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After two-year derailment, Jackson Place apparently back on track

Jeremy M. Lazarus | 9/15/2022, 6 p.m.
The city’s housing authority is poised to revive a potential $35 million development project for Jackson Place at 2nd and ...

The city’s housing authority is poised to revive a potential $35 million development project for Jackson Place at 2nd and Duval streets in Jackson Ward.

Nearly two years after killing a Black-led development that was to include a hotel and 63 apartments, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is poised to approve a proposal from the same lead developer, Michael A. “Mike” Hopkins, who also is a member of a team competing for the Diamond District project.

Mr. Hopkins did not respond to a request for comment on the information that RRHA could clear the way for the project next week, according to sources at the authority, who declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak with a reporter.

What the Free Press has been told is that Mr. Hopkins has submitted an unsolicited proposal that RRHA’s board is expected to advance.

It is not clear whether the new Jackson Place proposal would still include a hotel. Nor has the number of apartments or homes that might be included been released.

However, the Free Press has been told that the key issue is the price of 3.4 acres of long vacant land that adjoins Club 533, a Black social club, and borders 3rd Street and Interstates 64 and 95.

In 2020, RRHA wanted $4.1 million for the property, or about $1.2 million an acre, which Mr. Hopkins declined to pay. He said the price was about double what land was selling for in the area and would interfere with his ability to develop successfully.

The RRHA sources said the authority is prepared to reduce the price substantially to get another piece of Jackson Place moving more than 30 years after the property was purchased.