After purchasing its Shockoe Slip base at the start of the pandemic, a local video production company is renovating the 150-year-old assets with today’s hybrid paint environment in mind.
Tilt Creative Production is halfway through a year-long renovation of its headquarters complex at 23 S. 13th St.
The additional allocation of approximately $3 million displays and restores the complex’s original multi-building features and opens and modernizes its internal workspaces. The plans also include a new roof terrace and an attic facing the street.
Work began in December and includes the interior demolition of the non-load-bearing walls. The open spaces will give way to new painting spaces with exposed brick beams and walls, renovated hardwood floors and new offices, paint booths and meeting rooms.
The allocation follows Tilt’s acquisition in mid-2020 of a three-story, 25,000-square-foot asset for $2. 8 million, which the virtual content and production company had been leasing for years.
The assets are comprised of several buildings, in addition to 1309 Exchange Alley, which have combined to create a connected community surrounding the taller 1877 Lofts apartment building, at the corner of 13th and Driveway.
Tilt CEO Ron Carey said the company began conceptualizing the project early last year and withdrawing the cause with animation studio Hue.
“From a temporal perspective, it turned out that they needed to go ahead and occupy their space, and it seemed like the right time to begin the rehabilitation of the building,” Carey said.
With the task brought on by the pandemic, Carey said the renovation has been set up through the hybrid paint environment that emerged with COVID-19 and continues for the company, with painters alternating between on-site and remote painting.
“We bought the construction in 2020 and knew that at some point we would like to do a historic renovation. Once COVID hit, we thought, “Let’s wait and see how we’re going to use construction. “And then we literally abandoned construction on March 16,” Carey said.
“This is the best time for us to take a step back and see what a hybrid paint environment will look like in the future. The work we are doing is fundamentally different from what it might have been if we had embarked on a project in 2020. “” he said.
While the task was being carried out, construction workers were working remotely, Carey said. Tilt’s team of about 60 other people is also based in its production studio on Arthur Ashe Blvd. and in the office, the company rents the Venture X to run. area to Scott’s addition.
For the rehabilitation of Shockoe Slip, Tilt convened design firms BOB Architecture and Campfire.
Carey said Bank of America is handling financing for the project, which represents historic tax credits for the state’s rehabilitation.
Built in the mid-1870s, the buildings that make up the Tilt complex measure approximately 8,000 feet from the ground. Carey said the time the land was rented through Hue
Carey said the renovation would showcase the buildings’ original features while updating their plans and maximizing the use of their painting areas.
“Over the decades, many innovations have been made in construction in terms of drywall and compartmentalization of certain spaces. What we’ve actually tried to do is just open it again, so you can see the original antique wood constantly in the construction. but also (having) some of that fashion equipment. It’s really about going back to that lovely old character that maybe you just saw in 1874 and then making it fashionable,” he said.
“The area will now be designed to make the most of the hybrid environment, where groups come and collaborate and other people paint in combination in the same physical area two or three days a week,” he said. “He will adjust to that just fine, as will other people who plan to be there four to five days a week. “
The assignment coincided with renovations to the nearby 1877 Lofts, where more decorations were added on the first floor and basement in what was once the area of Kobe’s former restaurant, Japanese Steaks and Sushi, which closed in 2019. Corinthian Construction and Serliana Architecture were involved in this task, according to the permits.
The apartment building, also known as the Shockoe-Cary building, was purchased for $2. 8 million last year through an entity linked to Alex Griffith, a local investor who also owns three nearby buildings, of which Sam Miller’s restaurant is the mainstay.
As majority owner of Tilt, which he co-owns with Dave Trownsell and Stacy Murphy, Carey said he is honored to be the last manager of the 150-year-old buildings, which in the past housed the Park Group production corporation that Trownsell founded. than 30 years ago. Park Group merged with Carey’s Studio Squared five years ago, creating Tilt.
“It’s attractive to me, as an African-American business owner, to own a building that dates back to 1874 in this component of the city, Exchange Alley, where so many negative things happened in an old context,” Carey said. “I feel very revered for possessing such a treasure and being its custodian for a short time. “
Tilt’s production in recent years includes ads for Audi, Walmart and Capital One. He also produced his first documentary, “Birth of a Planet,” about former Richmond Planet editor John Mitchell Jr. , which he picked up through PBS after its premiere at the Richmond Planet. Last year’s International Film Festival.
Jonathan joined BizSense in early 2015 after a decade of reporting from Wilmington, North Carolina and the leader of Henrico County. The Virginia Tech graduate covers government, real estate, advertising/marketing and news. Contact him at [email protected] or (804) 308-2447.
Ron Cary is a treasure for this city. He would be a perfect mayor. For those who don’t know, he was an All ACC DEFENSIVE TACKLE at the time of the Welsh coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. Ah, those were the smart old days!
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