Gym membership led developers to their next infill project in Chimborazo – RichmondBizSense


July 18, 2022 1
Matt Jarreau, left, and Casey White in front of the apartments they upgraded with John Humphries at Sugar Bottom. (BizSense file photo)
Having already teamed up on an apartments rehab beside Libby Hill, a pair of developers active in the Church Hill area are joining forces again, this time in the Chimborazo neighborhood.
Matt Jarreau and Casey White have filed development plans for a mixed-use infill project at 3302-3308 E. Marshall St., an incomplete commercial strip at the northeast corner of Marshall and 33rd Street.
The plans, which were filed in April and are currently under review, call for 11 apartments and two “tourist home” units that would wrap around a pair of existing storefronts at 3304 and 3306 E. Marshall St. The new construction would fill the other two lots, which are vacant, and add a building and on-site parking at the rear of the properties.
The two existing storefronts would be renovated as part of the project, and a third commercial space would be added to the 3308 lot. A neighboring church building at the corner of Marshall and 33rd is not involved in the project.
A westward view of the mixed-use development as it would appear along Marshall Street. (Renderings and site plan courtesy of Architecture Design Office)
The 3304 storefront currently houses Jade Multicultural Salon, while 3306 housed CrossFit Prelude, a gym that Jarreau frequented before it closed. He said the closure and his familiarity with the property is what led him to identify the site as a development opportunity.
“It’s a longer story but I worked out at CrossFit Prelude for five-ish years and knew the building well and was familiar with the surrounding property,” Jarreau said. “Once the gym shut down, I approached the owner and we crafted a deal.”
Jarreau and White’s C and M Properties LLC purchased the four parcels in March 2021 for $350,000. The parcels total a quarter-acre and were assessed by the city that year at $232,000 combined. They’re currently assessed at $298,000.
Jarreau and White’s previous collaborations include their $1.3 million rehab, with developer John Humphries, of a decades-old apartment building in the Sugar Bottom area. The pair have also teamed up on various single-family homes and have other Church Hill-area projects in the pipeline.
The infill development would wrap around the two existing storefronts at 3302 and 3304 E. Marshall St. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
Jarreau, an agent with Hometown Realty team George RVA, developed the Kahlos Taqueria & Bar-anchored mixed-use building at 23rd and Jessamine streets. He also co-developed with Daniil Kleyman the mixed-use building that’s finishing up at Jefferson Avenue and M Street. White co-owns Keel Custom Homes and previously partnered with Humphries as Kiwi Development.
The two-story Marshall Street development is planned to consist of six one-bedroom apartments, two studios, three two-bedroom apartments, and the two tourist home units, which would be located at the front of the 3302 lot.
A 2,300-square-foot commercial space would be added to the front of the 3308 lot, and the detached building behind them would enclose a central courtyard that would connect to the 10 on-site parking spaces, which would be accessed off a rear alley.
The apartments would range in size from about 460 to 680 square feet for the one-bedroom units, 870 to 950 for the two-bedrooms, and 430 to 550 for the tourist homes and two studios above them. Jarreau said rents would range from $1,300 a month for the one-bedrooms to $1,600 for the two-bedrooms. He said the tourist homes could rent for up to $150 a night.
A site plan shows the apartment building footprints and new commercial space that would enclose a central courtyard.
Similar to short-term home rentals, tourist homes are defined in the city code as buildings with no more than 10 guestrooms that are rented out on a daily basis. Where the city is looking to permit STRs for non-commercial properties for a limited number of days, tourist homes are allowed in the city’s Urban Business District, which includes the Marshall Street parcels.
Jarreau estimated the cost of the Marshall Street project at about $3 million. It’s being designed by Todd Dykshorn with Architecture Design Office, who also worked on the Sugar Bottom apartments. Kine Vue Consulting is the engineer on the project, and Baker Development Resources filed the plans with the city.
As with his other infill projects, Jarreau said the Marshall Street development would add needed density on a property established for commercial use. With the UB zoning, Jarreau said the project can be built by-right and does not require rezoning or special-use approvals.
“This is an important location in Church Hill, as it’s literally a block from Chimborazo Park, and in a clearly commercial strip that’s four-fifths vacant,” Jarreau said in an email. “To me, it was a natural infill project. It’s strips of land/properties like this that sit void for so long that really bring down the surrounding area.”
A rendering of the central courtyard.
Noting the Grisette-anchored development and Alewife restaurant space that have energized the corridor a block west, Jarreau said he expects this project will have a similar effect.
“We were a part of the acquisition/sales of the Grisette building as well as the Alewife and surrounding development. I remember thinking four years ago that 32nd and Marshall Street was underserved and how important that was to fill in the blank,” Jarreau said.
“Now those are thriving locations and very much self-sufficient and destinations, and here we go one-and-a-half blocks away: more vacancy,” he said. “This part of Church Hill has been underserved by commercial for decades and will be a natural location for businesses.”
Jarreau said he hopes to secure a building permit in three to four months. He did not provide a timeframe for the project, which he said would require Jade Multicultural Salon to relocate.
The project would add to other development planned to increase density along that stretch of Marshall Street. Earlier this year, the city OK’d a planned mixed-use conversion of a century-old duplex at Marshall and 31st Street.

Jonathan joined BizSense in early 2015 after a decade of reporting in Wilmington, N.C., and at the Henrico County Leader. The Virginia Tech grad covers government, real estate, advertising/marketing and other news. Reach him at [email protected] or (804) 308-2447.
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Good looking project!
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