Vacancy for retail space in Richmond rose to almost 7 percent at the end of the second quarter. And that could mean banks might soon start taking back some retail properties if tenants don’t start signing leases soon. Meanwhile tenants who do sign leases are getting bigger discounts than six months ago.
vacancy
Carytown vacancy declines
Vacancy in Carytown seems to be declining. It’s been three months since we walked through Carytown to figure out how many unoccupied buildings lined the streets. At the time, we counted 22 empty buildings, or about 13% of the storefronts there. (Note, our figures are not calculated using square footage.) There are currently 17 empty… Read more »
Riverfront condos slow to catch on
The two riverfront condo towers are around 50% occupied, according to a BizSense count. Note: After we published this story, Jack Berry, Executive Director for Venture Richmond, got in touch with us to give us some hard numbers. There are no unsold units at Riverside, and 10 unsold units at Vistas. We would like to… Read more »
Ashland and Hanover not fighting growth anymore
A strange shift for the “Center of the Universe,” as the village is sometimes called, to a retail hotspot and thriving business district. Just a few years back, residents of the Hanover County town were fighting tooth and nail against an incoming Wal-Mart store, a brawl which ended up becoming the subject of a PBS… Read more »
Rough patch for malls
Out of five Richmond malls, only one has a vacant storefront rate below 7 percent – Short Pump Town Center, at 3.8 percent. The highest empty-store rate belongs to the Shops at Willow Lawn, at 17.4 percent. Malls might be in for a rough patch. Consumers are downsizing. They’re buying Smart Cars and hybrids instead… Read more »
There’s hope for Hull Street yet
What was once a main street of Chesterfield County, Hull Street is now the most run-down commercial strip in Richmond. Paper flyers and food wrappers get caught in the wind and ride aimlessly until they find themselves back on the ground – a sort of urban tumbleweed. Centuries-old buildings have busted out windows and boarded-up… Read more »
Shockoe Bottom-ing out?
In 2004 Richmond’s historic Shockoe Bottom was devastated by Hurricane Gaston. Drainage systems malfunctioned and overflowed, and floodwater ran freely through the streets causing extensive damage to businesses. Four years later, the area is showing a few signs of recovery, but the vacancy rate hovers above 20%. Turnover in restaurants and bars is high.
A Tale of Two Broad Streets
The farther east you walk down Broad Street and away from VCU, the more beat up and empty it gets. There are “For Sale” signs, “For Lease” signs, and signs simply marked “Closed.” Some buildings are boarded up with plywood, others with construction paper and tape. And that’s a significant improvement from even a few… Read more »
Does Carytown have a vacancy problem?
Heading east along Carytown, for every 10 to 15 occupied buildings there’s a vacant one with a placard inviting you to call a commercial real estate broker. Richmond BizSense did an unofficial count of the store fronts in Carytown: 142 occupied buildings, 22 vacant buildings. That makes for a total of 164 buildings, 22 of… Read more »