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 November 15, 2024:
Indoor entertainment venue The Park RVA expanding with new outdoor deck
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
Two years after opening as a massive indoor entertainment facility, The Park RVA is expanding outdoors.
The 55,000-square-foot venue at 1407 Cummings Drive is in the process of adding a second-story deck off part of the muraled building it shares with HVAC company Michael & Son, whose president, Basim Mansour, co-owns The Park.
“Richmond loves outdoor space, and we love Richmond, so we’re building a deck that’s going to give them outdoor space,” Mansour said.
Construction on the 4,700-square-foot deck got underway a few weeks ago, and steel framing and supports are now taking shape. Project manager Art Ayvazian said decking and siding would start going up soon, with the walls of the structure resembling the siding of The Park’s entrance and supporting a glass ceiling above the deck.
Demolition set for graffiti-covered former Gusti’s site across from Scott’s Addition
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
Three years after filing for demolition permits for the site, a local developer’s assemblage of derelict buildings in the Museum District may finally see the wrecking ball before year’s end.
Steve Leibovic says he’s moving ahead with razing the vacant, graffiti-covered buildings at 2901-2923 W. Broad St.
The buildings, most of which were one-time home to Gusti Restaurant Equipment & Supply, have sat dormant since the Gusti family relocated their business a few miles west in 2019. The structures have fallen into disrepair in the years since.
Industrial Taphouse owners opening Steampunk Pizza in Ashland
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
Jeremy and Sarah Chapman are tripling down on an Ashland strip center.
The married couple and restaurateurs are preparing to open Steampunk Pizza at 10396 Leadbetter Road.
The new pizzeria will be located between the Chapmans’ restaurant Industrial Taphouse and their Eat Kitchen and Catering headquarters, which have both operated in the center off Sliding Hill Road for years.
The roughly 1,300-square-foot space came available last year when another pizzeria, Hanover Pie Co., closed down. The Chapmans said they saw it as a chance to try a new concept in Ashland.
Girl Scouts scoop up former bank branch to serve as new local HQ
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
The regional arm of the Girl Scouts has secured a former bank branch in Henrico for its new local headquarters.
The Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia recently purchased the old BB&T building at 3214 Skipwith Road for $3.6 million, per online county records.
The 18,000-square-foot, two-story building near the intersection of Broad Street and Parham Road will replace the nonprofit’s current offices at 4900 Augusta Ave. near Willow Lawn, where it has operated for about a decade in a leased space smaller than the Skipwith building, spokeswoman Janna Joyner said.
Two dozen employees who work at the Augusta location will be relocated as part of the move and will occupy the Skipwith building’s upper floor. The ground floor will be devoted to programming with event space and an educational kitchen as well as a store where Girl Scouts can buy their uniforms and other gear.
The Girl Scouts plan to be operating out of the new space in late March after a round of renovations.
Thrift store chain Uptown Cheapskate lands in former Ledbury storefront downtown
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
A national thrift store chain is expanding its local presence with its first spot in the city limits.
Uptown Cheapskate is planning to open a store in the long-vacant former Ledbury store at 315 W. Broad St. in the Arts District. Behind the new location is Maggie Mereand, the local franchisee who has two other Uptown Cheapskate outposts in Chesterfield County.
Mereand is aiming to start selling clothes at the Broad Street space before Christmas. Last week, the location opened to people looking to offload clothes, which the thrift store is buying to stock up ahead of its grand opening.
Mereand set her sights on the city to be closer to college students and other nearby residents, groups she said are prime customers for thrift stores.
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