Bryer Haywood, Contributing Writer
VCU’s new interdisciplinary center at 535 W. Broad St. is planned to include more performance spaces for the theatre and music departments as construction nears its deadline next year.
The CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation is a new building on the southeast corner of Broad and Belvidere streets, designed to house multiple VCUarts programs. Construction began in 2024 and is expected to be completed in late 2027, per the VCU Master Plan.
A project webpage from the building’s primary architects, William Rawn Associates, promises collaborative space for several arts programs to work together to create “new art forms, inventive product prototypes and find new ways to innovate.”
The first floor of the building includes theater, innovation and scene maker spaces. The second floor is fully dedicated to “innovation,” and the third floor is set to have dance, studio and design areas. Other noted sections throughout the other four floors include an ensemble, concert hall, costume lab, sound stage and faculty space.
The building will be eight stories high and 212,700 gross square feet, according to the building plans created by William Rawn Associates, the architecture firm tasked with designing the building.
The theater program intends to use the space as a performance venue, according to Bonnie McCoy, chair of the department.
“The building will be used in the same way we use Singleton right now. The plans are for the Theatre Department to move any Singleton activity to the new building. Shafer St. Playhouse will remain in use by the Theatre Department,” McCoy stated.
McCoy added that the CoStar building will create possibilities for collaboration between all students in the performing arts.
The location of the CoStar building is set to foster interaction between students and the local community through its proximity with the Arts District, according to Ryan Sprowl, interim director of communications for VCUArts.
“State-of-the-art rehearsal and performance spaces will enable dance, music and theatre students to work together more organically in shared facilities, breaking down the existing physical barriers between programs,” Sprowl stated.
Members of VCUArts have been involved in the planning and design process of the CoStar building since 2018, according to Sprowl. He added that VCU’s Center for Creative Economy and the Da Vinci Center would make use of the space alongside the arts departments of theatre, dance & choreography, music, cinema and kinetic imaging.
An email sent to arts students on Jan. 23 by VCUarts dean Carmenita Higginbotham described the CoStar center as the “future home” of performing arts at VCU. That email also formally announced the combining of theatre and dance & choreography into one “Department of Theatre + Dance,” a change which comes as the university implements its academic repositioning plan, according to a previous report by The CT.
Though the new building has the aim of strengthening the relationship between the theatre and dance programs, the CoStar Center was not the impetus for the joining of the programs, according to VCU Spokesperson Brian McNeill.
The combining of the departments was independent of the university’s Repositioning Task Force, McNeill stated.
Construction costs for the building were estimated at $253 million as of 2024. According to the master plan website, $232.4 million came from the state, while CoStar contributed $18 million and VCU was to pay for the remaining $20.6 million.
VCU was approved to tear down three buildings on Broad Street. last October to facilitate the construction — at the time Historic Richmond executive director Cyane Crump objected to their demolition given their historic nature, ranging from 100 to 175 years old, according to Richmond Times-Dispatch.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story misspelled VCUarts Dean Carmenita Higginbotham’s name. The story has been updated with the correct spelling.