Mayo Island totals 15 acres between Shockoe and Manchester. (Google Maps)
With a recently closed deal, Mayo Island, the highly traveled but hardly accessible landmass in the heart of Richmond, is now set to become part of the James River Park System.
Richmond officials confirmed Friday that the city had finalized its nearly $15 million purchase of the long-desired island between downtown and Manchester.
The previously privately-owned, 15-acre island that supports the Mayo Bridge hit the market two years ago and had been under contract for just over a year, initially by the Capital Region Land Conservancy before the city stepped in as the contract purchaser.
The transaction was supported by a $7.5 million grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), with the city covering the rest of the purchase. The deal was ultimately made through a public-private partnership between the city and CRLC, which secured the grant and will hold a conservation easement on the island with DCR.
“Today, the City of Richmond is excited to announce that we have signed the papers and closed the deal to acquire Mayo Island,” Mayor Levar Stoney’s office said in a statement to BizSense.
“This historic island, also known as the ‘green jewel’ of the City of Richmond, will now be utilized as green space to benefit all Richmonders,” the statement said, adding: “More to come soon!”
Mayo Island, pictured on the far side of the river, hit the market in 2022 for $19 million. (BizSense file photo)
The sale concludes a yearlong effort that started with CRLC putting the island under contract for $11.8 million. The deal was later changed with the award of the state grant and the involvement of the city, which reached an agreed purchase price of $14.9 million.
The sellers were members of the Shaia family, who owned the majority of the island since acquiring the land in the 1980s. The family listed the property in 2022 with an asking price of $19 million.
Alan Shaia, an agent with Charter Realty who had marketed the listing as a development opportunity, said the family wasn’t entirely pleased with the outcome.
“The city got funding from the state so that they were able to purchase the island, so now the city’s got to make a decision of what they want to do,” Shaia said. “We would have thought that some development on a large tract of land like that would make sense, but most people thought otherwise, so it is what it is.”
The purchase does not include a quarter-acre parcel at 510 S. 14th St. that’s separately owned and used as a food truck court. The Shaia-owned parcels were assessed by the city at $4.18 million combined.
Parker Agelasto, CRLC’s executive director and a former city councilman, celebrated the news when reached last week.
Parker Agelasto
“This is very exciting to see Mayo Island formally becoming what will be a public park and recreational outdoor area, very visible,” he said, “and to see what is really a 40-year vision implemented finally.”
He noted the nonprofit’s research had found reports going back to the 1990s showing that the city had studied the feasibility of acquiring the island to use as a park. He said the desired use has since been reflected in the city’s comprehensive plan and other plans for downtown, the river and park system.
“To now have that fulfilled is very much transformational for Richmond and the relationship that people who live here are going to have with the river at one of its most iconic and historic sites,” Agelasto said.
Named for the Mayo family who helped lay out Richmond’s city grid in the 1700s, Mayo Island was once the site of a private recreation facility called City Park, including Mayo Field, a baseball stadium that operated until 1940. It previously housed boathouses and sawmills before the first Mayo Bridge opened in 1788 as the first span across the river, according to a history in Richmond’s Riverfront Plan.
More recently, a Wise Recycling plant had operated on the island for over 20 years on the site now occupied by the food truck court. Much of the island is currently paved with parking lots, one of which was used by VCU and was the center of a legal dispute between the Shaias and the university.
With the purchase finalized, Agelasto said next steps will include establishing the easement, which CRLC will hold jointly with DCR.
“We’re going to work with the city and other stakeholders to complete that on the timeline that’s most appropriate for all the parties involved,” he said.
As for the island’s eventual transformation into a park and public space, Agelasto said that will involved the removal of the parking lots and other impervious surfaces on the otherwise undeveloped land.
Richmond’s Riverfront Plan shows potential short-term uses for the island as a park and public space. (City documents)
“There are 7 acres of asphalt out there,” he said. “Imagine what an island would be like when you can remove all that impervious and bring back a more natural area, and what that will do not only for the health of the river but for the health of our community.”
Agelasto has also noted that the city’s control of the land could assist with a planned replacement of the 110-year-old Mayo Bridge, which is set to be upgraded in 2026 due to structural deficiencies. He said the land could provide staging areas to facilitate the $90 million project, which is expected to close traffic along the bridge for about three years during construction.
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