Better Housing Coalition has leased 10,000 square feet in the Interstate Center office park on West Laburnum Avenue. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
After about 15 years on Broad Street downtown, Better Housing Coalition has found a new home for its next chapter.
The housing nonprofit is moving its headquarters to 2108 W. Laburnum Ave., the tallest of the buildings in the Interstate Center office park just east of Acca Yard and across from the northern end of Westwood Avenue.
BHC has signed a lease for at least 10 years for about 10,000 square feet of upper-floor space in the three-story building at the rear of the park. The building is adjacent to the Bryan Park interchange at the western end of Laburnum Avenue.
The three-story building at 2108 W. Laburnum Ave. overlooks a fountain plaza within the office park. (Brandywine Realty Trust marketing flyer image)
CEO Greta Harris said the new space will provide a single-level setup that will be more efficient for BHC’s 40-person administrative staff compared to its current home at 23 W. Broad St., where it fills about 7,000 square feet across multiple levels. It also will have room for training and boardroom space.
Greta Harris
“We’re growing, which is a good thing,” Harris said. “Currently we’re on three different levels within the (Broad Street) building, and we’re starting to stack people up. We wanted to have a single-floor space that could accommodate some growth and bring everybody together so we weren’t on different levels.”
Interstate Center also comes with on-site parking, which BHC has had to pay for with its downtown space.
“I love the vibrancy of being on Broad Street, but there are some down sides to parking and all that,” she said. Interstate Center, Harris added, “is more of a driving location, but I think (the Westwood area) is going to continue to blossom, so there’ll be more restaurants and things of that nature. And I think we’ll be there long enough to see the Diamond District take off, and we’re a few minutes away from that. We’re excited about the move.”
BHC is leasing its Interstate Center space from Brandywine Realty Trust, a Philadelphia-based REIT that manages the five-building office park. An LLC tied to Brandywine has owned the 10-acre property since 2017, when it was purchased for $12 million.
Harris said the search for a new space had been underway for some time and that the nonprofit looked at multiple options. It worked with broker John Jay Schwartz with Have Site Will Travel, who represented BHC in lease negotiations.
Harris said any talk of a decline in the office market was, in their case, found to be untrue.
“We struggled to find space that would accommodate what we needed and was also within our price point,” she said. “But we think we’ve landed on something that’s going to allow us to continue to grow and to be together so that we can continue to strengthen our culture.”
BHC’s current building at 23 W. Broad St., where it fills the storefront and some upper-floor spaces. (BizSense file)
Totaling about 80 employees across its various housing properties, BHC was founded in 1988 and has built more than 1,500 income-based housing units in Central Virginia. Its portfolio includes 15 multifamily rental communities and 250 single-family homes serving more than 2,700 individuals or families.
Last year it completed The Planet Apartments, a 67-unit building in Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood, and current projects include the 49-unit Horner Run Apartments in Chesterfield and Highland Grove, a mixed-income development in Richmond’s Northside that BHC is developing with the Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority, the City of Richmond and others.
Harris said BHC is aiming to move into its new space by the end of the year, pending design and building permit approvals. She said Brandywine will be outfitting the space.
Other tenants at Interstate Center include VCU Health, Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, Home Educators Association of Virginia and Shirley Contracting Co. The office park is just west of Richmond’s general registrar office, which moved from City Hall to 2134 W. Laburnum in 2020.
BHC’s current space at 23 W. Broad St. is owned by SNP Properties.
Better Housing Coalition has leased 10,000 square feet in the Interstate Center office park on West Laburnum Avenue. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
After about 15 years on Broad Street downtown, Better Housing Coalition has found a new home for its next chapter.
The housing nonprofit is moving its headquarters to 2108 W. Laburnum Ave., the tallest of the buildings in the Interstate Center office park just east of Acca Yard and across from the northern end of Westwood Avenue.
BHC has signed a lease for at least 10 years for about 10,000 square feet of upper-floor space in the three-story building at the rear of the park. The building is adjacent to the Bryan Park interchange at the western end of Laburnum Avenue.
The three-story building at 2108 W. Laburnum Ave. overlooks a fountain plaza within the office park. (Brandywine Realty Trust marketing flyer image)
CEO Greta Harris said the new space will provide a single-level setup that will be more efficient for BHC’s 40-person administrative staff compared to its current home at 23 W. Broad St., where it fills about 7,000 square feet across multiple levels. It also will have room for training and boardroom space.
Greta Harris
“We’re growing, which is a good thing,” Harris said. “Currently we’re on three different levels within the (Broad Street) building, and we’re starting to stack people up. We wanted to have a single-floor space that could accommodate some growth and bring everybody together so we weren’t on different levels.”
Interstate Center also comes with on-site parking, which BHC has had to pay for with its downtown space.
“I love the vibrancy of being on Broad Street, but there are some down sides to parking and all that,” she said. Interstate Center, Harris added, “is more of a driving location, but I think (the Westwood area) is going to continue to blossom, so there’ll be more restaurants and things of that nature. And I think we’ll be there long enough to see the Diamond District take off, and we’re a few minutes away from that. We’re excited about the move.”
BHC is leasing its Interstate Center space from Brandywine Realty Trust, a Philadelphia-based REIT that manages the five-building office park. An LLC tied to Brandywine has owned the 10-acre property since 2017, when it was purchased for $12 million.
Harris said the search for a new space had been underway for some time and that the nonprofit looked at multiple options. It worked with broker John Jay Schwartz with Have Site Will Travel, who represented BHC in lease negotiations.
Harris said any talk of a decline in the office market was, in their case, found to be untrue.
“We struggled to find space that would accommodate what we needed and was also within our price point,” she said. “But we think we’ve landed on something that’s going to allow us to continue to grow and to be together so that we can continue to strengthen our culture.”
BHC’s current building at 23 W. Broad St., where it fills the storefront and some upper-floor spaces. (BizSense file)
Totaling about 80 employees across its various housing properties, BHC was founded in 1988 and has built more than 1,500 income-based housing units in Central Virginia. Its portfolio includes 15 multifamily rental communities and 250 single-family homes serving more than 2,700 individuals or families.
Last year it completed The Planet Apartments, a 67-unit building in Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood, and current projects include the 49-unit Horner Run Apartments in Chesterfield and Highland Grove, a mixed-income development in Richmond’s Northside that BHC is developing with the Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority, the City of Richmond and others.
Harris said BHC is aiming to move into its new space by the end of the year, pending design and building permit approvals. She said Brandywine will be outfitting the space.
Other tenants at Interstate Center include VCU Health, Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, Home Educators Association of Virginia and Shirley Contracting Co. The office park is just west of Richmond’s general registrar office, which moved from City Hall to 2134 W. Laburnum in 2020.
BHC’s current space at 23 W. Broad St. is owned by SNP Properties.
Nooooooooo! I mean, ok….. Sorry to see BHC leave downtown, but all the reasons make sense. Good luck Greta and team!
Good luck in your new space!