Richmond: Economy/Business/Real Estate

[rjp212]

Credit Card start-up, Mission Lane, is going to be relocating from The Boulders to Scott's Addition.  I've walked by the reno a few times and it looks good!

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/01/credit-card-startup-mission-lane-plants-flag-in-scotts-addition/

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, rjp212 said:

Credit Card start-up, Mission Lane, is going to be relocating from The Boulders to Scott's Addition.  I've walked by the reno a few times and it looks good!

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/01/credit-card-startup-mission-lane-plants-flag-in-scotts-addition/

This may be a bigger deal than people think. Richmond is famous for credit card company start ups.  Capital One started in Richmond.  Just a sense of the possibilities here. 

[eandslee]

A really good article/interview of the CEOof GRP.  She says we need more office space. This could be a call for more new construction of Class A office space. She also hints at a possible big announcement coming up in the coming weeks. Check it out here:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/03/grp-ceo-need-for-more-office-space-remains-despite-covid/

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, eandslee said:

A really good article/interview of the CEOof GRP.  She says we need more office space. This could be a call for more new construction of Class A office space. She also hints at a possible big announcement coming up in the coming weeks. Check it out here:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/03/grp-ceo-need-for-more-office-space-remains-despite-covid/

This is outstanding. What seems to separate a lot of cities that are growing quickly from Richmond is their attractiveness to developers willing to go in and develop spec office space. From what she said, Richmond is missing out on a lot of business re-lo's because we flat don't have Class-A spec-space available. How we get there -- where developers are willing to come in and start building without a primary tenant hooked in -- is the big question.

[wrldcoupe4]

There is 70,000 sf of Spec office being built in Manchester. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

There is 70,000 sf of Spec office being built in Manchester. 

Collectively, correct? I'd be curious how this would play out for businesses looking at the new office space. In the Richmond Biz Sense article, Lara Fritts had an interesting quote regarding space:  " ... the average is about 250 square feet per employee. If you’re talking about 2,500 square feet, that’s 10 or less employees. "  By her math, that would work out to space for 280 workers. Given that the 70K of Manchester space is likely parceled out over a few different projects, a larger company looking to bring, say, 600-1000 workers here would need something more substantial built than we would have available. Obviously this is all hypothetical - but it's interesting to play with this concept. 

[wrldcoupe4]

70k, at the Current. Elsewhere, there’s 80k sf extra space in Kinsale’s brand new building in Henrico. I’m curious, how does she expect the private sector to get financing for let’s say, 150,000 sf or more of speculative office space. I know it’s the proverbial chicken and egg, but in the real world,  build it and they will come is a risky proposition in an unknown post Covid environment. If it’s such a sure thing, is GRP providing a backstop?

  Philip Morris has given up 224,000 sf of nice space. BB&T / Suntrust merger will likely spill space onto the market.  More space will be coming back to the market soon. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

If it’s such a sure thing, is GRP providing a backstop?

 

EXCELLENT question. What's the over/under on the answer being "probably not" ... ?

70K at The Current - nice! What's the situation with the proposed office building to go up as part of The Falls - next to the residential buildings that have risen there? Is that additional building still a go? If so, is it still slated for office space - or has that been changed to residential? Haven't seen anything on that in quite a while, other than pictures of the two residential buildings having been built.

[Shakman]

15 hours ago, eandslee said:

A really good article/interview of the CEOof GRP.  She says we need more office space. This could be a call for more new construction of Class A office space. She also hints at a possible big announcement coming up in the coming weeks. Check it out here:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/03/grp-ceo-need-for-more-office-space-remains-despite-covid/

Holy shmoly!  Lara and I know each other from 25 years ago.  I need to stop by and say hi.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Shakman

[skycity]

How does this effect Dominion and it's headquarters in Richmond? https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/05/warren-buffetts-berkshire-buys-dominion-energy-natural-gas-assets-in-10-billion-deal.html

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, skycity said:

How does this effect Dominion and it's headquarters in Richmond? https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/05/warren-buffetts-berkshire-buys-dominion-energy-natural-gas-assets-in-10-billion-deal.html

Not sure it has any bearing. At worst it looks like they’ll have more cash.  

[skycity]

A new office building in the works? https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/27/costar-eyes-new-riverfront-office-building/

[rjp212]

21 minutes ago, skycity said:

A new office building in the works? https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/07/27/costar-eyes-new-riverfront-office-building/

 we covered it in the Richmond Development subforum.  Hopefully the admins can reopen the Foundry Park subforum. 

[rjp212]

T-Mobile is relocating their call center from Westgate Parkway in Western Henrico to the old Sam’s Club in White Oaks Village. Plans to hire an additional 500 employees over the next 3 years to bring their total to 1300. 
 

https://richmond.com/business/t-mobile-planning-to-relocate-customer-call-center-to-eastern-henrico-and-hire-up-to/article_76f4745a-a84c-55da-9be8-5c6858a3b5d3.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=NEWS - RTD Daily Business&utm_campaign=_Business&utm_content=_Business

[rjp212]

CarLotz to go public.  Hopefully that’ll lead to further growth for the company as it pushes into more states.  I like that they’re headquarters is in Manchester, too. 
 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/10/23/carlotz-to-fuel-nationwide-expansion-with-nasdaq-listing-and-300m-capital-raise/?fbclid=IwAR2Oon4HSqX_ywC5QuazpT95XGDaztrqa40t3XJo1Ovfhn4hE4PtQfgylSo

[I miss RVA]

Agreed, rjp212 on having their HQ in Manchester. I'm loving how Manchester is really starting to establish itself as an "entity". Not to the level of Brooklyn (which is its own 'borough' of NYC) but something along the same lines. As growth continues to pour into Manchester, I would not be surprised to see more office space (than is already there, opening or planned) come in. Very gratifying to see Manchester gaining recognition. 

[rjp212]

Virginia came in 6th overall for 2020 Site Selection's Top Business Climates.

https://siteselection.com/issues/2020/nov/2020-business-climate-rankings-cover.cfm#gsc.tab=0

[Downtowner]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2020/11/11/owens-minor-moving-out-of-riverfront-plaza-cites-success-of-remote-work/

This is not good. Stuff like this makes me wonder if we will ever see a new tallest tower in Richmond. It feels like every time we gain new tenants downtown that more end up leaving as soon as someone gets set up into moving downtown. Like what has to happen to get more companies downtown and to stay downtown. It’s like every time we gain one we lose 2 or 3. I’ve almost felt like giving up on downtown and just feeling like it may be better to just be a bedroom community to the counties. Sorry if I’m sounding negative but when I hear 90,000 square feet being vacated by a huge company like Owens and minor that’s a huge punch in the gut.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rjp212]

This is happening throughout the country, not just Richmond.   Doesn't make sense to pay higher downtown rates, when most of those workers only need to pop into the office, or don't need to at all.  Until Covid passes, I don't imagine any major commercial/office projects to be announced.

[wrldcoupe4]

Reality is that this is only partially attributable to Covid - they started marketing half of their space towards the end of last year. Dominion leased it this summer. There are other sizeable companies in the market looking downtown, so it's not all doom and gloom.  At some point, expect BB&T and SunTrust to consolidate their footprints as part of the Truist merger. I will agree thought that it's unlikely to see any new office tower announcement in the CBD outside of CoStar and Dominion.

[Downtowner]

Reality is that this is only partially attributable to Covid - they started marketing half of their space towards the end of last year. Dominion leased it this summer. There are other sizeable companies in the market looking downtown, so it's not all doom and gloom.  At some point, expect BB&T and SunTrust to consolidate their footprints as part of the Truist merger. I will agree thought that it's unlikely to see any new office tower announcement in the CBD outside of CoStar and Dominion.

Thanks coupe I feel better about it now. And I knew about the bb&t suntrust office space all along with the truist merger. My aunt just recently retired from bb&t and worked at the location in riverfront plaza. She told me they will probably move all of there offices out of Richmond to North Carolina. She said it’s definitely coming it’s just when will it be and be announced. I would honestly rather them leave soon. The sooner they leave the better it will be to lease all of that space up. It’s going to be a ton of available space between suntrust and bb&t leaving. If I had to guess I would think it would be hundreds of thousands of square feet they would vacate. Riverfront plaza will almost be empty when they leave and with Owens and minor leaving. I don’t get why so many people tend to lease space in riverfront plaza and then vacate it within a few years. I feel like that set of towers has flip flopped more tenants than any other office tower downtown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[I miss RVA]

It is what it is - especially with Covid. Like coupe said, only partially attributable to Covid. Here's where marketing and recruitment will need to put the city "out there" as very good place to do business - attract more companies here. Seems like office development tends to be cyclical - but where Richmond could pick up downtown development is in residential projects. Hopefully the building in Monroe Ward (300 block W. Grace) will rise soon - and perhaps more development will start to sprout. When you think about what could potentially rise on the Center City site - or at 4th and Broad or even 6th and Broad, it's easy to see highrise residential. The Owens-Minor type of move has happened downtown dozens of times over the years. Especially once Covid is dealt with, let's see what the business climate downtown might look like. Keep the faith!

[Brent114]

This cannot be the new normal after Covid.

Working from home, it’s more like living where you work, costs employees.  Things that were once employer expenses are now the employees’. 

toilet paper, higher water use, increased electricity demands (you save a lot of money by leaving your home for 9 hours a day, especially on hot and cold days), wear and tear on your furniture, carpets, floors and electronics....

I’m sure employers are loving it.  They are saving tons on office supplies,  custodial services, coffee, energy bills and now have eliminated rent.  It still takes all of those things to make a company work, but now the employees are bearing the costs.  It all well and good now, but wait until the wheels start falling off your office chair(and ruts form in the hardwood floors beneath it) and the camera on your laptop goes bad...

[wrldcoupe4]

Work from home stifles innovation and deteriorates culture. Long term if can't persist, but going forward employers will be much more flexible with workplace (at the office, at home, coworking, etc). Occupancy costs are a large line item after employee expenses, so it isn't surprising that many large companies are looking at it to boost profitability and margin in the near term. Most industries have been contracting the space allocated per person for a long time now.

[Icetera]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

This cannot be the new normal after Covid.

Working from home, it’s more like living where you work, costs employees.  Things that were once employer expenses are now the employees’. 

toilet paper, higher water use, increased electricity demands (you save a lot of money by leaving your home for 9 hours a day, especially on hot and cold days), wear and tear on your furniture, carpets, floors and electronics....

I’m sure employers are loving it.  They are saving tons on office supplies,  custodial services, coffee, energy bills and now have eliminated rent.  It still takes all of those things to make a company work, but now the employees are bearing the costs.  It all well and good now, but wait until the wheels start falling off your office chair(and ruts form in the hardwood floors beneath it) and the camera on your laptop goes bad...

Surprisingly, I am actually saving a lot more money than I expected.  My electricity is actually down 15% compared to the same time period last year (only months with increase were May and Nov both with 3%).  I suspect this may be due to living in a multi-family building and the fact that everyone else is home decreases the variance of temperature from unit to unit, allowing the A/C and heat pumps to work more consistently.  The fuel savings are significant plus the lack of wear and tear on my cars (which I mainly used for work as I typically used Pulse otherwise).  Though I mostly brought food to work, there was still likely more trips out to lunch while now that is nearly zero.  Also, TV dinners are less efficient than meals made at home so additional cost savings there.  I already had to provide my own coffee so no change there and with everything virtual we have nearly cut out all need for office supplies.  So far it seems like a win-win.  I am sure my situation is not the norm since I am in technology but I still found the savings to be surprising (especially the electricity).