PR firm Hodges Partnership moving HQ to Scott’s Addition’s HandCraft building

The Hodges team in their new, mostly outfitted space in the HandCraft building. (Photo courtesy Jon Newman)

After 15 years in Shockoe Bottom, a growing Richmond public relations firm is getting ready to move to larger digs across town.

The Hodges Partnership is moving to Scott’s Addition’s HandCraft building, where it has leased about 7,400 square feet of the former CarLotz headquarters at 3301 W. Moore St.

The single-level space two doors down from Vasen Brewing is about 1,400 square feet larger than Hodges’ current office, which spans two levels at 1805 E. Broad St. The HandCraft space is next door to the headquarters for Brandito, which fills the rest of the former CarLotz space.

Prior to housing CarLotz, the HandCraft building space was home to Need Supply Co. and electric car startup Evatran. (BizSense file)

Hodges co-founder Jon Newman said the 22-person, 22-year-old firm has outgrown its current office and liked the single-level layout of the HandCraft space, which he said requires little buildout and provides room to grow.

“We literally have no place else to put people right now,” Newman said. “Having everybody to be able to work together on one floor in a vibrant part of the city was really attractive to us.”

Also prompting the move is a plan by Hodges’ Shockoe landlord to convert the Broad Street building into apartments. It’s part of a similar conversion of the adjacent Branch Public Baths building that would include a new five-story apartment building addition behind them. That project appears to be moving forward after securing a certificate of appropriateness from Richmond’s Commission of Architectural Review.

The rear of Hodges’ Shockoe Bottom office, which along with the adjacent Branch Public Baths building is planned for a residential conversion and five-story infill development. (BizSense file photo)

In light of that plan and its lease coming to an end, Newman said the firm started searching for new space in January, working with Ken Campbell and Ann Schweitzer Riley of One South Commercial, a Hodges client.

Newman said they also considered the Willow Lawn area and Sauer Center but ended up back at HandCraft, which he noted was the first location they saw.

Jon Newman

“We told ourselves we wouldn’t fall in love at first sight, and that’s exactly what we did,” Newman said.

“There’s a lot to like about the area, and obviously Scott’s Addition has become a creative hub.”

Newman would not disclose the length of the lease but described it as “long-term.” Cheryle Toy with Divaris Real Estate represented building owners Jay, Keith and Jeff Nichols.

Newman said Hodges has grown in business and staff since the pandemic, with six or seven positions added as new clients have come on. Half of those were due to work from the Virginia Spirits Board, which hired Hodges to market distilleries in the state.

The firm recently picked up work with Performance Food Group, and Newman said it is expanding into travel and tourism with clients such as Richmond Region Tourism and Colonial Williamsburg. Other clients include Virginia’s Community Colleges, Kroger and moving company Hilldrup.

Newman founded Hodges in 2002 with Josh Dare, a fellow Martin Agency vet who likewise grew up in the New York/New Jersey area. Both fans of the New York Mets, they named their firm after Mets manager and hall-of-famer Gil Hodges.

Newman said Hodges will continue to grow, but in a manageable way on par with its current pace.

“We’ve been in business for 22 years, and our joke is we add at least one person if not a couple a year,” he said. “We’ve probably added since COVID  about six or seven people, which for a lot of companies doesn’t sound like very much, but for a service business like ours, that’s pretty big growth over a four- or five-year period.”

Hodges’ move will add to other recent developments in Richmond’s PR scene. Earlier this year, Golden Word was acquired by Toronto-based 5th Business, and Big Spoon acquired local peer The Apple Cart.