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Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate


wrldcoupe4

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Ah so, Ice. I guess the new shop expects there to be enough business to justify a second cleaners. And that just may be because what is euphemistically called Haxall View in old warehouses on 21st Street is undergoing renovation. That and the new "tower" of Canal Lofts will add potential customers.

the cleaners located on main just east of 18th street closed a few months ago. a new gym is supposed to move in where the cleaner moved out. i'm glad to see more retail fill in on east main -- it still looks pretty desolate.

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The former Radisson Hotel at Madison and West Franklin Streets is now officially The Doubletree. A friend who is traveling to Richmond called to make a reservation and was quoted a rate of

$177 per night, so he booked the Marriott for $129.

You're correct Burt. Ran by this morning and saw the new Doubletree logo on the doors and on a new sign on Franklin. They are offering valet service, I'm not sure if they offered this before.

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Some recent Richmond region accolades courtesy of the Greater Richmond Partnership:

Recent accolades from independent sources rate the Greater Richmond area as follows:

* One of the nation's 20 best places for business and careers, rated 14th among the 200 largest metro areas by Forbes, April 5, 2007.

* One of North America's top five large cities for best quality of life, human resources, and development and investment promotion in Foreign Direct Investment (fDi) magazine's top North American Cities of the Future 2007/08 competition, April/May 2007 issue.

* One of the South's top 10 places for the creative class in Southern Business & Development, Winter 2007.

* A five-star metro area for knowledge workers in Expansion Management, April 12, 2007.

In my opinion, one of the most promising rankings is the top 10 for the creative class in the south.

GRP news

Edited by wrldcoupe4
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the cleaners located on main just east of 18th street closed a few months ago. a new gym is supposed to move in where the cleaner moved out. i'm glad to see more retail fill in on east main -- it still looks pretty desolate.

I would love to see that strip fill in, again. With the clubs and all the new housing, the E. Main corridor should have some great potential and it would be nice to see a "Carytown" in the East.

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They need to fill in those lots and bring some family friendly places.

IMHO, the Boulevard/Broad St. corridor is a more ideal location to create a family-friendly atmosphere. With so many museums, the Diamond, and soon to be movie/entertainment complex, I think that area is a better canvas for creating a solid family-oriented identity. Shockoe Bottom and Tobacco Row are areas more suited to young professionals considering the housing stock is almost completely made up of renovated condos, lofts, and apartments. Adult nightlife is already well established there as well and trying to redefine it as a family-friendly area would be a struggle.

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IMHO, the Boulevard/Broad St. corridor is a more ideal location to create a family-friendly atmosphere. With so many museums, the Diamond, and soon to be movie/entertainment complex, I think that area is a better canvas for creating a solid family-oriented identity. Shockoe Bottom and Tobacco Row are areas more suited to young professionals considering the housing stock is almost completely made up of renovated condos, lofts, and apartments. Adult nightlife is already well established there as well and trying to redefine it as a family-friendly area would be a struggle.

I do agree on the Boulevard/Broad area as a great family oriented area, but it is not as pedestrian friendly, so I do not see much likelyhood of a "Carytown" style retail establishment. I could see E. Main as having potential for a more South Street Philadelphia type of shopping district to complement the night clubs.

EDIT: I need my coffee :(

Edited by Icetera
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IMHO, the Boulevard/Broad St. corridor is a more ideal location to create a family-friendly atmosphere. With so many museums, the Diamond, and soon to be movie/entertainment complex, I think that area is a better canvas for creating a solid family-oriented identity. Shockoe Bottom and Tobacco Row are areas more suited to young professionals considering the housing stock is almost completely made up of renovated condos, lofts, and apartments. Adult nightlife is already well established there as well and trying to redefine it as a family-friendly area would be a struggle.

Yeah, but I think if they introduced some places for the family there, it'll help get rid of the badside of town image. I'm not saying Disneyfy it... no way! But mix it up a little. Not a bad idea for the Boulevard though.

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Wooo there's hope! :lol:

Among those top 13 markets, young Richmonders are the fifth richest! :) . 10.12% of youth under age 25 in Metropolitan Richmond have household incomes of $75,000 or more.

We expect you to be in that bracket in a year, if not sooner, Mr. Coupe!

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With all of the accolades Richmond has been receiving lately, coupled with the amenities (recreational and otherwise) and unique sense of place the city possesses, I'm scratching my head a bit wondering why it isn't growing faster than it is. But that could be a good thing.

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I've said it before, but I think that Richmond's more reasonable growth rate will someday be seen as having been a great thing for the city. What do you think Richmond's downtown would look like if we had grown like Charlotte or Atlanta? How bad do you think traffic on 64 and 95 would be then?

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What do you think Richmond's downtown would look like if we had grown like Charlotte or Atlanta?

It wouldn't be anywhere near as dense, nor would it have retained the abundance of historic structures--definitely a good thing.

I think that, for the most part, people are still starstruck by the dominant cities in the nation (NYC, Chicago, LA, Boston, Seattle, DC etc.), the second-tier cities that we've become accustomed to (Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, etc.), and the rising stars that are getting lots of positive press (Austin, Charlotte, Raleigh, Orlando, etc.). However, I see the cities that have historically been overlooked are starting to get lots of positive press lately, especially as people seek cities with similar amenities to the "superstar" cities, with a slower pace and a good quality of life. After all, it isn't like the Richmond metro isn't growing at all; it's just at a more moderate pace. I was just wondering if old stereotypes still hold for Richmond or whether it stands in DC's shadow or something else that would explain why the city hasn't quite "caught on" yet in terms of exposure and popularity.

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For some reason Richmond seems to be under the national radar. Before I moved here five years ago I had no idea Richmond was as big as it is. Richmond needs to find something to give it some national-international identity. The Richmond metro is growing fast, but I think it would grow faster if people knew what the area has to offer. In this regard, the area must start going for big league cultural and quality of life attractions. I think this is happening to some extent with what the Virginia Museum has done with their expansion but Richmond Symphony, theater and sports have to be there also.

When it comes to issues of identity, I really think we could get there through more daring architecture. The "batman" building gives Nashville a special identity. Milwaukee has that interesting art museum on the lakefront. Just look at Bilbao, a place I had NEVER heard of until they built that museum.

I'm sure hosting a Superbowl helped Jacksonville and the Kentucky Derby raises Louisville's profile. Austin gets shown on that MTV reality show that I can't think of the name of because I never watch it. Even though I am not in to NASCAR, getting the Hall of Fame here would have been great for the area.

I agree that we may not want to grow at the rate of Charlotte or Las Vegas. However, Richmond's national-international profile should be raised. How about a bold new concert hall for the Richmond Symphony? I mean REALLY bold....maybe rising up from the riverfront. We need to find something that would make National Geographic Magazine want to come to do an article. Why not get the Weather Channel or CNN to put us on their weather maps more often? Why not invest in light rail and new urbanism like Portland, OR? It all would add up to greater national identity which would translate into more growth.

Maybe we should also work to find the next hot thing. With Charlotte it was banking. Could we invest in VCU or UR and be a major nanotechnology center, for example?

Edited by skycity
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With nanotechnology, I think the present hubs (Boston, Bay Area, San Diego) have a lock on the industry as far as actually being known as nanotech hot spots. Other cities that may have some decent research going on in the field (which seems to be just about every other city these days) won't ever gain a reputation in nanotech like those cities have, IMO.

I do think some variation in architecture would do some good things as far as an identity is concerned, at least from a skyline perspective. Although Richmond's skyline is dense and imposing from I-95, it's still boxy.

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Richmond may not have hit its stride in publicity grabbing tactics, but living here in NYCity I see and hear considerably more on TV and in print about the city than a number of larger metros south of Mason Dixon. You would be surprised how often Richmond's skyline pops up on CNN. MSNBC and Fox. And several major network local newscasts feature Richmond on their weather maps.

I think Richmond is a long way from attracting major league sports, but the city is prominent in the arts. VaMus, its collections and the new building enclosing it, are going to be among the tops Nationally...perhaps Internationally. The new and/or upgraded performing arts venues as well as the Modlin Center programming at U of R, the finest Sculpture/arts departments at VCU ranked at the very top Nationally, and the thriving music/dance/theatre scene are remarkable for a mid-sized city. Quality of Life is one of Richmond's greatest features.

And let's not forget the Fortune 500 figures!

Richmond's on a roll.

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Venture Richmond just got out a quickie notice of today's groundbreaking for Mead WestVaco's headquartets building. In fact, it was such a prompt release it makes me wonder if we know someone who works there. :)

Due for completion mid-2009, the 300,000 square foot building appears from the rendering to be approximately 12-stories high from it lowest street-level point (remember, it's tilted land on the plot between the canal and Byrd Street, 5th and 7th) to it highest point at the southern tip of the winglike roof.

It will be of precast limestone concrete with horizontal bands of both tinted and reflective glass.

A double-height balcony on the northeast corner will provide an expansive view of city center.

It appears that parking will be included in the structure. The new deck fronting Byrd Street will be for Federal Reserve personnel.

It certainly looks to me that the M/WV building will parallel 7th Street -- directly across from the Fed Reserve and diagonally across from the fountain near the canal.

Wonder if Shak, Coupe, Henry and CommRe were there?

Edited by burt
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  • 2 weeks later...

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