Richmond off-topic postings

[wrldcoupe4]

How do ya'll think Richmond fairs as a financial center? Even though the days of Signet, Crestar, Central Fidelity etc are gone, I'd say we still boast a decent presence:

Wachovia Securities Headquarters which is the third-largest broker-dealer in U.S. by client assets

Suntrust Mortgage Headquarters

Genworth Financial HQ...which has more than $103 billion and over 15 million customers in 22 countries.

Major Capitol One presence...about half the company is employed in Richmond.

LandAmerica Headquarters

Scott & Stringfellow Headquarters

Federal Reserve Headquarters for the Fifth Federal Reserve District

The Brinks Companies global HQ which protects all that $$$

Saxon Capital HQ which is a residential mortgage lender and servicer that manages a portfolio of mortgage assets exceeding $21.5 billion

There are probably others that I left out and other financial companies have a major presence in the area, though not HQ's. I'd say that even though Richmond's major banks have been gobbled up, it still does okay as a financial center.

[burt]

How do ya'll think Richmond fairs as a financial center? Even though the days of Signet, Crestar, Central Fidelity etc are gone, I'd say we still boast a  decent presence:

Wachovia Securities Headquarters which is the third-largest broker-dealer in U.S. by client assets

Suntrust Mortgage Headquarters

Genworth Financial HQ...which has more than $103 billion and over 15 million customers in 22 countries.

Major Capitol One presence...about half the company is employed in Richmond.

LandAmerica Headquarters

Scott & Stringfellow Headquarters

Federal Reserve Headquarters for the Fifth Federal Reserve District

The Brinks Companies global HQ which protects all that $$$

Saxon Capital HQ which is a residential mortgage lender and servicer that manages a portfolio of mortgage assets exceeding $21.5 billion

There are probably others that I left out and other financial companies have a major presence in the area, though not HQ's. I'd say that even though Richmond's major banks have been gobbled up, it still does okay as a financial center.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Welcome back, Coupe, even if it's only for 2 days. I thought about you when I saw reports on the Weather Chanel that The Smokies were getting lots of rain. Hope you weren't waterlogged.

Re: financial conditions in Richmond, they're not bad at all. But had there not been archaic Banking laws enacted by the General Assembly years ago, Charlotte would still be a sleepy southern city and Richmond could have been Shangrila-on-the-James.

[burt]

Nice story (with slides) today in the RTD about the Games on the James. 1500 participated yesterday (Saturday) and the games are to continue today. It's tied in with XXterra. There were bike competitions beginning on Belle Island, through Forest Hill Park, and back to Belle Isle. Kayakers cavorted thru the falls and white water, all within view of the skyline of downtown. Up at Robious Landing (and I'm not sure where that is except maybe west of the Willy Bridge near Stoney Point), they water skied and flipped head over heels on boards. Downstream near Rocketts Landing, there was a regatta of rowboats numbering over a hundred. If you get a chance, view the slides with the RTD story.

Edited July 3, 2005 by burt

[burt]

According to a Greg Gilligan story in today's RTD Business sectiion, Fresh Market, out of North Carolina, will open its first Richmond area operation soon. It will be at the Saxon Shoe store on Parham Road near Regency Square when Saxon moves its operation to Short Pump Town Center. Opening will probably be early 2006..

Fresh Market offers specialty produce, meats, seafood, cheese and baked goods while trying to create the feel of an old European market.

Other locations in Virginia are in Williamsburg and Virginia Beach.

Expansion in Greater Richmond is a strong possibility.

[burt]

GREAT NEWS from the mayor about Richmond's population...its growing! In 2002, Richmond's population had increased from 197,000 in 2000 to about 200,000. I'd bet my bottom dollar it's substantially higher today.

From richmond.com's ask the mayor:

"Has the City of Richmond experienced population growth in recent years? If so, where has the growth come from and in what areas of the City is it found? What are the obstacles to growth? What is the outlook for further population growth?

F. E. (Pat) Patterson

2511 W. Grace Street

I am pleased to report that City of Richmond's population is growing, with an estimated 200,038 people as of December 31, 2002 (the City's most recent estimate), which is up from 197,790 people as surveyed by the Census Bureau in 2000. The most growth is occurring in Downtown (Jackson Ward, Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom and Monroe Ward) and along the City's southern boundary near Chippenham Parkway. Aside from that latter area, Richmond is basically "built out" and the opportunity for growth in housing and population lies in adaptive reuse, redevelopment and infill.

While no formal data is available since 2000 to document the origin of new residents, one can surmise that recent growth in VCU's undergraduate and graduate programs has added population as well as the growing number of young professionals now residing in Downtown. The popularity of urban living has fueled many Downtown residential conversions, while the availability of land for new single-family developments has brought growth along the City's southern boundary."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In light of recent contrary census figures, I wish someone would pose this question again to Mr. Wilder.

[burt]

Style Weekly's current issue has some interesting reports. One is that they submitted the survey about acceptance of the Performing Arts Center to a couple of polling experts to settle the argument over whether or not the survey questions were biased. You may recall that there was an 83% favorable response. Both polling experts agreed that, while some questions may have been leading, the overall results were not out of line, and that the survey was handled in as professional a manner as most reliable polls.

Also, there's a story about interest in the National Theatre. Someone wants to buy it, add a 120 room La Quinta affiliated hotel above it and build super suites at the top of the balcony so that hotel guests could lie in bed and view whatever is occurring on stage. Said entertainment would be of the dinner-theater variety. So far, Historic Richmond Association, owner of the building, is resisting. They want the building's footprint to remain unaltered. VAPAF is also opposed. And if I may add an editorial comment, me, too.

Edited July 6, 2005 by burt

[burt]

Just a passing thought.

I've often wondered what goes on behind the locked doors of the abandoned Sears building on Broad at Allen Avenue. If it is truly abandoned, who keeps the grafitti goonies from frequently tagging it? Generally, unoccupied buildings quickly fall into decay. Do you suppose something ultra secret is going on within?!!!

Anyway, it occurred to me that the site would be perfect for an in-town Ikea. It's a very large building and there is ample parking area. Anybody agree or disagree? B)

[Brent]

Sauers (sp?) the spice company owns it and stores their packaged spices in it. That's why it is never on the market and stays relatively clean.

I think that I would make a nice movie theater.

[burt]

Sauers (sp?) the spice company owns it and stores their packaged spices in it.  That's why it is never on the market and stays relatively clean.

I think that I would make a nice movie theater.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

SAUERS!! Damn. I thought some kind of top secret CIA activity was covertly underway. Ah, well, back to the pedestrian World!!

You're right, it would convert nicely to a multiplex. In fact, I've heard that particular area was being studied by Regal cinemas (or some other moviehouse owner).

[burt]

Cindy dropped about 4 inches of rain over Richmond early this morning resulting in about a foot of water in parts of Shockoe Bottom. Affected, they say, were Rosie Connolly's Pub and the Havana 59 building. When is work going to begin on the drainage situation down there?

[Downtowner]

I would love to here your alls thoughts on why Richmond Can't do any better.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

in what regard? When I drove through Richmond I thought it was pretty neat.

[vdogg]

I'll post in here too. I think Richmond is doing just great. Part of the problem is all the suburban land you have for development. It appears after reading some of the threads that u guys still have a problem with companies fleeing to the suburbs. After the green line situation was instituted here in HR it was only a matter of time before the land pressures existed to build up. And DT Norfolk is simply out of space, so much so that demolition of strategic areas has begun to accomodate demand for DT property. I think once all these new condos come online in DT Richmond you will see a resurgence of interest in development there.

[eandslee]

As far as development is concerned, I think that Richmond is doing better than it has in the past. Still, it probably could do better. Politics within the city probably contribute to a good portion of that. However, I think Richmond's biggest blow was when Richmond lost all of its bank headquarters in the mid 1990s. If there were not laws on the Virginia law books that prohibited out-of-state acquisition at the time, then Richmond would be a banking powerhouse right now instead of Charlotte, which would have spawned more development than what Richmond is seeing right now. Richmond has recovered well though and like I said earlier, it IS doing better. That's one thing I do like about Richmond and that is it is resilient. Richmond has, often times, taken some major blows, but it has always seemed to be able to get back on its feet and carry on. Sure, Richmond has had its setbacks, but all in all and for what Richmond has been through, I think that it has done fairly well. It could always be better though. Richmond has very great potential - location is perfect, important growth elements are in place, a great place to live, history is very abundant, but I also think it's Richmond's history and the ideals it once stood for that could also be hindering it. It's like a 145 year sentence to be hindered economically for its role in the Civil War. I think that's unfair. Most people in Richmond have moved on and wish people would not think of the "Old Richmond", but rather a new Richmond that has vision, growth potential, and is willing to show the rest of the world that we have moved on. I just wish people would give the region a chance to prove it.

[vdogg]

Very well put. Part of improving a regions image is people like you who can put out there the positive things going on in their region. It really only takes a small group of dedicated and positive people to change the way people look at an area. I'm wondering though, here in Norfolk we have the downtown Norfolk council. Their group exist soley to market Norfolk and they have been doing a fantastic job in recent years. Is their a Richmond counterpart to this? If so what is the name of this group and do they have a website?

[Downtowner]

The one thing I don't like about Richmond is the freakin subrubs I'm sick of the suburbs lookin great I wish The City could do something to bring business and Residents back to the city. We need bigger Housing with less cost.Thats what people are looking for.If they have a family of four or five then they would be looking at bigger housing. Thats what we need is bigger housing.

[eandslee]

Very well put. Part of improving a regions image is people like you who can put out there the positive things going on in their region. It really only takes a small group of dedicated and positive people to change the way people look at an area. I'm wondering though, here in Norfolk we have the downtown Norfolk council. Their group exist soley to market Norfolk and they have been doing a fantastic job in recent years. Is their a Richmond counterpart to this? If so what is the name of this group and do they have a website?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Vdogg, we do have an organization whose sole job is to market Richmond and the immediate area and it is called the Greater Richmond Partnership. They've been in existence since the early 90's and they've won awards for their work (I think they've won like the top promoter of any city like 3 years in a row or something like that). Their website is www.grpva.com. The problem the organization is facing right now is that it is funded by the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover and the City of Richmond, and Chesterfield has threatened to not fund the organization because they felt they were not getting their "cut" in because Henrico was getting all of the new businesses relocating to the area. Richmond City soon followed with their threat to cut off money to the organization, but niether have yet to do it. The Partnership has done extremely well and has promoted growth and has attracted many companies to the area. I'd say, without them, we wouldn't have seen quite the success we have seen in the area as of late. For example, they really helped located Philip Morris back to Richmond and have assisted in bringing many more business to the area like Wachovia Securities, K Line and many others I can't seem to think of at this time. Check out their website though because it is a good one and I think they've done an extraordinary job!

[vdogg]

I am posting this here because there is an absolutely great post from a new Richmond forumer who just signed up today on another part of the site. I think you all should read this. Post

[wrldcoupe4]

They do have a very good site marketing the region. I am unaware of a business group that solely markets the downtown market though. I think the Richmond area as a whole will always remain fairly vibrant because of its extremely diverse business community. I think the major factors holding the city itself (not really the region) is the crime and schools in the city. They are both extremely complex issues without easy fixes, however, if the city had comparable crime and schools to the suburbs, I guarantee it would be booming the likes of which we have never seen. as a whole though, I think Richmond has been steadily moving forward. We have a lot of fortune 1000 companies (12 or more I think), very low unemployment, and all the pluses mentioned above. Joey, I think what you are looking for is some massive 60-story tower to go up downtown. What you overlook is the massive amounts of smaller projects taking place in ever corner of the city. IMO, the great mass of smaller projects in the city is more important in the long run than some massive tower that makes everyone's eyes glaze over.

As a whole, the region is prospering. Housing demand vastly exceeds supply. They seriously can't build housing fast enough in our area. The avg. property in the Richmond area is on the market for 35 days. Unemployment is very low and the county schools are nationally recognized year in and year out. The city is also doing verrrrry well. you sohuld do some research into all the developments going on within the city limits. The major factors holding the city back are crime and school performance. The foundation of these problems is poverty and other complex issues. If we can start to overcome these, I guarantee Richmond will truly shine.

[burt]

Why did the city let John Woodward go? As far as I can determine from reading the paper, he has done more to help the Bottom revive than anybody else in the city.

[preservationengineer]

I love my city dearly, she has so much to offer us it is unbelievable. Part of the problem with the way the city has been for so long is that the municipality has neglected basic infrastructure needs, thereby diminishing the public's ability to feel emotionally secure with their surrounds...I think this ultimately leads to more people, and businesses moving towards the suburbs. A main example of what I am speaking is with the recent deaths and paralyzing effects of Gaston toward Shockoe Bottom, and the neglect of several areas of Broad Street, though there are many more.

Why things like 'small business buffers' are not advertised on television in order to attract businesses downtown are unbenounced to me. Also, I recently heard that the average age of Richmonders is 66. Does someone know otherwise? We need to make efforts to attract people in the "young and restless" category, because they are the future who will sustain older cities.

[wrldcoupe4]

hey by the way I enjoyed your first post. I really have a hard time believing that the average age of Richmonders is 66. Where did you hear that? I agree about the infrastructure. Better sidewalks, lighting, and road surfaces would go a long way (it would be nice if the electrical lines were buried underground too though its pretty pricy). I also think its important for all citizens to respect and take pride in their city. See litter? pick it up. Things like that.

[wrldcoupe4]

I agree...I think it came as a shock as well. Wilder really is cleaning house. I wonder if there will be anyone left in city hall that was there before wilder??

[burt]

I was appalled to read vdogg's report today about the Fed Government's possible intention to exercise public domain over Buddy Gaddam's Granby Tower. Vdogg posted it on RCW this morning. Not to be believed!

[wrldcoupe4]

I agree, that would be a major blow to Norfolk. btw, the girlfriend's cousin was also the art director for War of the Worlds. We'll have to wait till November to see his work on The New World...