$16M renovations will add trails, river access, green space

The city of Richmond can now convert all of Mayo Island into a park.

Earlier this month, the Capital Regional Land Conservancy purchased a quarter-acre lot on the island for $675,000, according to city property records. The conservancy plans to transfer the property to the city, which will incorporate it into the future Mayo Island Park.

The quarter-acre parcel was the last missing piece of the island not controlled by the city.

The acquisition “marks a significant step forward for the city of Richmond and our vision for the James River,” Mayor Danny Avula said in a statement.

Most of Mayo Island is a parking lot. Through the years, the island in downtown Richmond held a baseball stadium and music festivals. But many of those structures were wiped out when the James River flooded.

In 2023, the city bought most of the 16-acre island for $13 million from the Shaia family, which had owned it for more than 40 years. The city entered into a conservation easement with the Capital Regional Land Conservancy, which will maintain the island as a park in perpetuity.

But there was a small, quarter-acre of property in the middle of the island that was still privately owned. Louis A. Heindl bought the parcel at 510 S. 14th St. in 1973 from the Virginia Boat Club for $13,000.

Heindl put the property for sale, and at one point, the asking price was $1.25 million, according to a real estate advertisement. The sale represents more than five years of negotiations, said Parker C. Agelasto, executive director of the conservancy.

The small property includes a 1,300-square-foot building constructed in 1933 as a service station. The city will keep the structure but hasn’t decided how to use it. Generally, the island isn’t suitable for development because it lacks sewer lines and is prone to flooding, the city said.

Heindl and his family are confident the conservancy will preserve the island’s “rich history and heritage for generations to come,” he said in a statement.

The city intends to demolish the parking lots and other buildings and replace them with walking trails, access points to the river, benches, picnic tables, a lawn and a smaller parking lot. Renovation will cost about $16 million.

The city previously said it plans to open the park in October 2026, though it’s unclear if that schedule is intact. A spokesperson for the city did not respond to a request for comment.

Purchasing the property also gives Richmond leaders more flexibility to redesign S. 14th St. Designers have proposed reducing the number of travel lanes, lowering the speed limit and adding wider sidewalks and bike lanes.

The city expects to replace the bridges on either side of the island. The project is expected to cost $182 million and will require closing the bridges for about three years, from 2029 to 2032.

In January, the city’s planning commission issued a preliminary approval but asked designers to “come up with a better plan.”