Downtown Richmond, VA Development & Growth

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From 2019-2022 more than 75 development projects totaling $3.6 billion have been completed or are underway in the Downtown Master Plan area of the City.

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Since 2000, Downtown has also absorbed nearly half of the city's population growth, become the uncontested economic center of Richmond and has a remarkable concentration of the city's real estate and cultural assets.

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Downtown Richmond is a clear leader in population growth, share of citywide jobs, assessed values and share of citywide retail sales.

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Downtown sits on 3.2 square miles of the City, which is just 5% of the City land and has a land value of over $3 billion per square mile compared to $0.56 billion for the City and $0.065 billion per square mile for the region. Downtown also has a remarkable concentration of the City’s real estate assets:

• 25% of residential units*
• 27% of retail square footage*
• 76% of office square footage*

* Source: International Downtown Association Research on Richmond for “The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities,” 2020

• $3 billion in assessed property values per square mile
• 35% of the city’s total assessed value
• 27% of all real estate value in Richmond is located downtown
• $15.2 billion increase (160%) in the taxable real estate assessments (2000-2019)
• $143 million increase (130%) in the real Estate tax revenues (2000-2019)
• $21.3 million increase (50%) in personal property tax revenues (2000-2019)

* Source: International Downtown Association Research on Richmond for “The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities,” 2020

• 6.5% office vacancy rate in 2022
• $23.25psf average Class A office rents
• 76% of office space in the city is located downtown
• 2,800 locally owned businesses, which accounts for 34% of local businesses citywide

• Since 2002, Downtown Richmond has seen strong 9% job growth
• Downtown is home to 50% of all jobs in the city

• Retail vacancy rate of 2.7% in 2022; down from a 5.3% vacancy rate in 2020

• $526 million total annual downtown retail sales in 2019
• 22% of all city-wide retail sales is downtown; 33.3% is represented by restaurants

**Source: “The Value of Downtowns: Comparisons, A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DOWNTOWN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A 2022 IDA STUDY;" International Downtown Association, 2022

Explore Downtown Richmond's impactful economic development, alluring attractions, and vibrant retail & dining experiences through our immersive virtual tour.

• $100K State of Virginia DHCD grant was awarded to Venture Richmond in 2022 to provide Tenant Recruitment Grants
• 10 new downtown businesses received $10K and located on street level on Broad Street between Belvidere and 5th Street in 2022. Read more here about the 10 grant recipients.
• 41 new jobs were created and 38 jobs were retained due to the grants
• 1M views and 154K unique prospects reached through LoopNet marketing campaign for Broad Street in the Arts District

• 21,600 total residential population in 2020 120% growth puts Richmond in the top echelons of downtown residential growth among its peers (2000-2022)
• 6th ranked of all IDA study downtowns in population growth (2000-2022)
• 9.4% of the city’s total population (residential numbers include students who live off-campus downtown but exclude anyone living in group quarters such as dorms)
• 3.2 square miles absorbed 22% of all of the city’s population growth from 2010-2020
• 45% increase in downtown residents between 2010 and 2020, nearly four times the population growth rate of the entire city over that period^
• 57% increase in residential housing units downtown between 2010 and 2020^
• 70% of the residents are between 18-34 years old^
• $46,489 median household income (2020)
• 14% of housing units are owner-occupied (2020)
• $1,182 median gross rent (average rent in Richmond, VA in 2020)
• 28% median gross rent increase (2010-2020)

**Source: “The Value of Downtowns: Comparisons, A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DOWNTOWN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A 2022 IDA STUDY;” International Downtown Association, 2022

^ According to 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This report data is bound by Belvidere St, the James River, and Interstate 64/95—encompassing Jackson Ward, Monroe Ward, the Financial District and Shockoe Slip. The data does not include Shockoe Bottom and Manchester neighborhoods

• $58M in total economic impact by Venture Richmond
• 542 jobs created by Venture Richmond’s activity
• $3.3M generated in state and local revenues through Venture Richmond’s activity
• Read more about Venture Richmond services here.

*** ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS OF VENTURE RICHMOND ACTIVITIES AND ASSOCIATED SPENDING, conducted by VCU Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, Nov. 2020