June 25, 2009
Willow Lawn Area Hotel to be Torn Down to make way for Residential & Retail Project
I’ve been trying to track down what’s happening at the old Inn of Richmond building on West Broad Street for some time. Richmond Biz Sense has the scoop. The building will be torn down to make way for a mixed use residential facility for adults with autism and other developmental delays combined with retail space. The Faison School of Autism is located behind the hotel. The project is unique in its mixed use of space, but also that a portionof the residences will be available to rent on the open market as well. Richmond Biz Sense reports:
The former Executive Motor Hotel, built on the corner of Broad Street and Willow Lawn at what was then the suburban edge of the city, sits empty, surrounded by a chain link fence. All the rooms’ doors are open, and, from the sidewalk, it appears they have been stripped bare in preparation for the wrecking crane.
At their last meeting, the Henrico County Planning Commission recommended approval of a proposal to demolish the hotel to make way for up to 45 residential units and up to 10,000 square feet of office and retail space.
Whenever I drove by that building I loved the look of it and could imagine opening day. Bummed to see it going the way of so many other mid-century buildings but happy to read what will stand in it’s place.
That whole area of Broad St has been booming with new shops, restaurants and housing.
[...] in June, we reported that the Inn of Richmond on West Broad Street would be torn town to make way for a new [...]