Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, eandslee said:

We do not have a list of these mega projects for business non-disclosure reasons (I’m sure)…just know that 5 of them are still looking in RVA area.  

The two we lost were Intel (Ohio, a $20B factory ) and Micron (New York state a $100B factory). 

RVA/Chesterfield has to get the Upper Magnolia mega site ready ASAP!

Yes they do -- it needs to happen A-SAPPER than ASAP!

[Child2021]

https://richmond.com/business/local/san-mar-corp-hanover-ashland/article_9bb28d32-bea8-11ed-aa9a-f3d0412abbdc.html Full speed, ahead.

[wrldcoupe4]

This is a big deal. 1.1M SF and 1,000 jobs. Here is the announcement from governor's office https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2023/march/name-994989-en.html

 

Largest wholesaler of promotional apparel and accessories in U.S. to invest at least $50 million in Hanover County, creating up to 1,000 new jobs

RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced that SanMar® Corporation, a leading supplier of wholesale accessories and apparel, will invest at least $50 million to establish a distribution operation in the East Coast Commerce Center in Hanover County. The 1.1 million-square-foot speculative distribution building was developed by Equity Industrial Partners Corp. and Raith Capital Partners and will be SanMar’s largest operation, becoming the flagship center for the company’s East Coast distributions. Virginia successfully competed with North Carolina for the project which will create up to 1,000 new jobs when the facility reaches full capacity. “Securing SanMar Corporation’s flagship distribution center highlights Virginia’s strategic location, strong infrastructure, and workforce as critical decision factors for logistics operations,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Hanover County has become a regional hub for the U.S. supply chain, and we are proud that the East Coast Commerce Center’s attracted an industry leader like SanMar. We look forward to partnering with SanMar as they continue to expand in the Commonwealth.” “SanMar’s new operation will be a substantial addition to Virginia’s diverse logistics sector and bring valuable jobs and an economic boost to Hanover County,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “Securing a project of this caliber says a great deal about the Commonwealth’s strategic location, competitive operating costs, and top-notch workforce, and we are proud to welcome SanMar’s largest distribution facility that will create up to 1,000 new jobs.” “Whenever we look at a facility, of course we're looking at logistics and the labor market, but we're also really looking at the community and the culture, and the people who will be working in the building,” said Jeremy Lott, CEO of SanMar. “When we came here, we knew right away that this is a place we wanted to be. As we met and talked with people in the area, we knew this could be a great fit for us and for our future growth. We couldn't be more excited to be here—to fill up this building, to build our team here, and to make this a home for a really long time.”

Edited March 9, 2023 by wrldcoupe4

[eandslee]

Here is a link without a paywall:

https://www.vedp.org/press-release/2023-03/sanmar-corporation-hanover-county
 

This is great news! 1,000 new jobs!  Put the pedal to the metal, let’s go!!

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Child2021 said:

https://richmond.com/business/local/san-mar-corp-hanover-ashland/article_9bb28d32-bea8-11ed-aa9a-f3d0412abbdc.html Full speed, ahead.

This is HUGE. San-Mar is referring to this facility as their "East Coast Flagship Distribution Center" ... no question, this is a BIG BIG win for metro Richmond.

And with 1,000 new jobs, I'm wondering if this was one of the larger nuggets that GRP has been chasing down? And are there MORE?

Edited March 9, 2023 by I miss RVA

[I miss RVA]

Here's RBS' reporting. This really is a HUGE WIN for metro Richmond. We beat out North Carolina to get this facility - and it will be SanMar's largest distribution center. Glad to see the Virginia Economic Development Partnership involved in securing this win - along with Hanover County and the Port of Virginia.  This will have a tremendous impact on Hanover - whose population is now already estimated at 113,000 and with the addition of this facility should see its rate of growth increase in the coming decade.

With CoStar bringing in at least 2,000 new jobs, LEGO adding 1,800 and now SanMar bringing 1,000 - metro Richmond landing nearly 5,000 new jobs between just three major employers is a trend we need to keep actualizing. Here's hoping that at least one or two of the heavy hitters that the Greater Richmond Partnership has been and is currently chasing will, indeed, plant their flags -- and thousands of jobs -- in Richmond.

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/03/10/national-apparel-supplier-sanmar-takes-distribution-center-near-ashland/

 

[eandslee]

Interesting that they are touting that this facility will be their largest at 1.1M square feet when on their website it shows they have a warehouse in Dallas, TX that is slightly greater than 1.1M square feet at 1.147M square feet.  Maybe I’m splitting hairs here…as long as ours is the flagship…that’s what I want to see!

https://www.sanmar.com/resources/locationsshipping/warehouses

On a side note…if you've ever flown into Dallas, you’d know that there has to be billions of square feet of warehouse space in that city!  Seems like you fly over a sea of warehouses as far as you can see when landing there. Anyone seen this?  It’s quite remarkable!

Edited March 10, 2023 by eandslee

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

Interesting that they are touting that this facility will be their largest at 1.1M square feet when on their website it shows they have a warehouse in Dallas, TX that is slightly greater than 1.1M square feet at 1.147M square feet.  Maybe I’m splitting hairs here…as long as ours is the flagship…that’s what I want to see!

https://www.sanmar.com/resources/locationsshipping/warehouses

On a side note…if you e ever flown into Dallas, you’d know that there has to be billions of square feet of warehouse space in that city!  Seems like you fly over a sea of warehouses as far as you can see when landing there. Anyone seen this?  It’s quite remarkable!

They're touting this as the East Coast flagship facility. Perhaps the Hanover facility -- when all is said and done - be just slightly larger than the one in metro Dallas?

Not surprising (the sea of distribution/warehouse facilities in the DFW metroplex. I'd imagine Phoenix is the same way (and while I've never been to Dallas, i HAVE been to Phoenix - but I wasn't paying attention to what the surroundings looked like from the airplane to really know...)

[plain]

Some sad news to pass along: Tyson is closing its plant in Glen Allen.

 

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/tyson-to-shut-down-glen-allen-plant-in-may-march-13-2023

[I miss RVA]

33 minutes ago, plain said:

Some sad news to pass along: Tyson is closing its plant in Glen Allen.

 

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/tyson-to-shut-down-glen-allen-plant-in-may-march-13-2023

Oh boy... that's not good. How many employees are involved?

[plain]

692

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, plain said:

692

Oh damnnnnn... That's DEFINITELY not good...

[whw53]

I always forget about that plant until I drive by it. It's sort of out by itself - anyone know the history of that plant or the land use history of that site in general?

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[eandslee]

If you have about an hour to watch, this video is very good and says a lot about the economic development leadership we have in the Richmond Metro Region. Garrett Hart of Chesterfield gets it!!  He gets that we are behind our peer cities on economic growth and development and he’s doing something about it!  The whole video is very good. After watching, I have confidence that the Richmond Region is is good hands to reel in the big fish!  We’re a little behind, but we’re catching up in a big way!  This panel discussion took place on 15 March (I believe that date is correct).  @I miss RVAyou’ll love this video.  Check it out here:

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by eandslee

[Icetera]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

If you have about an hour to watch, this video is very good and says a lot about the economic development leadership we have in the Richmond Metro Region. Garrett Hart of Chesterfield gets it!!  He gets that we are behind our peer cities on economic growth and development and he’s doing something about it!  The whole video is very good. After watching, I have confidence that the Richmond Region is is good hands to reel in the big fish!  We’re a little behind, but we’re catching up in a big way!  This panel discussion took place on 15 March (I believe that date is correct).  @I miss RVAyou’ll love this video.  Check it out here:

 

Watching now while working, but my initial thought looking at the board is that I now understand why they are called "fat cats."

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, eandslee said:

If you have about an hour to watch, this video is very good and says a lot about the economic development leadership we have in the Richmond Metro Region. Garrett Hart of Chesterfield gets it!!  He gets that we are behind our peer cities on economic growth and development and he’s doing something about it!  The whole video is very good. After watching, I have confidence that the Richmond Region is is good hands to reel in the big fish!  We’re a little behind, but we’re catching up in a big way!  This panel discussion took place on 15 March (I believe that date is correct).  @I miss RVAyou’ll love this video.  Check it out here:

 

SWEET!! Thanks, @eandslee !!  I definitely will give this a watch a little later on today. 

[I miss RVA]

I thought about posting this in the Richmond "off-topic" thread - but home ownership vs renting definitely falls within the category of "real estate" - thus I'm posting it here.

Axios Richmond has a VERY interesting story today detailing how Richmond LEADS THE NATION metropolitan areas in the growth of home-ownership among millennials during the five-year period from 2017 to 2022, according to a survey by RentCafe of the top 50 U.S. metropolitan areas. And it's not even close. Richmond's gain of millennials who have become home owners over the previous five year was a whopping 234% - just a tad more than 48% MORE than the second and third-place metros of Las Vegas and Milwaukee, respectively.

One of the big takeaways from the Axios report (quoting RentCafe):

What they're saying: "[Richmond's] funky, hipster reputation and cost of living below the state and national averages were two of the main reasons that drew in millennials looking to buy a home," RentCafe wrote.

So this is yet another example of outstanding national pub for metro RVA - and it's stuff like this that keeps us on the radar screens of businesses, developers and the public at large across the country, and continues to further name recognition of "Richmond" as a great city/metro in which to work, live, play - and as a hot up-and-coming "go to" city/metro for relocations. The more and more we can stay in the national spotlight in this way, the farther along we go in terms of being a "known" entity - and that, in and of itself, will draw people and businesses here.

A definite WIN for metro RVA!

Below is how Richmond stacks up among the top-10 ranked metros:

AND - you can read the full Axios Richmond report here: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-richmond-db982d73-e482-40ca-a986-993d3a45c4ed.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_richmond&stream=top

Edited April 10, 2023 by I miss RVA

[rjp212]

The ability to purchase a home in an urban environment was one of the reasons I relocated here a few years ago.  The other cities on my short list would've required me to live in the suburbs/exurbs.

Edited April 10, 2023 by rjp212

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, rjp212 said:

The ability to purchase a home in an urban environment was one of the reasons I relocated here a few years ago.  The other cities on my short list would've required me to live in the suburbs/exurbs.

Very cool!

Would be curious to know, re: those other cities and you having to potentially live in the suburbs/exurbs: was that specifically due to extremely high purchase prices in said cities, a shortage of available physical housing stock, or a combo of both?

[eandslee]

42 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Very cool!

Would be curious to know, re: those other cities and you having to potentially live in the suburbs/exurbs: was that specifically due to extremely high purchase prices in said cities, a shortage of available physical housing stock, or a combo of both?

…even more, what were the other cities you were considering?

[rjp212]

I’ve lived in Charlotte and DC prior to moving here.  We had looked at Boston, Philadelphia and Austin, but ultimately the cost to live in a walkable, urban neighborhood was too high, and traffic was too bad to commute from the suburbs.  

[I miss RVA]

33 minutes ago, rjp212 said:

I’ve lived in Charlotte and DC prior to moving here.  We had looked at Boston, Philadelphia and Austin, but ultimately the cost to live in a walkable, urban neighborhood was too high, and traffic was too bad to commute from the suburbs.  

Very cool! How long have you been in RVA?

[eandslee]

Great article from Richmond magazine about the strides Richmond is making to keep up and surpass its peer cities that are doing so much better to attract businesses and attracting people to their cities. I’ve never seen leaders in Richmond talk this way before - it’s really unprecedented.  Love the work the GRP is doing and all the other organizations working to grow the Richmond region. Despite all this, Richmond has A LOT of work to do to keep up with its peer cities, but we’re getting there and we’re moving in the right direction. Lots of hope felt after reading this article:

https://richmondmagazine.com/news/features/richmond-labor-market/

[I miss RVA]

Okay - I'm planning to respond to @eandslee's post and the outstanding Richmond Magazine article that gives us some insight about RVA's growth, what we're up against, and what we're doing to compete a little later on today (I have quite a few thoughts & want to organize stuff in my mind before responding.)

But FIRST - I thought it important to bring this nugget from Mike's reporting in this morning's RBS to the table:

A Raleigh-based investor has plunked down $8.3 million to snag two parcels in hot areas of town. One is at 401 Maury Street, where we've begun to see the footprint of Manchester's massive redevelopment begin to expand south and east from the Hull Street corridor & lower Manchester (riverfront). The other is at 1602 Ownby Lane - immediately south of the Hardywood Brewery's taproom  and nearby to where we just learned of a new apartment building set to rise just east of the Diamond District.

The company - PRMS Investments (Pablo Reiter is the main driver of this company) apparently has a pretty extensive portfolio of properties they have developed in the Mid-Atlantic region - and they appear to be quite excited to enter the Richmond market. Great quote from Mike's reporting:

“We’re really impressed with the growth and what’s going on in Richmond with industry and employment,” Reiter said. “We thought it would be a good long-term place to buy land.”

That view, coming from a Raleigh developer -- given the hot real estate environment of the RDU market -- to me says a LOT about how RVA is finally getting on some serious radar screens - and how developers in other -- even competitor -- markets are eager to come here, plant their flags and get projects developed.

Reiter said there are no near-term plans to develop either parcel but, as Mike reported, he said development "at some point it'll be on the horizon".

Posing a question to any/all of our gurus:  Do you think his "at some point" is more in deference to the current economic environment? What do you think the over/under is on when we might see him move on projects - 3-5 years out? 1-3 years out? Sooner if construction costs & interest rates come back down?

Personally, I don't see him letting either of these parcels sit fallow for very long. Both parcels are in blisteringly hot districts development-wise. He didn't come to Richmond to sit on his hands -and I get the feeling he's merely biding his time at this point for the economy to shake back out to a more advantageous position for developers.

Thoughts?

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/04/11/n-c-buyer-drops-8m-for-2-acre-manchester-site-and-an-acre-near-the-diamond/

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by I miss RVA

[KJHburg]