My job as a project manager with the Better Housing Coalition (BHC) has me working every day with the bones of an 80 year old brick factory called the Beckstoffers Mill. Beckstoffers is located on N 28th Street in the Church Hill neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia. This 2.5 acre site, the former home of a custom architectural millwork and lumber mill, is currently in the process of being revitalized.
Plans call for the conversion of this former light industrial site to become a mixed-income, mixed-use housing development that will have 72 homes, some apartments, some houses, some town homes. But that's not the purpose for this blog. I am very fortunate to be able to manage the redevelopment of this complex development. But that's my day job and I tell that part of the Beckstoffers story often. Plus, others have managed the renovation of mills into housing or commercial uses so that's not so unique.
However, planning for the Mill's revitalization has provided a unique opportunity for me to understand the history, meet some of the family and learn some great stories of the Mill's impact on the greater Richmond area. It's a story of family commerce, quality craftsmanship, economic development and some really cool woodworking machines. I hope through this blog to tell the story of the Beckstoffer's Mill, some of the players involved, and the many homes and businesses throughout Richmond that the Mill touched in its long history.
Plans call for the conversion of this former light industrial site to become a mixed-income, mixed-use housing development that will have 72 homes, some apartments, some houses, some town homes. But that's not the purpose for this blog. I am very fortunate to be able to manage the redevelopment of this complex development. But that's my day job and I tell that part of the Beckstoffers story often. Plus, others have managed the renovation of mills into housing or commercial uses so that's not so unique.
However, planning for the Mill's revitalization has provided a unique opportunity for me to understand the history, meet some of the family and learn some great stories of the Mill's impact on the greater Richmond area. It's a story of family commerce, quality craftsmanship, economic development and some really cool woodworking machines. I hope through this blog to tell the story of the Beckstoffer's Mill, some of the players involved, and the many homes and businesses throughout Richmond that the Mill touched in its long history.
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