Al Harris

‘Strategic’ default?

One of the most active developers in the City of Richmond is letting some of his property go into foreclosure so that he can expel an investor and renegotiate his loans with his bank. That investor happens to be one of the biggest companies in Richmond.

Monday Q&A: What the doctor ordered

One local chain of primary care clinics is not taking a wait-and-see approach to how the federal health-care legislation might affect business. The Richmond-based chain is pushing ahead with new locations. This week, the founder and CEO chats with BizSense about the group’s plans.

The Pipeline: Commercial Real Estate Round Up for 6.25.10

Kroger sold aretail building in Chester to the C.F. Sauer Company for $2.39 million. The 55,552-square-foot building was operated by Kroger until 2007 when it relocated the store to a different shopping center. Plus, Sunrise Construction has leased 20,000 sq.ft. at 3031 Transport Street in Richmond and Riddick Advertising has leased 2,300 sq.ft. in the Banks Brothers Building located at 4461 Cox Road in Henrico.

Way beyond ‘paper or plastic?’

More than 150 future Kroger employees are at the grocer’s training center on Staples Mill. In July, they will work at the new 86,000-square-foot store at the Corner at Short Pump, which is part of the company’s plan to expand in Richmond.

Put your money where your mouth is

An Innsbrook diner is still serving milkshakes, cheeseburgers, pancakes and other classic American dishes, but the ingredients have changed. And the chain’s owners hope that patrons will pay a bit more for the dishes knowing that many of the ingredients came from Virginia.

Stuck in the middle

Well, it could be worse. According to the MetroMonitor, a quarterly report produced by the Brookings Institution, Richmond falls in the middle of the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S. when comes to economic performance. Richmond was placed among the middle 20 metro areas for overall economic performance. (The overall category does not assign… Read more »

Rest rooms would be nice

The Virginal Capital Trail Foundation, the organization overseeing the construction of a 55-mile bike trail connecting Richmond and Jamestown, is on the hunt for corporate cash.

Monday Q&A: The cupcake strategy?

Wendy Wyne, who runs an event planning firm in Richmond, said the volume of corporate events fell when the economy tanked. But now it’s coming back, she said. “How does the economy get better? It gets better when people start spending money. It also makes the employees feel better and keeps morale up. “