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 Jan. 20, 2023:
Third apartment building at Libbie Mill to add nearly 400 units
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
With two more restaurants about to open and other residential construction underway, Libbie Mill-Midtown is preparing for its next big project that will essentially finish out its allotted number of apartments.
Michael Hild sentenced, remains free while fighting restitution
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Michael Schwartz
By the estimation of federal prosecutors, the reverse mortgage bond scheme perpetrated by Michael Hild and others at Live Well Financial spanned nearly four years, between 2015 and 2019. And in sentencing Hild on Friday at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, Judge Ronnie Abrams latched onto that timespan, reasoning that it made sense for the duration of the disgraced CEO’s prison stint to mirror the length of the crime: 44 months.
Riverfront amphitheater target date pushed back a year as prep work continues
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
It’s been six months since Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Ventures unveiled plans for a new 7,500-capacity live music venue on the hillside behind the Tredegar Iron Works complex on the downtown riverfront. And while a delay to the start of site work for the proposed Richmond Amphitheater has caused the developers to push back their anticipated opening date, they said work behind the scenes is progressing.
Indoor pickleball facility Bangers and Dinks in the works in Chesterfield
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
It was shortly after Nicole Thompson and her husband were introduced to pickleball last summer when they hit on a business idea that’s been keeping her up at night with excitement. The couple became fast fans of what’s been dubbed the fastest-growing sport in America, and were driving home one evening when they saw people playing the game on tennis courts in the city’s West End. Once they formulated the idea, they moved quickly to line up a space that was large enough and configured properly to house a dedicated indoor pickleball facility.
Ukrop’s-anchored complex planned for massive mixed-use development
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
The Ukrop family is planning a mixed-use infill and partial redevelopment of the nearly 20-acre office complex at 2000 Westmoreland St., where their Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods bakery and catering businesses are based. The multiphased project could ultimately consist of 1,000 multifamily residential units, along with a mix of retail, restaurant, office and hotel uses.
You can find these and other local business stories at richmondbizsense.com.
