The new CoStar complex, as seen in this rendering, would have two buildings, including what would become Virginia’s tallest.
Commercial real estate data giant CoStar Group is ready to make a larger splash in Richmond with a commercial real estate project of its own.
The D.C.-based firm announced Friday morning plans to construct a new office complex along the downtown riverfront next to its current main local office at 501 S. 5th St.
The campus, which CoStar CEO Andy Florance described as the company’s “HQ2,” would span 750,000 square feet and include a 26-story office building and 6-story multipurpose building.
A rendering of the project as displayed at this morning’s announcement.
The project amounts to a $460 million investment and would bring 2,000 additional jobs to Richmond over the next few years, adding to the 1,000 employees CoStar has here already. That would make it the company’s largest office.
Florance said about 1,000 of the newly created jobs will be in software development and that CoStar also is planning to devote resources to its residential real estate divisions following its recent acquisition of Norfolk-based Homes.com.
The new building would be not only the tallest building in the city, but also in the entire state. At 510 feet, CoStar’s tower would barely edge out the commonwealth’s current tallest building, the Westin Virginia Beach Town Center, which per high-rise database SkyscraperPage, reaches 508 feet.
The architect on the project is Pickard Chilton, the same firm that designed the new Dominion Energy office tower downtown. CoStar spokespeople said a general contractor has not yet been selected.
A 3D model of the future CoStar campus in Richmond.
The project may receive some public funding. An announcement from the Governor’s office states that up to $15 million would be invested into infrastructure around the complex, including upgrades to pedestrian access, road and traffic improvement and utilities.
The infrastructure investment is subject to approval from the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission.
Once completed, CoStar will occupy around 1 million square feet of office space in downtown Richmond. It is currently the main tenant in the nine-story former WestRock building on 5th St., which it bought earlier this year for $130 million.
The new complex would be constructed on a 4-acre parcel at 600 Tredegar St. that CoStar bought last summer for $20 million. Florance said they’ve acquired all the land needed to build the complex, but noted the company is under contract on an unidentified Richmond building that it will use for swing space until the new buildings are completed.
The company also this year leased the entire 13,000-square-foot Pattern Building at 470 Tredegar St., and subleased 51,000 square feet on the ninth, tenth and eleventh floors of Riverfront Plaza’s east tower.
Florance said the new complex will include more than office uses.
“We are bringing Tredegar Street alive by bringing some restaurants and art galleries and retail down (at ground level),” Florance said.
The green space is set to become the final pieces of CoStar’s Richmond campus.
He added that it’ll also have an indoor event venue and outdoor amphitheater that will be able to host concerts, particularly during the Folk Festival.
CoStar is looking to break ground between mid- and late-2022, and Florance said he’s hoping for a 2024 delivery.
“There’s a lot of work to do but that’s our goal,” Florance said.
The announcement was made Friday morning in conjunction with the governor’s and mayor’s offices, at what Gov. Ralph Northam said was likely one of the last economic announcements of his term. Mayor Levar Stoney was also in attendance.
BizSense reporter Michael Schwartz contributed to this story.