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 26, 2024:
Diamond District developmers hit with $40M lawsuit from former project partner
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
Developers of Richmond’s Diamond District project have been thrown a legal curveball from one of their former partners in the form of a $40 million lawsuit.
Thalhimer Realty Partners and Loop Capital were sued last week by Republic Properties, which once led a previous iteration of the project’s development group.
The lawsuit filed in Richmond Circuit Court alleges that TRP and Loop breached their venture partnership with Republic when they formed a new entity and entered into a revised development agreement with the city. That new LLC, Diamond District Partners, includes TRP and Loop but not Republic.
Republic argues in the lawsuit that its former partners struck out on their own without first dissolving their partnership with Republic, which had assembled the previous group under its RVA Diamond Partners LLC.
Business improvement district in the works for Carytown
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
As work starts on a new gateway sign for Carytown, an effort to explore a potential assessment district to fund improvements in the corridor has secured the support of Richmond City Council.
At their meeting Monday, councilmembers authorized the city’s Economic Development Authority to hire a consultant that would work with Carytown businesses and property owners to establish a business improvement district (BID) for the nine-block commercial stretch.
The district would be similar to the special assessment district that the city established with Venture Richmond for downtown and expanded to Manchester in recent years.
Owner of Original Ronnie’s BBQ teams with JewFro co-owner to buy Le Box Lunch in Chesterfield
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
Two restaurateurs – one whose experience is in the downtown dining scene, the other who hails from a Varina barbecue family – have teamed up for their latest project.
Earlier this month Missy Mangrum and Trey Owens purchased Le Box Lunch, a restaurant in the Arboretum office park in Chesterfield, for an undisclosed amount.
Mangrum co-owns longtime Varina barbecue spot The Original Ronnie’s BBQ, which she runs with her uncle and the restaurant’s namesake, Ronnie Logan. Owens, meanwhile, co-owns downtown restaurants JewFro and Soul Taco.
Located on the ground floor of an office building at 300 Arboretum Place, Le Box has been open for over a decade, serving cafe staples like burgers, wraps and club sandwiches, along with a breakfast menu and catering options.
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