With construction of its new office tower well underway, Richmond’s resident utility giant is beginning to cue up a potential sister structure next door.

Dominion Energy last month submitted plans to the city for a 17-story, 911,000-square-foot building to rise on the site of its existing 21-story One James River Plaza building at 701 E. Cary St.

Dominion Energy spokeswoman Daisy Pridgen said in an email that the plan of development for the second tower helps to ready the property for potential construction should the company decide to go through with the project. That could be decided early next year.

The second tower would join the 20-story 600 Canal Place building, a 417-foot Dominion Energy tower that cranes and construction crews are erecting at 600 E. Canal St., where the Richmond Plaza building once stood.

Dominion announced plans about two years ago to construct a two-tower campus downtown – a move to help consolidate operations and modernize its downtown footprint.

The company said at the time it was considering two options for the One James River Plaza property: gutting the existing 667,000-square-foot building for a full renovation or demolishing it in favor of a new tower once construction on the first was completed.

The planned second tower, dubbed 700 Canal Place, would rise on the nearly 2-acre site and connect to its slightly taller twin tower via a sky bridge over South 7th Street. Both towers would have parking garages with rooftop gardens.

600 Canal Place will have about 1 million square feet of office space and parking, and three amenity floors that include a lobby area, fitness center and meeting center. The third-floor cafeteria will open to an outdoor green rooftop garden over the parking deck.

Richmond-based Hourigan and Chicago-based Clayco are listed as the general contractors for the second tower. They are also overseeing construction on the first tower. Houston-based architecture firm Kendall/Heaton Associates has been selected as the architect of record, and the Timmons Group is the civil engineer.

Dominion employs about 2,500 employees downtown. Pridgen said the company plans to move about 1,200 workers – most of whom work at One James River Plaza – into the first new tower by the second quarter of 2019.

Once it’s been decided when to launch construction on its second tower, Pridgen said Dominion will begin evaluating options for its other properties in the surrounding central business district, including its 20-story tower at 705 E. Main St., three buildings at 120 Tredegar St. and two buildings on Grayland Avenue.