What’s under construction at VCU

By Brian McNeill

A number of major construction projects - including a new student housing facility, a center for arts and innovation, and an off-campus Athletic Village - are currently underway at Virginia Commonwealth University.

VCU News recently checked in on these and a few other major projects, all of which are designed to enhance support of students, faculty, staff and the Richmond community in alignment with the One VCU Master Plan and VCU's strategic plan Quest 2028: One VCU Together We Transform.

"The buildings and spaces we create shape how people learn, discover, heal and connect," said Meredith Weiss, Ph.D., senior vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer. "VCU's purposeful investments fuel innovation and discovery, attract world-class talent, expand opportunity, prepare tomorrow's leaders and create lasting impact by advancing education, research, healthcare and innovation for the benefit of communities locally, nationally and around the world."

While VCU is improving its real estate footprint, it currently owns less than 1% (0.93%) of land in the city of Richmond. VCU added $7.8 billion in income to the Richmond metro area economy in fiscal year 2023-24, or 6.9% of the regional total gross product, according to VCU's 2026 economic impact report. VCU supported 80,728 jobs, or 1 of every 12 jobs in the metropolitan region. Statewide, VCU's economic impact is $18.5 billion, with 95,707 jobs supported, according to the report.

What's being built?

CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation

Located at the southeast corner of Broad and Belvidere streets, across from the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU, the CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation will bring together VCU's arts and innovation programs under one roof. It will consolidate several programs within VCU's nationally recognized School of the Arts, which tied for No. 1 public fine arts graduate program and No. 2 overall in U.S. News & World Report's ranking in 2026.

The facility will feature flexible classroom spaces, interdisciplinary performance venues and maker spaces for rapidly growing partnerships across arts, business, humanities and sciences, medicine and engineering.

The center will host performances and groundbreaking creative work for VCU's theatre, dance, music, cinema and kinetic imaging programs, as well serve as the new home of VCU's Center for the Creative Economy. These state-of-the-art facilities will include a proscenium theater, concert hall, innovation studio, screening room, soundstage, dance studios and maker spaces.

The center will be a crucible for creativity, experimentation, engagement and lifelong learning - a reflection of VCUarts identity as both a global leader in the arts and a deeply invested partner in Richmond's thriving arts scene and its future.

Beyond the campus, the center is designed to welcome the Richmond community. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a diagonal public passage at the Broad and Belvidere corner ensure that the building's creative activity is visible and inviting at street level, while a landscaped plaza and improved pedestrian infrastructure create a gathering space for students, neighbors and visitors.

Construction on the center is underway and on track to be completed by fall 2027. The center's opening is planned for spring 2028.

West Grace Street Housing Project

The West Grace Street Housing Project, a VCU student residence hall, will add approximately 985 beds, as well as space for dining, retail and more.

Currently under construction in the 700 block of West Grace Street, the 325,000-square-foot West Grace Street Housing Project will provide VCU students with approximately 985 single and double semi-suite beds, helping VCU to meet a growing need for additional student housing.

The crescent-shaped facility will have up to 13 floors on the Laurel Street side and eight floors on the Pine Street side. On the ground floor will be a secure residential lobby with space for housing operations, faculty offices, resident amenities and conferencing, as well as a 5,000-square-foot dining venue and a 3,700-square-foot retail space.

Construction is underway and is anticipated to be complete and ready to accommodate students for fall 2028.

Athletic Village

The off-campus VCU Athletic Village, located at the Diamond District near Hermitage Road and Robin Hood Road, will include new sports fields and facilities, including outdoor track facilities and practice fields, a tennis center, a soccer stadium and an indoor field house.

The project is being built in phases. The first phase was completed in January 2026, consisting of practice fields with a 400-meter outdoor track, two pole vaults, two long/triple jumps, two high jumps, discus/shotput/hammer circles, an infield NCAA natural turf (Cambridge) soccer field and two adjacent NCAA-sized artificial and natural turf (sand-based) practice fields. Those spaces are now in use, and planning is underway for the remaining phases of the project.

901 West Franklin Street

Built in the late 1800s as a private residence, 901 West Franklin Street was the city of Richmond's first public library from 1925 to 1930, and the Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU) purchased it in 1930 to serve as administrative offices. Today it is home to the Office of the Provost.

A renovation project began in October 2025 and is slated to be completed by late 2027. The renovations include tuckpointing (i.e., repairing the mortar joints between the bricks of the entire building), replacing the roof, adding a fall protection system to the roof and updating the ground water drainage system.

What's on the horizon?

East Marshall Street Well Project Memorial Burial Interment

The East Marshall Street Well memorial and interment site is planned to be located at the south end of the plaza between the Kontos Building and the Egyptian Building on the MCV Campus.

In April, the VCU Board of Visitors approved a plan to construct a memorial and to inter the 19th-century human remains that were discovered in an abandoned well on the MCV Campus during construction of the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building in 1994.

The memorial is based on recommendations made by the Family Representative Council, a dedicated body of community members who served as symbolic descendants of the unnamed human beings from the East Marshall Street Well. It is the culmination of the East Marshall Street Well Project at VCU, which was formed in partnership with the community to ensure that the ancestral remains, primarily of African descent, received appropriate study, memorialization and reburial, reflecting the dignity they were denied in life and death.

The memorial and interment site will cover approximately 2,700 square feet at the south end of the plaza between the Kontos Building and the Egyptian Building. The site will feature a "unity chamber" inspired by the Toguna structures of Dogon culture in West Africa. It will serve as a gathering spot and a symbol of unity, intended to create an atmosphere that encourages humility, equality and thoughtful discussion.

The memorial and interment site is currently in the design phase.

School of Dentistry

A rendering of the planned five-story, 312,000-square-foot building that will serve as the new home for the School of Dentistry. (School of Dentistry)

The state budget approved in June included funding for VCU to build a new five-story, 314,000-square-foot School of Dentistry building that will include classrooms, academic offices, cutting-edge academic laboratories and clinics for predoctoral, dental hygiene and specialty dentistry programs, aligning with modern practices in dental education. The facility will be constructed at the site of Larrick Student Center, which will be demolished in spring 2027.

The School of Dentistry currently accommodates more than 100,000 patient visits each year from across the commonwealth, and it is the state's primary dental safety-net clinic, serving as the largest provider of dental care to Virginians insured by Medicaid. As the only dental school in Virginia, the School of Dentistry is also the only facility in the state that offers complete multidisciplinary dental care.

The new building will allow the School of Dentistry to welcome more patients, expand its clinic for adults with special needs, support continued innovation in clinical care, tackle workforce challenges and compete with schools in other states for the highest-caliber students and faculty.

The facility will also feature contemporary support spaces for the school community, green spaces - including a student courtyard, community garden and a cafe on the main floor, open to the entire university community - along with four multipurpose classrooms available for university events and meetings.

The project is currently in the planning phase.

Altria Center for Research and Technology

The Altria Center for Research and Technology, a 450,000-square-foot facility adjacent to VCU's academic medical center campus, features state-of-the-art research and academic space. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

The state budget also included funding for VCU to acquire the nine-story, 450,000-square-foot Altria Center for Research and Technology, located at 601 E. Jackson St.

The facility features state-of-the-art research space, including wet labs, for VCU's health sciences schools, notably including the School of Medicine, as well as academic space for VCU's new School of Public Health and the School of Pharmacy, which consistently ranks among the top 20 pharmacy schools in the United States.

The facility will also provide much-needed research space for the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center - space that is needed for Massey to remain competitive for maintaining its comprehensive designation from the National Cancer Institute. The status unlocks federal funding, information-sharing and resources, and it enables Massey to launch lifesaving clinical trials and attract the best doctors and researchers to Virginia.

James Branch Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives Expansion

The James Branch Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives Expansion will involve renovating the fourth floor and adding 18,800 square feet of space to the existing Special Collections and Archives in Cabell Library.

The renovation will enable the relocation of the existing Health Sciences Library Special Collections and Archive materials from the MCV Campus to Cabell Library. The Health Sciences Library is moving temporarily to Hunton Student Center to accommodate a proposed new VCU Health inpatient tower that is critically needed to significantly increase VCU Health's capacity to serve patients and improve the care environment.

For more on the current and upcoming changes on the MCV Campus, visit here.

The renovation of Cabell's fourth floor is currently in the planning phase. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2027.

VCU Catering and Event Space

Formerly the location of a Chili's restaurant, Starbucks and AVO Kitchen, this space in the Cary & Belvidere Residential College will be converted into a new home for VCU Catering and will feature an approximately 7,550-square-foot catering kitchen and more than 10,000 square feet of event and conference spaces.

VCU Catering has outgrown its existing catering and event space in Shafer Court Dining Center, known as the Compass Room. Moving VCU Catering to a larger, dedicated facility will improve efficiency, enhance service capabilities and allow for better support of campus events. Additionally, the relocation of VCU Catering from Shafer Court Dining Center to this new facility aligns with the VCU Dining Master Plan by freeing up valuable space in Shafer Court Dining Center for expanded student-centered dining options.

The sizable event and conference space will accommodate VCU and non-VCU events and activities. The project is in the design phase.