The American Tobacco Center is one example of an industrial building converted into residential use in the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood; original elements of the industrial architecture are still in tact.

Editor’s Note: The author is a resident of Shockoe Bottom.

The streets of Shockoe Bottom often thrive with diners at restaurants dotting East Main Street and play host to visitors at the 17th Street Farmers’ Market.

Nightclubs in the historic neighborhood are hot spots on Friday and Saturday nights; crowds can be seen lining up outside various bars waiting to escape the cobblestone streets.

For Richmond officials, this River District neighborhood has a lot to offer. Their hope is that it will have a lot more to offer in years to come.

This summer the city will launch an economic revitalization study to determine what types of new business developments the Bottom—as it’s often called—can handle.

In April, the city started courting potential consultants to develop an economic blueprint for the future—a second attempt to find a consultant after an initial try last year. The budgeted cost for the study is $125,000.

Brooke Hardin, the deputy director of Planning and Development Review for the city, said the plan will give city leaders an idea of how the neighborhood should develop. More specifically the plan will identify what residential or commercial opportunities exist and what the city can do to further invest in neighborhood infrastructure. [Click here to listen to Hardin explain who should contribute ideas.]

Hardin explained that housing is plentiful in the area as a result of the adaptive re-use of former tobacco warehouses into apartments.

The two main factors for blossoming residential opportunities came from historic tax credits to developers for re-using warehouses and the construction of a flood wall to help protect the area from river floods.

Jeannie Welliver, the acting director of special projects for the Department of Economic and Community Development, said some business possibilities include mixed-use or transit-oriented development.

The neighborhood is intersected by two major roadways—Main Street and Broad Street—and has immediate access to Interstate 95 and rail services at Main Street Station. In addition, the Virginia Capital Trail for hiking and biking is under construction and will eventually connect the city with Williamsburg, Va.

Because of these transportation corridors, Welliver said the Bottom can support neighborhood or destination retail. An example of destination retail would be the home and office retail outlet Ikea. [Click here to listen to Welliver's audio description of retail in the Bottom.]

Welliver said business  and cultural tourism offerings can add to the Bottom’s potential as a “live-work-play” community; a place in which residents don’t have to leave or travel far in order to get what they need.

City officials plan on inviting residents to offer their input on what’s needed, or wanted, in the Bottom.

Some residents already have an idea of what they’d like to see near their homes.

Shockoe Bottom resident Adam Casper, who has lived in various city neighborhoods, noted that while there are a lot of bars near his home there’s no ABC liquor store nearby. Casper said he could use a good hardware or clothing store too.

Casper thinks the city should consider installing kiosks that serve as information centers on local events at numerous venues. For now, residents and visitors have to depend on flyers or other means of advertising by restaurants and clubs to find out what’s going on.

“This neighborhood has events going on left and right and you’re lucky to get wind of it,” Casper said.

Resident Lena Collins jokingly said the area could use more bars and dance venues, but, like Casper, would be in favor of retail.

“I miss some big stores, like Wal-Mart or something like that,” Collins said. “At least one of them that we could…walk to would be good.”

Welliver said she hopes the city will have a plan in place by the end of this year.