BizSense Beat is a weekly collaboration between VPM News and Richmond BizSense that brings you the top business stories during NPR's Morning Edition on Fridays.
Here’s a recap of the top stories for the week of Feb. 24, 2023:
Byrd Park restaurant from NY Deli owners gets Planning Commission nod
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
A proposed cafe in Byrd Park came one step closer to taking flight this week.The city’s Planning Commission voted Tuesday to approve a special-use permit for 401 S. Stafford Ave., where New York Deli owners Demetrios Tsiptsis, Rodion Tsiptsis and David Zemlan are planning to open a sandwich shop.
Proposed ‘tourism improvement district’ could be in place for regional hotels by July 1
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
Looking to capitalize on a rebound in tourism and lodging in the wake of the pandemic, a group of hotel operators and tourism officials is making a push for a new lodging fee for the region that they say would bring its marketing efforts in line with competitor cities. Richmond Region Tourism is spearheading the effort that would establish a so-called tourism improvement district (TID), in which hotel visitors would be charged a 2 percent fee on their nightly room rates that would be put toward marketing and sales activities to better promote and attract business to the region.
Long-planned FC Richmond soccer complex aim to break ground this yearReported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
More than six years in the making, a new Chesterfield soccer complex is another step closer to kickoff. Youth soccer club FC Richmond is aiming to break ground later this year on a multi-field complex near Moseley in the western part of Chesterfield. While the majority of the acreage received the necessary zoning approval for the planned soccer complex in 2016, FC Richmond is back before county officials seeking approval for proposed changes to the project’s master plan and development standards, as well a slight increase to the size of the project site.
Code-named industrial project planned for Goodwin-owned land along Villa Park DriveReported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
As construction on an apartment complex continues nearby, another site along Villa Park Drive in Henrico County appears slated for development, though its user remains a mystery. Plans filed with the county show that a distribution warehouse is in the works at 8020 Villa Park Drive, a 9-acre wooded tract between the Villa Park I building that houses Labcorp and the former Colortree printing plant that’s now home to Moore-owned Richmond Print Group.
Bass Pro-anchored Winding Brook entering home stretch after new warehouse deal
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
A half-million-square-foot deal is marking the beginning of the end of development for a decades-long project in Hanover. Work recently began on a new 552,000-square-foot warehouse at 11517 Lakeridge Parkway in Winding Brook, the Bass Pro Shop-anchored mixed-use project along Interstate 95 from Holladay Properties.
You can find these and other local business stories at richmondbizsense.com.
