the organization’s headquarters was prompted by the determination that the current Chesterfield headquarters doesn’t have the capacity for the modern-day technology needed by the public media organization.
VPM has multiple TV and radio stations that broadcast in Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, including VPM News, the Richmond NPR station. The public media organization also owns Style Weekly, which was relaunched late last year after VPM acquired the publication in 2021.
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