Ronald McDonald House plans $32M facility for Richmond

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond plans to build a 50-bedroom facility at 505 W. Leigh St. near the Belvidere Street Interchange with Interstate 64.

The nonprofit organization that provides extended-stay accommodation and hospitality services for families of children hospitalized at local medical centers recently purchased a part of the property. They also filed a conditional use permit application.

According to RMHC’s spokeswoman, the 52,000-square foot facility will open in 2027. It cost $32.6M to build and outfit. DPR will be the general contractor for this project. SMBW is SMBW’s architect.

According to records at the city courthouse, RMHC purchased the 1.6-acre site last month for $4 million from the VCU Real Estate Foundation. The 1.6-acre site is part of a larger parcel, 2.6 acres, that the university’s Real Estate arm has owned since 2015

The site of the project is zoned Multi-Family Residential R-73, and it is permitted to use this facility with a conditional-use-permit. The nonprofit submitted a permit application in late December, and the City Council would have to approve it.

VCU Real Estate Foundation purchased the property in late 2015 for $4 million. The property, now grassy, was once home to the physicians’ offices of the Belvidere Medical Center. This facility was demolished before VCU acquired the site.

This week, a university spokesperson said that there were no active plans for the remaining land owned by VCU Foundation.

The upcoming Leigh Street Project is a follow-up to the RMHC plans to build a 60-room facility with 65,000 square feet in downtown Richmond. This was part of VCU Health’s abandoned plans to redevelop , the former Public Safety Building.

When the project failed, RMHC began searching for a new site for a large accommodation facility. This was to meet the demand of families who wanted to temporarily stay near their hospitalized child.

Local operations of RMHC include a presence in the region’s hospital, with facilities such as a 4-bedroom center located at Children’s Hospital of Richmond (VCU) and a 2-bedroom unit at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital. Emily Toalson is the local chapter’s chief executive officer. She said that the new facility will significantly boost the organization’s abilities.

The project to build a 50-room House represents the next crucial phase in our commitment of providing care and comfort to families with children who are hospitalized. Toalson stated in an email that the new house will allow us to serve more than three-times the number of families currently served.

According to the nonprofit spokeswoman, the organization will close the nine-bed lodge at 2330 Monument Ave. when the new facility is open in Jackson Ward.

McDonald’s does not own RMHC even though it is its largest corporate partner.