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Mayo Island development proposed: Condos, shops, offices, hotel
By Michael Martz - RTD
 February 14, 2008 - A Northern Virginia developer is proposing to build a $250 million community on Richmond's Mayo Island, despite the city's long-standing desire to make the island a public park.
Republic Mayo Island LLC, part of the same Fairfax City-based company that developed Potomac Mills shopping center in Prince William County, wants to build condominiums, offices, shops and a hotel on the 13-acre island at the fall line of the James River.
The company reached a contract several months ago to purchase almost the entire island for an undisclosed price from Dr. Fred T. Shaia and a family-controlled pension plan. Family representative Alan Shaia declined to comment this week.
The developer asked city officials this week to reconsider a proposal in the draft Downtown Master Plan to designate the flood-prone island as "green" and appropriate it only for public open space. Instead, the developer wants to make public access to Mayo Island part of the proposed development, which would straddle the Mayo Bridge between Shockoe Bottom and Manchester.
"A mixed-use development incorporating public access will increase access to Mayo Island, creating premiere public space, and restore the vibrancy of the Mayo Bridge . . . accommodating pedestrians, automobiles and streetcar traffic between Manchester and downtown," Andrew M. Condlin, a local lawyer for the developer, wrote in a letter Tuesday to Richmond Community Development Director Rachel O. Flynn.
But Republic Mayo Island would have to build a separate bridge, at an estimated cost of $5 million, to ensure emergency access for any island residents in case of a flood because the property lies below flood level in the river's path.
Richmond owns the property the developer would need to build the bridge from the river's north bank, and the city has tried to scuttle attempts by another riverfront developer to buy land for emergency access to the proposed Echo Harbour condominium project downriver from Mayo Island.
The property is zone for industry, so the developer would need the city's approval to build residences there.
City officials have sent mixed signals about possible development of the island, which has been designated as parkland in a series of master plans.
The Department of Economic Development has shown mixed-use development of Mayo Island as one of its projects. "Plans can be changed -- that's what I'm saying," said Carthan Currin III, the city's economic developer director.
Flynn, who has overseen the highly public process of developing a new master plan, is a vigorous advocate for public parkland along the James in the downtown area, including Mayo Island.
"What I'd like to see, in an ideal world, is a park," she said recently.
However, Flynn said the city would consider a proposal that includes public amenities, such as a promenade around the island, in addition to development. "We have to be open to ideas that people bring forward," she said.
On the other hand, she said development of the property faces other challenges, such as lack of sewer and water service and a federal requirement for a study to determine to what degree construction would increase flooding along the river by disrupting the water's flow.
The developer is working now on environmental and geotechnical studies to support the project, which would build on top of parking structures, said Zachary W. Means, an associate broker at The Wilton Companies who represents the Shaia family.
"We're trying to find solutions for everything," Means said.
Development would not be entirely new to Mayo Island, former home of the Richmond Colts, a minor-league baseball team that played at Tate Field on the island until 1941. The property includes a warehouse and other buildings, which were used as trucking transfer stations. Currently, the Shaias lease a portion of their property to the Federal Reserve Bank for parking.
A recycling center also operates in a 75-year-old building owned by Louis and Virlinda Heindl of Mechanicsville.
"I'd like to see them develop the island," said Louis Heindl, who confirmed that he is negotiating with the developer for the possible sale of his property at 510 S. 14th St.
Money is an obstacle to the proposed purchase of the land for a public park, Mayor L. Douglas Wilder said in a recent interview. "We're in a recession," he said. "We have to be very careful about what we promise to spend."
Condlin, in his letter to Flynn, called the park proposal an appropriate goal but questioned whether the city can afford to buy and maintain the property.
"If the city is not in a position to purchase Mayo Island for its fair market value, then it should not exclude all other potential but appropriate uses on this important property," he said.
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