The ground floor of the Miller & Rhoads building will house Liberty Mutual. (Photos by Michael Schwartz)
If you renovate it, they will come. Eventually.
After three years on the market, the Miller & Rhoads building last month secured its first commercial tenant.
Insurance firm Liberty Mutual leased 2,100 square feet in the former department store. It’s the first commercial tenant since the downtown building – home to a 250-room Hilton Garden Inn, 133 condos and 21,000 square feet of retail space – opened in early 2009.
Susan Jones, a broker at Colliers International who handles commercial leasing for Miller & Rhoads, said she’s negotiating with tenants for another 8,500 square feet of space.
“In the next five years, I think we’ll see a lot of increased activity in this market,” Jones said. “The residential population isn’t quite at the threshold it needs to be just yet. But that’s the direction it’s heading.”
Richmond’s downtown residential population has almost doubled over the past 10 years, Jones said. About 8,000 people live there now, and that number could increase to 12,500 by 2014, she said.
Some intrepid businesses are trying to get in on the ground floor of that growth.
Shockoe Valley Heights, an apartment complex at Main and 20th Streets, just closed a deal with a market and a beauty salon. Marc Galt of Sensei Development said the new additions are the last pieces needed to fill the building’s 11,500 square feet of commercial space.
The ground floor of the Berry Burk.
And after almost seven years of looking for a tenant, the Berry Burk filled its ground floor retail space last year with restaurant 525 at the Berry Burk.
Ted Ukrop, one of the Berry Burk building’s developers, said restaurants are a natural fit for ground floor retail spaces.
“You had the capital just down the street, and not a lot of lunch options,” Ukrop said. “With 525, Pasture and Rappahannock coming on board, it’s turning into a bit of a lunch area.”
Tom Haas, who owns 525, said his restaurant draws a mix of downtown residents and commuters –- exactly what he was going for when he leased the 3,600-square-foot space.
“You have your VCU students, lawyers, lobbyists and other downtown types, and then you have a lot of empty nesters who venture in from the suburbs,” Haas said. “It’s been interesting to watch.”
Allyson Petty, a broker with Blackwood Development Company, said such issues as parking constraints and noise concerns could prevent some businesses from making the move to a ground floor space. But things are changing, she said.
“Restaurant space seems to be doing well, and residents that live there are really crying out for a market or grocery store,” Petty said. “I don’t know if there’s quite enough density for that yet, but it’s increasing.”
Related news: Downtown office real estate market faces triple threat
The ground floor of the Miller & Rhoads building will house Liberty Mutual. (Photos by Michael Schwartz)
If you renovate it, they will come. Eventually.
After three years on the market, the Miller & Rhoads building last month secured its first commercial tenant.
Insurance firm Liberty Mutual leased 2,100 square feet in the former department store. It’s the first commercial tenant since the downtown building – home to a 250-room Hilton Garden Inn, 133 condos and 21,000 square feet of retail space – opened in early 2009.
Susan Jones, a broker at Colliers International who handles commercial leasing for Miller & Rhoads, said she’s negotiating with tenants for another 8,500 square feet of space.
“In the next five years, I think we’ll see a lot of increased activity in this market,” Jones said. “The residential population isn’t quite at the threshold it needs to be just yet. But that’s the direction it’s heading.”
Richmond’s downtown residential population has almost doubled over the past 10 years, Jones said. About 8,000 people live there now, and that number could increase to 12,500 by 2014, she said.
Some intrepid businesses are trying to get in on the ground floor of that growth.
Shockoe Valley Heights, an apartment complex at Main and 20th Streets, just closed a deal with a market and a beauty salon. Marc Galt of Sensei Development said the new additions are the last pieces needed to fill the building’s 11,500 square feet of commercial space.
The ground floor of the Berry Burk.
And after almost seven years of looking for a tenant, the Berry Burk filled its ground floor retail space last year with restaurant 525 at the Berry Burk.
Ted Ukrop, one of the Berry Burk building’s developers, said restaurants are a natural fit for ground floor retail spaces.
“You had the capital just down the street, and not a lot of lunch options,” Ukrop said. “With 525, Pasture and Rappahannock coming on board, it’s turning into a bit of a lunch area.”
Tom Haas, who owns 525, said his restaurant draws a mix of downtown residents and commuters –- exactly what he was going for when he leased the 3,600-square-foot space.
“You have your VCU students, lawyers, lobbyists and other downtown types, and then you have a lot of empty nesters who venture in from the suburbs,” Haas said. “It’s been interesting to watch.”
Allyson Petty, a broker with Blackwood Development Company, said such issues as parking constraints and noise concerns could prevent some businesses from making the move to a ground floor space. But things are changing, she said.
“Restaurant space seems to be doing well, and residents that live there are really crying out for a market or grocery store,” Petty said. “I don’t know if there’s quite enough density for that yet, but it’s increasing.”
Related news: Downtown office real estate market faces triple threat