Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[burt]

I seriously doubt that CNB tower would be in the running. But if the Mayor, RR and Greg Wingfield's recruitment office could influence a downtown location, Centennial and possibly the Ethyl sites would be attractive. After all, they'll be in temporary quarters until moving into their own building in 2008. Doesn't that hint that a spanking new headquarters building is under serious consideration?

My gut feeling is the same as yours, coupe. Regrettably, the burbs will win out - probably, SHORT PUMP, Virginia (grrrrr! how I hate that address!) or Watkins Center.

[wrldcoupe4]

I can almost guarantee that MeadWestvaco will build a brand spaking new HQ in the region.

A soundbite from NBC12's coverage:

MeadWestvaco CEO: "Richmond is Easy to Love"

here's the link to the NBC12 story and video (video must be viewed in internet explorer)

MeadWestvaco makes Richmond move

[urbanvb]

Great news for the RIC area!

[burt]

Great news for the RIC area!

Thanks, Guy. We are excited. A total of 400 new high-paying jobs in addition to the transfer of 200 Meade/Westvaco employees in Chesterfield to a new Headquarters building for this Fortune 500 company has us jumping thru hoops with excitement. If only they will pick downtown as their headquarter's site!

Richmond has always been in the top 20 of Fortune 1000 cities across the nation, and I suppose it 's sort of like once established, it continues. I wish HR would get these businesses, too (not ours, though ), because high-paying positions help an area's economy so much. That said, it doesn't look like Norfolk and its neighboring 7-cities are suffering. The growth you guys are experiencing is phenominal.

Edited February 15, 2006 by burt

[eandslee]

This move will bring 400 new jobs to the Richmond area!

I really think this is SUPER news and it's always a good sign when Fortune 1000 companies want to relocate to your city. This really is great news...will be even better news if they decide to build a new corporate headquarters downtown Richmond! We need another anchor downtown. Perhaps they'll even sponsor the Coliseum...Lord knows, it would be nice to have a sponsor to that place since no other business in town will! Maybe it's because it looks like crap!...literally!

[wrldcoupe4]

And the search for a home for MeadWestvaco begins!

Substantial Space is Needed for Company's New HQ

The packaging company is "starting to kick some tires," said commercial real estate broker Charles M. Polk III with Advantis Real Estate Services Co. in Richmond.

The company most likely would look for Class A office space downtown or in the suburbs, Polk said.

With 600 employees in one location, MeadWestvaco would need at least 200,000 square feet, said Evan M. Magrill, a senior vice president at Thalhimer/Cushman & Wakefield in Richmond..........

The company wants to consolidate headquarters operations here by 2008. That would give it time to build, Magrill said.

Space is available in downtown Richmond along the canal or in the yet-to-be-built Centennial Tower at 500 E. Main St., Magrill said.

Or the company could build in the suburbs, in the Innsbrook and Short Pump areas in western Henrico, CenterPointe office park in Chesterfield County or West Creek business park in Goochland County.

Centennial Towers would be a GREAT PLACE for this~!

[burt]

And the search for a home for MeadWestvaco begins!

Substantial Space is Needed for Company's New HQ

Centennial Towers would be a GREAT PLACE for this~!

You've been reading my lips!

Better call Lenny and set up an appointment so you can convince him this is the fit for his big tower. Or at least e-mail him and suggest what I said about visiting execs just taking an elevator to their suites in the Pent House Ritz Carlton after meeting with the Westvaco boys 50 stories below.

Edited February 16, 2006 by burt

[burt]

I thought this would be Richmond's 7th Fortune 500 company, but one of the articles says it will be the 8th.

Don't put Bow Tie out of the running! They've already got their land cleared.

Charley Polk is in there plugging on behalf of Advantis Realty, I see.

[wrldcoupe4]

And yet some more press on the story!

MeadWestvaco Moving In

Some quotes on why MeadWestvaco chose the Richmond area:

"This is the state seal," Kaine said. "It symbolizes Virginia slaying its economic competitors."

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John A. Luke Jr., MeadWestvaco's chairman and chief executive officer, said the decision to relocate has been in the works for more than a year but Richmond was an obvious choice in the end.

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Luke added that Richmond was chosen for a number of reasons but the "Commonwealth's pro-business climate" and "Richmond's can-do attitude" put the city at the top of the company's list.

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"As Governor Kaine has told us on many occasions, Richmond is easy to love," Luke said.

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Luke said the area's "strong and talented work force, relatively low business costs and terrific educational system" also led to the company's final decision.

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"There will be a ripple effect throughout the entire economic community," Wingfield said.

====================================================================

Also... a little information on just how Richmond was able to lure such a big catch...

Area's Top Executives Helped Seal the Deal

.........During a February 2005 visit, MeadWestvaco's top executives met with government officials and leading local executives, including Bill Goodwin of CCA Industries, Austin Ligon of CarMax, Charles Foster of LandAmerica, Marge Connelly of Capital One and Mike Szymanczyk of Philip Morris.

"It was all about collaboration," said Connelly, who is also chairwoman of the partnership. More than 20 local companies joined the quest to woo MeadWestvaco, she said.

In April, the competition narrowed to Richmond and Atlanta, with Raleigh, N.C., dropping out of contention.........

====================================================================

One more article!

New Home Needed for MeadWestvaco

More details about this move. It seems like it will be really competitive among the localities to land a new HQ in their part of town. I hope Wilder can woo these guys in with his inventive rhetoric!

Also, I didn't realize it but apparently 500 jobs will be displaced in Dayton Ohio as part of this move. 100 will come from Stamford. MWV is consolidated major portions of its business at this yet to be named new Richmond location.

And how about one more quote eh?

MVW's CEO/Chairman: "We love the city's cosmopolitan character, its diversity, its charm, its quality of life."

Edited February 16, 2006 by wrldcoupe4

[burt]

Hahaha! I was so excited that I scurried over to the Skycraper forum to see if you had got there first, coupe. I scrolled down about 10 items and didn't see it, so posted my own. Then after posting, I scrolled down further and, of course, there's was coupe's scoop. So our news is up there twice, though I suspect my entry will be eliminated by the moderator.

[ric75]

More good news for the Biotech Research Park...

German Firm Crosses the Pond

Local officials welcomed the creation of m

[wrldcoupe4]

Awesome news! If I'm not mistaken, I think this is the second German biotech company in recent months that has chosen to establish their north american location in Richmond

[wrldcoupe4]

5 Richmond-based companies make Fortune's Most Admired Companies list:

Most Admired from Richmond

Brink's

Carmax

Dominion

LandAmerica

Performance Food Group

oh btw... that's 5/9 for the state of virginia

[wrldcoupe4]

ohhhh 6 for Richmond if you include our new neighbor, MeadWestvaco

[wrldcoupe4]

Awesome news! If I'm not mistaken, I think this is the second German biotech company in recent months that has chosen to establish their north american location in Richmond

Yup.... German Company Coming to Biotech Park

The Virginia BioTechnology Research Park has landed its second German company in the past three months.

The firm, m.u.t. GmbH, creates products in the field of spectroscopy, a trade that centers on analysis of molecular structures from different objects...With m.u.t., 27 companies are in the incubator. The same number have "graduated," Lohr said. Since the park's founding in 1995, eight incubator companies have failed.

The German company's subsidiary in Richmond, m.u.t. America Inc., will provide sales and service operations.

The incubator will help it eventually hatch into a research, development and manufacturing facility much like m.u.t.'s German base, said Heino Pruess, the U.S. arm's chief executive. Johannsen said the company plans to eventually move into its own offices..........

Looks like we'll have another company building a R&D facility in the biotech park before too long

[wrldcoupe4]

Not huge news persay, but there's a couple changes at the top of one of Richmond's largest law firms....

Hunton & Williams has new leaders

Hunton & Williams LLP, the 105-year-old Richmond law firm with offices on three continents, has changed its top leadership.

Thurston R. Moore, the firm's managing partner since 1991, has been elected chairman of the executive committee. He succeeds Gordon F. Rainey Jr., 65, who becomes chairman emeritus.

Moore, 59, will be replaced as managing director by Walfrido "Wally" Martinez, a former partner in the Hunton & Williams Miami office who is general counsel for Diageo North America Inc., the giant liquor company that sells brands such as Sea- gram's and Johnnie Walker..............

............Hunton & Williams employs more than 850 lawyers, including 246 in Richmond. Its clients include Philip Morris USA, Bank of America, Genworth Financial, the World Bank and MeadWestvaco.

Edited February 24, 2006 by wrldcoupe4

[burt]

I think, overall, Hunton Williams is a biger law firm than McGuire Wood, tho the latter may have more lawyers in Metro Richmond.

Both Law firms are headquartered in Richmond.

Edited February 25, 2006 by burt

[burt]

Some good and not-so-good news in today's Real Estate Section. Downtown office occupancy, overall, is slipping, with Class B buildings seeing a rather alarming rise in vacancy rates. The good news is that Class A space is down to about %4 vacancy, which has to be good news for Centennial.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the class B building stock converts to residential.

Edited February 27, 2006 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

How costly is it to upgrade Class B into Class A space?

by the way... a 4% vacancy rate for Class A is damn good.

[wrldcoupe4]

Article on Infineon...

It talks a lot about the DRAM and semiconductor business, but there were a few details that I noticed...that pertained to Richmond. I had no idea how massive their facility in Richmond was!

Infineon's plant in Henrico -- the size of 23 football fields -- has 2,300 employees who work in shifts around-the-clock to produce basic computer memory chips called DRAM, a key data-storage component in PCs, laptops and servers.

The company is in the midst of a $1.5 billion expansion to its Henrico plant, which will help it cut chip production costs by 30 percent.

The plant's addition here continues as the company prepares itself for that next upswing of the chip cycle.

[urbanvb]

It seems like a lot of the relocation of jobs to the area are choosing the burbs instead of the city. Any ideas on this?

[wrldcoupe4]

It's cheaper to have a business in the suburbs... cheaper rent/taxes and free parking are probably the two biggest reasons.

[wrldcoupe4]

Here's a link to a page describing the MeadWestvaco relocation to Richmond..... The timeline shows just how diverse Richmond's effort was to win MeadWestvaco, beating out Atlanta and Raleigh in the process.

Good timeline at the bottom too!

Marge M. Connelly, chair of the Greater Richmond Partnership, Inc., added her thanks to all those from the public and private sectors who assisted in presenting Greater Richmond to the company, saying that

Edited February 28, 2006 by wrldcoupe4

[ric75]

Here's a link to a page describing the MeadWestvaco relocation to Richmond..... The timeline shows just how diverse Richmond's effort was to win MeadWestvaco, beating out Atlanta and Raleigh in the process.

Good timeline at the bottom too!

MeadWestvaco Announcement....

Also, it's important to point one more thing out... Richmond was originally eliminated from the field of 20-25 competing cities due to the international air service needs of MeadWestvaco (i.e. Richmond was too expensive to fly out of). Thank God we were reconsidered. Now that we have 2 low-cost carriers, I wonder how greatly it will effect our ability to attract new relocations and highpaying jobs like this one. It seems that in the past it was the achilles heal of Richmond.

Things certainly are looking up in the world of Richmond business. I like the reasons the CEO gave for choosing the Greater Richmond area. "cosmopolitan character, its diversity, its charm, its quality of life" I wonder if suburbanites appreciate how much the City itself contributes to such a description?

[burt]

HCA, Inc. has purchased 60 acres in West Creek where they intend building a medical center, though they have not yet

decided what kind of facility it will be. It will be southeast of Rt. 288 and Tuckahoe Pkwy near the new CarMax headquarters.

HCA is Richmond's 2nd largest private employer with 6600 workers. The company operates a number of hospitals in the area.