Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[eandslee]

City Center rezoning changes going down today (maybe)...some project approvals in Henrico and some that are on the docket in Chesterfield and Hanover:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/04/18/the-agenda-local-government-briefs-for-4-18-22/

[I miss RVA]

17 minutes ago, eandslee said:

City Center rezoning changes going down today (maybe)...some project approvals in Henrico and some that are on the docket in Chesterfield and Hanover:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/04/18/the-agenda-local-government-briefs-for-4-18-22/

Am I the only hardcore nutcase who actually downloads the agendas for these meetings and keeps them on hand for future reference? 

[I miss RVA]

Another economic/business win for RVA!!  Marvel - an out-of-state architecture firm with offices in NYC and Puerto Rico -- is opening a Richmond office - AND it will be located DOWNTOWN - and 300 E. Main. It's only a few people - but having yet another such firm that has its hands in big business around the country establishing roots here is another win for RVA! We just saw this recently with an insurance company opening offices here. Every time a company either relos or opens a branch office in RVA, it's a win. The hits just keep on coming! 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2022/04/26/architecture-and-design-firm-marvel-adds-richmond-to-its-universe/

[flaneur]

Not sure if this got posted last week, but here's some positive data on in migration to RVA and residential rentals. We're number 13 on the list:
https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/us-renters-migrate-toward-feeder-cities-with-dallas-suburbs-biggest-renter-magnets/

[I miss RVA]

12 minutes ago, flaneur said:

Not sure if this got posted last week, but here's some positive data on in migration to RVA and residential rentals. We're number 13 on the list:
https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/us-renters-migrate-toward-feeder-cities-with-dallas-suburbs-biggest-renter-magnets/

Thanks for finding this! So glad to see RVA yet again on a "top cities" list and getting good pub as a place to live and work - and as a growing city that's attracting jobs and residents. Gotta keep this momentum rolling!

[asies]

17 hours ago, flaneur said:

Not sure if this got posted last week, but here's some positive data on in migration to RVA and residential rentals. We're number 13 on the list:
https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/us-renters-migrate-toward-feeder-cities-with-dallas-suburbs-biggest-renter-magnets/

What I found interesting in this report is it counts migration within the same metro area.  Most of the cities on the list were suburban ring cities drawing people from the urban center to the suburbs. It is promising to see that in Richmond, the opposite is happening, more people are moving to the city from the suburbs (with Henrico being the biggest contributor to new city residents) than are leaving the city.  It is good to see additional evidence that the decades-long trend of urban flight is reversing in RVA.

[ancientcarpenter]

25 minutes ago, asies said:

What I found interesting in this report is it counts migration within the same metro area.  Most of the cities on the list were suburban ring cities drawing people from the urban center to the suburbs. It is promising to see that in Richmond, the opposite is happening, more people are moving to the city from the suburbs (with Henrico being the biggest contributor to new city residents) than are leaving the city.  It is good to see additional evidence that the decades-long trend of urban flight is reversing in RVA.

Five of my neighbors just paid $100-150k over asking... one from SanFran, one from Nova, one from NYC, and two from Henrico county.

[asies]

1 hour ago, ancientcarpenter said:

Five of my neighbors just paid $100-150k over asking... one from SanFran, one from Nova, one from NYC, and two from Henrico county.

Migration from other metro areas is definitely contributing to our growth as well, but it is encouraging to see that our urban center is luring people out of the suburbs. What this city really needs is a city-wide ADU(Accessory Dwelling Units) ordinance to help increase/encourage incremental density throughout the city while also adding much needed housing. (The city may have one in place, but in my own research I couldn't find any evidence of that).

Edited April 28 by asies

[I miss RVA]

21 minutes ago, asies said:

Migration from other metro areas is definitely contributing to our growth as well, but it is encouraging to see that our urban center is luring people out of the suburbs. What this city really needs is a city-wide ADU(Accessory Dwelling Units) ordinance to help increase/encourage incremental density throughout the city while also adding much needed housing. (The city may have one in place, but in my own research I couldn't find any evidence of that).

Interesting (the ADU concept) - can someone put that bug into the ear of their local City Council representative? That's an idea that sounds very positive for pushing the gas pedal for growth in the city! I'm serious in raising the issue of reaching out to your local Councilperson. Let's see if we can make this happen!

@asies-- I was intrigued as well by the amount of inward migration there appears to be from ring cities/suburbs to central cities - and in RVA's case, Henrico providing a large portion of the inmigration to RVA city. I would suspect then, that since the RVA metro is growing - and since Henrico is growing, we may be seeing a pattern where there is a flux of in-migration from Henrico to RVA - and metro-to-metro migration with some of that influx of population settling in Henrico as well as in the city and in Chesterfield.

If I were an urbanologist (as in - with an advanced degree in it) -- I would be VERY interested in studying and researching this dynamic and using RVA metro and RVA city as the case study.

[KJHburg]

This chart shows what the national home price around $400,000 buys in the 100 largest cities.  Richmond falls favorably in the affordable category.  Nashville and Austin much more expensive and of course all the West coast cities and Northeastern cities.

https://www.point2homes.com/news/us-real-estate-news/how-much-space-400000-buys-in-100-largest-u-s-cities.html

Raleigh and Charlotte both slightly more expensive than Richmond in this regard but Nashville is much more expensive as is Austin.    Hover over the spokes to list all the cities. 

My garage is worth as much as the house you could buy in the most expensive cities LOL 

Edited May 8 by KJHburg

[Downtowner]

https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/jennifer-wakefield-column-competing-for-economic-development-in-a-post-covid-world/article_7087402c-4188-531a-b910-98d2aa234ad7.html#tncms-source=login
 

okay for anyone who has a RTD subscription  you need to read this right now. Especially you @I miss RVA this will make you feel more hopeful I hope. The grp ceo said we have 21 million square feet of space that has yet to be announce and unannounced companies that total into the billions of dollars and over 18,000 possible jobs. She said that has never happened for Richmond. This really makes me feel good about Richmond. Hey @I miss RVA keep praying man you may see it happen sooner than you think. Im pulling you get to see that one big tower in rva get built. Just keep holding onto the faith and hope man. This article really has me in a good mood.

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, Downtowner said:

https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/jennifer-wakefield-column-competing-for-economic-development-in-a-post-covid-world/article_7087402c-4188-531a-b910-98d2aa234ad7.html#tncms-source=login
 

okay for anyone who has a RTD subscription  you need to read this right now. Especially you @I miss RVA this will make you feel more hopeful I hope. The grp ceo said we have 21 million square feet of space that has yet to be announce and unannounced companies that total into the billions of dollars and over 18,000 possible jobs. She said that has never happened for Richmond. This really makes me feel good about Richmond. Hey @I miss RVA keep praying man you may see it happen sooner than you think. Im pulling you get to see that one big tower in rva get built. Just keep holding onto the faith and hope man. This article really has me in a good mood.

Thanks so much for posting this!  And extra special thanks, @Downtownerfor the kind words and good wishes. From your keyboard to God's eyes, my friend! 

Okay - regarding the article:  somehow I'm locked out of my subscription - it had expired and I was trying to renew it. When I do, the website just stops and gets hung up - and it won't let me pay them. Apparently the folks at the RT-D either don't want me reading their articles or they don't want my money! 

Edited May 11 by I miss RVA

[Downtowner]

7 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Thanks so much for posting this!  And extra special thanks, @Downtownerfor the kind words and good wishes. From your keyboard to God's eyes, my friend! 

Okay - regarding the article:  somehow I'm locked out of my subscription - it had expired and I was trying to renew it. When I do, the website just stops and gets hung up - and it won't let me pay them. Apparently the folks at the RT-D either don't want me reading their articles or they don't want my money! 

Ever since they redesigned their website it’s been absolute crap. I hate it with all the changes. Have they ever heard the saying if it’s not broke don’t try to fix it?

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, Downtowner said:

Ever since they redesigned their website it’s been absolute crap. I hate it with all the changes. Have they ever heard the saying if it’s not broke don’t try to fix it?

EXACTLY! Now I have to call the call center to get my subscription renewed. What's scary is that when I was in undergrad, I WORKED in that call center from 1983-85. 

[Shakman]

Subscription?  I read it for free.

Perhaps I clicked on something and now the employer is paying the subscription?    

Edited May 11 by Shakman

[I miss RVA]

12 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Thanks so much for posting this!  And extra special thanks, @Downtownerfor the kind words and good wishes. From your keyboard to God's eyes, my friend! 

Okay - regarding the article:  somehow I'm locked out of my subscription - it had expired and I was trying to renew it. When I do, the website just stops and gets hung up - and it won't let me pay them. Apparently the folks at the RT-D either don't want me reading their articles or they don't want my money! 

GREAT commentary! (Yes, I finally got my subscription renewed!)

One key takeaway that is at once both concerning but encouraging:

"But we’re smaller than almost every other peer market, which is important because companies need a sizable labor pool to attract talent. And while we’re growing, it’s at quite a slow rate and not nearly at the level of our peers."

"That goes for our population growth, labor force growth and employment growth. And despite attracting several new air routes in the past year, we still offer a lower number of direct flights, which is critical for corporate travel."

The concern is that we ARE growing far too slowly across all fronts that she listed. And my question is: HOW do we address this to ramp up the rate of growth? Is this the chicken-and-egg question, to which the answer lies in doing exactly what appears to be happening to come to pass? The more jobs we can bring here - the more people we then bring here - and if we keep pushing and pushing and pushing (which is EXACTLY the formula I've been calling for - don't take the foot off the gas pedal for even one second) then eventually the whole thing snowballs. I'm glad Jennifer Wakefield points out the fact that RVA is growing FAR too slowly and NEEDS to step it up!

The other area of concern is the lack of direct flights and the under-service to/from RIC compared with other cities. Obviously, the faster the market grows here, the faster this will get fixed. But here again, it's a chicken-and-egg problem - because better air service will facilitate and expedite business and population growth here. And more/faster business and population growth will result in better air service.

So both are areas are concerns. But both are FIXABLE - provided there are powers that be (and by this article's account, there does appear at least to be some kind of organized effort in place) are on board, dedicated and WILLING to make whatever investments (not just financial) are necessary to make this happen.

This is why it is ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT that the Diamond District plan selected (and again, I'm pushing hard for the Richmond Community Development Partners plan) be DYNAMIC and well BEYOND the "typical" Richmond development. We MUST MUST MUST MUST jettison the concept of "Richmond scale" and think WELL outside the box. RCDP's proposal gets it right on SO many fronts - and, I'm sorry to say, Vision 300 misses the mark on so many fronts. We need a ROBUST, DYNAMIC project that will put the Diamond District out there on the NATIONAL stage and bring some BIG spotlights to shine on RVA. IMAGINE having THE BEST, state-of-the-art, ballpark in ALL of minor league baseball! IMAGINE having dynamic vistas of the growing Diamond District with dense, relatively tall construction going up in all corners of the district. IMAGINE it becoming THE hot, go-to district of the city.  IMAGINE it doing a LOT of heavy lifting to help make RVA the next HOT go-to city in the country.

This really is what we need! We have a GOLDEN opportunity here - and I just hope and pray with my entire mind, body, soul, being and essence that the city doesn't blow it like we fear it might. They HAVE to be smart for once and go with the MOST AMBITIOUS plan - because it is plain and simply THE BEST plan!

[Downtowner]

7 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

GREAT commentary! (Yes, I finally got my subscription renewed!)

One key takeaway that is at once both concerning but encouraging:

"But we’re smaller than almost every other peer market, which is important because companies need a sizable labor pool to attract talent. And while we’re growing, it’s at quite a slow rate and not nearly at the level of our peers."

"That goes for our population growth, labor force growth and employment growth. And despite attracting several new air routes in the past year, we still offer a lower number of direct flights, which is critical for corporate travel."

The concern is that we ARE growing far too slowly across all fronts that she listed. And my question is: HOW do we address this to ramp up the rate of growth? Is this the chicken-and-egg question, to which the answer lies in doing exactly what appears to be happening to come to pass? The more jobs we can bring here - the more people we then bring here - and if we keep pushing and pushing and pushing (which is EXACTLY the formula I've been calling for - don't take the foot off the gas pedal for even one second) then eventually the whole thing snowballs. I'm glad Jennifer Wakefield points out the fact that RVA is growing FAR too slowly and NEEDS to step it up!

The other area of concern is the lack of direct flights and the under-service to/from RIC compared with other cities. Obviously, the faster the market grows here, the faster this will get fixed. But here again, it's a chicken-and-egg problem - because better air service will facilitate and expedite business and population growth here. And more/faster business and population growth will result in better air service.

So both are areas are concerns. But both are FIXABLE - provided there are powers that be (and by this article's account, there does appear at least to be some kind of organized effort in place) are on board, dedicated and WILLING to make whatever investments (not just financial) are necessary to make this happen.

This is why it is ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT that the Diamond District plan selected (and again, I'm pushing hard for the Richmond Community Development Partners plan) be DYNAMIC and well BEYOND the "typical" Richmond development. We MUST MUST MUST MUST jettison the concept of "Richmond scale" and think WELL outside the box. RCDP's proposal gets it right on SO many fronts - and, I'm sorry to say, Vision 300 misses the mark on so many fronts. We need a ROBUST, DYNAMIC project that will put the Diamond District out there on the NATIONAL stage and bring some BIG spotlights to shine on RVA. IMAGINE having THE BEST, state-of-the-art, ballpark in ALL of minor league baseball! IMAGINE having dynamic vistas of the growing Diamond District with dense, relatively tall construction going up in all corners of the district. IMAGINE it becoming THE hot, go-to district of the city.  IMAGINE it doing a LOT of heavy lifting to help make RVA the next HOT go-to city in the country.

This really is what we need! We have a GOLDEN opportunity here - and I just hope and pray with my entire mind, body, soul, being and essence that the city doesn't blow it like we fear it might. They HAVE to be smart for once and go with the MOST AMBITIOUS plan - because it is plain and simply THE BEST plan!

the other thing to keep in mind the current concept renderings from all three finalist is just a start up vision all three could be far more dense or far more better as we have yet to hear numbers on everything from all three groups and we will start to hear it all as summer heats up. Going to be fun to see what the details are or all three groups plans and renderings. These are just concept art for what could be as a start. I’m trying not to hype it up but I really hope it’s way better than what’s currently in the concept art. 

[eandslee]

Richmond will choose the Vision 300 group.  I hope I'm wrong, but if the cards fall the way they "always" do in Richmond, they will choose Richmond scale.  BTW, I really like the RCDP's concept better out of the three, but I do like Vision 300's outdoor concert venue idea (something not mentioned in the RCDP plan).  

[wrldcoupe4]

These pictures are almost meaningless. This round was more about the quality of the parties submitting and high level vision for the site. The details come in round two. Don’t get fixated on the pretty pictures (or ugly depending on your perspective) yet. 

[DowntownCoruscant]

Does that include the renderings of the ballpark itself? Because that’s the most tangible thing (also the most immediate thing), and one would think they produced those renderings with input from each respective stadium designer. That is, maybe the RCDP can’t match the view in their ballpark rendering, but does the rendering offer a glimpse of how they’d actually design the ballpark?

[wrldcoupe4]

Possibly, but one would expect that the ballpark design will ultimately require addl feedback from the City and the Squirrels, so in all likelihood will be different at the end of the day. I can’t speculate as to how much engagement these bidders have had with the team yet. 

[eandslee]

6 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

These pictures are almost meaningless. This round was more about the quality of the parties submitting and high level vision for the site. The details come in round two. Don’t get fixated on the pretty pictures (or ugly depending on your perspective) yet. 

Then why submit the rendering in the first place?  To me, I'd want to see what your vision is, even if it isn't exactly what it will turn out to be.  The RCDP plan is more aggressive, that speaks volumes to me.  It also says a lot about the other plans that are not so visionary or aggressive.

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

Then why submit the rendering in the first place?  To me, I'd want to see what your vision is, even if it isn't exactly what it will turn out to be.  The RCDP plan is more aggressive, that speaks volumes to me.  It also says a lot about the other plans that are not so visionary or aggressive.

They have to put forth something that's a general idea of what they see being built and how major components fit together. I guess without the prettiness of the RCDP plan or the lack of really ANYTHING in the Vision 300 version, this is sort of the LegoLand version of what the Diamond District COULD look like, if I'm reading the commentaries here from the gurus correctly. This was to get them in the door as finalists. The "devil in the details" will come when they really fine-tune or get specific with what they see being built. 

One thing I DO find pretty fascinating is that -- generally speaking - there is quite a bit of similarity in that each has some kind of "spine" going up the middle of the parcel from the ballpark north to the park. How it gets there and what is built along the way differs - but the streets are cut very similarly in all three proposals. That struck me in looking over the plans today.

[asies]

Pretty interesting data from Apartment List for the first quarter of 2022 showing migration trends.  Almost half of apartment searches (47 percent) came from outside the metro area. In comparison, 41 percent of searches in Charlotte were from outside the metro, Atlanta just 28.1 percent of searches were from outside its metro, Austin's outbound search rate was 45.4 percent, while Nashville's was 49. 3 percent.  Raleigh had a slighter higher ratio than Richmond with 52 percent of searches coming from outside its metro. RVA's profile is increasing,  and is attracting a higher rate of outside interest than  Charlotte, Atlanta, and Austin.  This study isn't perfect (it measures interest, not leases signed etc.) but it reflects RVA's rising profile, at least regionally. Apartment List Renter Migration Report: 2022 Q1

Edited May 12 by asies

[Icetera]

53 minutes ago, asies said:

Almost half of apartment searches (47 percent) came from outside the metro area. In comparison, 41 percent of searches in Charlotte were from outside the metro, Atlanta just 28.1 percent of searches were from outside its metro, Austin's outbound search rate was 45.4 percent, while Nashville's was 49. 3 percent.

Totally anecdotal, but I met a guy from Austin a few weeks ago that was here visiting as an option to move as he was tired of Austin.  Richmond really made an impression on him as he explored many different areas and activities.  I think I made the sale but we will see.