The Virginia Rep Center for Arts and Education at 4204 Hermitage Road has been listed for sale as Virginia Rep seeks to restructure its operations to become more financially sound. (Jack Jacobs photos)
Weeks after a public plea for donations to prevent it from shutting down, Virginia Repertory Theatre is entertaining a sale of the former Scottish Rite Temple it acquired just two years ago as it continues to look for ways to cut costs.
The performing arts nonprofit recently listed for sale its 50,000-square-foot Center for Arts and Education at 4204 Hermitage Road, which features a 650-seat theater, 400-plus-seat banquet hall, office space and other facilities on a 5-acre site.
Managing director Klaus Schuller said the group has received multiple offers for the Northside property and could potentially finalize a sale early next year.
Virginia Rep determined that the property needs major upgrades and repairs to optimize its operations there, and that the organization doesn’t have the funds to do those things as it seeks to restructure. It uses the center for children’s programming and family-oriented productions.
“There’s no sustainable way to retain the center,” Schuller said. “To make it a truly viable place for the production of professional theater would require substantial upgrades. There are major systems in the building that need replacing.”
Schuller estimated that Virginia Rep has sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into the property so far, and dipped into its operational funds to do so. Despite that, the facility needs a new HVAC system and has other issues. That’s in addition to the $3.5 million the nonprofit paid for the property in 2022.
Schuller said he was unable to share details about the parties interested in buying the property, but that offers under consideration were pitched by local buyers and their visions would likely retain the main building, which was built in the 1960s.
“Based on what’s on the table right now, it’s highly likely the center won’t be demolished but repurposed” he said.
The property is being marketed as a redevelopment opportunity and is zoned Residential Multifamily (R-53), according to a for-sale flyer. Thalhimer’s Jim Ashby and Jeff Cooke have the listing. The Richmond property’s assessed value is $3.5 million, per online land records.
Virginia Rep purchased the property under the leadership of then-managing director and founder Phil Whiteway, who later had a rocky exit from the organization that involved a now-settled age discrimination lawsuit.
The Virginia Rep facility at 4204 Hermitage Road features a 650-seat theater and banquet hall.
The potential sale comes as Virginia Rep navigates financial challenges that would have forced the organization to end operations if it weren’t for a successful, 11-day fundraising drive held in recent weeks.
In a public appeal for donations in September, the long-running theater group said it had a $1.7 million budget shortfall in the current fiscal year, and expected a $1.6 million deficit in the coming year.
Virginia Rep said multiple factors contributed to its financial challenges, including the departure of donors after its co-founders exited, in addition to rising costs and a slow return of audiences to performances following the COVID-19 pandemic, both of which Schuller has previously called industry-wide challenges.
Schuller said Tuesday that Virginia Rep is now in a stable place after securing $1.15 million from donors during the recent drive, which was twice the campaign’s initial goal. He said a restructuring plan is in place, and that work is underway to create a production schedule with fewer shows for the upcoming year that would keep Virginia Rep on an improving financial trajectory. He said it was probable the organization would look to put on smaller, lower cost productions.
“That’s the kind of math and analysis we have to do. What can we program that responsibly balances the artistic mission with having a couple of hits, as every theater needs,” he said.
Schuller said several employees were expected to be laid off during the current season, and any further layoffs or decisions to leave job positions unfilled once vacated would be subject to the needs of the shows that get lined up for the upcoming 2025-2026 season. He said no major layoffs were anticipated. Virginia Rep has 200 employees, of which 40 are full-time.
Virginia Rep is currently planning to hold one fewer show as part of its Signature Season, which is held at the November Theatre, and one fewer production as part of the Family Season currently held at the Hermitage Road center. Schuller expected the two-show Barksdale Season held at Hanover Tavern wouldn’t be reduced.