In August 2023, a developer working on two century-old commercial buildings near Chimborazo Park in Church Hill tore both structures down. The buildings at 3304 and 3306 E. Marshall Street had housed Jade Multicultural Salon and a gym called CrossFit Prelude. The Richmond Commission of Architectural Review had already told the owner the facades needed to be preserved. The demolition happened anyway.
The city's response was a $200 fine.
That number matters more than the story around it. Richmond had no real tool to make an unauthorized demolition cost more than a rounding error on a construction budget, even inside a designated Old and Historic District. As of January 2026, that has changed, and if you're evaluating a fixer-upper, a teardown-and-rebuild lot, or any property with renovation potential in Church Hill, the change rewrites your risk math.
The Fine Was the Point
City Councilor Katherine Jordan, who represents the 2nd District, carried the resolution that led to the new penalty. Her reasoning was blunt: a $200 fine "is just not enough to deter anyone." Councilor Andrew Breton put the underlying problem even more plainly during the same committee discussion: once a historic building comes down, there's no getting it back.
For years, that was the calculation available to a property owner in a hurry. Demolish first, absorb whatever token penalty followed, and move on to whatever gets built next. The Commission of Architectural Review, established back in 1957 to oversee the St. John's Church Old and Historic District that anchors Church Hill's core, could deny a demolition request and order a facade preserved. It had no meaningful way to make that denial stick once the wrecking crew showed up anyway.
What Changed in January
Richmond City Council passed an ordinance in January 2026 that sets the civil penalty for an unauthorized demolition, razing, or moving of a building in an Old and Historic District at up to twice the property's assessed value at the time of the violation. City staff described the intent directly in a memo on the proposal: enhanced fines would provide a more effective deterrent against unpermitted demolition of contributing historic structures.
The scope is specific. It applies to roughly 4,000 buildings across 16 Old and Historic Districts and 29 individually designated landmark properties citywide, and only to demolitions that never received Commission of Architectural Review approval in the first place. If the city approved the demolition through its Planning Department and CAR, none of this applies. The penalty targets the exact scenario that played out on E. Marshall Street: proceeding without approval, or in defiance of it.
The change was only possible because of a shift in state law. Virginia previously allowed counties to levy steep fines for unauthorized historic demolitions but didn't extend that authority to cities. Legislation from Del. Delores McQuinn, who represents Richmond, opened the door for the city to act.
What Actually Needs a Certificate of Appropriateness
Not every project in Church Hill's historic district triggers the same level of scrutiny, and this is where a lot of buyers guess wrong. The Commission of Architectural Review has authority over any exterior change visible from a public right of way, but the process branches depending on scope.
| Project type | Review path |
|---|---|
| Painting, replacement doors, porch decking, new handrails or porch rails, porch roof replacement | Can be approved administratively by CAR staff, no fee |
| New construction, additions, accessory buildings, changes to previously approved plans, extensions of an existing Certificate of Appropriateness, full demolitions | Requires an application fee and typically goes before the full nine-member Commission |
The Commission meets on the fourth Tuesday of most months. That schedule alone should shape how a buyer or investor thinks about timeline. A staff-approved paint color or handrail swap can move quickly. An addition or a full teardown has to wait for the next meeting date, survive a public process, and in some cases get revisited if plans change after approval. One 2022 mixed-use conversion project in Church Hill had its Certificate of Appropriateness expire simply because a year passed between CAR's initial endorsement and the project actually coming back before City Council, forcing another round of review.
The House on Jessamine Street
Contrast the E. Marshall Street story with what happened two blocks over, on Jessamine Street in the Union Hill section of Church Hill North.
A 1911 house at 806 Jessamine sold for $240,000 in December 2024. Over the following months, the new owner repainted the exterior in a period-appropriate color, kept the original pine floors, and updated the kitchen. Part of that work required Commission of Architectural Review sign-off. A CAR staff report from August 2025 documented the review: three windows replaced on the facade and a new railing design, both assessed against the city's Standards for Rehabilitation and New Construction. Staff recommended approval.
The house sold again in January 2026 for $359,900. That's roughly a 50 percent gain in about thirteen months, on a renovation that went through the review process rather than around it.
Neither story proves that following the rules guarantees a return, and neither proves that skipping them guarantees a fine that used to be survivable. But side by side, they show the two paths available to anyone buying renovation potential in this neighborhood, and only one of them still works under the new penalty structure.
Two Kinds of Historic, Only One Kind of Rule
Here's the distinction that trips up more buyers than almost anything else in Church Hill: not every historic designation means the same thing.
A property can sit on the National Register of Historic Places, a federal listing, without being subject to any local review at all. Historic Richmond's own guidance on this is direct: National Register status is a federal designation and carries no restrictions on the property. It's a recognition, not a rulebook.
A local Old and Historic District designation is different. That's a City of Richmond zoning overlay, and it's what puts a property under the Commission of Architectural Review's actual authority, the body that can require a Certificate of Appropriateness before you touch a window, a roofline, or a facade. Two houses on the same block can carry different designations, which means two houses that look identical from the sidewalk can come with completely different approval timelines and completely different exposure under the new demolition penalty.
Before you're under contract on anything in Church Hill with renovation in mind, confirm which category the property actually falls into. Ask whether there's an open Certificate of Appropriateness on file, a prior violation, or a demolition request that was ever denied. Richmond's Old and Historic Districts handbook, maintained by the Commission of Architectural Review, lays out the design guidelines that shape what gets approved in each district.
Before You Write an Offer
A few things worth confirming ahead of closing, not after:
- Whether the parcel sits in a local Old and Historic District, on the National Register only, or both, since only the first triggers CAR authority
- Whether any exterior work you're planning falls under staff-level approval or requires a full Commission hearing, which changes your timeline
- Whether the property has any open Certificates of Appropriateness, expired approvals, or unresolved violations tied to it
- What the current assessed value is, since that's now the baseline the new demolition penalty is calculated against
None of this is meant to make historic Church Hill sound like a harder place to buy than it is. It's a neighborhood where a compliant renovation can still add real value, as the Jessamine Street sale shows. The point is that the fallback plan some investors used to lean on, treating unauthorized work as a manageable cost of doing business, no longer pencils out the way it once did.
A Few Questions Church Hill Buyers Ask
Does the new penalty apply to interior renovations? No. Commission of Architectural Review authority covers exterior changes visible from a public right of way. Interior work generally falls under standard city building permits instead.
What if my property is only listed on the National Register, not a local Old and Historic District? Then Commission of Architectural Review approval and the new demolition penalty likely don't apply to you, since National Register status alone carries no local restrictions. Confirm the exact designation before assuming either way.
How fast does a Certificate of Appropriateness actually move? Staff can approve routine items like paint, doors, or handrails without a hearing. Anything requiring the full Commission waits for the fourth Tuesday of the month, and a fee applies for new construction, additions, or demolitions.
If you're weighing a historic Church Hill property against the renovation math involved, that's exactly the kind of question worth working through before you're locked into a contract. Search RVA Homes works through district status, approval history, and renovation timelines with buyers and investors across Church Hill before an offer goes in, not after.
