Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[rjp212]

CoStar will be transitioning some of it's Apartments.com division to Richmond.  Bringing about 100 jobs to the area.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2019/07/17/costar-add-100-jobs-richmond-brings-local-headcount-950/

[wrldcoupe4]

Richmond had a great showing on the Inc 5000 list. 2nd in VA to northern Virginia with 42 companies on the list and one company in the top 10.  I’m really proud of the start up eco system that has been embraced in our region over the past 3-5 years. It’s really paying dividends. 

[rjp212]

Richmond came in #2 for anticipated employment growth for Q4 2019!  Source:  https://siteselection.com/investor-watch/190912.htm

For Quarter 4 2019, 100 of the largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States report positive Net Employment Outlooks, says the latest report from Manpower Group, based on 11,500 interviews with employers in every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico about their hiring intentions. (Survey results for each MSA are available at meos-press.manpowergroup.us.) The strongest outlooks are in Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia; Greensboro, North Carolina; and Provo-Orem, Utah.The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity.

When we run these 100 metro areas through Conway Analytics’ database (which requires at least $1 million invested, 20 new jobs created or 20,000 new sq. ft. of space), we find that these 100 have collectively welcomed 2,716 corporate facility investments since September 2018. Topping the list are Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston and Cincinnati. As for the Manpower Employment Outlook leaders, Columbus is No 6 on our list with 90 projects. Richmond is 51st with 11 projects; Greensboro is 42nd with 14; and Provo-Orem, known more for its startup and entrepreneurial culture, is 89th. — Adam Bruns and Daniel Boyer

Net Employment Outlook Q4 2019	Metropolitan Statistical Areas
31%	Columbus
29%	Richmond
28%	Greensboro, Provo-Orem
26%	Deltona, Nashville, San Antonio
25%	Austin, Las Vegas, McAllen, Springfield
24%	Charleston, Grand Rapids, Madison, Ogden, Tucson, Wichita, Winston-Salem
23%	Allentown, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Francisco
21%	Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Chattanooga, Harrisburg, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Oxnard, Palm Bay
20%	Akron, Cape Coral, Cleveland, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Tampa
19%	Boston, Dayton, Detroit, Fresno, Houston, Portland
18%	Augusta, Greenville, Memphis, Miami, Spokane, Virginia Beach, Worcester
17%	Albuquerque, Birmingham, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Kansas City, Louisville, New Haven, Omaha, Sacramento, Stockton
16%	Los Angeles, San Diego, Tulsa
15%	Albany, Baltimore, Buffalo, Jackson, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Little Rock, New Orleans, North Port, Orlando
14%	Bakersfield, Boise City, Hartford, Riverside
13%	Denver, Des Moines, El Paso, Minneapolis, New York, Oklahoma City
12%	Bridgeport, Dallas, Knoxville, Philadelphia, Providence, St. Louis
11%	Indianapolis, Syracuse
10%	Cincinnati, Scranton, Seattle, Toledo, Youngstown
8%	Chicago, Washington
7%	Columbia
3%	Rochester

[Henrico Weather]

This event is for job seekers in the Richmond area. This is the largest job fair in our area. While sponsored by the Richmond Chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, it is open to the entire public and is FREE. It is being held at the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center on Friday, October 4. See link below for details....

https://richmondhokies.org/careerexpo

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by Henrico Weather

[rjp212]

Good news when a Company relocates here.   Ireland-based company plans on opening their North American Headquarters here and hiring up to 100 employees.

https://www.richmond.com/business/ireland-based-fleet-management-company-opening-office-in-richmond-with/article_f86d5077-babb-5efc-8456-3eadabbc7f47.html

Edited October 16, 2019 by rjp212

[eandslee]

Okay, I’m going to post this since I think it is worthy of posting...

Not sure what they have planned for these parcels.  It would be nice if they had a near-term plan to build something tall (could Atlantic Union Bank want to ride the wave Richmond is on right now?), but my gut somehow tells me that they are buying just to hold for something down the road...I’ve been wrong before.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/01/24/james-center-owners-buy-neighboring-parcels-for-nearly-8m/

Edited January 24, 2020 by eandslee

[wrldcoupe4]

The canal block is a great tower site. Hopefully they don’t do something lame and just build a parking deck. Don’t see anything happening near term on the plaza lot though. 

[jbjust]

18 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

The canal block is a great tower site. Hopefully they don’t do something lame and just build a parking deck. Don’t see anything happening near term on the plaza lot though. 

They have plenty of parking, a vast underground garage that extends all the way from JC3 to JC1 and then climbs several stories behind JC2.  I can definitely imagine another mid-rise here, but can't imagine a huge tower going in.  

[wrldcoupe4]

Oh I know, but it’s a million sf of office /retail plus a hotel. It’s still only a 1/1000 ratio that’s offered currently. That’s on par with some of their competitive set, but inferior to Riverfront, Riverside, and CoStar/WestRock. It is entirely reasonable to think they would look to enhance their ratio to be more competitive. Deals are lost over dedicated parking ratios. I just hope they incorporate something vertical with the additional parking and not just build a deck for the complex. 

Edited January 25, 2020 by wrldcoupe4

[rjp212]

Richmond is on track for a Budget surplus, and our bond rating has been upgraded to Aa1 (the highest in 50 years). 

https://www.richmond.com/news/local/stoney-announces-bond-rating-upgrade-city-on-track-for-surplus/article_04268a6d-248a-5526-be1d-442effc62081.html

Also, the Richmond Commercial Real Estate Forum, mentioned the lack of available office space in Downtown and how it is hindering Corporate Expansions.   Our apartment absorption rate is on target for the current population growth, and that they expect West Broad from the Convention Center to Scotts Addition to be the next hot spot.

https://www.richmond.com/business/panelist-at-commercial-real-estate-forum-discuss-richmond-s-increasing/article_b048d671-6250-591a-ab1b-04b8b341170e.html

Edited February 19, 2020 by rjp212

[I miss RVA]

18 hours ago, rjp212 said:

Richmond is on track for a Budget surplus, and our bond rating has been upgraded to Aa1 (the highest in 50 years). 

https://www.richmond.com/news/local/stoney-announces-bond-rating-upgrade-city-on-track-for-surplus/article_04268a6d-248a-5526-be1d-442effc62081.html

Also, the Richmond Commercial Real Estate Forum, mentioned the lack of available office space in Downtown and how it is hindering Corporate Expansions.   Our apartment absorption rate is on target for the current population growth, and that they expect West Broad from the Convention Center to Scotts Addition to be the next hot spot.

https://www.richmond.com/business/panelist-at-commercial-real-estate-forum-discuss-richmond-s-increasing/article_b048d671-6250-591a-ab1b-04b8b341170e.html

Fantastic real estate forum! It's thrilling to see how well the city is doing. For years the absorption rate of Class A space downtown was very sluggish, and analysts warned against overbuilding. Now - it's nice to see that there is a serious demand for office space downtown. While Richmond generally isn't "big" enough yet to attract developers willing and ready to build spec office space, I would tend to think that enough efforts to recruit developers and prospective new businesses to relo to Richmond could bear some really good fruit for the city. Maybe getting that 40-50 (or taller!) skyscraper downtown will happen sooner rather than later if enough recruitment efforts are brought to bear to line up companies interested in Richmond - and to get a few developers willing to go out on a limb and build some signature towers downtown.

[wrldcoupe4]

I don't understand the comment about lack of available office space. There are office buildings being built as we speak in Manchester, and near Libbie Mill (new Kinsale), plus large blocks of office space available in and around Innsbrook. There's also a big chunk remaining at James Center and Owens Minor is subleasing a big chunk of their space at Riverfront Plaza. There's also 225k SF Altria has available for sublease at  Reynolds Crossing. It's nearly impossible that someone would need to relocate to Richmond day 1 into something more than that. There are plenty of large blocks to accommodate relocations in both the existing inventory and under construction inventory. 

[vaceltic]

1 minute ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

I don't understand the comment about lack of available office space. There are office buildings being built as we speak in Manchester, and near Libbie Mill (new Kinsale), plus large blocks of office space available in and around Innsbrook. There's also a big chunk remaining at James Center and Owens Minor is subleasing a big chunk of their space at Riverfront Plaza. There's also 225k SF Altria has available for sublease at  Reynolds Crossing. It's nearly impossible that someone would need to relocate to Richmond day 1 into something more than that. There are plenty of large blocks to accommodate relocations in both the existing inventory and under construction inventory. 

With the merger of BB&T and SunTrust,  a large chunk of downtown office space will become available soon once they complete their integration plan. 

[I miss RVA]

Celtic and wrldcoupe4 - if this is the case, then what is Malcolm Randolph pointing to?

[vaceltic]

9 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Celtic and wrldcoupe4 - if this is the case, then what is Malcolm Randolph pointing to?

Reading the article, it sounds like the 7% vacancy rate Malcolm references is for the entire Richmond region, whatever thats supposed to be defined as.

I wouldn't mind seeing a submarket analysis of office vacancy rates by class showing Downtown, Manchester, Short Pump, Innsbrook, VCC, Chesterfield, etc.

Nevermind, I answered my own question 

https://www.thalhimer.com/sites/default/files/Richmond_Americas_Alliance_MarketBeat_Office_Q42019.pdf

Edited February 20, 2020 by vaceltic

[wrldcoupe4]

16 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Celtic and wrldcoupe4 - if this is the case, then what is Malcolm Randolph pointing to?

Honestly, I'm not sure. It sounds like an echoing of a common refrain from GRP  and the Chamber, but it doesn't exactly line up w/ reality. Also, Colliers (his firm) was involved in the office portion of Navy Hill, so perhaps his view is tied to that not happening?

[rjp212]

572 jobs coming to Willow Lawn.   
 

https://www.richmond.com/business/boston-based-home-security-technology-maker-locating-a-call-center/article_95232a33-cef5-5964-a7c1-1fd95e44d5fd.html

[jbjust]

16 hours ago, rjp212 said:

572 jobs coming to Willow Lawn.   
 

https://www.richmond.com/business/boston-based-home-security-technology-maker-locating-a-call-center/article_95232a33-cef5-5964-a7c1-1fd95e44d5fd.html

RIP Willow Lawn parking. 

[rjp212]

Might be time to add a parking garage there.  I know it was nixed before by Henrico to add apartments, but with it being right on the Pulse it’d be an ideal spot for some apartments with ground floor retail wrapping a parking garage. 

[DowntownCoruscant]

Not sure where a garage would go.

[rjp212]

You’ve got parking lots everywhere there.  Replace one of them. 

[DowntownCoruscant]

I live across the street from WL, so I’ve thought it through before. Not an engineer or planner though. But I don’t see any of the lots as good fits for conversion. The Gold’s lot is around the corner from Kroger, across a walkway from the Square, and far from the office building SimpliSafe is taking. The southern portion of the Kroger lot is adjacent to the 5100; a lot of its residents walk to Kroger and the other stores; it would be a jerk move to construct a deck there, and vehicle access would be a problem. The main Kroger lot is a pretty small footprint with ingress/egress issues. North of that is the Kroger gas station. It sits next to one of the two bilateral roadways within the shopping center, heading directly to the drive-thru Starbucks. And then heading to the Panera you have a bus stop which would probably need to be shifted to provide ingress/egress to a deck. Turning the corner, the Noodle&Co. side is a possibility, although, I will admit. And there’s a good bit of room between the Virginia Rep strip and the Five Guys strip. But again at that point we’re getting pretty far from the office building.

Not at all saying someone with actual credentials couldn’t get it done, but I don’t think the layout makes it easy unless they’re willing to ditch the Square.

[vaceltic]

Quite a haul. I wonder what the employee count was for VCU Health in that location versus this replacement?

The owners of Willow Lawn have zero incentive to construct a parking garage and they are expensive to build. 

Maybe the parking requirement was explored by the state in the incentive package for relocation? Maybe they are projecting that the Pulse will move ‘X’ riders to Willow Lawn from ‘X’ locations?

I’m surprised two floors of that building can support this many workers. The company does do 24-hour home security monitoring. My guess is the call center has multiple shifts on a 24-hour schedule, meaning the parking requirement would be 1/2 or 1/3 of what we think? 

Edited February 29, 2020 by vaceltic

[I miss RVA]

16 hours ago, vaceltic said:

Maybe the parking requirement was explored by the state in the incentive package for relocation? Maybe they are projecting that the Pulse will move ‘X’ riders to Willow Lawn from ‘X’ locations?

I’m surprised two floors of that building can support this many workers. The company does do 24-hour home security monitoring. My guess is the call center has multiple shifts on a 24-hour schedule, meaning the parking requirement would be 1/2 or 1/3 of what we think? 

Good possibility that Pulse factored in. It would make sense.

Good call on the 24-hour nature of the call center. Depending on how the shifts are organized, staggered, etc., the only "crunch" times for parking would be those crossover times when one shift is arriving and another is leaving. It may not require that many "extra" parking spaces above and beyond the anticipated headcount for any given shift.

[vaceltic]

Major economic development announcement planned for Brook Road and Parham Road today at 11am.

https://www.nbc12.com/2020/03/03/governor-northam-plans-make-major-economic-announcement/