Diamond District Plan Shifts Toward Offices and Hotels: 171 Fewer Apartments in the First Phase, per BizSense

Published October 26, 2026 | Written by the Mission Realty Team.

The Richmond Economic Development Authority board approved a change to the first phase of the Diamond District that trims market-rate apartments from 730 to 559 and adds hotel rooms and office space, according to Richmond BizSense. Reporter Jonathan Spiers covered it in an October 23 article. This post is our own summary, with local context added. More coverage lives in our Richmond area news posts.

The old plan and the new one

BizSense reports the change cuts the first phase from 730 market-rate apartments across three buildings to 559, a drop of 171 or about 23 percent. The 161 lower-income units are unchanged. Hotel rooms rise from 180 to 276, split between a 130-room hotel in an office-and-hotel building and a 146-room Tapestry by Hilton at the northwest corner of CarMax Park. Kalyan Hospitality will develop both hotels, per BizSense.

Commercial space grows by 500 percent from an original 30,000 square feet. The planned trophy office building goes from six to seven stories at 110,000 square feet, and the law firm Hirschler would fill 50,000 square feet across four floors, per BizSense. Jason Guillot, a principal at Thalhimer Realty Partners and general manager of developer Diamond District Partners, said demand for commercial space is stronger than when planning began after Covid, and that commercial and hotel space generates more tax revenue per square foot than housing. EDA director Angie Rodgers said the original agreement allowed such amendments.

The timeline BizSense gave

The Dōma building, six stories with 276 market-rate units at about $80 million, is under construction for completion in 2028, along with a shared parking deck. The office building, the retail building, the workforce housing and the Tapestry hotel are also planned for 2028. The office-and-hotel building and a second apartment building are planned for 2030. Those are developer targets, and dates for large projects often move.

The ballpark itself is now home to a holiday festival, which we cover in our Richmond winter events post, and BizSense covered the organizer’s plans in a July report.

What it means for people looking at nearby homes

Fewer planned apartments is a change in one developer’s plan. It is not a forecast for rents or home prices, and BizSense reports nothing on either. If you are shopping in nearby North Side, Scott’s Addition or The Fan, the useful takeaway is the process: the amendment came through the EDA board under the existing agreement, the project is phased through 2030, and the details can change again. The City of Richmond website is the official source for planning notices. Our City of Richmond hub collects our neighborhood guides.

We covered an earlier chapter in our Flying Squirrels lawsuit post and a restaurant lease in our Makers Union post. If you are buying near a large project, ask what is approved versus proposed, and check the public record before you rely on a developer rendering.

Our buy with us page explains how we work with buyers, and our preferred lenders page lists lenders who can answer financing questions.

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