Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[Rooster]

Hey yall! finally figure out how to login here - been following the conversations here for a while and have a passion for this fair city of ours  Screw taxes for advertising - Richmond is too cool a place to try and copy what other cities do. Let it happen organically - might be slower than some of yall would like but will be WAY better in the long run.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, Rooster said:

Hey yall! finally figure out how to login here - been following the conversations here for a while and have a passion for this fair city of ours  Screw taxes for advertising - Richmond is too cool a place to try and copy what other cities do. Let it happen organically - might be slower than some of yall would like but will be WAY better in the long run.

Welcome aboard, @Rooster!! Very glad you decided to join the fun and craziness here. 

I will definitely agree with you that RVA is WAY too cool a place to copy any other city. Mind you - our significantly ramping up the rate of growth here doesn't require RVA to "copy" other cities.  Doing similar things to what other cities are doing - is simply normal urban growth and evolution - it's a process common to ALL cities. It's not a matter of copying anyone.  

Now, we'll have to agree to disagree, however, on the other points (organic growth vs supercharged growth). Organic (to me) is not only too slow - it's tantamount to practically zero growth because 50  years from now we won't be changed much at all from how we are now. At least for me, that absolutely won't work. At all.

I just turned 60 - and have been following all of this stuff for the past 50 years (yeah... I actually started seriously following it when I was a kid... (commence the eye rolling)) ... My whole life, I always dreamed RVA would actually become a legitimate major city. And 50 years later... well... you can imagine the pain I've endured over the past five decades watching her NOT become what I've dreamed she would be.

HOWEVER - I've been VERY heartened to see her stepping up her game in the last 10 or so years - and it's renewed my enthusiasm that I might live to see at least part of my dream for the city fulfilled before they lay my tuchus in the ground.   But I want more. A LOT MORE! (Yes, I'm greedy!!)

Anyway... all that said - welcome aboard!! Please don't be a stranger! Looking forward to your take on a wide variety of RVA topics. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

Another economic/business WIN for Richmond!!! Maryland-based general contractor Harkins Builders has opened a Richmond office. Mike's lede in today's RBS says it all:

"Richmond's building boom has caught the eye of a Maryland-based general contractor."

Which means - they were drawn to Richmond and are opening an office here BECAUSE of the hot construction boom that RVA has been enjoying - still more proof positive that Richmond is starting to be increasingly seen by developers and others in the CRE industry around the county as one of the "IT" cities - one of the "HOT" up-and-coming cities that's really on the move. Interestingly, Harkins is the third out-of-market construction firm to open RVA offices this year.

Note the roster of locations that the Columbia, Maryland-based firm now boasts: Philadelphia, Charlotte, Richmond.

THAT - to me - says a LOT. Pretty exclusive company to be in - and quite rarified air. 

The company, which specializes in multifamily housing, currently has a set up a temporary office in the Boulders Office Park. They're looking to open permanent digs in either Scott's Addition or in Manchester - RVA's hottest and fastest-growing sections. Right now, they're starting out with a staff of four and are looking to perhaps triple that number in the near future as they get established here.

Here's Mike's reporting in today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/12/02/maryland-construction-company-builds-richmond-presence-with-new-office/

Edited December 2, 2022 by I miss RVA

[Shakman]

Although not a very large GC, this is the type of attention Richmond needs.

[I miss RVA]

More good pub for RVA, reported in today's Axios Richmond.

Richmond is ranked SIXTH nationally in apartment conversions - that is, creating new apartments via adaptive re-use of previously non-residential space (office buildings, factories, warehouses, etc.) - for the period of 2020-2022, according to a study by RentCafe. RVA is in with real heavy hitters among the list of cities who topped this survey. Unsurprisingly, the entire top 5 are old "legacy" urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest, including Philly, Chicago, D.C., Cleveland and Pittsburgh. NYC came in seventh.

Check out the Axios article here:

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2022/12/07/richmond-apartment-conversions-warehouses

And check out the source article/study from RentCafe here:

https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/adaptive-reuse-apartments/

 

 

[wrldcoupe4]

Saw this in an email from Henrico Economic Development - Richmond region was ranked #2 in the world for future warehouse and logistics locations.

https://content.yudu.com/web/43wcl/0A43wm9/fDidec20/html/index.html?page=114&origin=reader

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Saw this in an email from Henrico Economic Development - Richmond region was ranked #2 in the world for future warehouse and logistics locations.

https://content.yudu.com/web/43wcl/0A43wm9/fDidec20/html/index.html?page=114&origin=reader

HOLY WOWWWW!!! Thanks, Coupe!! What a great find! And more FANTASTIC pub for RVA -- and this good press will be/is VERY far reaching.

@wrldcoupe4, @upzoningisgoodand any/all of our other gurus: from your professional perspective - how can RVA/RVA metro leverage this going forward into significant growth?

Folks, here's the list of the Top 5 in this category from the article Coupe referenced:

Edited December 8, 2022 by I miss RVA

[upzoningisgood]

On the multifamily development side, we wouldn't care until this leads to more jobs. But if the economic development team can spin this into a few hundred or thousand jobs, yeah that would get our attention.

[I miss RVA]

Folks, I'm posting this here and not in the City Center/Biotech Park thread because it's more of a business/RVA market-related kind of story rather than a location-specific development. RBS is reporting that Richmond-based Phlow Corp. and Maryland-based non-profit U.S. Pharmacopeia will share lab space in the Biotech 8 building at 506 E. Jackson Street downtown in the Biotech Park. The biggest takeaways are not merely Phlow's expansion via dedicating  new lab space in the Biotech Park - but that U.S. Pharmacopeia -- whose roots go back some 200 years -- is opening up a lab in Richmond - marking yet another entry by an out-of-state firm into the RVA market -- another WIN for Richmond!

Both labs are expected to be up and running early next year with each employing roughly 15 scientists.

Phlow's headquarters offices will remain in the Riverside on the James building.

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/12/13/phlow-and-maryland-nonprofit-opening-shared-lab-in-richmond/

[Child2021]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbc12.com/2022/12/14/henrico-enters-development-agreement-greencity/%3foutputType=amp

[I miss RVA]

A good feature story in today's RBS that might've otherwise slipped under our collective RVA UP radar, but one that I think is a very big deal from an RVA business standpoint: The iconic downtown Richmond-based 125-year-old architecture firm Baskervill is opening satellite offices in Charlotte and Denver - expanding a business footprint that has gone global (and this is the big takeaway IMNSHO) with an office in Gdansk, Poland. These new offices will bring to six worldwide, five in the U.S. (Richmond-HQ, D.C/NOVA, Orlando, Charlotte and Denver. 

The biggest takeaways that I see are again, expanding the Richmond name far and wide. Adding other important business centers to the roster of cities of a RICHMOND-BASED company is just as important (and in my mind, impressive) as adding RICHMOND to the roster of an out-of-state firm.  And - even if it's only incremental, this certainly can have an impact on air service at RIC with more opportunities for business travelers to fly to/from (particularly) Denver and Orlando as well as Charlotte -- AND -- perhaps more importantly -- giving more credence to the concept of luring a budget carrier to offer a few trans-Atlantic flights out of RIC once our international infrastructure has been re-established and is up and running (particularly when we add LEGO to the mix with their uber-factory to be built in the metro - and IF (a HUGE hypothetical IF) we were to ever lure their corporate HQ to the River City from Connecticut).

This is another example of an outstanding opportunity to further position Richmond as a player in the national -- and global -- business scene.

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/12/16/baskervill-broadens-footprint-with-new-offices-in-charlotte-and-denver/

Edited December 16, 2022 by I miss RVA

[upzoningisgood]

I’ve been visiting for the day and Broad Street and The Fan seems…deader then usual? Like there seem to be a lot more vacancies than I remember. Am I tripping?

Edited December 21, 2022 by upzoningisgood

[plain]

1 hour ago, upzoningisgood said:

I’ve been visiting for the day and Broad Street and The Fan seems…deader then usual? Like there seem to be a lot more vacancies than I remember. Am I tripping?

You're right. You're tripping.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, upzoningisgood said:

I’ve been visiting for the day and Broad Street and The Fan seems…deader then usual? Like there seem to be a lot more vacancies than I remember. Am I tripping?

Because I grew up in the '60s and early 70s, I remember when Broad Street was jammed with people (and quite frankly could have been a picture of just about any street in Manhattan or downtown Chicago for all the activity) - and by the time we got into the '80s, it seemed TOTALLY dead by comparison.

That said, I totally hear where you're coming from, @upzoningisgood. Maybe everyone's hunkered down for the holidays? Absent the AMAZING retail core of 50, 60-plus years ago, which in reality withered and died on the vine throughout the '70s and '80s, Broad Street and downtown can get awfully empty, unfortunately.

This is what is USED to look like! How I wish we could get this kind of concentration of people back in downtown again - but we're a long ways off from this.

 

And it DIDN'T have to be the holiday shopping season to be jam-packed!

 

Of course, during the holiday shopping season, it was absolutely INSANE downtown!

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by I miss RVA

[wrldcoupe4]

3 hours ago, upzoningisgood said:

I’ve been visiting for the day and Broad Street and The Fan seems…deader than usual? Like there seem to be a lot more vacancies than I remember. Am I tripping?

VCU area empties out for the holidays.  Always feels a little quiet this time of year there. 

[upzoningisgood]

2 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

VCU area empties out for the holidays.  Always feels a little quiet this time of year there. 

Right. Thanks!

[I miss RVA]

As part of their series of year-end reviews, Mike has a nice write-up in today's RBS about CRE developments in the city in 2022. Highlights include the Diamond District redevelopment, CoStar's big tower on the riverfront, some select projects in Scott's Addition, the burgeoning Manchester skyline, and residential development downtown, including The Project Formerly Known as The Admiral at 2nd and E. Marshall AND one we've forgotten about - a mystery developer's plans for a 15-story tower on Grace Street in Monroe Ward near the  "Y" to replace one of the Parkway-owned surface parking lots. Maybe it's just me, but I honestly think 2022 actually outpaced 2021 in terms of development in the city.

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/12/27/the-year-in-cre-city-development-recap-for-2022/

Edited December 27, 2022 by I miss RVA

[rjp212]

Bruce mentioned "The City population is growing at about a rate of 10,000 per year..." I assume he means the metro, because that would be Charlotte level growth if it was only the city proper and they have 6x the land area.   Either way that is a pretty decent clip for a metro our size.

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, rjp212 said:

Bruce mentioned "The City population is growing at about a rate of 10,000 per year..." I assume he means the metro, because that would be Charlotte level growth if it was only the city proper and they have 6x the land area.   Either way that is a pretty decent clip for a metro our size.

Good call! 

[flaneur]

replying to the post above about broad st being quiet, i had the opposite experience while home for the holidays last week. on wednesday, my brother and i parked near the jefferson to see the decorations, then walked to quirk for their pink tree, and then walked all over downtown covering broad and grace back and forth from belvidere to the capitol and then going down to main and cary. we got coffee at quirk, cocktails and oysters at birdies, amazing bread at europa crust, and i wanted to eat and drink at many more places but ran out of stomach space and time. we passed so many relatively new businesses such as jolene and vinyl conflict. perly's had about 20 people waiting on the sidewalk, lillie pearl and rappahannock were both packed. true, the streets weren't bustling with pedestrians as in downtown's retail golden age, but the amount of vibrant small businesses nicely filling in the old retail core is really impressive! i also saw some great infill under construction such as the large, 12 or so story residential building near franklin and adams. downtown's making some awesome progress and it just keeps getting better and better every time i come home. 

[eandslee]

I wonder if any of these AWS data centers will be located in the Richmond area (i.e. eastern Henrico near QTS)?  Wish this article would have already included the selected sites.  At any rate, this could be good news for the area, especially since NOVA areas are fighting these places off. Their loss could be Richmond’s gain!

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/amazon-web-services-to-invest-35b-in-va-data-center-campuses/

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, eandslee said:

I wonder if any of these AWS data centers will be located in the Richmond area (i.e. eastern Henrico near QTS)?  Wish this article would have already included the selected sites.  At any rate, this could be good news for the area, especially since NOVA areas are fighting these places off. Their loss could be Richmond’s gain!

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/amazon-web-services-to-invest-35b-in-va-data-center-campuses/

Here's where the Greater Richmond Partnership, the mayor's office, the governor's office, the city's economic development office, among many many other local government, civic and business leaders, state delegates, state senators - heck - local CONGRESSIONAL representatives for that matter - NEED to step up and put on a FULL COURT PRESS to get at least one of these AWS centers located in metro Richmond. Perhaps the economic development folks for Henrico County could really take the lead on this, given the presence of data centers in the Sandston/Varina area. Landing one or more of these campuses would be a HUGE win for metro RVA!

This NEEDS to happen!

Edited January 20, 2023 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

Henrico’s new Economic Development Authority web page. I really like Henrico County and their policies:

https://www.henrico.com/news/henricotimes

[I miss RVA]

49 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Henrico’s new Economic Development Authority web page. I really like Henrico County and their policies:

https://www.henrico.com/news/henricotimes

 !!!

Agreed -- I really like what I'm seeing from them. Pedal to the metal is the only way to go.

[wrldcoupe4]

Lego moving their HQ to Boston by the way....