A Philadelphia-based real estate firm is developing a taste for Richmond parking lots.

Parkway Corp. this month spent $2.3 million to acquire nine parcels, mostly surface parking lots, in Jackson Ward.

The deal, which closed Jan. 18, was for 100 ½, 100, 102, 102 ½ , and 104 E. Marshall St.; 404 ½-406 and 408 N. Second St.; and 103 E. Clay St. A nearly 120-year-old, two-story office building at 106 E. Marshall St. was included in the sale.

The assemblage, which includes 130 parking spots, totals about 1 acre and most recently was assessed by the city for a combined $2.6 million.

The deal marks Parkway’s second seven-figure buy in Jackson Ward in two years.

The company purchased a 0.75-acre surface parking lot a block west at 200 E. Marshall St. in November 2016 for $2 million.

Parkway Corp. President and CEO Robert Zuritsky said his firm plans to complete light renovations to the surface parking lots and maintain the office building at 106 E. Marshall St. — for now.

Zuritsky said since closing on the property, he’s already received a few requests from interested developers for building partnerships on the site, mainly on the properties that border East Marshall and North Second streets.

But Zuritsky said those conversations are “very early in the process,” and may require more time to develop. He did not disclose who locally reached out to Parkway about developing its newly acquired properties.

“We’re always searching for development partners, and looking for other properties,” Zuritsky said.

Local brokers Jim McVey and Michael Morris of Richmond-based Commonwealth Commercial represented Parkway during the deal.

Parkway placed the properties under contract in late 2017, Morris said.

Virginia Properties Partnership had owned the parcels for decades, Morris said, adding the transaction was the result of an off-the-market deal between Virginia Properties and Parkway.

Known for operating a number of surface parking lots and decks around the country, Parkway manages about a half-dozen lots in Jackson Ward, Monroe Ward and the Central Business District. The company is also a developer of large mixed-use developments with retail, office space and residential units that incorporate lots of parking.

Parkway’s plan to land bank the sites for the time being could pay dividends, as that section of Jackson Ward is becoming a magnet for development.

Workers continue to chart progress on The Penny, a 166-unit apartment development under construction by SNP Properties a block west of Parkway’s recent purchase at 0 W. Marshall St.

The Gallery5 building, a former firehouse at 200 W. Marshall St., was purchased last fall for $760,000 by locally based Vanderbilt Properties. The firm plans to renovate the building’s 3,500-square-foot upper floor into office or event space, while redoing the downstairs for Gallery5.

Work also continues on three buildings at 10, 12-14 and 14 ½ W. Leigh St. by local developer Lizzie Drucker-Basch, who’s converting the former commercial buildings into apartments.

And a few blocks east, a group led by Dominion Energy CEO Tom Farrell is pushing a $1.4 billion plan to redevelop a swath of downtown around the Richmond Coliseum that, if approved by City Council, could spark further investment in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Although not the highest, Parkway’s latest Jackson Ward acquisition highlights mounting sales prices for mostly vacant property in the city — even mirroring more recent purchases for similar sites in Scott’s Addition.

Prior to constructing The Penny, SNP paid about $2.8 million in 2017 for the 0.8-acre site along West Marshall Street. A year later, the same firm shelled out a combined $3.7 million for 3022 W. Broad St., and a neighboring parcel at 3012 W. Broad St. for its The Summit mixed-use project in Scott’s Addition.

Roughly a block away, Tom Papa of Fountainhead Properties and lead partner Geoff Shudtz of Dodson Development Partners acquired the 0.6-acre site at 3105, 3107, 3113 and 3115 W. Marshall St. for about $2.17 million. The deal closed Jan. 9.