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 July 12, 2024:

Glenwood Farms redevelopment now planned for nearly 1,000 units
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers

A plan to redevelop the blighted Glenwood Farms community now calls for replacing its nearly 300 apartments with more than triple that number of new homes.

A rezoning request filed for the massive redevelopment by developers Spy Rock Real Estate and Crescent Development shows a total of 950 residential units, at least 150 more than the “nearly 800 units” that were planned when Henrico County announced the public-private project in May.

A county staff report that accompanies the request does not address the increase in the number of units, which would be a mix of apartments, including age-restricted units, for-sale townhomes and condominiums.

Thalhimer scraps Arthur Ashe Blvd. apartment project, sells land to HCA
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania

A recent land deal within eyeshot of The Diamond has taken nearly 150 apartments off the board for the neighborhood and put the site in the hands of a healthcare giant.

HCA Virginia last month purchased the 1.2-acre site at 1801 Ellen Road for $5.15 million.

The Nashville, Tennessee-based health system bought the land from Thalhimer Realty Partners, which paid $2 million for the property in 2022 and had eyed it for a seven-story mixed-use building with 148 apartments and HCA as the main commercial tenant.

While HCA is still planning to develop the land with a two-story emergency center, TRP has scrapped its plans for the apartment building, according to principal Jason Guillot.

Guillot said the decision to sell the land to HCA was driven primarily by rising construction costs and the development’s timeline.

Developer Jay Nichols eyes new office building in Libbie-Patterson area
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania

A familiar developer in the Libbie-Patterson area is plotting his next project in the neighborhood.

Jay Nichols is in the early planning stages of three-story, 15,000-square-foot office building at 536 Granite Ave.

The 0.3-acre lot near Granite’s intersection with Patterson Avenue is where the Book People bookstore previously operated for decades until it moved farther west into Henrico last year. The former Book People building has since been razed.

The site also is adjacent to the two-story office building Nichols built at 5701 Patterson Ave. That property, a former gas station, is now home to tenants such as Granite Wealth Management and Ameris Bank.

East Coast Appliance plugs in new Henrico outpost, eyes more local stores
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs

Three years after opening its first local store in Chesterfield, a Hampton Roads-based appliance retailer has added its second location in the region.

East Coast Appliance is open for business at 9101 W. Broad St. in the Tuckernuck Commons shopping center. The 14,000-square-foot store is in the now-renovated former David’s Bridal building.

An LLC tied to East Coast Appliance bought the standalone Broad Street building for $3.7 million in January, per online county land records.

The new Henrico outpost is the company’s first Richmond-area location north of the James River. East Coast Appliance entered the local market with a store that opened in 2021 at 11000 Midlothian Turnpike, near Chesterfield Towne Center.

Turning Point, a breakfast-focused restaurant chain, is coming to Richmond
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania

A breakfast and lunch spot with roots near the Jersey Shore is the latest out-of-town restaurant chain to target the Richmond market.

Turning Point Restaurant plans to open early next year at 5320 Wyndham Forest Drive, just north of Short Pump in Henrico County. Its space in the Publix-anchored Nuckols Place shopping center will be the chain’s first location in Virginia, and 27th overall.

Turning Point was founded in Little Silver, New Jersey, in the 1990s as a coffee and tea shop that also served lunch and dinner. It changed hands in 1998 when the original owners sold it to Kirk Ruoff, who’d been working at Chili’s but dreamed of owning his own restaurant.

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