Foundry Park - CoStar HQ

[Downtowner]

I really cannot imagine them using the entire lot for one building.  That would be such a poor layout for an office building and, with the elevation changes, may actually be more complicated and expensive then multiple structures.  I think best case is they combine parking and a tower on the back half of the lot, connecting the parking with the existing deck.  For comparison that portion is still 2-3x the size of the William Mullins footprint (ignoring RMA garage).  The more likely result may be to expand the parking deck on the back portion of the lot and build the offices in the middle portion, leaving the lower apex of the lot for landscaping or additional development.

Given the massive amount of existing parking compared to office space in the current building (1050 spaces for 310k SqFt, WestRock is listed as 911k total SqFt), I wonder how much more parking they would actually need to build.

If I’m looking at that map right is there still another plot of land available for another office tower or something else after costars office tower is complete? If so that is really encouraging for down the road.


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[Wahoo 07]

It would be a wasted opportunity if they don't incorporate some type of residential or hotel use.  It'd be a highly desirable place to live.

[Icetera]

3 hours ago, Downtowner said:

If I’m looking at that map right is there still another plot of land available for another office tower or something else after costars office tower is complete? If so that is really encouraging for down the road.


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It depends on how they build it.  The grey box represents what I would think as the likely garage or garage/tower combo while the blue would be the likely office building if not combined.  They own both boxes and the area I left blank below it.

[I miss RVA]

12 hours ago, Downtowner said:

If I’m looking at that map right is there still another plot of land available for another office tower or something else after costars office tower is complete? If so that is really encouraging for down the road.


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We can only hope!

10 hours ago, Wahoo 07 said:

It would be a wasted opportunity if they don't incorporate some type of residential or hotel use.  It'd be a highly desirable place to live.

Agreed.

[eandslee]

I looked back on a previous RTD article that was published in early February (just when Navy Hill was dying) that stated several key things that I must have missed:

1) CoStar has stopped hiring because they have no more space in the WestRock building for them to add new people.

2) CoStar is looking to house 3,000 + people in its new digs (that is more than 3 times the amount they currently have)!!  They currently have just under 1K people now in Richmond.

3) CoStar mentioned they needed at least 400,000 sq ft of space (this is the one thing I remembered), but can you fit 3K+ people in that amount of space with conference rooms, common space, etc?

4) CoStar needs a new home now...well, almost now.  The article mentioned that it needed a new home no later than 3 years from then (February).

5) CoStar said that they couldn't build a new building alone - it would be too much for them (not sure if that means that they would have to hire a developer to manage the build or if that means that this could be a mixed use building with other entities involved?  Not sure.)

This is significant, folks!  The bad news is that they have purchased a ton of land.  The height of this thing is going to depend on how the building is laid out and what other facets the development will include (which we have already pointed out here.  Surely they are not going to develop the entire building on 4 acres).

Since they are looking to be in a new facility in less than 3 years, we are talking a pretty rapid build here and my guess is that we should see an announcement fairly soon if they are to start construction and complete the facility in time.  Has anyone heard anything from one of the employees?  What is CoStar telling their people?

Anyway, just thought I'd point these out in case you missed them like me.  It was thought-provoking for me as I was wondering when they might make an announcement or when we might find out what this facility will look like.  Waiting on pins and needles.

Article I referenced:

https://richmond.com/business/plus/costar-looking-for-new-offices-for-3-000-plus-employees-with-navy-hill-project-on/article_96d3ecba-b698-5069-98ab-d993ee24afb0.html

 

[I miss RVA]

Recall this RichmondBizSense article from July. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/03/grp-ceo-need-for-more-office-space-remains-despite-covid/

This clip from an interview with Lara Fritts of the Greater Richmond Partnership stands out in my mind from a math perspective:

RBS: So as far as you’re concerned, the priority for increasing and filling Class A office space in the Richmond region remains?

LF: "I think it’s absolutely going to remain a priority for our region.

Just in the central business district, we’re at full occupancy. Full occupancy can be expected at about 6 percent vacancy (based on CoStar data), which is about where we are. The central business district is at 9.9 percent. When you look at vacancies as a whole region, where we do have vacancy is in very small spaces.

Total region vacancy of Class A is at 10.7 percent, which sounds high when you think about 6 percent being fully occupied. But if you think the majority of those spaces are less than 3,000 square feet, that’s pretty small, considering the average is about 250 square feet per employee. If you’re talking about 2,500 square feet, that’s 10 or less employees. It’s not a lot of space."

Now while obviously CoStar knows more-or-less what its core requirements are, to eandslee's point, I wonder if 400,000 square feet is selling the actual building size a little short. By Fritts' estimate of most Class A space being built more to the 250 sq ft per employee spec, 3,000 CoStar employees would (according to this way of looking at it) require far more than 400K of sq ft - it would be more like 750,000 square feet - which is a sizeable difference in terms of the size of a building. And as eandslee points out, CoStar has been saying all along they need "at least" 400,000 sq ft - so that may not be the cap on space for a new building. Based on what they're currently leasting at WestRock - the 400K is more in line - but - does it make sense to build out a single-tenant building (which they said even back in the NH days they couldn't do alone) that would cap the space based on current usage without allowing for further expansion beyond that point? Also - a multi-tenant building would certainly take some of the financial burden off of CoStar. So is it possible that a building of some considerable size LARGER than 400,000 sq feet might be needed?

I realize this is all just whistling in the wind with speculation - but figured it was worth throwing out there as some food for thought.

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by I miss RVA

[Downtowner]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/12/17/costar-buying-downtown-riverfront-office-building-that-bears-its-name/

Can’t tell if something brewing is really good or really bad. I’m hoping they are planning a massive expansion downtown.


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[rjp212]

It definitely signals a solid commitment to Downtown from them.  

Edited December 17, 2020 by rjp212

[CitiWalker]

A reliable source advised me that there is a plan to build another office building on the acquired land. I don't know what the plans are for height.

[eandslee]

30 minutes ago, CitiWalker said:

A reliable source advised me that there is a plan to build another office building on the acquired land. I don't know what the plans are for height.

I wonder if the purchase of their current building just made the new tower shorter?

[Icetera]

59 minutes ago, eandslee said:

I wonder if the purchase of their current building just made the new tower shorter?

 I would certainly think so, though they still may just take full advantage of the land for other developments.

[wrldcoupe4]

I suspect we'll see more than just office on the land.

[CitiWalker]

5 hours ago, eandslee said:

I wonder if the purchase of their current building just made the new tower shorter?

Well 20 million is a lot to spend on a  piece of land and not maximize its potential.  Costar is growing by leaps and bounds and their world research headquarters is in the current building.  I could see a tower with  a mixed use theme.  Just hoping and speculating at this point. who knows, maybe the prospect of a tower taller than their HQ might prompt Dominion to go higher with the second tower. I could only wish.

Edited December 17, 2020 by CitiWalker

[eandslee]

 CoStar could be in the throes of making its largest acquisition yet!  According to this article, CoStar is bidding to purchase CoreLogic, a real estate data company based in Irvine, CA.  CoStar has acquired many companies as of late.  While it sounds like very good news for the growth of the company, I’m not quite sure how these acquisitions will affect its planned tower at Foundry Park.  Hopefully, all of this bodes well for expanding its footprint in Richmond and for a new home of towering heights!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/therealdeal.com/national/2021/01/21/costar-closes-in-on-corelogic/amp/

[eandslee]

Kind of disappointed in RBS’s article on this as it only had some basic information contained in it. The RTD article is much more in-depth and includes some comments from Andrew C. Florance, the CEO of CoStar.  The purchase of their building downtown was closed on Saturday and it is now all theirs (though WestRock has some employees there too).  Here’s the RTD article:

https://richmond.com/business/costar-buys-its-downtown-office-tower-for-130-million-ceo-says-company-plans-to-construct/article_bee15d0a-f04f-518b-b63b-2b6d83103d87.html#tracking-source=home-breaking
 

and the RBS article:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/01/26/costar-drops-130m-on-5th-street-office-building-that-bears-its-name/
 

Some key take-always I took from the article are:

- CoStar plans to build another building/office tower on the adjacent land and bridge it with the existing building to create a campus. To me that does not sound like they would build tall (just my opinion) because they want to keep “harmonious with the area and the river.”

- They will be adding up to about 2,000 more employees over the next couple of years - most will be in Richmond (that would be a total of about 3,000 employees)!

- They are just now starting to do a study of what will work for a building there (they are looking at different ideas), but the study will take about a year to yield the most likely layout, height, and size.

- All of this came to be after the NH plan died where they had planned to build a new office tower of about 400,000 sq feet at the time. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by eandslee

[Hike]

It's been awhile since I've posted, Costar project got me motivated.  Like eandslee said above, the buying of the adjacent building tells a story, not just that they bought it but that they're going to connect to it.  That says a couple things, it won't be far away and it will probably take architectural elements of its conjoined attachment.  My guess is that the automobile turnaround, shown in the image below, will be the approximate base of the new building, a mid rise, taller and less wide than the existing and with a similar "swoop" top, matching glass lines and colors.   It's fun to guess,  I think the proximity of the new is close to where I'm guessing, with a bridge,  you can't go too far away and there's not many other locations, the rest is a guess.  We've got a year, good grief, to wait...but if they already know a bridge, perhaps they're already drawing it and the design is already moving along?  They showed us drawings when it was part of the navy hill project, maybe it'll be sooner!  How long does it take to show a rectangle with a swoop, a bridge and the existing?

Edited January 26, 2021 by Hike

[Hike]

Heard this one is going to be 2 to 3 new buildings on their site , a 14, a 5 or 6 and parking, hope they're wrong or it changes somehow.  Would a taller option be nicer, yes, and looking for a positive way to see this, with the low elevation along  the river, is a lower project ok here anyway as it's prominence would be offset by being at the lower point of the city, don't waste our wish for height at this location?

 

[eandslee]

15 minutes ago, Hike said:

Heard this one is going to be 2 to 3 new buildings on their site , a 14, a 5 or 6 and parking, hope they're wrong or it changes somehow.  Would a taller option be nicer, yes, and looking for a positive way to see this, with the low elevation along  the river, is a lower project ok here anyway as it's prominence would be offset by being at the lower point of the city, don't waste our wish for height at this location?

 

This is what I figured would happen.  Their parcel is too big not to spread out some and make a campus.  I hate it, but it is what it is.  Hopefully, the design will be cool.

Well, on to the next business that we hope will take the leap to break the height barrier in Richmond.  It's definitely not going to happen with CoStar.   

I would love to see Atlantic Union Bank do it, but I think they are still too small.  They need to grow more, but I'm not sure they have the appetite for it right now...or ever.  Banks are good for  building tall and fancy (in a prominent location).  If it ever happens for Atlantic Union, it would make me very happy!

[wrldcoupe4]

I have always heard that the seller, New Market, would have restrictions on heights so as to now overpower their offices and block views from it. Assume the taller building next to the fed parking deck and smaller tiered down towards the canal.  It will look nice I’m sure. 

[Wahoo 07]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

I have always heard that the seller, New Market, would have restrictions on heights so as to now overpower their offices and block views from it. Assume the taller building next to the fed parking deck and smaller tiered down towards the canal.  It will look nice I’m sure. 

Hopefully there will be a residential component.  I can see there being some stout demand to live in such a proximity to the river.

[Hike]

Was digging around and found this as part of a video on vimeo  which has been taken down or doesn't allow access but was able to generate an image from the link.  Interesting massing going on here, notice the "large" gray structure going out of the frame top left, which I'm guessing will be the bulk of the taller structure, but not shown much in this image.  This illustrates doing something on all parts of the land, creating a large connected campus.  Noted the items that are the federal reserve and the existing office, then it shows a terraced building in the foreground with the tall structure going out of the picture top left.  OJB Landscape Architecture, thanks Google.

p.s., I assumed the connection was going to be above ground to the new but now think it will be below grade as i don't see a "bridge" connection here.  This was dated Feb. 19, 2021

Edited March 11, 2021 by Hike

[wrldcoupe4]

Good find!

[I miss RVA]

Hike: great find! Interesting - the dark gray taller structure looks to be AT LEAST 14 stories tall (by floor count) - and is perhaps sitting  ON TOP OF multi-level ??  Given that it's still going out of the picture, I wonder if that's indicative that it could be LARGER than 14 stories? Not that we know for sure, but I get the impression that this building isn't but so "deep" north-to-south, which is good because it wouldn't be just a big cube (which would, of course, lend itself to a smaller building if it was)... So it might actually have a bit of height to it. It definitely seems to be considerably taller than the existing CoStar building.

Even though not the "epic" skyscraper we all are hoping for - this rendering really is very interesting and suggests that the buildings that rise there could have some prominence on the riverfront part of the skyline. Even absent the super-sized height, this might be a REALLY nice addition to the overall skyline, at least based on what's shown here.

Edited March 11, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Wahoo 07]

19 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Hike: great find! Interesting - the dark gray taller structure looks to be AT LEAST 14 stories tall (by floor count) - and is perhaps sitting  ON TOP OF multi-level ??  Given that it's still going out of the picture, I wonder if that's indicative that it could be LARGER than 14 stories? Not that we know for sure, but I get the impression that this building isn't but so "deep" north-to-south, which is good because it wouldn't be just a big cube (which would, of course, lend itself to a smaller building if it was)... So it might actually have a bit of height to it. It definitely seems to be considerably taller than the existing CoStar building.

Even though not the "epic" skyscraper we all are hoping for - this rendering really is very interesting and suggests that the buildings that rise there could have some prominence on the riverfront part of the skyline. Even absent the super-sized height, this might be a REALLY nice addition to the overall skyline, at least based on what's shown here.

Even if it doesn't break 300', it would add some layered depth to the cityscape.

[Icetera]

26 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Hike: great find! Interesting - the dark gray taller structure looks to be AT LEAST 14 stories tall (by floor count) - and is perhaps sitting  ON TOP OF multi-level ??  Given that it's still going out of the picture, I wonder if that's indicative that it could be LARGER than 14 stories? Not that we know for sure, but I get the impression that this building isn't but so "deep" north-to-south, which is good because it wouldn't be just a big cube (which would, of course, lend itself to a smaller building if it was)... So it might actually have a bit of height to it. It definitely seems to be considerably taller than the existing CoStar building.

Even though not the "epic" skyscraper we all are hoping for - this rendering really is very interesting and suggests that the buildings that rise there could have some prominence on the riverfront part of the skyline. Even absent the super-sized height, this might be a REALLY nice addition to the overall skyline, at least based on what's shown here.

Keeping in mind that the current building is around 13 floors at the riverfront facing, that structure looks closer to 20 (the layers do not seem to fit as floors).  With its position in the skyline being well-off center, I would be very happy with something around 20 floors at that location.