In downtown Richmond today, people are once again living "above the store" along Broad Street.

They're also living in a 1920s automobile showroom, in penthouses transformed from industrial buildings and in sleek new buildings along the James where they're practically "hanging over the water."

"But when you're just driving through downtown, you don't know what's on the inside of all these fabulous old buildings," said Lucy Meade, marketing director for Venture Richmond.

So Venture Richmond has organized the first of what it hopes will be an annual tour of downtown lofts.

"Here's a chance to see the inside," Meade said of the tour that will feature 13 lofts in nine buildings in five downtown neighborhoods.

"This isn't a model apartment" tour, Meade said. "These are private residences. There's a uniqueness to each and every one of them."

The Downtown Loft Tour will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 5 in Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, Broad Street, Jackson Ward and Manchester in South Richmond. Free parking will be available at 14th and Cary streets, with charter buses giving ticket-holders rides to tour sites. Advance tickets cost $20.

Venture Richmond is an organization set up to promote economic development and events in the downtown area. It's putting on the tour with the Richmond Department of Economic Development.

This event grew out of the "seeing is believing" tours of commercial and residential properties given to help local groups "understand the story of downtown's transformation," Meade said.

It's on the same day as the Monument Avenue 10k, and organizers hope some race-goers will stick around to take the tour.

"It's a great way to show people the authentic downtown," Meade said.

The 21st century has brought a migration back to downtown, she said, because people want to live in neighborhoods where they can walk to shops and restaurants, and "they want cool spaces."

Homes in the following locations are on the tour: