Brown makes his living searching through trash cans and dumpsters across the city for any piece of metal he can sell to local scrap recyclers. But like his fellow tradesmen around Richmond, a drastic decline in commodity prices has hurt Brown’s business. Jim Brown rode his bicycle over the 14th Street Bridge, his load of… Read more »
Al Harris
Is the ‘Curse of Diamond Duck’ over before it took hold?
Richmond might some day lament the day Diamond Duck left for Atlanta, ushering in an era without baseball. A new stadium would probably cure any budding curse before it becomes debilitating. (Read: Curse of the Bambino) Developer Highwoods Properties and their team have until March 1 to submit a letter of intent and outline their… Read more »
Local consumers mixed about holiday shopping
In a good sign for retailers, five of the shoppers said they plan to spend the same amount as last year. But the other four said they plan to spend less. Retailers here and across the country are wondering how consumers will spend their money during the holiday season, so BizSense headed to Carytown on… Read more »
A decent city for singles
Richmond is ranked 42nd among the 100 best metropolitan areas relocating singles, according to the yearly list compiled by relocation analysts Primacy Relocation and Worldwide ERC. The study uses population, economic and quality-of-life criteria to score each city. Some of the more specific factors include the prevalence of bars and restaurants, the cost of living… Read more »
Knowledge is good
Ten days after the University of Richmond set the date for the first information session about next fall’s MBA program, the 40 available seats were already reserved.
Highwoods’s starting lineup
If Highwoods Properties’ proposal to redevelop the Boulevard and Shockoe goes forward, a handful of local firms stand to get their slice of the $785 million construction and hourly billing/fee-for-service pie.
Developers throw Richmond a meatball. Or is it a knuckle ball?
On Monday the City of Richmond finally announced its plans for Shockoe Bottom and North Boulevard: Tear down the Diamond, and build a new stadium downtown. Throw in an ample mix of retail, office and residential development at both sites. Just $765 million later, fans will have a new baseball team, the city will once… Read more »
No natural gas stations in RIC — but Boone Pickens has a plan
If you haven’t heard of the Pickens Plan by now, you must be living off the grid. The radio and television spots have been running since summer urging you to join billionaire T. Boone Pickens in his effort to get the U.S. to quit its $700 billion oil addiction. Last week BizSense ran an article… Read more »
Office space getting cheaper
Richmond office vacancies continue to rise, which means prices are likely to fall. The vacancy rate in the central business district rose about 3.5% from the last quarter for a total rate of 13.5%, according to Thalhimer’s recently released third quarter reports. The office vacancy rate for the whole metro area was 8.9% in the… Read more »
Natural gas even sounds greener
Demand for compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles is increasing, but availability in Richmond is limited. Ever since Baker Equipment, a local trucking equipment company, began offering compressed natural gas vehicle conversions last month, the company has received anywhere from 10 to 50 conversion-related calls a day, tripling their overall call volume.