Two state agencies moving to the James Center

Two state agencies are leaving the Riverfront Plaza office building in downtown Richmond and will move to One James Center a few blocks away.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) and the Virginia Tourism Corp. plan to make the move to what will be a slightly bigger space of 55,000 square feet in April of next year. 

The agencies will occupy the 8th and 9th floors of the office tower at 1051 E. Cary St. in the heart of the city’s Central Business District.

The two agencies currently lease nearly 51,000 square feet at Riverfront Plaza.Dan Gundersen, chief operating officer for the VEDP, said both offices are attractive, apples-to-apples downtown properties, yet the state will save money by moving to the James Center.

“Compared to the price we are in now, it represents a significant savings,” he said. “If we had stayed in our current location, over the life of a 10- to an 11-year period, those costs would have escalated to the point that we did not feel were sustainable. This was really about cost containment.” 

In addition, One James Center will offer more space for collaborative meetings and conferences for the 150 staffers that work at the two agencies.  “Right now we have less than a handful of conference rooms for a staff of 150 that’s all about meeting with its allies and stakeholders. We’re constantly finding ourselves without places to meet,” Gundersen said.

The James Center has plenty of space available thanks to the recent departure of the McGuireWoods law firm. It left 257,000 square feet of space earlier this year when it moved into its new downtown headquarters at Gateway Plaza on Canal Street.