Local developers have finished the remodeling project of a decades-old apartment building in the Sugar Bottom area! Located at 3005 E. Franklin St., John Humphries, Matt Jarreau and Casey White converted eight units into a dozen upscale apartments and added six new single-family homes!
Click here to read a more in-depth article about the decent development by RichmondBizSense! Click here to read an article we released in 2017 regarding development in Sugar Bottom!
34 comments
Granted I have only been in RVA a few years but I have never heard of Sugar Bottom.
My mother grew up on Church Hill and I went to school there at St. Patrick’s for 12 years. She said that when she lived on CH in the 20s, 30s and 40s that everyone knew to stay away from Sugar Bottom. It was where lots of prostitution took place, hence the name. I drive through there when I go up to the hill now and I hadn’t seen where the houses had been torn down. Must have been a fast project. Or, it’s been longer than I feel that I went through there. Anyway, that’s the story I was told about the place and the name. I assume it’s correct but if anyone knows another tale I’d love to hear it. 🙂
Those are the wrong homes you’re showing in this pic. The remodeled apartments is across the street
William Bagby Thought so.
What?! William Bagby thank you for saying. We’re headed over right now to fix this. My fault, sorry folks!
Should be good now!
What’s the hold-out on those old green apartments? They’d be beautiful if tastefully renovated.
I have been here 35 years.. never heard of sugar bottom.
Brooooooooo killin me ???
nawh… been named Sugar bottom since before i was a youth
These are actually pretty nicely done. I remember work being done on these when I was a little kid haha. Also – Sugar Bottom? Any connection to the “sugar pad” at Rockett’s? I.E. – sugar shipments being delivered to Richmond for distribution throughout the state.
The name Sugar Bottom been around for years. They tried to bury the name because of the history.
I love that name, “Sugar Bottom!” 🙂
Althea Hinds-Catlett love the name. H8 the history
Allen Reynolds I don’t know about the history…will look it up. Thanks.
Althea Hinds-Catlett well, it’s better than Bloody Bottom (which it has been called) or Bloody Run (which it was named after an Indian massacre).
Jameson Guinness Ohhhh…Sad. Why was it renamed to “Sugar Bottom?”
Althea Hinds-Catlett born and raised in Richmond and my family has been in the area since 1609 and I can’t answer that!
Jameson Guinness Possibly to seer those that don’t know away from the horror of it being the site of a massacre?
Althea Hinds-Catlett as good an explanation as any.
Mark, want to weigh in about “Sugar Bottom?” I can do the ghosts of the tunnel in my sleep but I don’t remember the story of Sugar Bottom.
Its the old red light district
Sarah Ohhhh. Thanks for the clarification. 🙂
Steve Sehika holy….
They say they’re $1150 now, isn’t that double what they were?
Better than the old name of Bloody Run due to the dueling grounds being in that area. Also might be a site of an Indian battle with John Smith.
That place was a mess for years, glad to see it has been remodeled!
According to this article “Tucked between Libby Hill and Chimborazo Park, Sugar Bottom is known as one of Richmond’s red-light districts during the Civil War era.” Maybe that’s where the “sugar” comes from? https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/01/07/remodeled-apartments-round-out-sugar-bottom/
Way to go Matt Jarreau!!
Glad to see this but out of character for Church Hill
To the writer:
I intend this to be helpful, so please don’t take this the wrong way. The headline for this article doesn’t seem to work, grammatically. I’m not sure if it’s technically correct, but it makes it sound as if the renovation has been going on for decades, when the intent was to say that the building was decades old. I suspect the stumbling block here was that you were looking for a positive way of describing the project, and didn’t want to use words like “crumbling,” “slum,” or “decrepit.” But you probably also felt like you couldn’t describe a (formerly) cinderblock apartment complex that originally looked like it was built in the sixties or seventies “historic.” I’m just speculating, of course, but in any event, “Remodel of Decades Old Apartment Building…” sounds a bit clunky, but the meaning is more immediately clear.
Again, not trying to be mean or discouraging – I think CHPN is a volunteer enterprise, and I sincerely appreciate your efforts! I took the time to write this because I opened the article expecting a story about a renovation gone terribly wrong (there’s a brick rowhouse/doublehouse on a corner of 21st street in Shockhoe bottom that’s been under renovation for, allegedly, 30+ years… can’t think of the cross street, but I digress). Anyway, keep up the good work!!!
Hi Lee, thank you for the comment and title recommendation! I went ahead and changed it; you’re right, it’s much more concise. You’ve basically read my mind, I didn’t want to reflect the building in a negative way, so I tried my best to convey in a more positive light. Please feel free to offer any critique or recommendations in any articles, especially the ones by me! I’m a green journalist, so I am always looking for feed-back.
Again, thank you for commenting and giving your advice. It’s invaluable!
I rode by there yesterday…to see for myself. Thanks for sharing!
Of course :). Thank you for reading and commenting!
There used to be several riverfront warehouses in the Rocketts area of Fulton. Rocketts was the name of the community where Stone Brewing is now, not the the current Rocketts Landing area. One of those warehouses was used mainly for sugar used in the tobacco/cigarette industry. That might have had something to do with the name of Sugar Bottom originally.