Virginia Employment Commission lands new HQ

Updated April 18, 2019 1:12 p.m.

A state agency is trading its downtown Richmond digs for a new headquarters across the city line.

The Virginia Employment Commission is moving its headquarters to a 79,254-square-foot office space at 6606 W. Broad St. in a building dubbed Brookfield Place in Henrico County. The state agency will be on five floors in the eight-floor building.

The agency’s 300 employees currently are based out of an office at 703 E. Main St. in downtown Richmond.

Plans call for the state agency to begin moving to Brookfield Place in September, says Joyce Fogg, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Employment Commission. She says the state has a ten-year lease for its new space. 

Fogg says the state has been looking for a new headquarters for the Virginia Employment Commission for about eight or nine months. She says the current downtown location is an older building in need of repairs.

“The decision was made to try to find a different headquarters that was updated and in better shape,” Fogg says.

The Virginia Employment Commission occupies all 114,560 square feet at 703 E. Main St. Fogg says the three story building, which includes a basement, is currently owned by the the Virginia Employment Commission. The federal governemnt has equity in the building as well because federal funds were used to build and maintain it, according to Fogg. Fogg says the title on the buildng will eventually go to the Department of General Services though the future use of the building is to be determined. 

Fogg says Brookfield Place was appealing for its proximity to interstates 64 and 95 and the amount of parking onsite.

The Virginia Employment Commission’s Brookfield Place lease brings the 196,610-square-foot building to 100% occupancy. The building also serves as a headquarters for Southern States Cooperative, which sold the building to Thalhimer Realty Partners last year. The sales price was about $14.7 million, according to a Henrico property record. Other tenants at Brookfield Place include Virginia Urology and Keener Communications.

Thalhimer Realty Partners is the investment and development subsidiary of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer.

“We are excited to work with the Virginia Employment Commission to build out their new headquarters space at Brookfield Place, and appreciate the Commonwealth of Virginia placing their faith in us as a long-term partner,” says Jason Guillot, a principal at Thalhimer Realty Partners.

Guillot says capital improvements in the works at Brookfield Place include parking lot improvements, overhauling the HVAC system and interior renovations. He declined to put a dollar amount on the improvements.

Guillot says the Virginia Employment Commission is moving into space previously occupied by Southern States.

Asked about the general state of Richmond’s office market, Guillot says things are tight with limited supply and increasing demand. He says rising construction costs make it difficult for developers to justify building new office properties.

“We’re going to continue to see an increase in rental rates as demand has a hard time being met,” Guillot says.