C.A. Harrison Cos. completed work last summer on the redevelopment of the iconic Model Tobacco building into apartments, a project that revitalized an art-deco landmark that had been dormant for decades while contributing to the wave of new multifamily development on Richmond's Southside. In recognition of this consequential project, Model Tobacco Lofts earned a 2023 CoStar Impact Award for the redevelopment of the year in Richmond, Virginia, as judged by a panel of local industry professionals.
Bethesda, Maryland-based C.A. Harrison paid nearly $8.58 million in 2020 for the Model Tobacco site, which houses seven buildings totaling 524,169 square feet. It is the main six-story building, however, with its nine-foot tall Model Tobacco sign, that the company queued up for redevelopment into a 203-unit apartment complex. Richmond's Model Tobacco factory was originally built between 1938 and 1940 and served as the headquarters for the United States Tobacco Co. before the plant closed its doors in the mid-1980s. Plans to redevelop the site into apartments date back to 2008, when the Richmond City Council first approved a proposal by Genesis Properties founder Ron Hunt to redevelop the tract. However, financing to fund the original idea dried up when the Great Recession hit.
C.A. Harrison, founded by former NFL offensive tackle Chris Harrison, specializes in redeveloping neglected buildings for commercial and residential redevelopment. Though the company primarily works around the Washington, D.C. area, it has developed several projects in the Richmond market over the past decade.
About the project: C.A. Harrison Cos. unveiled the first phase of the $65 million Model Tobacco redevelopment in December 2021 by turning on the iconic Model Tobacco lights, which are visible along the Richmond skyway. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on June 10, 2022 for the Model Tobacco Lofts, with the project incorporating 60 workforce housing units and such amenities as a theater, a pet spa, a rooftop deck and a gym with a rock-climbing wall and a half-court basketball court.
What the judges said: "Model Tobacco brings a lot of new units to a part of town where people need more affordable housing options, and it’s been a blighted property so long," said Jason Guillot, principal with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer.
"Wonderful reuse of an iconic Richmond building, in an area where it can be transformative," said Scott Keeton, managing director of sales and leasing at Commonwealth Commercial.
They made it happen: C.A. Harrison Cos. developed and owns the project.