Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[123fakestreet]

11 hours ago, KJHburg said:

it is all about marketing and tax reforms.  Metro Raleigh (not including metro Durham which currently a separate metro) is larger than Richmond and and it 1980 metro Richmond was 2x the size of metro Raleigh.  Not only did Raleigh catch up but passed metro Richmond.  Together Raleigh Durham one metro is not only larger than Richmond but bigger than metro Nashville.  It was agressive marketing of the Research Triangle Park and the state of NC in general.  Tax reforms have brought NC to the lowest corporate tax rate of any state in the country with one.  (couple of no income tax states of course)  NC has been and still is very agressive in business recruitment .  Virginia here of late has become much more agressive.    If was in econ development I would be pitching Richmond as the most affordable mid Atlantic location close to NE metro areas but lots cheaper and with a huge port nearby should be a huge distribution center for a wide area.  I would be poaching companies out of metro DC and bringing them or at least parts of them to Richmond where the living is more affordable and commutes easier.  

Research Triangle has 2 of the top universities in the country plus NCSt which isn't bad to boot pumping out local graduates for a highly educated workforce. Hard to compete with what they are doing there.  I love VCU but it's nowhere on the same planet as Duke and UNC.  I'd say Richmond has far more culture though, as well as proximity to DC and that's what we need to be selling to the business community.   NC politics also want to get into the muck and wage culture wars which has lost them an estimated $3.8 BILLION over the past several years https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/27/bathroom-bill-to-cost-north-carolina-376-billion.html not exactly a pro business environment and VA/RVA should remind business of that when competing for their location.

[flaneur]

Yes, this. I think the NC bathroom bill is a main reason CoStar ultimately chose Richmond over Charlotte a few years ago. Here in Atlanta, our state's politics at the time were a main reason Amazon ruled out Atlanta in the HQ2 search. Inclusive politics matter for business and growth.

[Hike]

6 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

a. I love VCU

b. but it's nowhere on the same planet as Duke and UNC.  

c. NC politics not exactly a pro business environment and VA/RVA should remind business of that when competing for their location.

a. me too.

b. thank heavens 

c. agree and NC does a good job of advertising for themselves.

[KJHburg]

8 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

Research Triangle has 2 of the top universities in the country plus NCSt which isn't bad to boot pumping out local graduates for a highly educated workforce. Hard to compete with what they are doing there.  I love VCU but it's nowhere on the same planet as Duke and UNC.  I'd say Richmond has far more culture though, as well as proximity to DC and that's what we need to be selling to the business community.   NC politics also want to get into the muck and wage culture wars which has lost them an estimated $3.8 BILLION over the past several years https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/27/bathroom-bill-to-cost-north-carolina-376-billion.html not exactly a pro business environment and VA/RVA should remind business of that when competing for their location.

Make that 3 hence the Triangle named as you missed the biggest NC State which is the largest university in our state.  Hmm not sure about $376 Billion lost LOL.  Yes some professional and college sports maybe Costar but Charlotte and Raleigh Durham are doing quite fine.   The latter cities just attracted a 3000 employee Apple campus and 1000 job engineering hub for Google. 

as I said Richmond needs to poach DC area companies and companies wanting to be near Washington but you dont have the high cost and congestion.  

[wrldcoupe4]

Independent cities hold Virginia back. Period. 

[123fakestreet]

 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/virginia-is-back-as-americas-top-state-for-business.html

Virginia is back as America’s Top State for Business in 2021

 

• A strong workforce and a solid education system propelled Virginia to its second straight win in CNBC’s state competitiveness rankings.
• Virginia has captured top honors five times — more than any other state — and is the first state to notch back-to-back wins.

NC is #2.

Edited July 13, 2021 by 123fakestreet

[Icetera]

8 minutes ago, 123fakestreet said:

 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/virginia-is-back-as-americas-top-state-for-business.html

Virginia is back as America’s Top State for Business in 2021

 

• A strong workforce and a solid education system propelled Virginia to its second straight win in CNBC’s state competitiveness rankings.
• Virginia has captured top honors five times — more than any other state — and is the first state to notch back-to-back wins.

NC is #2.

Usually we are going back and forth with Texas but I see they fell to 4th.  Perhaps this will begin a new healthy rivalry with NC.

[123fakestreet]

39 minutes ago, Icetera said:

Usually we are going back and forth with Texas but I see they fell to 4th.  Perhaps this will begin a new healthy rivalry with NC.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/party-hopping/

 

There was an interesting article I read a while back, I can't find it now but the above article has a bit of the same theme, that the Texas GOP was always very very pro business.  The more extreme parts of the party often tried to push things through the legislature, but if it was at all bad for business it got squashed, period.  They wanted Texas to be the #1 place in the country to do business.   In the past 4-5 years that's no longer the case, the inmates are running the asylum and you can see its affected their ranking. I would expect them to continue to fall in coming years.

Edited July 13, 2021 by 123fakestreet

[I miss RVA]

10 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Independent cities hold Virginia back. Period. 

Amen, Coupe! I agree 100%. I've lamented this for decades.

[DowntownCoruscant]

12 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Amen, Coupe! I agree 100%. I've lamented this for decades.

What are people’s thoughts on Dillon’s Rule? It’s easy to point at, but several other states are Dillon Rule states, including NC.

[123fakestreet]

6 hours ago, DowntownCoruscant said:

What are people’s thoughts on Dillon’s Rule? It’s easy to point at, but several other states are Dillon Rule states, including NC.

It's not so much Dillon Rule as it is independent cities. Per wiki: of the 41 independent cities in the entire US 38 are in VA.  We are the only state it is the norm. 

 

On top of that even within VA the cities in Tidewater have mostly completely annexed entire former counties, so they are large enough they don't have the issues Richmond does, in NOVA the cities are wealthy enough, and in Cville they have a revenue and services sharing agreement where it's not as big an issue for them.  Richmond is in an almost entirely uniquely bad situation in the entire country in terms of its funding etc

Edited July 13, 2021 by 123fakestreet

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Amen, Coupe! I agree 100%. I've lamented this for decades.

I think now is a good time to go after getting rid of independent cities in Virginia.  Surprised it hasn’t been brought up publicly yet given the political environment. Clearly, the independent cities law is a form of segregation!  Politicians should be screaming…unless they’re really not interested in getting rid of ALL forms of segregation (wink, wink).  Why not get rid of this law now and fully integrate while we are getting rid of Confederate statues, renaming streets/buildings that have roots in oppression and segregation?  Seems like getting rid of this rule clearly falls in line with the movement that’s taking place right now in Virginia.  If we are going to go around and “fix” things, let’s fix everything while we’re at at it, to include the independent city problem!  Just saying.

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, eandslee said:

I think now is a good time to go after getting rid of independent cities in Virginia.  Surprised it hasn’t been brought up publicly yet given the political environment. Clearly, the independent cities law is a form of segregation!  Politicians should be screaming…unless they’re really not interested in getting rid of ALL forms of segregation (wink, wink).  Why not get rid of this law now and fully integrate while we are getting rid of Confederate statues, renaming streets/buildings that have roots in oppression and segregation?  Seems like getting rid of this rule clearly falls in line with the movement that’s taking place right now in Virginia.  If we are going to go around and “fix” things, let’s fix everything while we’re at at it, to include the independent city problem!  Just saying.

It would be really great if we could - I'd be all-in 100%. It won't happen - but I'd love it if it did.

123fakestreet is spot on - Richmond is pretty much uniquely screwed by the independent city status. Norfolk & Portsmouth (in a way) have been too - although unlike the RVA metro, the Tidewater region has long seen the light about regional cooperation being a rising tide that lifts everyone's boats in the Hampton Roads 'harbor' so to speak. If by some miracle the General Assembly did away with independent city status, I don't see Chesterfield kvetching nearly as much as Henrico simply because Richmond in the old old days was the county seat for Henrico. Chesterfield's county seat was in Manchester back then. Would abolishing the independent city status lead to some manner of 'fluid borders' for the city if it was once again Henrico's county seat? Possibly - but  - even then, they would be more or less one financial whole, as opposed to two separate, specific localities.  Still - I see Henrico screaming to the high heavens about it, were it ever to come to pass (and I feel almost 100% certain that I won't see it in my lifetime - I doubt my kids will either.

Edited July 13, 2021 by I miss RVA

[123fakestreet]

30 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

It would be really great if we could - I'd be all-in 100%. It won't happen - but I'd love it if it did.

123fakestreet is spot on - Richmond is pretty much uniquely screwed by the independent city status. Norfolk & Portsmouth (in a way) has been too - although unlike the RVA metro, the Tidewater region has long seen the light about regional cooperation being a rising tide that lifts everyone's boats in the Hampton Roads 'harbor' so to speak. If by some miracle the General Assembly did away with independent city status, I don't see Chesterfield kvetching nearly as much as Henrico simply because Richmond in the old old days was the county seat for Henrico. Chesterfield's county seat was in Manchester back then. Would abolishing the independent city status lead to some manner of 'fluid borders' for the city if it was once again Henrico's county seat? Possibly - but  - even then, they would be more or less one financial whole, as opposed to two separate, specific localities.  Still - I see Henrico screaming to the high heavens about it, were it ever to come to pass (and I feel almost 100% certain that I won't see it in my lifetime - I doubt my kids will either.

If it happened Richmond city would just annex all of Henrico, like VA Beach and the other tidewater cities did to York County etc which no longer exist. Chesterfield would not be in play. And there was some talk if doing this maybe 30 years ago, obviously never got any traction, but I do see it happening sometime in the next 30.

[I miss RVA]

48 minutes ago, 123fakestreet said:

If it happened Richmond city would just annex all of Henrico, like VA Beach and the other tidewater cities did to York County etc which no longer exist. Chesterfield would not be in play. And there was some talk if doing this maybe 30 years ago, obviously never got any traction, but I do see it happening sometime in the next 30.

I do vaguely remember that discussion coming up 30 or so years ago. If it happens in the next 30 years, perhaps I'll live to see it. I would be 88 years old - and hopefully not senile and demented - but if I'm still kicking by then, I'd live to see it.

Very true - Richmond would just claim all of Henrico and call it a day.  It certainly worked for a few localities in Hampton Roads.

[wrldcoupe4]

I would actually prefer Henrico take things over and clean things up. Merger could be great. Only thing in the way is politics lol

Edited July 14, 2021 by wrldcoupe4

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

I would actually prefer Henrico take things over and clean things up. Merger could be great. Only thing is the way is politics lol

Sadly, that's how it usually works. I agree with you - if Henrico took things over and tightened up the city a bit, things would run a helluva lot more smoothly and efficiently. I'm curious how such a body or set of bodies would function - with Henrico County then absorbing all of the land of the city/people/everything under the county seat - but then the overlay would be whatever city boundaries there are? Or if it's a full merger - how does that shake out governmentally? City of Richmond IS Henrico Country? Or City of Richmond is IN Henrico County?

Edited July 14, 2021 by I miss RVA

[Brent114]

It’s absurd to talk about city and county mergers.  It would be a political nightmare for anyone who proposed it.  You’d take power away from POC in city government and turn it over to white people. Annexation has been a tool to dilute the voting power of minorities and it would be no different in 2021 than it has been in the past.  
 

[wrldcoupe4]

Sure, of course it will never happen, but then we have to accept being held back in certain respects because of it. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Sure, of course it will never happen, but then we have to accept being held back in certain respects because of it. 

Spot on, Coupe. And that's a huge pill to have to swallow for those of us who want to see RVA realistically compete with the Charlottes, Raleighs, Nashvilles, etc. of the world.

[I miss RVA]

9 hours ago, Brent114 said:

It’s absurd to talk about city and county mergers.  It would be a political nightmare for anyone who proposed it.  You’d take power away from POC in city government and turn it over to white people. Annexation has been a tool to dilute the voting power of minorities and it would be no different in 2021 than it has been in the past.  
 

A thought: rather than just a straight-up merger, what about a layered approach? Meaning - do away with the independent city status - make RVA part of Henrico (and restore it as the county seat) - but set it up the way Chicago is part of Cook County - yet Chicago also has a significant measure of autonomy from the county in that the city has it's mayor, city council, it's entire city government structure that's not directly tied to or under the thumb of Cook County's government structure. Isn't that akin to what Charlotte has? (Or had... Did they take over/annex all of Mecklinburg County yet?)

Interesting to note: the two cities nationwide where independent city status really worked for quite a while - Baltimore and St. Louis - both have been hemorrhaging population since hitting zeniths of over well over 900,000 and 850,000 population, respectively in the 1950 census. Yes - suburbanization sucked away a tremendous amount from population of both cities over the past seven decades - but both Baltimore and St. Louis STILL are still losing city-proper population, even to this day. Based on 2021 population estimates, Richmond has only about 61,000 people fewer than does the city of St. Louis. Of course the biggest difference is that the RVA metro is around 1.3 million - where St. Louis metro is about 2.2 million (2021 estimate).

Edited July 14, 2021 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

I think this story has some new information, but I can't read it behind the paywall.  Can anyone access it and provide a review?

http://click1.newsletter.richmond.com/ntjgwfpprpcnkqdwntyffnkrzknmzgkrkwjhqjpfkdkrytq_pqlyyhhcjhbhlqlqvvmqy.html

[I miss RVA]

49 minutes ago, eandslee said:

I think this story has some new information, but I can't read it behind the paywall.  Can anyone access it and provide a review?

http://click1.newsletter.richmond.com/ntjgwfpprpcnkqdwntyffnkrzknmzgkrkwjhqjpfkdkrytq_pqlyyhhcjhbhlqlqvvmqy.html

I posted it over in the Carver/Allison/Newtowne subforum.  We posted the story to the two different subforums at ALMOST the exact same time - you posted here at 6:07 EDT - and I posted there at 6:06 EDT - a one-minute difference. Great minds think alike, my friend! 

Edited July 14, 2021 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

Looks like demolition of the public safety building will start soon (no date mentioned).  The public safety building was finally sold to Capital City Partners.  Hope they are still planning a 20-story tower, but I have a feeling that it will no longer be 20 stories due to the reduced square footage amounts for the spec office space.  They’re not talking about it, which tells me that the height has been lowered.  I wish a real journalist would ask CCP a question about the height and publish their response…gee!  Inquiring minds want to know!

Found a version of the article that is free to read:

https://virginiaviews.com/capital-city-partners-completes-3-5-million-purchase-of-richmond-public-safety-building-and-plans-a-tower-anchored-with-vcu-health-local-news-in-richmond/

[Hike]

23 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Looks like demolition of the public safety building will start soon (no date mentioned).  The public safety building was finally sold to Capital City Partners.  Hope they are still planning a 20-story tower, but I have a feeling that it will no longer be 20 stories due to the reduced square footage amounts for the spec office space.  They’re not talking about it, which tells me that the height has been lowered.  I wish a real journalist would ask CCP a question about the height and publish their response…gee!  Inquiring minds want to know!

Found a version of the article that is free to read:

https://virginiaviews.com/capital-city-partners-completes-3-5-million-purchase-of-richmond-public-safety-building-and-plans-a-tower-anchored-with-vcu-health-local-news-in-richmond/

We're working on a small portion of the VCU Children's Hospital with DPR, the same GC that will be on this one.  It's my understanding this is fast tracked, we will likely get some preliminary drawings, details, etc. for estimating on some parts of this project and will pass along what I can when it's available.  Also, noticed that RBS didn't run anything today, perhaps they'll do a deeper dive. 

This is the Philadelphia architect along with SMBW here locally

https://kierantimberlake.com/

http://www.smbw.com/