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Ad agency on track for offices in station |  |
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Bob Rayner (804) 649-6073 brayner@timesdispatch.com Jan 8, 2005 Main Street Station is filling up, but not with floodwaters this time. A Richmond advertising agency has signed a letter of intent to lease two floors of office space in the Shockoe Bottom train station, which was closed by flooding for a few days in September. RightMinds hopes to move into the third and fourth floors of the 103-year-old building before May, when the lease runs out on its office in Scott's Addition, near The Boulevard and West Broad Street. City Council has already approved the five-year, $15,000-a-month lease at the station. The agency is checking final details and working out its budget before signing the lease for 12,000 square feet in the Victorian train station, which is owned by the city. Chris Thurston, president of RightMinds, said he is optimistic the deal will go through. If it does, the agency plans to spend about $200,000 making the space ready for its 18 employees. "An ad agency likes to be in an environment that inspires creativity," Thurston said. "That building has such character and is such a landmark. We'll be able to give the space our own flair, as long as we respect the historical integrity." In some parts of the building, ceilings are 35 feet high, he said. "It's very open." John Woodward, Richmond's economic development director, said the move is another step in Shockoe Bottom's rebound after the flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston. "The location makes a lot of sense for an ad agency," he said. "That area really is the creative hub of the re- MOVEgion." Plus, "they can tell their clients from out of town to hop on the train and when they arrive in Richmond, just go upstairs." Flooding shouldn't be a problem. "If we ever have a flood that reaches the third floor, we're going to have a lot more to worry about than what happened to the ad agency in Main Street Station," Woodward said, laughing. The Aug. 30 flood, which experts called a once-in-a-millennium event, didn't come close to reaching the third floor. The agency will occupy most of the available commercial space in the station, Woodward said, except for some spots in the passenger area that could be leased to retail businesses. RightMinds' clients include LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. of Richmond, Inova Health System of Northern Virginia and the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau. The old station re-opened for train passengers in December 2003 after years of neglect and stints as a state office building and a discount mall. Thurston said he remembers talking to his grandfather about the old station, with its distinctive roof and clock tower. "My grandfather said that would make one cool restaurant," Thurston recalled. "I said it would make an even cooler ad agency." |