Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co., alongside North Chesterfield, Virginia-based Prestige Construction Group, has won a contract to build the new home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, a minor league affiliate of the MLB’s San Francisco Giants, Gilbane said in a July news release. The stadium will cost $110 million, according to local outlet WTVR.
Houston-based Machete Group, an advisory firm, will manage the stadium project, per the release.
The 10,000-seat Richmond Diamond District Ballpark will have an industrial, warehouse-like feel meant to pay homage to Richmond’s railway lineage, per Gilbane. The contractor will deliver the project in under two years, in time for the 2026 baseball season.
The stadium is the cornerstone of the larger, 67-acre development known as the Diamond District Project, which will cost $2.4 billion, per the Richmond Times-Dispatch. In April 2023, city leaders agreed to replace “The Diamond,” the previous minor league ballpark.
The city will sell land around the stadium to form a mixed-use development. Six parcels in the future Diamond District — which currently houses the existing stadium, its parking lot, a track and field stadium used by local colleges, a recreational softball field and an undeveloped grassy area — will become residences, commercial space and a park, the Times-Dispatch reported.
In addition to the Flying Squirrels, Virginia Commonwealth University, located in downtown Richmond, will use the venue.
“Gilbane is a proven ballpark builder with roots right here in Richmond, Virginia,” Maggie Reed, business leader for Gilbane’s Richmond office, said in the release. “We’ve been building in Richmond for over 30 years, so for us, this project is more than a new stadium. It’s an opportunity to invest in the community we call home.”
There’s a big fanbase for the Flying Squirrels. The team consistently ranks among the top-drawing teams in minor league baseball, and it led the Eastern League in total or average attendance nine times, while topping all 30 Double-A teams in total and average attendance each of the past two seasons, per the release.
