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 1, 2024:
City unveils master plan for Shockoe slavery commemorative site
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
Richmond’s decades-long effort to commemorate its history as the nation’s second-largest slave market reached a milestone Tuesday with the unveiling of a new master plan for the 10-acre project in Shockoe Bottom.
City leaders and project stakeholders held an event at Main Street Station to present the plan for what’s now called The Shockoe Project, a relaunching of sorts of what was previously referred to as the Enslaved African Heritage Campus, and later, the Shockoe Bottom Heritage Campus.
Designed by a team led by architecture firm Baskervill, the plan shows the locations and conceptual images of the campus’s planned components, including a long-planned national slavery museum, burial ground memorials and other commemorative sites telling the area’s history as a slave-trade hub.
Reynolds Crossing eyed for major mixed-use reinvention
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
Another major mixed-use redevelopment is on the drawing board for Henrico’s west end.
Reynolds Development is in the early stages of plotting a reinvention of parts of its Reynolds Crossing complex at the corner of West Broad Street and Forest Avenue.
Increased density and height are in mind, as preliminary plans show about a half-dozen new buildings, most of which would be mixed-use or residential, to join the existing office, retail and Westin Richmond hotel building on the property.
Plans call for the new buildings to reach as high as 10 or 12 stories, with townhomes or low-rise condos in the center of the area. In total, the redevelopment could add over 1,200 dwelling units to the area.
The majority of the area targeted for development is currently covered by surface parking lots. The land in question is split across eight parcels with addresses running from 6603 to 6641 W. Broad St. The parcels are currently zoned for either business or industrial use.
None of the existing buildings at Reynolds Crossing would be demolished.
Breakfast chain Rise eyes expansion with new location in Carytown
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
A chain of biscuit-focused breakfast restaurants is on the rise locally with plans for a new spot in Carytown.
Rise Southern Biscuits and Righteous Chicken aims to open at the Carytown Exchange development in the fall.
The restaurant, which emphasizes fried chicken and biscuits as well as coffee and donuts, has leased an 1,800-square-foot space on the shopping center’s Cary Street side. Its suite is between the Torchy’s Tacos and the AT&T store.
It will be franchisee David Dowdy’s second Rise location in the Richmond region, following the one he opened in 2017 at 11561 W. Broad St. in Short Pump. Dowdy, a Farmville native, is based in Raleigh and also operates a Rise there.
The Carytown restaurant, which will serve both breakfast and lunch, will have limited indoor and outdoor seating. It is expected to have five to 10 employees.
131-home mixed-use project proposed in east Ashland
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
A proposal currently making its way though Ashland’s zoning approval process would add new for-sale homes as well as retail and restaurant space to the east side of the town.
Local developer Hank Wilton is planning Patriot Glenn, a mixed-use development with 131 residential units and commercial space on a 60-acre site where East Patrick Henry and Providence Church roads meet, just off Exit 92A on Interstate 95.
The development is planned to feature only for-sale homes, with a mix of single-family detached houses, cottage-style houses and townhomes. Price points are expected to range between $350,000 and $500,000, Wilton told the Ashland Planning Commission earlier this month.
Chesterfield’s inaugural restaurant week to feature nearly 40 eateries
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
The first-ever Chesterfield Restaurant Week hopes to boost business at dozens of eateries across the county next month.
The new event, which is scheduled to run March 29 to April 7, is designed to draw locals and visitors alike to restaurants located in Chesterfield. The promotional event is being held by the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce with the support of the county government.
Nearly 40 locally based restaurants across Chesterfield are expected to participate. The timing of the 10-day event was made with spring break in mind and to coincide with visiting youth sports tournaments set to take place in Chesterfield, according to J.C. Poma, the county’s executive director of sports, visitation and entertainment.
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