Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[Downtowner]

I’m going to be honest I work in the electrical industry on new construction with Davis and green and there’s even talk of us jumping ship on our new construction project at Avery point in goochland. We can’t even get construction materials at the moment. That’s how bad it is. Ask anyone in a trade or skilled work trade related to construction it’s happening all across the country. It’s sad and awful: so if your ac goes out or furnace goes out good luck getting a new one. Same goes for at home generators it’s getting very hard to find anything anymore. We had to take losses on jobs just to make the customers happy because so many people want us to pull it out of a hat like it’s magic and it’s not. People will find it out real soon if they haven’t yet. 

[I miss RVA]

In the comments to the RBS article, a similar story is told. Very unsettling.

"I hate saying this, but the downfall of construction is about to happen. Anyone in the construction industry knows this. If your in a trade like me who does electrical or any other trade. You will start to see new construction halt on current jobs. Anything that hasn’t started yet kiss it good bye. The cost of building materials is not worth building anything right now."

[Downtowner]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

In the comments to the RBS article, a similar story is told. Very unsettling.

"I hate saying this, but the downfall of construction is about to happen. Anyone in the construction industry knows this. If your in a trade like me who does electrical or any other trade. You will start to see new construction halt on current jobs. Anything that hasn’t started yet kiss it good bye. The cost of building materials is not worth building anything right now."

That was my comment. People need to know this something I deal with on a regular basis. We haven’t had a delivery to our job site with electrical materials for a while. We were supposed to switch to 5 10 hour shifts but that was called off recently then any overtime was called off. We have supplies in our room but a lot of it stuff we don’t really need or can use at the moment until we get a little further along. Been tough for everyone. Luckily my wife and I are having our first child downtown at vcu tomorrow. Taking my wife downtown to be induced tomorrow evening around 5:30 supposed to be in the room around 6:30. So I will have to see what’s going on down that way from a window. I just hope I’m not looking at block d in the process I will demand a different room for me and my wife if that’s the case lol joking though. I wouldn’t do that but man that would be a big kick to a man already down lol to look at what kind of junk is about to go on the block d spot. Maybe I will find someone hire up and say how could you how dare you. My wife works for vcu as a nurse I will see if she knows anything. They always send out emails on new projects and updated projects.

[Hike]

50 minutes ago, Downtowner said:

Luckily my wife and I are having our first child downtown at vcu tomorrow. Taking my wife downtown to be induced tomorrow evening around 5:30 supposed to be in the room around 6:30.

 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Downtowner said:

That was my comment. People need to know this something I deal with on a regular basis. We haven’t had a delivery to our job site with electrical materials for a while. We were supposed to switch to 5 10 hour shifts but that was called off recently then any overtime was called off. We have supplies in our room but a lot of it stuff we don’t really need or can use at the moment until we get a little further along. Been tough for everyone. Luckily my wife and I are having our first child downtown at vcu tomorrow. Taking my wife downtown to be induced tomorrow evening around 5:30 supposed to be in the room around 6:30. So I will have to see what’s going on down that way from a window. I just hope I’m not looking at block d in the process I will demand a different room for me and my wife if that’s the case lol joking though. I wouldn’t do that but man that would be a big kick to a man already down lol to look at what kind of junk is about to go on the block d spot. Maybe I will find someone hire up and say how could you how dare you. My wife works for vcu as a nurse I will see if she knows anything. They always send out emails on new projects and updated projects.

A heartfelt Mazal Tov to you and your wife on the new addition to your family! May your wife have an easy delivery, and may both mother and child be blessed with good health!

[Shakman]

1 hour ago, Downtowner said:

That was my comment. People need to know this something I deal with on a regular basis. We haven’t had a delivery to our job site with electrical materials for a while. We were supposed to switch to 5 10 hour shifts but that was called off recently then any overtime was called off. We have supplies in our room but a lot of it stuff we don’t really need or can use at the moment until we get a little further along. Been tough for everyone. Luckily my wife and I are having our first child downtown at vcu tomorrow. Taking my wife downtown to be induced tomorrow evening around 5:30 supposed to be in the room around 6:30. So I will have to see what’s going on down that way from a window. I just hope I’m not looking at block d in the process I will demand a different room for me and my wife if that’s the case lol joking though. I wouldn’t do that but man that would be a big kick to a man already down lol to look at what kind of junk is about to go on the block d spot. Maybe I will find someone hire up and say how could you how dare you. My wife works for vcu as a nurse I will see if she knows anything. They always send out emails on new projects and updated projects.

All the best to the wife and yourself.

[Downtowner]

Thank you for the kind words everyone. I’m very excited as this is our first child. Can’t wait to introduce it to Richmond and my love for it. Don’t worry I’ll make sure he or she has a grand vision for our wonderful city. My wife doesn’t want to know gender until he or she arrives. So that makes it even more exciting. 

Oh and I’ll make sure it understands about building tall and I mean taller than what we are seeing now. Also I’ll make sure it’s a huge fan like @I miss RVAis. 

[I miss RVA]

43 minutes ago, Downtowner said:

Thank you for the kind words everyone. I’m very excited as this is our first child. Can’t wait to introduce it to Richmond and my love for it. Don’t worry I’ll make sure he or she has a grand vision for our wonderful city. My wife doesn’t want to know gender until he or she arrives. So that makes it even more exciting. 

Oh and I’ll make sure it understands about building tall and I mean taller than what we are seeing now. Also I’ll make sure it’s a huge fan like @I miss RVAis. 

Excellent!! 

If you need any babysitting help, I'm sure my 13-year-old daughter would be more than happy to bring over a few BIG boxes of Legos to help your little one get the hand-eye visual concept of building big skyscrapers well established. She used to build miniature Sears Towers when she was really little. She and I (when she was about 3 years old) actually built a Lego skyscraper that was taller than she was. So she's WELL versed and highly indoctrinated... AHEM - I mean "educated" in the philosophy of building taller and taller in downtown areas - and I'm sure she can preach that gospel tailoring it especially for downtown RVA. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by I miss RVA

[KJHburg]

Yes Richmond you are in the top 10 cities on Linkedin opportunity city list.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/looking-job-hunting-edge-15-metros-opportunity-magnets-george-anders/

But watch that NC capital city due south. 

[I miss RVA]

15 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Yes Richmond you are in the top 10 cities on Linkedin opportunity city list.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/looking-job-hunting-edge-15-metros-opportunity-magnets-george-anders/

But watch that NC capital city due south. 

Great info, @KJHburg

Glad to see!! I wish RVA had an up arrow with its listing, though. It worries me that there was no upward movement vs prior year.

Yep - RDU is on the move. So is the Windy City. Who knew?  (Folks around here (Chicagoland) don't talk about it much, if at all. Then again, I guess when you're a city of 2.7 million and a metro area of almost 10 million, you don't have to.)

Edited March 18, 2022 by I miss RVA

[Child2021]

Important tidbits about Richmond’s commercial market in here. https://www.colliers.com/en/news/richmond/richmonds-trajectory-southeast-re-business

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/thermo-fisher-scientific-to-add-500-jobs-in-rva-region/ More jobs for the region!

[I miss RVA]

34 minutes ago, Child2021 said:

Important tidbits about Richmond’s commercial market in here. https://www.colliers.com/en/news/richmond/richmonds-trajectory-southeast-re-business

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/thermo-fisher-scientific-to-add-500-jobs-in-rva-region/ More jobs for the region!

Bartender (a.k.a. @Child2021) - I'll take a shot of good economic news for RVA.  Oh - and make mine a double!

WOW - a double-dose of REALLY good RVA news on the economic development front. Can you imagine how this could translate if construction (and other) costs were at pre-inflation levels?

[I miss RVA]

Even though a  very tiny company at this point, another business from out-of-state is making RVA its new home. EVERY new business acquisition pushes us farther along!

From Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/03/18/startup-that-makes-amputee-clothing-moving-headquarters-to-richmond/

Edited March 21, 2022 by I miss RVA

[upzoningisgood]

New Census Bureau metropolitan estimates are up. They have the metro growing by 8300 driven  by Chesterfield and Hanover. They actually have Richmond slightly shrinking (66 people). Most surprising nugget is they estimate domestic migration is negative—more people are leaving for other jurisdictions than are coming into the city. I’m skeptical that’s true, but feel free to look for yourselves.

 

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html#par_textimage

[rjp212]

53 minutes ago, upzoningisgood said:

New Census Bureau metropolitan estimates are up. They have the metro growing by 8300 driven  by Chesterfield and Hanover. They actually have Richmond slightly shrinking (66 people). Most surprising nugget is they estimate domestic migration is negative—more people are leaving for other jurisdictions than are coming into the city. I’m skeptical that’s true, but feel free to look for yourselves.

 

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html#par_textimage

I noticed a lot of college towns and urban areas had significant declines in population between 2020-2021.   Almost as if colleges were closed and people were working remotely....

[123fakestreet]

7 minutes ago, rjp212 said:

I noticed a lot of college towns and urban areas had significant declines in population between 2020-2021.   Almost as if colleges were closed and people were working remotely....

Yep, was going to say this. Just with VCU students being out it may have swung RVA's numbers by as much as 20k.  And that will also throw off future projections like this.  Between covid and the politicization of the 2020 census the numbers are not going to be that reliable.  Guess we get another shot in 8 years.

[Icetera]

1 hour ago, upzoningisgood said:

New Census Bureau metropolitan estimates are up. They have the metro growing by 8300 driven  by Chesterfield and Hanover. They actually have Richmond slightly shrinking (66 people). Most surprising nugget is they estimate domestic migration is negative—more people are leaving for other jurisdictions than are coming into the city. I’m skeptical that’s true, but feel free to look for yourselves.

 

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html#par_textimage

We were growing at 0.8% per year and that represents a drop down to 0.7%.  Given how off the city and Henrico numbers were for 2020, I imagine this is affecting the overall metro population and we may be on the same track, if not better.

[I miss RVA]

RVA metro is the choice for another company's headquarters!

An insurance company, based in Bermuda, has selected RVA (metro) as the location for it's U.S. headquarters. The new company will bring 70 jobs and will locate its offices in Innsbrook. How about that! So despite weird city population figures (how did we go down 66 people? Is not the city's population growing? I don't see all the new apartment buildings that have been going up sitting vacant...)

Definitely good news for one of America's top-10 'magnet' cities!

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

https://richmond.com/business/insurance-company-plans-headquarters-office-in-henrico-with-70-jobs/article_1f890b68-49d0-599f-b607-58552d09376e.html

[upzoningisgood]

I’m not saying I buy the numbers—saying RVA experienced an outmigration seems absurd given the home prices—it was just something to note. 

[wrldcoupe4]

I think the census estimates are total junk. It just doesn’t jive with reality at all. There is no way Henrico and Richmond had zero growth. There was a lot of talk about minorities and cities being undercounted during the last census, something which shouldn’t be political, but seems to have been. We all thought the numbers were short for 2020. I’m not trying to “go there” in this venue, but maybe these numbers are indicative? 

[skycity]

Regarding census numbers: What will be the impact of the current spike in excess mortality? According to CDC and insurance company data, there has been an 84% increase in all cause mortality for millennials (ages 25-44) since the second half of 2021. Millennial deaths during this time have exceeded U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War. The spike is occurring in people 45 and older as well. Heart attacks, blood clots, neurological disorders, aggressive cancers are all exploding. Demographically, we are entering new, uncharted territory. 

https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/ed-dowd-millennial-age-group-25-to?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1NTI2NzMzOSwicG9zdF9pZCI6NTAzMzkzMjQsIl8iOiJrRHc4SyIsImlhdCI6MTY0NzMxOTUyMiwiZXhwIjoxNjQ3MzIzMTIyLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItNTQ4MzU0Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.O0KhbdilVAWvxgkCJpXjNgtXE_kph8YGJz0QP7FIjyk&s=r

[ancientcarpenter]

On 3/25/2022 at 8:04 PM, wrldcoupe4 said:

I think the census estimates are total junk. It just doesn’t jive with reality at all. There is no way Henrico and Richmond had zero growth. There was a lot of talk about minorities and cities being undercounted during the last census, something which shouldn’t be political, but seems to have been. We all thought the numbers were short for 2020. I’m not trying to “go there” in this venue, but maybe these numbers are indicative? 

I can't believe they didn't suspend the census count for a year or two. This is just ridiculous that we have to go off of covid numbers for the next 10 years. RVA is obviously growing at an unprecedented amount and the counties are as well.

I don't trust these numbers for two reasons 1) Covid and 2) the Trump administration did everything they could to create impediments and understaff the census for cities and metros as those were considered "more blue" areas and it was a political gain for them . Sad to say this...

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, ancientcarpenter said:

I can't believe they didn't suspend the census count for a year or two. This is just ridiculous that we have to go off of covid numbers for the next 10 years. RVA is obviously growing at an unprecedented amount and the counties are as well.

I don't trust these numbers for two reasons 1) Covid and 2) the Trump administration did everything they could to create impediments and understaff the census for cities and metros as those were considered "more blue" areas and it was a political gain for them . Sad to say this...

Spot on, sir! I couldn't agree more. Well said on all points. 

[Downtowner]

14 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Spot on, sir! I couldn't agree more. Well said on all points. 

Don’t to be a Debby downer but I’ve heard the millennial generation is dying faster then gen x due to all of the drug and alcohol problems and suicide problems across the world. You take in every little thing that people die from now a days with millennials and it doesn’t shock me they are dying faster than the older generations. Also heard that millennials will die sooner than gen x as well. I’m a millennial and look into a lot of different statistics on different generations and it doesn’t shock me about millennials. I hope I’m one of the lucky ones who out lives that expectancy. It saddens me to see a younger generation dying faster than an older one. So many problems on this planet now not sure what the future holds but people die from so much now I think it will cripple the global economy one day.

[Icetera]

8 minutes ago, Downtowner said:

Don’t to be a Debby downer but I’ve heard the millennial generation is dying faster then gen x due to all of the drug and alcohol problems and suicide problems across the world. You take in every little thing that people die from now a days with millennials and it doesn’t shock me they are dying faster than the older generations. Also heard that millennials will die sooner than gen x as well. I’m a millennial and look into a lot of different statistics on different generations and it doesn’t shock me about millennials. I hope I’m one of the lucky ones who out lives that expectancy. It saddens me to see a younger generation dying faster than an older one. So many problems on this planet now not sure what the future holds but people die from so much now I think it will cripple the global economy one day.

As one of those barely millennials that does everything possible to try and kill myself (unsuccessful so far!), I can kind of believe this.