Commonwealth Commercial Partners Inc., is working on a redevelopment of the Hotel John Marshall into high-end apartments and retail space. The initiative could add as many as 232 luxury apartments and 24,000 square feet of retail space to the heart of downtown.

The hotel, once a landmark in the central business district, closed in 1988. It reopened again in 1999 with a portion of its rooms available, but closed five years later. The latest incarnation of the building, if plans work out, will be named “Residences at the John Marshall,” reports John Reid Blackwell with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Construction of the new federal courthouse, the conversion of the old Miller & Rhoades into a Hilton Gardens Hotel and renovation of the old Carpenter theater have inspired Dominion Realty Partners Inc., developer of the Vistas on the James condominium complex, and previous owner John C. Camper, to join forces and take another shot at the project.

"When you look at the millions of dollars that are being spent around [the John Marshall], that's a positive," Steve Gentil, chairman of Grubb & Ellis/Harrison & Bates told Blackwell. "Capital attracts capital."

"It has certainly been a long time coming and there have been a lot of starts and stops on this particular project with past developers," said C. Lee Warfield III, executive vice president of Thalhimer/Cushman & Wakefield in Richmond. "I think that Dominion Realty is a strong group and hopefully they can pull it off, and be the one to achieve success where others have not."

Few details were available, however, about what exactly the new development team has in mind. More.