Nile is planning to close in Church Hill and relocate to Hatch Kitchen, where the Ethiopian eatery will transition into making packaged meals. (Courtesy Nile)

After nearly two decades and three different locations, Church Hill restaurant Nile plans to ditch its brick-and-mortar model in favor of a pivot into packaged meals.

The Ethiopian eatery plans to close its doors at 306 N. 29th St. and relocate this winter to Hatch Kitchen, a commissary in South Richmond where Nile will make packaged meals.

Co-owner Yosef Teklemariam said packaged foods have long been on the drawing board for Nile. With the opening of Hatch Kitchen in recent years and Nile’s Church Hill lease about to expire, he said it seemed like the right time to make the change.

Yosef Teklemariam

“For the past 10 years we’ve been interested in packaging some Ethiopian dishes. There were some commissary kitchens in the past, but nothing like Hatch Kitchen,” he said in an interview Thursday.

“We started this with all our mom’s recipes, and she’s still involved in menu development and catering specifically. We talked about it when we would purchase packaged ethnic food like Indian and Thai,” he said. “It’s something we’ve dreamed of.”

Teklemariam declined to comment on further details of the pivot into packaged meals.

“We’ve built for nearly two decades our brand and we felt like, ‘You know, this is not being done and if we’re ever going to try it, we have to go for it now,” he said.

Nile also does catering and plans to continue to do so in addition to packaged meals after it shutters the brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Nile originally opened in 2006 on Laurel Street and later moved to 2907 W. Cary St. for a year and a half before landing in Church Hill. Nile has operated at its current Church Hill location since 2016. Teklemariam owns the restaurant with twin brother Benyam.

The restaurant will close Jan. 7 and recently announced its impending next chapter on social media. Teklemariam said the owners wanted to give Nile’s fans enough time to have a sit-down experience one last time.

“We’ve got families that have been dining with us since their kids were 2 or 3 years old, and now they are college seniors,” he said. “We wanted to give ample time because we don’t intend to do another brick-and-mortar. It’s bittersweet but the timing for us just made sense.”

The post Ethiopian eatery Nile to close Church Hill restaurant and roll out packaged meals appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

A map of short-term home rentals currently active in Richmond shows the clustering in some areas that the revised rules are meant to prevent. (City documents)

Reworked rules meant to permit short-term home rentals in Richmond while preserving the city’s available housing stock are heading to City Council for potential adoption Monday.

In the works since last year, and anticipated since the city adopted its current rules in mid-2020, the revised regulations include amendments aimed at preventing a clustering of short-term rentals (STRs) and putting the burden of proving the rules’ primary residency requirement on STR operators instead of city staff.

The residency requirement, in which operators could rent out only their own residence or a room within it, has been a point of contention for those who want to rent out more than one property. In drafting the rules in place now, officials said the requirement is needed to prevent the possibility of operators buying up multiple properties in residential districts and essentially using them as mini-hotels.

In a presentation to the Planning Commission earlier this month, Planning and Development Review Director Kevin Vonck said that of over 1,000 STRs known to be currently active in Richmond, 895, or 83 percent, are for an entire home, and that those rentals are not evenly distributed throughout the community.

Kevin Vonck

“You can see clustering north and south of Broad Street from (Interstate) 195 all the way through Chimborazo; you can see pockets developing north of Manchester and in Highland Park,” Vonck said. “The clustering is a concern that is one of the reasons we are looking at particular regulations.”

Where primary residents rent out their own homes as what Vonck described as an accessory STR, he said a principal STR, such as a vacation rental, typically involves a nonresident owner using a second property as an STR. When a principal STR isn’t being rented, Vonck said, that unit isn’t being used, taking it away from the housing stock available in a city that officials have declared as being in a housing crisis.

“That is why there is a distinct difference between accessory short-term rentals and principal short-term rentals, because the principal short-term rentals do reduce the supply of our housing units,” Vonck told the commission.

Vonck said the proposed revisions are meant to allow STRs as a lodging option for travelers and visitors to the city, while also maintaining the character of the neighborhoods that attract them and have resulted from long-term residents living there.

“It’s difficult to have a harmonious residential community when you have a high percentage of transients,” he said. “When you look at building a residential community, people who are committing to live there for an extended period of time, it’s difficult to build a community where there are people changing all the time.”

Vonck said the STRs known to be active in the city have maintained a 65 percent occupancy rate with an average cost of $166 per night.

In developing the amendments, city planners initially recommended eliminating the primary residency requirement, in which operators must reside at the property being rented for at least half the year. Planners now are proposing to retain the requirement in all residential zoning districts, while allowing principal STRs in nonresidential districts.

Other proposed changes include doubling the fee for biennial STR permits, from $300 currently to $600. Renters would be allowed to be STR operators if the unit is their primary residence, whereas currently only property owners can operate STRs.

And for multifamily properties such as apartment buildings and condos, a maximum of one-third of the units or 10, whichever is lesser, would be permissible as STRs, whereas such properties are currently not specifically regulated.

If more than 10 units are desired, Vonck said the city should look at permitting them as tourist homes, an apartment complex or hotel. Tourist homes are defined in the city code as units that are rented out on a daily basis.

Other existing rules would remain unchanged. STRs would still be permitted as entire dwellings or units and as individual rooms, with a maximum of five sleeping rooms and no limit on the number of rental nights a year.

No more than one booking transaction during the same period is permitted, and operators must be 18 years of age or older and must submit floor plans showing locations of smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors.

More than 700 people attended a series of initial meetings in August on three zoning changes including the STR amendments. (BizSense file photo)

The Planning Commission endorsed the proposal unanimously after a public hearing in which several speakers expressed support for retaining the primary residency requirement, including representatives of the Fan District Association, Ginter Park Residents Association and Bellevue Civic Association.

Thomas Courtney, a former STR operator who has followed and scrutinized the city’s regulations for years, was among speakers in the hearing who opposed the proposal. Courtney argued that the existence of 1,000-plus STRs is evidence that the city cannot enforce the rules, among other arguments.

Contending that only 50 to 60 STRs have been permitted by the city since the rules were adopted, Courtney said of the policy: “It is not being improved with the new ordinance, and it is not helping any of those 1,000 people to come into compliance and to ensure the lodging tax is remitted correctly and within legal means.”

Arguing instead for a registry approach until enforcement can be achieved, Courtney added, “Everything that’s proposed is just words on paper. There’s nothing in terms of enforcing, preventing problematic operators or hotel operations. I have heard zero success stories from the zoning department on stopping problematic operators or hotel operations. They do exist.”

Fan District Association President Rebecca Keller said a poll of its membership showed 90 percent in support of maintaining the primary residency requirement, “because eliminating it would reduce housing availability in the city,” she said in the hearing.

“The Fan, Jackson Ward, Church Hill and many other neighborhoods help to make Richmond unique and a desirable place to live,” Keller said. “Allowing investors to buy up our properties for personal gain without living here erodes the character that makes these neighborhoods what they are.”

Tim Pfohl, president of the Bellevue Civic Association, said a similar poll for that neighborhood showed 85 percent in support of the requirement. While he acknowledged that Bellevue is largely built out, Pfohl said it saw seven homes that recently sold over $100,000 above asking price.

“That’s more than 20 percent over asking price, and almost every one of those had a contract in the first weekend,” Pfohl said. “That continues to be the case. That’s how intensely competitive it is for people that want to move into Bellevue and be part of our city neighborhood, fill jobs in the region and enroll their children in the Richmond Public Schools.

“We see the principal residency requirement as the best safeguard against hundreds and potentially thousands of housing units no longer being available to renters and homeowners in our residential neighborhoods, and we see the (special-use permit) process as a viable recourse for those STR operators wishing to operate in residential zones that are not their principal residence,” he said.

The proposed rules were amended at City Council’s latest meeting and continued to its meeting this Monday, Sept. 25. Council will hold its own public hearing before a vote.

The post Updated rules for Airbnb-style rentals head to City Council appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

TOP THREE SALES

#1 Cushman & Wakefield arranged the $18.4 million sale of 219,972 square feet at 7580 W. Broad St. in Henrico from an affiliate of Hackney Real Estate Partners. John Owendoff of Cushman & Wakefield and Catharine Spangler of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer represented the seller.

#2 B&T Rental purchased 15,360 square feet at 10011 Whitesel Road in Ashland for $2 million from Whitesel Road LLC. Matt Hamilton and Brad Lowry with CBRE represented the seller. Ben Bruni and Colton Konvicka with Commonwealth Commercial Partners represented the buyer.

#3 Advancing Communities Everywhere LLC purchased 73,000 square feet at 2500 Turner Road in Chesterfield for $1.85 million. Alease Washington with ICON Commercial represented the buyer.

TOP THREE LEASES

#1 Restaurant Technologies leased 25,267 square feet at 6601 S. Laburnum Ave. in Henrico. Colton Konvicka and David Williams with Commonwealth Commercial Partners represented the tenant.

#2 Saron Granite & Marble Services leased 12,000 square feet at 1320 School St. in Richmond. Lebs Breeden with Pollard & Bagby represented the landlord.

#3 Smiles Like Yours LLC leased 7,525 square feet at 7345 Whitepine Road in Chesterfield. Alease Washington with ICON Commercial represented the tenant.

Email submissions to Pipeline@RichmondBizSense.com

Pollard & Bagby reports the following deals:

BJA Real Estate leased 1,707 square feet at 3108 N. Parham Road, Suite 100-B, in Henrico. Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

HM Staffing leased 6,300 square feet at 2952-2954 Bells Road in Richmond. Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

CMH Industrial Systems leased 4,680 square feet at 1217 School St. in Richmond. Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

Smithcraft Construction leased 2,400 square feet at 1205 School St. in Richmond. Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

Robert Baughan and Ramunas Gelzinis leased 6,142 square feet at 1209-11 School St. in Richmond. Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

MTG Process Servers leased 1,120 square feet at 2110 Maywill St. in Henrico. Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

SNS Consulting Services leased 160 square feet at 13702 Village Mill Drive, Suite 202A, in Chesterfield. Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

Dream House Furniture leased 1,200 square feet at 2315 Commerce Center Drive in Goochland. Scott White and Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

39 Forever LLC leased approximately 532 square feet at 10 N. Robinson St. in Richmond. Tony Rolando represented the landlord.

B Rogers Inc. and BUILD Coaching Co. leased 2,940 square feet at 8249 Crown Colony Pkwy., Suites 200 and 201, in Hanover. Scott White and Lebs Breeden represented the landlord.

Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer reports the following deal:

Richard L. Byrd, D.D.S. leased 7,500 square feet at 3000-3096 Stony Point Road in Richmond. James Ashby IV represented the landlord.

Porter Realty Co. reports the following deals:

Impact Investment Group sold 7,952 square feet at 7023 Lee Park Road in Hanover for $1.065 million. Kevin Cox represented the seller.

Lion Home Services leased 1,500 square feet at 10097 Patterson Park Road in Hanover. Kevin Cox represented the landlord.

Joyner Commercial reports the following deal:

Impact Investment Group purchased 7,952 square feet at 7023 Lee Park Road for $1,065,000.00 in Hanover. Bernard Heyward represented the buyer.

Commonwealth Commercial Partners reports the following deals:

B&T Rentals and Whitesel Road 10011 Associates purchased 15,360 square feet at 10011 Whitesel Road in Hanover for $2.05 million from Whitesel Road LLC. Ben Bruni and Colton Konvicka represented the buyer.

DeKo, LLC purchased 3,788 square feet at 1531 Elm St. in Hopewell for $370,000 from Delta Citation LLC. Ben Bruni and Michael Mayhew represented the seller and Colton Konvicka and Collins Burlee represented the buyer.

The post The Pipeline: Commercial real estate roundup for 9.22.23 appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

The new GRTC Transfer Plaza opened this month. (BizSense file photo)

“We’re becoming more like Northern Virginia every day” is an oft-heard refrain here. Few would dispute that Richmond is ever changing and growing.

But it’s not just ground-up construction and dense, taller and generic structures that signal physical expansion. Unlike some points north, our town has architectural depth that can translate into century-old places being repurposed. Such is the case with three public outdoor spaces that have gotten recent face-lifts. A downtown parking lot at Clay and Eighth streets has become the Greater Richmond Transit Authority bus plaza. The traffic circle at Monument and Allen avenues, that once displayed a bronze likeness of Robert E. Lee and his steed, Traveler, is now a decorative and densely planted garden. And the 17th Street Market in Shockoe Bottom wouldn’t be recognizable to those who haven’t ventured out since the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s a mark of Richmond’s age, economics and shifting civic values that such prime real estate has been reworked.

Since Sept. 11, riders have boarded and been discharged from GRTC buses on what was once the football 50-yard line of the former John Marshall High School football stadium. Who knew? The transfer plaza’s block, defined by Eighth, Ninth, Clay and Leigh streets, was most recently a surface parking lot whose asphalt had been laid decades ago atop the athletic field (the school building and playing field were operational from 1909 to 1960, when the school moved to Northside). The transfer station’s tightly configured, 12-bay setup replaces the inadequate former depot situated across Ninth Street in the shadow of the city’s crumbling safety and welfare building. The new plaza is slightly sunken and delineated on three sides by continuous and sloping concrete slabs – physical indications of where stadium bleachers once stood.

Two rectangular pedestrian islands are at the center of the complex. Each isle has six bays for buses that enter and exit via Eighth Street. I have transferred buses five or six times now and can report that the configuration and timing of arrivals and departures work splendidly. Buses roll in and out with an unexpectedly pleasant rhythm. Often-harried riders are the winners from the plaza’s compactness. Eight modest-sized, well-positioned bus shelters provide somewhat more protection from the elements than was previously offered. Electronic tracking screens at each bay provide updates on the comings and goings of respective buses. And large framed posters that adorn each shelter include highly attractive photographs that reinforce the concept of bus riding.

The new plaza should be a positive game changer for riders.

That said, bus drivers are still perfecting tighter turns. And some patrons would prefer brighter lighting after dark. But it’s the ramp-like, sloped, concrete bunkers lining the plaza near the city sidewalks along Ninth, Leigh and part of Eighth streets that are the most concerning feature. With pedestrian entrances to the plaza limited to three corners, I noticed several nimble-footed patrons, from nearby government buildings, the VCU Health center and the Biotech Park, entering midblock by either sliding down, or gingerly hopping across, the steep embankments. Ice or snow will worsen the situation. A minimal metal safety railing installed along the Ninth Street side should be extended to Leigh and part of Eighth Street.

GRTC officials say that the transfer plaza is a temporary installation.

The circle where the Lee Monument once stood was unfenced in recent weeks. (BizSense file photo)

For the benefit of those who have either been under a rock or just moved here, the looming equestrian statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that had occupied the grassy circle at the crossing of Monument and Allen avenues for 130 years is gone. The Black Lives Matter movement and other forces brought its removal, and statues of four other Confederate pooh-bahs, to points unknown. All the statues’ plinths or bases were removed and four of the negative spaces have been landscaped. The mostly low-lying plant and shrub scheme was designed and installed by YME Landscaping (Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s former spot in the intersection of Monument and Arthur Ashe Boulevard is now an asphalt traffic lane).

Since the former Lee Circle is considerably larger than the other reworked traffic islands, it could have become a small park. Previously, its grassy lawn was popular with dog walkers, Frisbee throwers, and sunbathers. And more recently, protesters squatted here. Apparently not keen on having the circle reoccupied, planners installed a dense and attractive thicket of plantings that completely fills the circle. It’s not quite a briar patch, but that’s the idea.

Reportedly, this landscaping scheme is also a temporary situation.

The 17th Street Market on a recent summer day. (BizSense file photo)

The third recently reconsidered public space, the 17th Street Market, has been operational since 2019 but was denied a proper launch because of the pandemic. The beloved former farmers market had operated in Shockoe Bottom since the 18th century (and occupied a succession of covered structures throughout that period). The new multiuse plaza, designed by the Baskervill architecture firm and the landscaping firms of Tillage Studio and Spatial Affairs, has been designed for flexibility and changing special events. It also boasts mature oak trees (with a specially installed watering system) that create a welcome green canopy in this often-muggy, low-lying district.

Programming has been well-curated this summer by the city’s recreation and parks department. In August, an ambitious music block party, “804 Day,” brought three main stages and an impressive crowd to the market. More recently, I happened by 17th Street to find a tuxedo-wearing big band blasting away from a tented stage backed up to East Main Street. Spectators brought their own chairs. Williamsburg-based Good Shot Judy had the audience of about 100 hopping and dancing. It was the September offering of rec and parks’ ongoing “Sounds of 17th” series.

As the program drew to a close, almost the entire audience formed a conga line that shook and shimmied its way across the concrete pavement. Fifty other listeners lounged under the umbrellas of nearby restaurant patios. One 20-something man, all smiles and sweat from having joined the conga, returned to two lady friends seated under a Rosie Connolly’s Pub and Restaurant umbrella. He and his girlfriend, plus a pal from Philadelphia, had strolled down from nearby Union Hill. Across the market, an elated, perspiring, middle-aged woman swept in their direction, toward the bar indoors. She and her friends and neighbors had come over from nearby Rocketts Landing. She gushed: “This is the best thing the city has ever done.”

On Oct. 6, “Sounds of 17th” presents Gone Country.

Audiences seem pleased and the handsome shade trees are doing well, so this most recent iteration of the 17th Street Market seems permanent.

The post Evolving Spaces: Makeovers for GRTC transfer plaza, Lee Circle and 17th Street Market (Guest Commentary) appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

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The post New Business Licenses: 9.22.23 appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

The Diamond District site consists of 67 acres bordered by Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Hermitage Road, Interstate 95 and the railroad tracks. (BizSense file)

A first step toward establishing a community development authority to help finance parts of the Diamond District project has been taken by Richmond’s Economic Development Authority.

The EDA’s Board of Directors on Thursday authorized the filing of a petition to Richmond City Council to create a Diamond District CDA, which would issue nonrecourse bonds as part of the funding for the project’s anchor baseball stadium and infrastructure improvements needed for future phases of the development.

The petition is to be filed once the city conveys its 60-acre portion of the 67-acre Diamond District site to the EDA, which would subsequently sell the 60 acres to developer RVA Diamond Partners. The remaining 7 acres that make up VCU’s Sports Backers Stadium would be purchased in a separate transaction with the university.

The 67-acre site includes The Diamond baseball stadium and nearby Sports Backers Stadium. (BizSense file)

City Council approved the transfer of the 60 acres in May, when it also approved a development agreement with RVA Diamond Partners for the mixed-use project that includes a new 9,000-seat stadium to replace The Diamond.

As of Thursday’s EDA meeting, however, the six city-owned parcels that make up the 60 acres had yet to be transferred.

At that meeting, Leonard Sledge, the city’s economic development director, told the board that the transfers are “in process.” Asked afterward why the parcels haven’t transferred yet, Sledge said his department has “prioritized other tasks related to this project and others,” adding that the transfers “will occur in the timeline needed” to establish the CDA.

John O’Neill, an attorney with Hunton Andrews Kurth who’s advising the EDA, told the board that a CDA petition has to be made to City Council by the property owner, hence the need to wait for the property to transfer from city ownership. He said the approval would allow the board chairman to sign the petition once the EDA owns the property, which he said would be “sometime soon.”

Leonard Sledge

Creation of the CDA, including appointment of its members, would then be up to City Council, Sledge told the board.

“This alone does not create a CDA,” he said. “City Council still has the ability to say yes or no. But this petition process is a critical step for them to reach whatever decision they are going to make around this. This is not a surprise to anyone.”

The land sale for the project’s first phase requires a seven-vote super-majority approval from council.

Asked by board member Neil Milliser if the EDA has “any reason to believe that there might be a change of heart on this,” Sledge said no.

“From my perspective, this is perfunctory,” Sledge said.

CDAs are a method that local governments can use to help fund a project using tax revenue generated by that project over time. They have been used locally on large-scale developments such as Short Pump Town Center in Henrico, and are being used for Henrico’s arena-anchored GreenCity project.

Such revenue – from real estate, admissions and BPOL taxes, as well as portions of meals tax and state sales tax – would be restricted to those produced within the 67-acre Diamond District site.

Financing plan includes TIF district

The $2.4 billion project’s financing plan is based on an expanded tax increment financing (TIF) district that includes privately owned properties beyond the 67-acre site, the bulk of them adjacent to or across streets from the site.

Tax revenue from those properties would be used to help pay bonds for the new $90 million stadium, as well as public infrastructure improvements around the site along Arthur Ashe Boulevard and Hermitage and Robin Hood roads.

A map of the expanded TIF district shows privately owned properties in blue and publicly owned properties in orange.

Officials have said the expanded TIF district is aimed at improving areas around the Diamond District to make it more accessible and connected with surrounding neighborhoods. The properties added to the district would not be charged additional taxes or fees.

Adding the nearby parcels to the TIF district would allow the CDA to issue tax-exempt bonds and secure lower interest rates, and fund the additional infrastructure connections to adjacent neighborhoods. Proceeds from the property sale to RVA Diamond Partners would be used to reduce the stadium bond debt.

The development agreement calls for RVA Diamond Partners to pay $16 million for the first-phase property that includes the stadium site, consisting of 22 acres at 2728 Hermitage Road and 2907 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.

The city would finance infrastructure upgrades for the first phase with $23 million in general obligation bonds. RVA Diamond Partners would remain responsible for infrastructure improvements in subsequent phases by providing a special assessment backstop on the stadium and infrastructure bonds. Minimum investment in the first phase has been projected at over $627 million.

RVA Diamond Partners – led by D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp., locally based Thalhimer Realty Partners and Chicago-based investment bank Loop Capital – is aiming to complete the new stadium by spring 2026, a year later than a deadline that Major League Baseball set for both major and minor league venues to meet new facility standards.

The 38-year-old Diamond, which does not meet those standards, has been home to the Richmond Flying Squirrels minor-league ball club since 2010.

The larger Diamond District development, to include a mix of office, residential, retail and hotel uses and infrastructure improvements, is projected for completion in 15 years.

The post EDA preps petition for Diamond District financing authority appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

Pictured from left to right: Chris Dunn, Aaron Rice, Nicole Harris, Lyndon Patrick

Fulton Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FULT), recently celebrated the launch of its new Diverse Business Banking program in the Virginia market at Virginia Union University in Richmond. Fulton Bank employees, industry professionals and community leaders gathered for networking and to learn more about the program.

A group of panelists spoke about how the program is designed to serve the needs of minority, women, veteran and LGBTQ business owners. Guest panelists included Sabrina Davis, Fulton SBA Relationship Manager; Joel Barnett, Fulton Diverse Business Banking Director; Ebonie Atkins, Managing Director, Business Retention, County of Henrico EDA; Leah Fremouw, President & CEO of Bridging VA; Annette Ross, Supplier Relations Manager, County of Henrico; and Sharon Grooms, Capital Access Manager for Metropolitan Business League. Floyd Miller, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Business League, served as the moderator. 

Fulton Commercial Relationship Managers Aaron Rice and Nicole Harris, and Financial Center Managers Lyndon Patrick and Christopher Dunn, were also recognized as Diverse Business Banking Advocates, a special certification program that indicates the team member has taken an extensive course about serving the unique needs of these businesses. 

“We are excited to continue expanding our Diverse Business Banking program in the Virginia area,” said Joel Barnett, Director of Commercial Affinity Banking. “The initiative will allow for local and state-wide diverse business owners to access personalized banking and products that fit their businesses.”

Other services available through Diverse Business Banking include merchant services, payroll and cash management services, and small business administration products.

For more information, visit Fulton Bank’s Diverse Business Banking website.

Fulton participants at the Richmond event included Andy Fiol, Head of Consumer & Small Business Banking; Karen Frye, Commercial Market Executive; LaToya Christian, Consumer Sales Manager; Meg Mueller, Head of Commercial Banking; Linda Melton, Community Outreach Officer; Dr. Monica Ball, a customer and owner of Real Talk with Monica; Angela Snyder, Chief Banking Officer; and Joel Barnett, Director of Commercial Affinity Banking.

Participants in Richmond included Sabrina Davis, SBA Relationship Manager; Joel Barnett; Ebonie Atkins, Managing Director, Business Retention, County of Henrico EDA; Leah Fremouw President & CEO of Bridging VA; panel moderator Floyd Miller, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Business League; Annette Ross, Supplier Relations Manager, County of Henrico; and Sharon Grooms, Capital Access Manager for Metropolitan Business League.

The post Sponsored Content: Fulton Bank Launches Diverse Business Banking Program in Virginia appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

If you list out all technology needs of your business, then contrast those against the ever-changing solutions being presented to resolve your complex business problems, it can be difficult to develop a winning tech strategy that is straight-forward and simple. But it can be done.

How?  Step back from the assumptions you have built around how you have chosen to meet the everyday demands of your business. Challenge yourself to review your environment with fresh eyes and a critical eye toward why something was done a particular way in the past.

Fundamentally, human beings over-complicate things. Complex systems require massive effort to maintain, though simple ones do not. We instinctively dismiss simple solutions and select the more complicated ones. When we succumb to this Complexity Bias and over-engineered systems fail us (or do not live up to the hype), we mentally retreat, seeing everything as chaotic.

When cloud technologies first went mainstream, many suggested that it would consolidate and simplify things, creating a monolithic ecosystem to sweep all those old-fashioned technical issues to the dustbin of history. But the cloud is just a technical toolset.  While it does solve some technical problems, it also introduces new ones. The cloud is not a technical panacea, nor was it ever.

The coronavirus pandemic expedited the rush to a cloud environment because it allowed workers to access business software and data from home. Sometimes this was done after adequate forethought, but oftentimes it was purely a survival move; hurriedly implemented as a series of overlapping Band-Aids. Now that many consider themselves post-pandemic, businesses have begun evaluating how they can simplify their portfolio of cloud products and better integrate their various solutions.

Questions to ask to get started: 

1. – How is your current environment split out between Software as a Service and Public Cloud versus On– Prem or Private Cloud?
2. – Do you know where your data is and who has access to it?
3. – What are the risks or limitations of those current choices on your environment?
4. – Do they infringe on your business needs, expectations or put you at a competitive disadvantage? 
5. – What technical and operational security practices are in place and do they adequately protect your business from reasonable risk?
6. – Are you asking the hard questions of your current IT staff and providers?
7. – Do you have open and honest lines of communication?
8. – Is vendor dependence a growing risk?
9. – Do trends in regulation and compliance point to different requirements in the future? 

If you would like to know more about trends in cloud technology, or if Segra can help you evaluate the pros and cons of your technology game plan, contact us.

Left to right: Adam Ott, Shawn Kelley, Randy Simmons

Meet the Richmond team:

• Adam Ott— Mid-Market Account Executive—Adam.Ott@Segra.com
• Shawn Kelley – Mid-Market Account Executive—Shawn.Kelley@Segra.com
• Randy Simmons – Strategic Account Manager—Randy.Simmons@Segra.com
• Paulo Fernandez-Mid-Atlantic Account Executive—Paulo.Fernandez@Segra.com 

Four considerations when building a business technology game plan in today’s environment.

First, let’s level set the expectation of what the cloud is and how it functions.  The cloud is a technical solution that can replace your server software as well as the hardware and facilities they require by using an outsource provider that specializes in those things. Some providers focus only on specific “software as a service” applications while others provide entire “infrastructure as a service” models. Resources run in tier-rated datacenters, external to the business offices so that users can work the same way remotely or from headquarters or any branch office.

Second, businesses need to consider expenses.  Cloud computing can be a cost-effective alternative to traditional procurement-based solutions. It takes significant capital to purchase server hardware, pay for software licensing, and retain the necessary staff or providers with the right skills to manage the environment. With the cloud, you transition many of those largest capital expenditures to operational expenses. Your IT staff or MSP will spend less time maintaining those systems, which leaves them more time to focus on the challenges specific to your particular business. So, what are your long-term business costs? 

Third, don’t underestimate the impact of change fatigue on your users, and customers!  Whether a cosmetic change or a fundamental business process, efficiency wanes when too many changes occur too quickly. Couple that with the wave of people changing jobs surrounding the pandemic, the corresponding loss of institutional knowledge and diminished focus on keeping documentation up to date, you can see how the past few years have been a perfect storm, driving down efficiency. Business owners must improve their ability to evaluate how change impacts their people. Do you need to plan the change, communicate the plan and methodically execute the plan, all while communicating the value of the change? Only if you want your users to embrace and derive value from the change.

Fourth, businesses need to embrace the “right tool, right job” approach. The rush to put everything in one particular cloud offering has exposed the reality that not all workloads operate at efficient cost or performance points in Public Cloud. Some workloads have been repatriated to on-prem locations or shifted to Private Cloud, Infrastructure as a Service providers. The buzzword for that is Hybrid Cloud – using various offerings spread out between Software as Service, Public, Private and On-Prem Cloud environments. But Hybrid Cloud is not new, it is how you should have approached cloud in the first place. Are your various workloads running at optimal cost and performance points, or are some of them compromised by the restrictions inherent in the cloud model you have chosen?

What’s next?

Finding a strong and reliable IT cloud provider is important. There are lots of considerations, from evaluating what platforms may meet the need to ensuring integration with existing systems to breaking down complex decisions into a basic set of motivations, which is the key to evaluating your options effectively.

About Segra:

Built on a 125-year legacy of connectivity, Segra owns and operates over 30,000 route miles of advanced fiber infrastructure network throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. With employees across 90 facilities, including 14 sales offices and 9 data centers serving 44 markets, Segra is one of the largest independent fiber network companies in the Eastern US. Segra has a broad and dense service footprint that provides state-of-the-art Ethernet, MPLS, dark fiber, advanced data center services, IP and managed services, voice and cloud solutions, all backed by its industry-leading service and reliability. Customers include healthcare and higher education organizations, carriers, enterprises, and governments. For more information about Segra’s technology and commitment to customer care, visit segra.com.

Clinton Buss, Cloud Solution Specialist at Segra

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The PGA Tour Superstore is taking shape in the former Office Max building. (BizSense file photo)

A big-box retail building near Short Pump is trading printer paper and highlighters for drivers and irons.

PGA Tour Superstore, a national chain of golf stores owned by Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, is opening its first Richmond-area store in the former OfficeMax at 10941 W. Broad St.

The chain has begun renovations on the 30,000-square-foot space with a goal of opening in the first quarter of 2024.

The company was launched in 2004, licensing the PGA brand name from the PGA Tour. Its original location was in the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina.

Blank, who in addition to co-founding Home Depot owns the Atlanta Falcons among other ventures, purchased the chain in 2010. It has since been on a rapid expansion streak, growing to 64 U.S. locations, including one other Virginia location in Fairfax that opened in 2021.

The chain’s stores range from 30,000 to 65,000 square feet. (Photo courtesy PGA Tour Superstore)

Megan Malone, a spokeswoman for the chain, said it aims to open eight stores this year and eight more next year, with Richmond planned as the first to be unveiled in 2024. Locations in Oklahoma City and downtown Chicago opened this month.

Malone said the retailer looks to markets with a heavy concentration of golf courses and where golf activity is on the rise. The company cited the Richmond region’s nearly four dozen courses and stats that show rounds played in the region are up nearly 15 percent through June 2023 compared with last year.

“We’ve been looking into Richmond and the Central Virginia area for the past two years,” Malone said.

The chain will enter a competitive fray of Short Pump-area golf and sporting goods shop, including a Golf Galaxy store at West Broad Village, Dick’s Sporting Goods at Short Pump Town Center, along with Academy Sports and Club Champion.

Renovations to its storefront in Colonnades West are led by Garrard Construction Group. CNNA Architects is designing the space, which sits between Ross Dress for Less and Marshalls.

The stores offer equipment, apparel, lessons, club fittings and more.

The store will sell all sorts of golf products, including equipment, apparel and accessories. It also will feature an 800-square-foot putting green and several practice bays and golf simulators. Custom club fittings, club repair and regripping and lessons on the simulators also will be offered.

The store will have about 40 employees upon opening.

The company is leasing the building from Colonnades West owner Colterra Capital Corp., which purchased the shopping center in early 2020 for nearly $23.8 million.

S.L. Nusbaum’s Nathan Shor and Larry Agnew represented PGA Tour Superstore in its lease. Harrison Hall and Peter Vick of Colliers represented the landlord.

Another recent arrival to the shopping center is used-Lego store Bricks and Minifigs, which opened early this year.

The post National golf retailer PGA Tour Superstore lines up first Richmond-area outpost appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

The Bank of America branch at 4921 Lakeside Ave. had been closed since the COVID pandemic began. (BizSense file photo)

The closure and sale of a Lakeside bank branch has created a new opportunity for Henrico County’s portion of the in-the-works Fall Line Trail.

The county in June paid just over $1 million to buy the former Bank of America branch at 4921 Lakeside Ave., which it is planning to use as a trailhead facility for the 43-mile multiuse trail that will connect Ashland and Petersburg.

Henrico had been planning a trailhead about a half-mile northeast on Dumbarton Road but changed plans when it was able to purchase the bank branch, which is beside the trail’s planned route across Lakeside Avenue. The county was already planning a signalized crossing on Lakeside to connect the trail from Bryan Park to nearby Spring Park.

Steve Yob

Steve Yob, Henrico’s deputy county manager for community operations, said the trailhead planned at Dumbarton would have come with costs to provide parking and bathrooms and extend water and sewer lines, all of which are already available with the bank property.

Noting the Dumbarton site was also in a floodplain, further increasing cost estimates for the project, Yob said, “(The bank property) really had almost all the infrastructure we would need for the trailhead without having to create a new parking lot.”

Yob said the county plans to incorporate the existing bank building into the facility in some way, with a primary goal to make bathrooms and a drinking fountain easily accessible. He said the building’s existing bathrooms are located in the basement, so new ones would likely be added at the ground level.

Bike Walk RVA coordinated a hike along the Fall Line Trail’s future alignment, including beside the bank property, in 2021. (Photo courtesy Henrico County)

“The parking lot itself was very attractive to us,” Yob added. “Another factor is we would likely have impacted a sliver of that property anyway with the trail coming through, because it goes right through on Park Street.”

The property became available when Bank of America vacated it last year after shuttering it for two years during the pandemic. The 1-acre property, which is half in Henrico and half in Richmond, was eventually put up for sale, with Colliers handling the listing.

The three-level building with three drive-thru bays totals nearly 6,000 square feet, and the property includes 46 parking spaces. The latest assessments by the county and the city put the property’s tax value collectively at $1.26 million.

The county’s portion of the trail would run from Bryan Park in the city across Lakeside Avenue to Park Street, which runs along the north side of the bank property. From there, the trail would follow alongside Upham Brook across from Interstate 95 and cross Dumbarton en route to Hilliard Road along the east side of the southern leg of Belmont Golf Course.

A map of Henrico County’s segment of the Fall Line Trail. (County documents)

The route would then jump over to Brook Road and head north toward St. Joseph’s Villa, where it would branch off and follow an existing powerline easement along Longdale Avenue. It would then cross Interstate 295 and continue north to Holly Hill Road west of Rivergate en route to Hanover County.

Years in the making, the $266 million Fall Line Trail is entering the construction phase, with Henrico aiming to start the Park Street section in coming weeks as the first of eight phases that will make up its segment of the trail. The first phase, which includes the Lakeside Avenue crossing, is projected to cost $1 million and end in February.

At their next meeting, Henrico supervisors are slated to consider awarding a contract for the first phase to Blakemore Construction. The nearly $700,000 contract would include 1,400 feet of 12-foot-wide, asphalt-paved trail and the push-button signalized crossing.

The county is aiming to complete its 7.5-mile segment from Bryan Park to the Chickahominy River within four to five years. The estimated cost for the full segment is $52.6 million, to be funded with a mix of county and Central Virginia Transportation Authority funds and state and federal grants.

The post County’s Lakeside bank branch purchase lines up Fall Line trailhead appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

A rendering of the VCU Health-anchored office tower and complex that would have replaced the Public Safety Building. (BizSense file)

VCU Health’s costly exit from an ill-fated downtown development project has prompted calls for organizational and procedural change from Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

In a letter dated Sept. 19 to House Speaker Todd Gilbert and Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Mamie Locke, Youngkin urges the Virginia General Assembly to make changes to the VCU Health System Authority’s governance structure, including the replacement of VCU President Michael Rao as chairman of the authority’s Board of Directors.

Youngkin also recommends changes to how the authority reviews and evaluates significant capital projects, in light of the health system’s exit from a $325 million development that would have replaced Richmond’s old Public Safety Building with a multi-building complex that VCU Health would have anchored.

VCU Health ended up paying $73 million to back out of its 25-year lease for that project, referred to by administrators as the Clay Street Project, and continues to pay additional costs that Youngkin said could end up totaling $100 million.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin

“While some commentators have pointed out that no state funding was at risk with the Clay Street Project’s failure, I reject the notion that because VCU Health System is a separate authority there is nothing the Governor and the General Assembly can, or should, do in response,” Youngkin says in the letter, which was first reported by the Times-Dispatch.

“The widely publicized cancellation of the Clay Street development project in downtown Richmond, which could cost up to $100 million, should serve as a wake-up call to the significant flaws in the current governance of the University and the Authority, particularly related to the planning, approval, and implementation of sophisticated and costly capital projects.”

Youngkin’s letter includes eight recommendations, including a “restructuring and professionalizing” of VCU Health’s Board of Directors, which includes appointments made by the governor and legislators, as well as a revision to the board chairmanship currently filled by Rao, who also serves as president of the health system as well as the university.

“Because the two institutions will remain affiliated but also remain separate legal entities, the VCUHSA Board should not be chaired by the President of VCU, but by another individual with the experience and time commitment necessary to lead the board,” Youngkin said in the letter, adding that the president should continue serving on the board as an ex officio member.

“VCUHSA’s Board should also be populated with individuals who have the professional background and experience necessary to run a large, complex medical enterprise with annual operating revenue of nearly $3 billion,” the letter reads, adding that board members should have demonstrated experience in academic medical center administration, commercial real estate, business and risk management, and capital finance.

Noting that state code requires the appointment of five teaching physicians to the board, Youngkin adds, “Some physician representation is appropriate, but this level of representation seems arbitrary, and our focus should be on appointing individuals who not only can represent this constituency, but who also have other necessary skills for the Board.”

Youngkin also calls for a “reimagining” of the relationship between the health system and VCU, reducing the number of members and their terms on the health system board, and requiring transparency and outside review of complex or capital-intensive projects.

The 3-acre Public Safety Building property at 500 N. 10th St. (BizSense file photo)

Referring to the Clay Street Project, Youngkin says in the letter, “Outside financial advisors were not consulted on this complex deal which involved multiple parties and other stakeholders, and a detailed risk analysis was only conducted immediately prior to closing. This analysis reportedly outlined serious risks with the proposal and did not point favorably towards approval. Yet despite the repeated warning signs, VCU Health pressed forward and approved the Project.”

In his recommendation for transparency between the VCU and VCUHS boards, Youngkin adds, “The artificial wall present between the two Boards throughout the Clay Street Project did not serve the public interest and must be eliminated moving forward. Additionally, a more robust internal review and approval process must be instituted.

“Board members must be provided full information, have a healthy skepticism, and be encouraged to ask questions about all critical business issues, particularly those related to significant contractual and capital commitments. In all capital projects, the Board should be presented with a comprehensive financial and risk analysis and should not vote on a project until members are comfortable with the potential impact to the Health System and the Commonwealth.”

In a prepared statement Wednesday, Rao said he “fully” supports Youngkin’s “thinking about board governance and VCU Health.”

Michael Rao

“These are best practices that will strengthen the leadership of the university and health system boards, as well as that of the president,” Rao said. “The Governor’s statement echoes the recommendations VCU Health received in June from the independent law firm hired to review the Clay Street project. I recommended the review to the board, and VCU Health has implemented those recommendations. VCU is adopting them as well.”

Rao added that the Chartis Group, a healthcare consulting firm, has been working since May on a “final report” about the project that is expected to be presented to the boards soon.

“Both boards met last week, and I shared then my belief that healthcare has changed so much, and so rapidly, that the VCU Health board of directors requires a chair 100 percent devoted to the health system, similar to how the president of the University of Virginia is not chair of its health system board/committee,” Rao said. “I support this evolution of the role of the VCU Health board chair.”

VCU also released a joint statement from Rector Todd Haymore and Vice Rector Andy Florance expressing their commitment to work with Youngkin and Rao to make the changes to governance structures.

“VCU and VCU Health are two of Virginia’s most indispensable institutions of student learning and patient care. For the Commonwealth to meet its critical education and healthcare goals, VCU and VCU Health must focus on innovation, impact and accountability. Changes to board governance will reinforce the work VCU and VCU Health began this spring,” their statement said.

In addition to Rao and Haymore, the VCUHSA board’s current membership includes state Sen. Lamont Bagby, physician Hem Bhardwaj, attorney Joel Bieber, investment manager Diana Cantor, physician Laurence DiNardo, developer George Emerson, private equity firm manager Peter Farrell, Truist executive Ellen Fitzsimmons and physician Lance Hampton.

Rounding out the board are VCUHS interim CEO Marlon Levy, former U.S. ambassador Carmen Lomellin, Capital One executive Fay Manolios, Henrico County supervisor Tyrone Nelson, state Del. Roxann Robinson, CPA consultant Gary Thomson, and physicians Bimaljit Sandhu, Wes Shepherd, Wally Smith and Romesh Wijesooriya.

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A roughly 1,300-square-foot house is currently on the site on Robious Road. (Mike Platania photo)

A longtime local insurance broker-turned-developer is taking on his biggest project yet near a prominent Chesterfield intersection. 

Mike Sanford recently filed for a rezoning request to construct Robious Landing, a 70-unit apartment complex at 11229 Robious Road. 

The new development would rise on a mostly wooded 2.25-acre parcel just east of Robious’ intersection with Huguenot Road, wedged between a storage facility and the nearly 400-unit Clairmont at Chesterfield apartments. 

Mike Sanford

Sanford’s main line of business is Sanford Insurance, which brokers business insurance policies throughout much of the Eastern Seaboard. 

He started the insurance business in the late ’80s before getting into real estate about 10 years ago. 

“I’ve done pretty much only small projects. We’ve built houses, flips and stuff like that,” Sanford said, noting that he’s also tried to strategically pick up land throughout Central Virginia. 

“I’ve got property up near Charlottesville, Richmond, Henrico, Hanover and Goochland. I’ve even got property out in Blackstone,” he said. “We’ve got parcels all over the place, and what my objective is now is to start developing these parcels.”

Sanford bought the Robious Road land in 2021 for $425,000. It currently houses a derelict, one-story building, which is set to be razed to make way for Robious Landing. 

The complex would total 70 units spread across a trio of 3-story buildings, with 46 one-bedroom units and 24 two-bedrooms. Planned amenities include a pool and 125-space parking lot.

The land is currently zoned for agricultural uses and Sanford recently filed a rezoning request to green-light the project. He said he was initially planning for Robious Landing to be a mixed-use project. 

“I was trying to have commercial (space) on the bottom floor and apartments on the two floors above. (The county) didn’t like the commercial part. So we changed it to all apartments,” Sanford said. 

A drawing of one of the buildings at Robious Landing. (Courtesy Mike Sanford)

Appich Architects is the project designer and real estate attorney Jack R. Wilson III is handling the rezoning process, which Sanford said he’s hoping to get underway sometime this fall. 

The project’s estimated cost is $20 million, making it Sanford’s biggest real estate project to date. 

“It’s exciting and a little scary, but I think if you’ve got a good plan, that’s the secret,” Sanford said. “I think we’ve got the right people on the project and the right plan, so I think it’ll be very successful.”

About two miles to the east near Bon Air, a developer from out of town is planning an additional 300-plus apartments at 1145 Old Bon Air Road. 

The post Veteran local insurance broker dons developer cap for $20M Robious Landing project appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

Grace Christian School recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its new 18,000-square-foot addition. Holding the scissors are Grace Christian Board of Directors Chairman Jethro Piland and Head of School Kathryn Bremner. (Photos courtesy of Grace Christian School)

A growing private school’s students no longer have to eat lunch in the chapel.

Grace Christian School has completed construction on a 18,000-square-foot, two-story wing to the church at 8067 Atlee Road where it operates.

The $6 million project brings the building, which is shared with the congregation of Grace Christian Church, to a total of 24,000 square feet with room for a new cafeteria and 11 new classrooms for the school.

The project also includes a new office wing and weight room in addition to the expansion of existing athletic locker rooms.

Grace Christian School had fewer than 40 students when it opened in 2013. It has since grown steadily and now has enrollment of about 300. With the expansion now open, the nondenominational school for sixth to 12th graders has more space for its current student body and is able to continue to grow its headcount.

Before the project, planning for which began prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school had come to utilize the entire church building, including using the chapel as an ad-hoc lunchroom. Now, some spaces can be rededicated to church use.

“There were microwaves plugged in under stained-glass windows,” Executive Director and Head of School Kathryn Bremner said. “We were everywhere and I’m sure the church is happy to have some quiet.”

Attendees came out for a ribbon-cutting event in September to recognize the completion Grace Christian School’s $6 million addition.

Construction was completed in late August. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the expansion was held this month. The school broke ground on the project, which is its first major capital project, in early 2022.

Norman Company was the general contractor. Huff-Morris Architects designed the new facilities.

In addition to the $6 million to build the expansion, the school collected $700,000 in a fundraising campaign to outfit the new spaces with furniture and equipment and renovate existing spaces of the school. The campaign exceeded its initial goal by $100,000.

Grace Christian School was founded in 2011 and graduated its first class in June 2016.

The school and Grace Christian Church share the property but are distinct nonprofit organizations. The church formerly was called Mechanicsville Church of Christ.

Grace Christian School’s recently completed expansion project included new classrooms and a new cafeteria among other facilities.

Tuition for full-time middle schoolers is $7,400 and tuition for full-time high school students is $8,400 for the 2023-2024 academic year, according to the school’s website.

The school generated $1.95 million in revenue in 2022, according to an annual report.

Grace Christian’s draws students from area localities, including Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, West Point, King William, New Kent, Caroline and Charles City.

In other local private school news, Saint Gertrude High School recently opened its new $40 million school in Goochland County.

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The building with the red door backs up to Cobra Cabana and its patio, pictured right. (Mike Platania photo)

Herbie Abernethy and Josh Novicki are dialing up their presence in Carver. 

The duo, who own neighborhood restaurants Cobra Cabana on West Marshall Street and Hot For Pizza Leigh Street, have a “listening bar” in the works at 312 Goshen St.

Dubbed Space Mountain Hi-Fi, the new spot will be equipped with high-quality audio equipment for playing music on vinyl records, along with a full bar. 

Also known as “audiophile bars,” the concept dates back over a century to Japan, where people would go to intimate cafes to drink cocktails and listen to rare records. In recent years these bars have seen a resurgence domestically, primarily in major cities including Los Angeles, Miami and New York City. Space Mountain will be the first such venue in Richmond. 

Abernethy and Novicki’s love for music is well documented. Abernethy, who’s also the lead singer for rock band Valient Thorr, said he “buys records like people buy cigarettes.” After he and Novicki opened Cobra Cabana in the former Black Sheep space in 2018, they doubled down in Carver with their Van Halen-themed pizzeria Hot For Pizza, which opened in 2020. 

Herbie Abernethy and Josh Novicki

Space Mountain is planned to occupy the ground floor of a roughly 1,000-square-foot, two-story building that backs up to Cobra Cabana and its patio at 901 W. Marshall St.

“This small space is begging people to come drink liquor and swim into the sounds,” Novicki said. “Having a bar that plays, promotes, specializes and revolves around all things audio justifies all the money we spend on records. Additionally, we want to be able to listen to our favorite records on a killer sound system.”

He added that Space Mountain also will be a venue where artists and musicians could debut their work and have it played in a space specifically designed for listening.

“Over the years tons of music has been created and recorded to be listened to in a curated space such as this, but most of us don’t have the means or a place to hear it this way,” Novicki said.

“It’ll have an incredible sound system where people will want to go have their (album) release parties,” Abernethy added. 

Novicki declined to disclose details on the specs of the audio equipment they’ll be using, or how much they intend to invest in it.

Space Mountain’s menu will include cocktails, mocktails, wine, beer and snacks.

The bar’s 123-year-old building, which Novicki owns, is zoned residential, so Abernethy and Novicki are applying for a special-use permit to green light the project. 

In their SUP application, Novicki and Abernethy write that Space Mountain’s capacity would be capped at around 15 people and while the audio quality would be high, the music would be played at a “very low decibel rate.”

“It’s all about the clarity of the audio, not the volume,” Novicki said.

Space Mountain is one of multiple projects Abernethy and Novicki have taken on in recent months. The duo also expanded into North Carolina this summer, opening beachfront bar The Sandspur in Carolina Beach and purchasing longtime Raleigh music venue Kings. Novicki said the pair are working on another to-be-announced project, and with so many irons in the fire, Space Mountain’s opening timeline is unclear. 

“We’ll have some interior construction/build out, but we are making moves and everything’s coming up Milhouse,” Novicki said. “We’re super stoked for this project to come alive and can’t wait for everyone to take a ride on Space Mountain.”

Another audio-focused business arrived in the city earlier this summer, when Carytown Sound opened at 3101 Ellwood Ave., offering stereos, turntables and more. 

The post Owners of Cobra Cabana, Hot For Pizza opening ‘listening bar’ in Carver appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

A rendering shows the Manchester apartments as they would appear at Hull Street and Commerce Road. (File images courtesy of The Lawson Cos.)

An apartment building planned on a prominent intersection in Manchester appears to be a go after a recent land purchase.

Norfolk-based The Lawson Cos., which is developing a five-story building at the southeast corner of Hull Street and Commerce Road, closed Sept. 1 on the nearly 1-acre property.

Records show it paid $2.4 million for the four parcels that make up the site: 812 Hull St., 6 E. Ninth St., and 811 and 812 Decatur St. The project does not involve a city-owned parking lot that fills the rest of the city block.

An aerial of the site at Hull Street and Commerce Road. (File image courtesy Porter Realty)

The purchase amount appears to be as much as the project’s estimated cost, according to permits filed with the city that put the total construction value at over $2.3 million and site demolition at $30,000. The project is being funded in part using low-income housing tax credits.

The seller in the deal was The J.M. Fry Co., a locally based manufacturer of printing inks that had owned the vacant property since 1969. The city assessed the parcels this year at $1.3 million combined.

Called The View at Belle Isle Apartments, the L-shaped building fronting Commerce and Hull will consist of 116 units on four levels above a partially underground parking garage. The garage will be accessed off Commerce and total 118 spaces, and the apartments would consist of eight studios, 81 one-bedroom units and 27 two-bedrooms ranging in size from 390 to about 950 square feet.

A northward view of the Manchester apartment building from across Ninth Street. The existing parking lot also is shown.

The apartments will be income-based and reserved for renters earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income. Lawson spokesman Dan Hankin said the latest AMI figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development puts that at $44,820 for a one-person household and $63,960 for a family of four.

When plans for the project were filed in 2021, Hankin said rents were anticipated to range from $830 to $1,065 a month, depending on unit type and resident income. He noted those numbers were based on the AMI figures at the time.

Planned amenities include a top-floor clubroom, fitness center, bike storage and a bus stop on-site.

Hankin said Lawson plans to break ground on the building next spring and anticipates the apartments will be ready to lease in spring 2026.

Lawson is working on the project with TS3 Architects and engineering firms Timmons Group, Dunlap & Partners and Speight, Marshall & Francis. Porter Realty’s Richard Porter and Clifford Porter brokered the land sale.

Lawson’s other projects in Richmond include the 200-unit Foundry Apartments along the interstate near Virginia Union University, and the 96-unit Alexander at 1090 Apartments at 1090 German School Road.

It also has been planning a 144-unit complex at 700 W. 44th St., south of Forest Hill. Lawson has been under contract to buy the 6.5-acre property and filed a zoning confirmation letter with the city in March. It has not filed a building permit or purchased the site.

The post Land deal clears way for income-based apartments at Manchester crossroads appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

The new regulation has been years in the making. (BizSense file photo)

Virginia’s beer industry had reason to raise a pint to last week’s signing of the state budget.

The General Assembly’s now-finalized annual budget included funding for the creation of the Virginia Beer Distribution Co., a new division of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that will allow breweries to self-distribute limited amounts of beer to retailers and restaurants while bypassing traditional third-party distributors.  

The VBDC’s existence was made official last week when Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the state budget after months of delays. 

The new distribution company will offer Virginia breweries a limited way to side-step the state’s current “three-tier system,” that requires that breweries sell their product to a distributor, which then sells it to retailers and restaurants. 

The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild and the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association spent years negotiating the matter, and successfully lobbied for it at last winter’s General Assembly session. Del. Roxann Robinson (R-Chesterfield) patroned the bill, which was branded as the Beer Industry Limited Distribution (BILD) Act. 

Under the arrangement, Virginia breweries are allowed to use the VBDC’s Alcoholic Beverage Control license to sell directly to accounts, however they can’t self-sell more than 500 barrels (approximately 1,400 kegs) annually. That limitation means the VBDC is likely to cater primarily to smaller breweries and those that don’t have a relationship with an outside distributor. 

Phil Boykin

Phil Boykin, the VBWA’s President and CEO, said he’s glad that the many Virginia craft breweries that haven’t signed distribution agreements now have an avenue to explore shipping their beer out.

“(Craft breweries) now have a way to go to market to the retail side and grow their business,” Boykin said. “If they grow beyond what the VBDC can serve, that would be a success story…It’s just another option for small businesses to operate their business as they see fit.”

Brett Vassey, the VCBG’s President and CEO, said the idea of self-distribution for Virginia breweries was “fundamentally impossible,” 10 years ago, and that even after the BILD Act was passed in February, they were bracing for it to get tied up in the funding process. 

“We were really prepared for a 2-to-5-year window just to get it right. To get it in our first shot is really a testament, quite frankly, to everybody trying to help the industry,” Vassey said. “Everybody involved was trying to get to ‘Yes,’ without sacrificing some of their own principles.”

VDACS received an extra $458,000 in the budget to fund its start-up costs this year, and the BILD Act included an additional $784,000 to fund it for the following two years. 

Brett Vassey

Vassey said the Brewer’s Guild projects that the VBDC eventually would more than pay for itself in new revenue. The guild’s projections show that if 100 breweries self-distributed 500 barrels of beer through the VBDC in a given year, it’d bring in $6.9 million in tax and fee revenue to the state.

The VBDC is planned to operate as an online portal through which retailers could purchase beer from registered breweries. Taxes and fees would be collected at the time of sale and would go into the ABC’s budget. The breweries would be responsible for delivering beer sold through the VBDC.

The next steps for the VBDC include hiring staff, appointing a board of directors, purchasing a point-of-sale system and developing a marketing and operations plan. If everything goes well, Vassey said Virginia breweries could be self-distributing through the VBDC by late 2024. 

“We’re trying to manage expectations and be good partners with (VDACS) and make sure that the (brewery) industry is patient,” Vassey said. “We have to get this right the first time.”

One unknown factor is what the demand would be from the state’s 344 craft breweries to use the VBDC. Boykin estimates that at least half of the breweries in the state don’t distribute their beer and that he has faith VDACS will roll out the program in a smooth manner.

“I want it up and running as soon as reasonably possible, I want it to be successful,” Boykin said. “I know there are gonna be hiccups. There’s always hiccups whenever you start something new, but I don’t want the hiccups to be big ones.”

As construction on new brewery Hidden Wit Brewing Co. nears completion in Moseley, co-owner Butch Taylor said it’s nice know that the VBDC might be an option, should Hidden Wit ever look to get into the distribution game.

“I’m hoping we sell every ounce of beer we make right here at the brewery, but I think (self-distribution) is good. We’ll take advantage of it if we can,” Taylor said. “We may do it one day, but we’re just trying to get our doors open now.”

Fine Creek Brewing Co., a farm brewery in Powhatan, bottles and distributes some of its beer to bottle shops around Central Virginia, but owner Mark Benusa said its production capacity is so small that distributing even more through the VBDC could put a strain on its taproom.

“We might be too small. We don’t plan to use it since we send out so little. It’s hard to make it worth it,” Benusa said. “When we were first getting going, we would have entertained it a bit more.”

Eric Tennant owns Benchtop Brewing Co., a Norfolk-based brewery that opened a Manchester taproom last year. He said if the VBDC were around when he founded Benchtop in 2016 he’d have looked to use it, however now that he’s signed with distributors, it’s not something he intends to use.

“It only really benefits breweries that haven’t previously distributed, or they’re new,” Tennant said. “It’s beneficial, and a step in the right direction, for sure, but it doesn’t really help (us).”

The VBDC was built to mirror a similar mechanism that the state’s winery industry successfully lobbied for in 2007, fittingly named the Virginia Wine Distribution Company.

Now that the VBDC is set up, Vassey said it might become a blueprint itself. 

“It’s the only one of its kind in the nation. We just had a meeting with our national (brewers) association and no (other state) has done limited self-distribution in this manner. We’re really excited to be the first,” he said. “If we can do it, others can do it.”

The post State budget funds launch of self-distribution arm for Virginia breweries appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

Stanley Martin is about halfway through construction of the residential units at Gateway Square.  Construction on the development’s commercial buildings is in its early stages. (Courtesy Stanley Martin Homes)

With its residential units already well underway, the commercial portion of a new mixed-use development on the Henrico-Goochland line is coming into view.

Several commercial users are locked in for Gateway Square, a project from local firm Markel | Eagle that’s rising across from the Aldi-anchored Broad Hill Centre on the western edge of Henrico.

Along the development’s Broad Street frontage will be an HCA medical office and imaging center as well as a Henrico Federal Credit Union branch and a Virginia Veterinary Centers location, which fills out the development’s commercial area.

Construction has started on commercial buildings at the Gateway Square development in Henrico County. (Jack Jacobs photo)

The HCA facility slated for 4200 Greybull Drive (also listed in county records as 12401 W. Broad St.) is planned to be a 20,000-square-foot medical office building, including a 9,000-square-foot imaging center, according to permits filed with Henrico. It will be situated across the street from Bon Secours Short Pump Emergency Center.

HCA received the necessary state approval for the imaging center earlier this year. The imaging center alone is estimated to cost $16.9 million to establish, according to state documents approving the project.

The land that will house the HCA building is currently owned by an entity tied to Markel | Eagle. It’s unclear whether HCA will purchase the site from Markel | Eagle. Neither HCA nor the developer would comment about the project.

Henrico FCU’s new branch at Gateway Square will be placed at 4419 Greybull Drive, according to Jason Ritter, a senior vice president at the credit union. The branch is planned to be 2,400 square feet and will feature a drive-thru.

Last month the credit union bought the roughly 1-acre site from Markel | Eagle for $1.4 million, county land records show. That parcel was most recently valued by Henrico at $142,100.

Henrico FCU has an existing, nearby outpost at 4690 Pouncey Tract Road, which is next to a Fas Mart convenience store. That location opened in 2017, and Ritter said the credit union hasn’t decided yet whether it will close that branch once the new one is operational.

Gateway Square is planned to feature an HCA medical office building and imaging center, veterinary practice and a credit union branch. (Courtesy Henrico County)

Between the credit union branch and the HCA building is a planned 31,000-square-foot clinic for National Veterinary Associates, according to a permit filed with the county. The facility at 4300 Greybull Drive is expected to include emergency service, surgery and operating rooms, an MRI room and other facilities.

The facility would appear to be a new outpost of Virginia Veterinary Centers, which is part of Ethos Veterinary Health brand owned by National Veterinary Associates. The Virginia Veterinary Centers website describes plans for a new location at Gateway Square.

That 2.5-acre site was sold in late July for $7.8 million by Markel | Eagle to NNN REIT, a Florida-based real estate investment firm. The land had been most recently assessed at a total of $641,200, per online land records.

Virginia Veterinary Centers also operates locations at 3312 W. Cary St. in Richmond and 2460 Colony Crossing Place in Chesterfield as well as a facility in Fredericksburg.

Meanwhile, Stanley Martin Homes is well underway on construction of Gateway Square’s 194-unit residential piece. The total is split between 164 condominiums and 30 townhomes.

The residential section was about halfway to completion in late August and at that time 75 condos and 18 townhomes had been sold, according to Stanley Martin Vice President of Sales Katie Willis.

Construction on the homes started in February 2022. People started to move into the development a year ago.

The residential portion of the project is estimated to cost $64 million, Willis said. That number doesn’t include the commercial development.

The overall 23-acre Gateway Square project site was once eyed for development by Atlanta-based firm Core Property Capital, which bailed on the idea in 2018. Stanley Martin scooped up the property for $10 million in 2020, and then sold most of the Broad Street frontage to Markel |Eagle. The development was formerly called Westgate but has since been rebranded.

The post HCA, credit union and vet clinic planning outposts at new Short Pump development appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

Patrick Uhazie, left, and his brother Doug at their Indoor Golf RVA venue at 3920 W. Broad St.

A year after opening their first indoor golf venue near Scott’s Addition, the Uhazie brothers are ready to take a second shot.

Patrick and Doug Uhazie have secured a spot for a new location for their Indoor Golf RVA, which features simulator-powered hitting bays allowing members to play virtual versions of real-life courses.

The second location will fill a ground floor space at 4501 E. Main St. in the Waterford at Rocketts Landing, the newest apartment development in the East End neighborhood.

Patrick said he and his brother hadn’t necessarily been seeking out a new location so quickly until the opportunity was brought to them by a broker.

“He thought Rocketts, with all the growth and development there, makes a lot of sense,” Patrick said.

He added that the closure last year of Glenwood Golf Course, the closest course to Rocketts Landing, also makes the move appealing.

“With the closure of Glenwood the east side of town is almost a golf desert,” he said. “I really do see a lot of value in where they’re located so people don’t have to drive to practice golf for an hour.”

The Waterford at Rocketts Landing. (BizSense file photo)

At 2,200 square feet, the new location will be larger than the original Indoor Golf venue at 3920 W. Broad St., where it occupies 1,300 square feet on the ground floor of The Ella mixed-used development. The extra space will have room for two Trackman simulators like the original and new features including a putting green and a kitchen.

The Rocketts spot will offer the same membership-only model allowing users access to its Trackman simulators 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Membership plans range from $125 to $325 a month and go up to $299 for unlimited play and practice.

Patrick said the new space will host events, but that memberships are what drives the venues.

“Memberships are the core of our business. We’re trying to become Richmond’s premier urban golf club,” he said, declining to comment on how many members the business has currently.

They hope to open in Rocketts in November or December. Patrick declined to comment on the cost of the new location, saying only that it’s self-funded.

“Winter is really peak season for us so it’s especially a good time to be opening in the winter months,” he said.

Patrick will continue to be the company’s only full-time employee for now, with Doug working part time while also tending to a career in accounting. Patrick said they may look to bring on a third partner in the future.

Indoor Golf is one of several such concepts in the region, including Tee It Up, X-Golf and The Edge Golf Academy. That’s in addition to the partially enclosed driving ranges like TopGolf and Drive Shack.

Patrick said that after a year in business he and his brother see plenty of room for multiple competitors.

“You might think there’s too many of these places, but we have found where we’re located in Scott’s Addition there’s definitely enough demand,” he said.

With location number two in the works, might there be a third Indoor Golf on the Uhazie’s minds? Patrick said it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

“We’ve talked to friends and family who have seen us doing this and ask about franchising and us supporting them in opening their own location,” he said. “We’ll see how this goes.”

The post Brothers opening their second indoor golf venue in Richmond appeared first on Richmond BizSense.

Catherine Chapman and Daniel-Lester Edwards have joined ThompsonMcMullan as associates.

Carla Otero joined Napier Realtors ERA as a sales associate.

Joining Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Base Camp:

Mason Lemmon is a Realtor with the Midlothian office.

Whitney Feazell is an associate.

Sean Busch has joined the Bon Air office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty as a Realtor.

Beezer Butler joined Addison Clark as a graphic designer.

Nick Scola joined Union Leasing as regional sales manager.

Nicholas Preusch and Stephen Weber have been promoted to directors with YHB | CPAs & Consultants.

Rachel Ramey has been promoted to project manager with 510 Architects.

Joining Cite Design:

Catey Riddick is a designer.

Sonakshi Gambhir is a senior designer.

Joining PSH+:

Mary Sprouse joined as office manager.

Dirk Meyer is an architect – construction administration.

Melissa Osborne joined Dover Hall Experiences as event sales manager.

Joining Kinsale Insurance Co.:

Sam Petto is a claims counsel.

Radha Gangappavari is a data engineer – IT data.

Brooke Tyrrell is an associate underwriter – allied health.

Kinsey Jernigan is an associate underwriter – entertainment.

Elise Murray is an associate underwriter – management liability.

Dylan Whitt is an associate underwriter – general casualty.

Noah Sanzone is a data analyst – IT data.

Terae Harris is an underwriting tech assistant – services.

Asmeeta Mandapaka is a DevOps engineer – IT infrastructure.

James Roehrick is an associate underwriter – commercial property.

Connor Glowacki is a software developer – IT.

Amanda Gleason is an underwriting assistant – services.

Brandon Jones is a senior product owner – IT agile practices.

Ben Nelson is a tech manager- IT development.

Thomas Stockstill is an associate underwriter – high value homeowner.

Joining the board of the Young Professional Leadership Council of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: chair, Josh Bolhuis; vice chair, Murphy Kerner; Rachel Adams, Ella Balasa, Richard Fronczak, Julia Granstrand, Emily Janto, Rachel Johnson, Virginia Lam, Nikki Meador, Ali Moore, Elizabeth Odell, Tanner Phillips, Kate Schiefelbein and Sara Sloman.

At Virginia Telehealth Network:

Denise Hall is director of clinical services.

Tom Anesta is operations manager.

Robin Cummings has been promoted to deputy advisor for strategy and quality.

Ellen Costlow has been promoted to clinic liaison and operations director.

Sydney Kirwin has been promoted to volunteer engagement and education liaison.

Nick Berrie has been promoted to managing director of offensive security operations for Assura.

The post The Herd: New hires, promotions & departures 9.19.23 appeared first on Richmond BizSense.