Foundry Park - CoStar HQ

[Hike]

Awesome news and happy to see this finally kick off, finally. Does any one else wonder how this huge project will be done by, they say by 2024, not in 2024. That’s already under 14 months, seems like a schedule that’s going to be difficult to meet, but hey, if they can pull it off, go get ‘em.

[I miss RVA]

28 minutes ago, Hike said:

Awesome news and happy to see this finally kick off, finally. Does any one else wonder how this huge project will be done by, they say by 2024, not in 2024. That’s already under 14 months, seems like a schedule that’s going to be difficult to meet, but hey, if they can pull it off, go get ‘em.

Hmmm...     How will they pull this off?

 

A LOT MORE CRANES!!!    

Edited November 1, 2022 by I miss RVA

[RVABizSenseMike]

4 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

I'm guessing our good friend Mike most likely staffed the groundbreaking for RBS, yes?

Your guess would be correct -- our story on it will be up tomorrow morning. 

[Hike]

18 minutes ago, RVABizSenseMike said:

Your guess would be correct -- our story on it will be up tomorrow morning. 

Looking forward to it!

[I miss RVA]

20 minutes ago, RVABizSenseMike said:

Your guess would be correct -- our story on it will be up tomorrow morning. 

Awesome! Thanks, Mike!

As a former journalist, I know it's not always possible to staff every event - but big ceremonies like these are few and far between. I figured you would be there! 

[jbjust]

1 hour ago, Hike said:

Awesome news and happy to see this finally kick off, finally. Does any one else wonder how this huge project will be done by, they say by 2024, not in 2024. That’s already under 14 months, seems like a schedule that’s going to be difficult to meet, but hey, if they can pull it off, go get ‘em.

I know, that's the same schedule that Dominion has proposed for its parking lot!

[Hike]

52 minutes ago, jbjust said:

I know, that's the same schedule that Dominion has proposed for its parking lot!

There’s a house in our neighborhood that did an addition that took 14 months, at least.
 

Found this on RVA Reddit where the project was mentioned, this is Costars announcement.

http://www.costargroup.com/costar-news/details/costar-group-breaks-ground-on-campus-expansion-in-richmond

Edited November 2, 2022 by Hike

[I miss RVA]

THIS JUST IN - FROM RICHMOND BIZ SENSE:

As our dear friend @RVABizSenseMikepromised earlier, herewith is Richmond Biz Sense' coverage of the CoStar groundbreaking. (Thanks, Mike, for FANTASTIC coverage!! )

And HOLY MOLY - check out THESE golden nuggets from Mike's reporting!!! Seems like the Times-Dispatch undersold what Andy Florance said on Tuesday.

Mike wrote:

"Aside from the sizable campus development and its deals for the Manchester and downtown office buildings, CoStar’s appetite for Richmond real estate may not yet be sated.

During his remarks to the crowd on Tuesday, Florance talked, seemingly in jest, about wanting to build second and third towers in Richmond after the first one’s completed.

Asked after the event just how serious he was about such an undertaking, Florance said, 'We have to build the first one but yeah, we grew 25 percent this year in staff. I think we’ll fill the building.”

“I do have a map of the city up on the wall,” he said, laughing. 'And I am looking at things that are parking lots that could be something else. But it’s over time.'”

(Does ANYONE get a "Monroe Ward" or even "City Center" vibe reading this or is it just me?)

Florance mentioned plans for a 300-400-seat amphitheater (so the riverfront would have TWO amphitheaters - how about that!!!) - and made mention that the Manchester site they purchased this year (the former SunTrust property) has plenty of potential for "really wonderful housing" (unless they needed more office space). WOW... wonder what he means by THAT?

Now, he may have said this partially tongue-in-cheek - but SOMETHING tells me this man (Andy Florance) is VERY serious and isn't just blowing smoke up our chimneys. Let's not discount these words -- because it's not every day that corporate CEOs just happen to have a map of a given city up on their office wall.  Wow - who knows - if THIS (the Manchester redevelopment for housing, etc. and converting parking lots into "something else") ever comes to pass (even just SOME of it) -- what I said earlier about 10 years from now CoStar could rightly quote the line from the Starship song "we built this city..." and it would be absolutely true!

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/11/02/costar-breaks-ground-on-460m-riverfront-office-complex/

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by I miss RVA

[HRVA]

Interesting point noted in CoStar News’ article, CoStar will have 1.2 million SF of office space in Richmond once the tower is completed. They have 170k SF in DC. Could an official HQ relocation be in play at some point? It would be more symbolic at this point as it seems Richmond is where they are focusing their growth currently and in the future. 

[eandslee]

30 minutes ago, HRVA said:

Interesting point noted in CoStar News’ article, CoStar will have 1.2 million SF of office space in Richmond once the tower is completed. They have 170k SF in DC. Could an official HQ relocation be in play at some point? It would be more symbolic at this point as it seems Richmond is where they are focusing their growth currently and in the future. 

This is a very good question and one I can’t answer, but it would seem that they would want to relocate their HQ to Richmond.  However, I’m sure there are, at least, a couple factors that keep the HQ in DC:  for one, I’m sure corporate personnel are probably content with where they live in the DC area (there’s more to do there, more opportunity for kids, etc.), and the other (probably one of the biggest) reasons I can think of is that there are more easy and convenient travel options out of the 2 major airports in the DC area.  RIC just can’t compete with the variety of destinations served from IAD and DCA. Hopefully, that changes over time, but I would assume that corporate HQs need access to many worldwide destinations via air to conduct business travel. There may be other factors as well.

I think they only lease their HQ building up in DC, so they don’t own anything there or have some personal real estate investments in the area (that I’m aware of), so that could lend to them moving the HQ to Richmond. Who knows what will happen…especially after the corporate personnel see the new, more posh digs in Richmond when it’s finally completed!  After they see this nice tower, the corporate personnel may just give Richmond a chance!

Edited November 2, 2022 by eandslee

[Hike]

58 minutes ago, eandslee said:

This is a very good question and one I can’t answer, but it would seem that they would want to relocate their HQ to Richmond.  However, I’m sure there are, at least, a couple factors that keep the HQ in DC:  for one, I’m sure corporate personnel are probably content with where they live in the DC area (there’s more to do there, more opportunity for kids, etc.), and the other (probably one of the biggest) reasons I can think of is that there are more easy and convenient travel options out of the 2 major airports in the DC area.  RIC just can’t compete with the variety of destinations served from IAD and DCA. Hopefully, that changes over time, but I would assume that corporate HQs need access to many worldwide destinations via air to conduct business travel. There may be other factors as well.

I think they only lease their HQ building up in DC, so they don’t own anything there or have some personal real estate investments in the area (that I’m aware of), so that could lend to them moving the HQ to Richmond. Who knows what will happen…especially after the corporate personnel see the new, more posh digs in Richmond when it’s finally completed!  After they see this nice tower, the corporate personnel may just give Richmond a chance!

Just being able to say you have a DC HQ has significance and I’m not sure RVA can compare to. In a global market like they’re in, that probably carries a lot of weight, and for now, that reason alone could keep it there. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Hike

[123fakestreet]

8 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

"Aside from the sizable campus development and its deals for the Manchester and downtown office buildings, CoStar’s appetite for Richmond real estate may not yet be sated.

During his remarks to the crowd on Tuesday, Florance talked, seemingly in jest, about wanting to build second and third towers in Richmond after the first one’s completed.

Asked after the event just how serious he was about such an undertaking, Florance said, 'We have to build the first one but yeah, we grew 25 percent this year in staff. I think we’ll fill the building.”

“I do have a map of the city up on the wall,” he said, laughing. 'And I am looking at things that are parking lots that could be something else. But it’s over time.'”

As soon as I saw this in the article this morning I knew UP would go nuts lol

[eandslee]

Not sure where to put this (I couldn’t find a better thread), but shouldn’t this amphitheater project be starting before Thanksgiving?  I thought that was the stipulation of the developer. Are we seeing any movement down there or is there a way to check city records on the status?

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/07/14/7500-capacity-riverfront-amphitheater-planned-for-downtown-tredegar-hillside/

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by eandslee

[Brent114]

CoStar is too fancy for chainlink…

 

[I miss RVA]

Supply chain(link) issues, maybe?

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

CoStar is too fancy for chainlink…

 

Wow!  You’re not kidding!  Fancy wood fence!  Unfortunately, that rock wall in the second photo is usually where my wife sits as I run the half marathon that takes place next Saturday.  I guess she’ll have to set up on the other side of the road now.  A willing compromise for a new awesome addition to the skyline!

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

Wow!  You’re not kidding!  Fancy wood fence!  Unfortunately, that rock wall in the second photo is usually where my wife sits as I run the half marathon that takes place next Saturday.  I guess she’ll have to set up on the other side of the road now.  A willing compromise for a new awesome addition to the skyline!

We all have to sacrifice a bit for the betterment of Richmond's skyline, my brother! 

[eandslee]

Photo update of CoStar's new tower as of a couple days ago.  Courtesy of Ryan Ramsey of Richmond City Watch:

[I miss RVA]

3 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Photo update of CoStar's new tower as of a couple days ago.  Courtesy of Ryan Ramsey of Richmond City Watch:

This is an important milestone photo - we're seeing what this site has looked like for a very long time now - knowing that in even just a few months - must less a year - much less two years - much less from that point going forward - it will look VASTLY different! A VERY different Richmond is taking shape!

[eandslee]

Just to keep some conversation going during this slow time:  

I did hear from a friend who has some ties, that CoStar will be starting construction in earnest (the bigger dig) after the holidays and anticipates tower crane(s) install about the February/March timeframe.  I think they’ve just been amassing equipment and getting things ready up to this point - the calm before the storm, if you will. 

Edited December 15, 2022 by eandslee

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, eandslee said:

Just to keep some conversation going during this slow time:  

I did hear from a friend who has some ties, that CoStar will be starting construction in earnest (the bigger dig) after the holidays and anticipates tower crane(s) install about the February/March timeframe.  I think they’ve just been amassing equipment and getting things ready up to this point - the calm before the storm, if you will. 

Excellent news! Thanks SO much for the update, @eandslee! This nugget is a really cool pre-Christmas gift, to be sure! My only question: if they start actual construction in earnest in early January - is February/March a bit optimistic to expect erection of tower cranes? Given the size of the tower and the complex, there's gonna be a LOT of foundational work to be done before this bad boy comes up out of the ground. I'm just curious if they can get all of that work done in the span of two months, particularly given that we're heading into winter?

[Child2021]

Costar is rolling with it's build out, I was there last night but I didn't stop to take any pictures...

[I miss RVA]

Quoting a pair of famous, classic early-rock-N-roll songs: Goodness gracious, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE - there's a WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' goin' on - over at CoStar.

Brand new pictures - hot off the press. HUMBLE thanks to @Child2021for taking these photos!

 

[eandslee]

43 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Quoting a pair of famous, classic early-rock-N-roll songs: Goodness gracious, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE - there's a WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' goin' on - over at CoStar.

Brand new pictures - hot off the press. HUMBLE thanks to @Child2021for taking these photos!

 

Great!  Finally dirt is moving.  Still may take a while before any tower crane is erected though.  This is so good to see!  Thanks for the pics @Child2021!

Edited January 10, 2023 by eandslee

[I miss RVA]

14 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Great!  Finally dirt is moving.  Still may take a while before any tower crane is erected though.  This is so good to see!  Thanks for the pics @Child2021!

We're actually turning dirt in the second week of January. That said, what's the over/under for tower cranes?

I'm guessing April, maybe. Is March TOO aggressive? Is May (or April for that matter) TOO conservative an estimate?

Edited January 10, 2023 by I miss RVA