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 Dec. 22, 2023:
Hundreds more apartments to break ground at Regency next year
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
More residential units are in store for Regency.
Thalhimer Realty Partners and Rebkee Co., which co-own the western Henrico mall, are planning to break ground by mid-2024 on more than 300 new apartments as part of their ongoing redevelopment of the property.
The upcoming project follows the completion of the Rise at Regency, the center’s first apartment complex, which was built on the site of a now-demolished Sears store.
The new apartments project, called Rise II, is slated to take shape on a roughly 2-acre portion of the mall’s parking lot that is located between the Rise at Regency complex and Starling Drive on the western side of the mall.
Four-story redevelopment in the works for Patterson-Libbie corner
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
The home of a longtime West End bakery is being eyed for redevelopment.
A four-story commercial building is being planned to replace the Westhampton Pastry Shop building at 5728 Patterson Ave.
The building, at the corner of Patterson and Libbie Avenues, also houses gift shops Gild and Ash and Relics to Rhinestones.
The 73-year-old bakery is likely to be part of the new project and continue to operate there. The new structure would include three stories of office space above ground-floor retail space.
Hotel to rise beside Tom Leonard’s store in Short Pump
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
A Short Pump site once floated for a car vending machine tower is now slated for a slightly shorter hotel.
A TownePlace Suites by Marriott is in the works for the undeveloped site to the east of Tom Leonard’s Farmer’s Market.
The 119-room hotel is set to fill a 1.7-acre portion of the grocery’s 6.3-acre parcel at 4150 Tom Leonard Drive, alongside Interstate 64 near the Broad Street interchange.
Highly visible from the interstate, the site is the same spot where used-car retailer Carvana once proposed a “car vending machine” tower when it was breaking into the Richmond market in 2016.
Rappahannock’s Rapp Session reopens on Grace St., minus the ‘Rapp’
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
A downtown bar is emerging from a nearly four-year slumber with a new twist on its old concept.
Earlier this month, Rappahannock Restaurant Group opened Session at 318 E. Grace St. The new spot replaced Rapp Session, which RRG had operated there from 2016 until 2020.
Though Rapp Session closed during the pandemic, the restaurant group held onto the space and used it for private events in recent years. General Manager Patrick Tanner said the event space did well seasonally, but a lack of late-night cocktail bars downtown eventually led them to convert it into Session.
Former Yellow Umbrella owner opening Shoreline seafood market on Patterson
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
After a few years away from the seafood industry, David Whitby is casting out yet again, this time in western Henrico.
The former owner of Yellow Umbrella Provisions is preparing to open Shoreline Seafood Market at 10614 Patterson Ave.
The new spot is taking over a 2,500-square-foot space in the Canterbury Shopping Center that had formerly been occupied by Hickory & Oak. In addition to a deli-style counter with fresh seafood displayed for sale, Shoreline is also planning to have limited lunch and dinner menus for dining in.
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