Wait, 2009 was a good year for downtown projects?

It’s that time of year when business people reflect on the year and toast to a better 2010.

Developers and other real estate professionals gathered at the newly renovated Richmond CenterStage for the second annual downtown real estate year in review, sponsored by Venture Richmond.

Speakers outlined more than 40 completed and ongoing projects underway in and around the central business district. Read more

Monday Q&A: It’s up from here

If you picked the industries most under stress right now, the hotel and commercial real estate businesses would likely be in the top five.

This week BizSense caught up with a guy who is in the thick of both.

Glade Knight is the chairman and CEO of Richmond-based Apple REIT Companies, a collection of real estate investment trusts that own hotels across the country. In January 2008, the firm purchased the Richmond Marriott for $53 million. This past spring the company completed a $14 million renovation of the hotel, which included the opening of a new sports bar, T. Miller’s, over the summer. (You can read about that here.) Read more