Owner plans redevelopment for Virginia Avenue buildings

The owner of three vacant buildings along Virginia Avenue between Pennsylvania and Delaware streets hopes to develop one of them with five apartments and first-floor retail, recruit retail and office users for a second, and tear down a third to make way for parking. The small buildings at 40, 42 and 44 Virginia Ave. are owned by a family trust controlled by Don and Dave Lucas and have been in the family since the 1980s, Dave Lucas said. The last tenant, Fortune Bail Bonds at 44 Virginia Ave., departed in January. The structures were built in 1930, 1967 and 1920, in order of address, according to property records. The redevelopment plans call for upscale apartments (including new balconies) and first-floor retail in the four-story 42 Virginia Ave. building, first-floor retail and a second-floor office suite in the two-story 44 Virginia Ave. building, and demolition of the 1.5-story building at 40 Virginia Ave. to make way for parking and a 1,500-square-foot entrance structure for the neighboring 9,500-square-foot building. The demolition of the building and a curb cut to allow for parking will be a tough (if not impossible) sell for city planners, who are reviwing the proposal. The buildings have no dedicated parking. Lucas said he's working with the city and hopes to find a solution to allow redevelopment.