Two more city properties, including former school once earmarked for Planned Parenthood, could be surplused for affordable housing

Two more city properties could be headed toward conversion into affordable housing. 

Richmond officials are considering surplusing the Richmond Police Department’s former First Precinct headquarters on Q Street in Church Hill and an old school on Chamberlayne Avenue once envisioned as a new Planned Parenthood clinic with the goal of seeing them redeveloped with affordable units. 

“The number one priority is affordability,” Richmond Director of Housing and Community Development Merrick Malone told a City Council committee Tuesday. In particular, he added, the city would like to see development that serves multiple incomes — a goal officials have repeatedly said aims to prevent the concentration of poverty.

Right now, no specific proposals to declare either property surplus are on the table. Instead, officials are planning to issue a request for qualifications this summer to find possible developers who can put forward potential visions for what the properties could be. 

Those moves would continue a push by Mayor Danny Avula’s administration to tap into the pool of unused or underused properties the city owns to encourage their development into affordable housing. 

Richmond officials vow to begin using surplus city properties to spur affordable housing development

Because the city chooses who it sells to, it can help determine what the development will look like.

The RichmonderSarah Vogelsong

In fall 2025, officials announced they would be issuing requests for proposals to redevelop two city-owned parking lots in Shockoe Bottom and Manchester. Malone said Tuesday that no developer submitted a bid for the Hull Street site in Manchester, with the city hearing from some potential partners that it was too small. 

“We have to rethink how we approach that,” he said. 

The properties at 1503 Q St. and 4929 Chamberlayne Ave. would be the latest additions to that list. 

The Q Street property fronts on North 25th Street and stretches over almost an acre of land to North 26th Street. It was most recently assessed at $1.26 million. 

Since 1989, it had been home to RPD’s First Precinct. In April, however, the precinct moved to a newly constructed building outside the Richmond City Justice Center that offered more space and flexibility. 

Richmond police unveil long-awaited First Precinct building in Church Hill

The 20,000 square foot building is neighbors with the Richmond City Justice Center and Oliver Hill Courts Building.

The RichmonderVictoria A. Ifatusin

The Chamberlayne property was once the site of the Brook Hill School, which the city acquired from Henrico through the 1942 annexation. While it has an assessed value today of almost $1.4 million, the City Council in 2024 voted to sell the property to Planned Parenthood, a controversial decision that sparked a lawsuit. 

Although the lawsuit failed, the project never came to fruition, and the city said earlier this year that it intended to add the property to its surplus list. 

Today, the site also sits near the Crossings at Mulberry, a mixed-income community that lies right across the Henrico County line. 

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org