Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[jbjust]

gntrphoo, I thought that article indicated there is less and less available space in the suburbs and even less than in the city.

[wrldcoupe4]

Overall that is true, but for Innsbrook specifically:

Meanwhile, office vacancy in Innsbrook in western Henrico County rose to 15.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in the previous quarter, making it the second highest in the area.

BTW downtown's vacancy rate is hurt by vacancies in Class B space. Downtown's Class A space has the lowest vacancy rate in the region, and also fetches the highest rates.

[gntrphoo]

It might also be useful to remember that since we're talking about percentages, having a lower vacancy rate than another region doesn't necessarily translate to having less available space than that other region. I would venture to say that the suburbs have a lot more total space than downtown and thus probably have more vacant space than downtown even though their vacancy rate is lower. I don't actually know the numbers, but just a hunch.

Edited July 25, 2006 by gntrphoo

[burt]

I guess, Guy, this is somewhat , but has the TD reported on this important Business news for Richmond?

The newspaper is apparently strangling itself to death with cutbacks in reportage. I've just learned that coverage of the Richmond Art Scene will be severely restricted in coming weeks.

I hope Dana Craig will still have a job reviewing restaurants!

I think the RTD most assuredly is going in the wrong direction.

Edited July 25, 2006 by burt

[burt]

Do the occupancy rates for downtown and total square footage include all State property?

Did I also read recently that the hotel occupancy rate is up considerably for the entire Metro area?

[wrldcoupe4]

any government owned offices (state, city, university, medical etc..) are not included in the occupancy rate or total SF. So a significant portion of the actual downtown space is never included.

From what I hear, DT needs the new M&R and Centennial Hotels. Plenty of demand to justify it.

Edited July 25, 2006 by wrldcoupe4

[burt]

Wow! Pretty surprising that $1 billion in revenues doesn't even get you into the Fortune 1000. Should have done my homework before my last post.

If you're curious, here's a list of all the Fortune 1000 companies in Virginia.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/for...0/states/V.html

I thought Richmond had 9 Fortune 500's, but on this list, I count eleven (one is listed as in Glen Allen and another in Mechanicsville, but everyone knows they are considered Richmond).

Thanks for linking this jbjust.

PS: I failed to notice Ginterparkphoo's linkage to a TD story about the Hamilton Beach merger, so I owe an apology to RTD.

Edited July 26, 2006 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

Including Meadwestvaco, I could 13, but that's Fortune 1000 companies. **** The list at the top says Fortune 500, but really gives rankings for the whole list.

[wrldcoupe4]

that list does show that the Richmond area has more Fortune 1000 HQ's than any other region in Virginia (include Meadwestvaco), even more than might NOVA. Pretty good for the 3rd largest metro in Va.

[burt]

Including Meadwestvaco, I could 13, but that's Fortune 1000 companies. **** The list at the top says Fortune 500, but really gives rankings for the whole list.

Hmmmm. The link said Fortune 500 companies in Virginia. It shouldn't have misled us if Fortune 1000 companies are mixed in the list.

Anyway, if you count 13, who is No. 12? I'm going back and recount to make sure I came up with eleven.

[burt]

Hmmmm. The link said Fortune 500 companies in Virginia. It shouldn't have misled us if Fortune 1000 companies are mixed in the list.

Anyway, if you count 13, who is No. 12? I'm going back and recount to make sure I came up with eleven.

Yep, I was wrong. There are 12 on the list. Mead/WV would make 13. Of that number, I suspect the following are NOT 500 companies: Universal; Massey; Markel and Albemarle. Am I wrong again?

[wrldcoupe4]

haha burt one of the columns shows where the companies ranked on the list. It's the column just to the left of the revenue column and is labeled 'Rank' ... hope that helps

[wrldcoupe4]

According to Forbes Magazine, of the 100 largest metro areas in the country, Richmond ranks 6th in the nation for best cities to get a job.

Forbes ranked the D.C. area #1 and Hampton Roads as 10th best.

[wrldcoupe4]

Here's the top 10 best cities for getting a job:

1. DC

2. Phoenix

3. Las Vegas

4. Orlando

5. Bethesda

6. Richmond

7. Raleigh

8. Jacksonville

9. Oklahoma City

10. Virginia Beach

[wrldcoupe4]

The Richmond region could benefit immensely from this. It already has with similar ventures in China, Germany, and elsewhere.

Greater Richmond Partnership sets eyes on India

.....With the recent and rapid upsurge in India's economy, it should be no surprise that the Greater Richmond Partnership is eyeing the region. In past years, the Partnership has explored economic development opportunities in other areas with growing economies, including China, Scandinavia, Europe, Japan and Korea........

While actual outreach efforts in India are in the planning states at the moment, Wingfield said the Partnership's previous outreach marketing has led several foreign companies to set up shop in Richmond, the most recent being German-based m

[Shakman]

Here's the top 10 best cities for getting a job:

1. DC

2. Phoenix

3. Las Vegas

4. Orlando

5. Bethesda

6. Richmond

7. Raleigh

8. Jacksonville

9. Oklahoma City

10. Virginia Beach

I do not mean to sound too technical, but Bethesda is not a city. It is considered as an unconsolidated region of Montgomery County, MD. Bethesda has no state charter to be of city status.

Edited August 1, 2006 by Shakman

[burt]

I do not mean to sound too technical, but Bethesda is not a city. It is considered as an unconsolidated region of Montgomery County, MD. Bethesda has no state charter to be of city status.

Yeah, Shak. They've already ranked DC as No. 1 and wouldn't that include all of Metro Washington?

Maybe there's another Bethesda somewhere that few of us know about.

Coupe, you said that HR ranked No. 10, but it is specifically Virginia Beach.

Edited August 2, 2006 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

The description on the Forbes site said it included the rest of HR under Virginia Beach, including Norfolk.

[burt]

The description on the Forbes site said it included the rest of HR under Virginia Beach, including Norfolk.

Well, that's good news for our friends in the other six cities, especially for Norfolk which I consider the hub of HR.

But it still leaves Shak's and my consternation about why Bethesda gets a separate ranking.

[wrldcoupe4]

Update on the World of Richmond Business

Some of these have already been touched on, but here's an overview of recent developments in Richmond:

*** According to Forbes Magazine, Richmond is the 6th best place to get a job in the country, behind DC, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Bethesda.

Forbes Best Places to get a Job

*** Meadwestvaco has started moving into their temporary Global HQ in Capital One's former digs on Broad Street. The move brings 400 corporate jobs to Richmond with a total of 600 employees expected to be working at the HQ. Meadwestvaco is in the process of selecting a site for their permanent HQ in the Richmond area.

*** The Unicco Service Company has established a Mid-Atlantic office in Downtown Richmond which will serve Richmond, Hampton Roads, and parts of North Carolina.

*** Richmond-based Performance Fibers has boosted its presence in Europe with the acquisition of the German firm, INVISTA Resins & Fibers GmbH. The acquisition will bring Performance Fibers global employee count to over 2800.

Performance Fibers grows

***Richmond-based Fortune 500 company Owens and Minor has acquired the McKesson Corporation

[burt]

The Travel Channel is in town to film a segment about bowling. They selected (now this gets kinda confusing) Quibica AMF.

This (I hope I get this right) is a joint venture of AMF Bowling Worldwide and Quibica, a manufacturer based in Italy. They both have their headquarters in Richmond (or Hanover, if you want to be technical). Quibica employes 315 people in Richmond and AMF an additional 349 locally. That's a total of 654 employees, isn't it? But folks, I may have misread this thing. It's in today's business section of the TD.

Incidentally, AMF is the company that made Richmond's Mr. Goodwin a million(some say billion)aire.

Edited August 8, 2006 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

I could have sworn that the two companies had merged...

[burt]

I could have sworn that the two companies had merged...

When you get a chance, read today's TD story. They did merge but .... oh, well, I can't explain it.

[wrldcoupe4]

Richmond-based Martin Agency in running for Wal-Mart advertising account!

The Richmond agency is one of five finalists for the advertising business of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., worth an estimated $570 million a year, according to trade publications.

The local shop is competing against some of the most prominent names in the business, including Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy & Mather, both based in New York. Other contenders are Draft FCB Group in Chicago and GSD&M in Austin, Texas, which handles part of the account now, according to Adweek.

.........If Martin won all of the Wal-Mart business, it would be one of its largest accounts ever. The Shockoe Slip agency has handled numerous high-profile brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Saab USA and UPS, which remains a client.

This would be a huge deal for Richmond's advertising business and Martin Agency. It's amazing that Richmond's ad agencies, with VCU's #1 ranked Adcenter, can compete with the biggest of the big boys in N,Y Chicago, and elsewhere.

[rusthebuss]

Waiting to hear from the Walmart haters..........