Does Carytown have a vacancy problem?

Wednesday, 02 July 2008 11:51

Heading east along Carytown, for every 10 to 15 occupied buildings there’s a vacant one with a placard inviting you to call a commercial real estate broker.

Richmond BizSense did an unofficial count of the store fronts in Carytown: 142 occupied buildings, 22 vacant buildings. That makes for a total of 164 buildings, 22 of which are vacant. According to my trusty calculator, which I can’t seem to do without, that’s roughly a 13% vacancy rate. And according to a retail report published quarterly by Thalhimer, that’s higher than every single submarket in Richmond. (figures from the first quarter)

In Short Pump, the vacancy rate is 4.1%. Staples Mill is nearly the same, at 4.2%, while Regency holds a rate of just 3.1%. Broad Street and Willow Lawn are higher, at 8.0% and 8.2%, respectively, but that’s still a full five percentage points off of Carytown’s numbers.

Mayoral candidate Paul Goldman thinks the answer is to turn the strip into a pedestrian-only thoroughfare, ala the downtown mall in Charlottesville. Goldman’s raised objections from commuters and business owners, who rely mostly on customers who drive.

Carytown has long had lots of turnover, and some merchant’s say now is no different. .
Raylene Wilkinson, president of the Carytown Merchants Association and owner of Raylene's Pennyrich (which sells and professionally fits bras and foundation garments), told the Times-Dispatch ( two weeks ago that the number of store vacancies is not excessive. She said that most of these vacancies are short-lived, with new businesses moving quickly to take open space.

And Francis Daniel, owner of Mrs. Marshall’s Carytown Café, said the same.

“There’s always turnover. That’s the one thing about this area. It doesn’t alarm me, because people are always going in,” and filling up the vacant buildings, Daniel said. She said that businesses will always be buying space in Carytown because of its history and its vibe. “It’s still the coolest shopping district around.”

Alec Depcynski is a BizSense staff writer. Please email real estate or retail story ideas to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Ostriches in Carytown?
written by Tim, July 02, 2008

It seems to me that the retailers you interviewed have their heads buried in the sand. I know people in their 50's who remember a time when Carytown was basically a wasteland one had to drive through on the way from Windsor Farms to Thalheimer's. Is there any reason it couldn't become a desert again? It's striking how many vacancies there are right now. What's going on?

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written by Scott Burger, July 04, 2008

Small business is getting killed off, in part by higher City taxes and fees.

The Times Dispatch joined Richmond Renaissance corporate leaders in calling for the increase in the meals tax in order to help pay for the downtown white elephant arts center.

Mayoral candidate Pantele voted for the meals tax increase, mayoral candidate Grey kept the white elephant arts center deal alive (something he foolishly brags about), and then Pantele voted for it again.

Solution: Vote for a mayoral candidate who will stop the white elephant arts center and decrease taxes for small businesses.

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Vacancy rate
written by Matt, August 29, 2008

Eh, that's now how vacancy is calculated...or even estimated. If you have two buildings, one of which is 10,000 square feet and 100% occupied, the other being 1,000 square feet and vacant...what do you think the vacancy rate is?

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