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

Will turn of calendar signal new page for Richmond area?

It’s a bit too early to call the bottom.

But as a new fiscal year begins, “green shoots” might be sprouting through the cracks. The pace of large-scale layoffs has slowed. In May, there were 1,066 mass layoffs in the region. None were announced in June or so far in July. And most of the remaining companies seem stronger – at least profitable – than those that went belly-up in the past 12 months (Circuit City, LandAmerica and Qimonda).

It’s also possible those green shoots are a mirage. More than 50,000 in the region are unemployed, according to May data from the Department of Labor. That is enough to fill the Diamond more than four times over. Read more