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 Apr. 7, 2023:
More development planned around Hardywood on Ownby Lane
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
The area around Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s downtown taproom continues to draw developer interest. With hundreds of apartments already in the works in the vicinity, plans were filed with the city this week for a 314-unit apartment building that would rise at 1316 Ownby Lane.
New retail anchor space in store for Westchester Commons
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
The next piece of Westchester Commons is in the works. Plans have been filed with Chesterfield County for a new retail infill building at the Midlothian commercial development. The 25,000-square-foot building would rise on a vacant pad at 109 Perimeter Drive, which is next to the shopping center’s Joann crafts store, according to county documents.
Buffalo Wild Wings shutters Short Pump spot, while new restaurant building planned nearby
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
The clock has expired on a longtime Short Pump restaurant, but a new, mystery addition to the area’s dining scene is in the works within eyeshot. The Buffalo Wild Wings at 4300 Pouncey Tract Road has closed after 14 years in business at the Short Pump Commons shopping center. It’s the second local Buffalo Wild Wings to close within the last year, joining the Shockoe Slip outpost that served its last wing last summer. There are now seven Buffalo Wild Wings throughout the region.
Evergreen pivots away from physical retail, invests in Richmond HQ
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
A long-running Richmond retailer has largely shifted out of the brick-and-mortar game to focus on other ways to sell the flags and decor for which it’s known. Evergreen Enterprises has trimmed the store count of its Plow & Hearth retail chain down to three as it reorients itself more fully toward direct-to-consumer and wholesale operations. At its height, Plow & Hearth had 26 stores.
VCU completes $420M Children’s Hospital addition as Bon Secours caps off clinic in Manchester
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
Two of the region’s competing health systems marked the completion of projects on opposite sides of the river in recent days. VCU Health held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week for a $420 million addition to its Children’s Hospital in downtown Richmond. Bon Secours similarly marked the completion of a $3 million Manchester clinic for uninsured people in late March.
You can find these and other local business stories at richmondbizsense.com.
