Business
Plans withdrawn for six story “car vending machine” in Short Pump
Richmond BizSense, who broke the original story, says Carvana will withdraw the proposed $6 million project.
Richmond BizSense reports that plans for Carvana’s car vending machine in Short Pump have been scrapped:
A 6½-story car vending machine structure will not tower over Short Pump anytime soon.
National used-car retailer Carvana has withdrawn its request to build a 71-foot glass-and-steel tower that it calls the world’s first-ever “car vending machine” on land beside Tom Leonard’s Farmers Market along Interstate 64.
A required rezoning and provisional use permit were to be considered at last night’s meeting of the Henrico County Planning Commission, but in a letter to the county dated Dec. 6, Carvana said it was withdrawing the requests due to an inability to secure a deal for the property.
Original post (August 22nd, 2016):
From Richmond BizSense:
Two months after it started selling cars locally, a national used-car retailer is looking to make a towering impression on the Richmond auto market.
Carvana, a 3-year-old online dealership that offers shop-at-home car buying, has filed plans with Henrico County to build an 8,200-square-foot auto fulfillment center with a 6½-story glass-and-steel tower it calls the world’s first-ever fully automated, coin-operated “car vending machine.”
It’s an interesting move, considering used car superstore CarMax is headquartered nearby:
If approved, the project would be a bold statement for Carvana’s entry into Richmond, the hometown of CarMax. The site is within a mile of CarMax’s original location near Innsbrook and three miles from CarMax’s corporate headquarters in Goochland County.
Click here to read the full story and see a video demoing how the vending machine would work.
