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 March 3, 2023:
Feed More to relocate to $40M warehouse planned near St. Joseph’s Villa
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
A code-named industrial project in the works near St. Joseph’s Villa has turned out to be the planned new home for regional food bank Feed More, setting the stage for a move that would free up some prime real estate near Richmond’s Diamond District. The local nonprofit confirmed to BizSense that it’s behind Project Nourish, the development plan recently filed with Henrico County for a wooded site at 8020 Villa Park Drive. The project name is a reference to Feed More’s slogan of “nourishing communities and empowering lives.”
Solar-powered apartments planned for old Chamberlayne hotel site
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
Two years after its remnants were razed, a longtime hotel site at a northern gateway to Richmond could be repositioned as income-based housing, with a solar-power component added to the mix. An 8-acre property that includes the former Days Inn of Richmond property at 5701 Chamberlayne Road is being proposed for a residential development consisting of 186 lower-income apartments and an adjacent solar field that would power the property.
New e-scooter company Spin rolls into Richmond
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
Spin, which offers on-demand rentable scooters, can now be seen around the city. The company’s app showed its black-and-orange scooters parked in Scott’s Addition, Carytown, Manchester and elsewhere in the city on Tuesday. Spin received permission from Richmond to operate within the city limits in late February, according to Dironna Moore Clarke of the city’s office of equitable transit and mobility. Spin is permitted to operate 500 devices in Richmond.
$3B budget plan for Richmond includes funds for pay hikes, Fox school rehab
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
Amid a rebound in tax revenues as it adjusts from the pandemic, the City of Richmond is weighing a proposed fiscal year budget that would ramp up spending on operations overall, while emphasizing funding for schools, employee pay raises and increasing the city’s stock of low-income housing. Mayor Levar Stoney presented the $3 billion proposal for fiscal year 2024 to the City Council at a special meeting Monday. The plan would hold the line on current tax rates while increasing the general fund budget to nearly $949 million, a 13 percent jump from the current fiscal year budget.
You can find these and other local business stories at richmondbizsense.com.
