Site Selection Center
Reaching a Growing Market Early On
Over the past 30 years, people and business have been moving south of Richmond in order to escape the rising costs of capital city life. Since 1980, the region’s population has grown from 285,000 to nearly 500,000 people as families and businesses alike found that their earnings could go much farther in the cities and counties of the Gateway Region.
Population Growth
| 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | Percent Change (1980-2000) | 2010 Projection | |
| Gateway Region | 271,079 | 351,572 | 409,807 | 51.2% | 434,299 |
As incomes rise throughout the area, commercial land prices in the Gateway Region have remained particularly affordable; by contrast, areas west of Richmond have grown at a similar pace, but commercial costs in the saturated retail areas have spiraled much higher than their southern counterparts. For example, some retail areas in the western Richmond area start as high as $40 per square foot, while Gateway Region locations typically start between $20 and $30 per square foot. Simply put, major retailers, which may need up to 40,000 square feet, can save substantial amounts of money and gradually increase their profits simply by placing their next location here in the fast-growing Gateway Region.
The formula for major retailers here is simple: low operating costs plus location in a consistently growing area plus easy access to major supply equals sustained and prolonged success.
As evidenced by the last five years, the Gateway Region is growing faster than ever, but retail real estate prices have remained low with the region’s biggest single expansion yet to come.
What does this mean? It means that in the Gateway Region, your company is in on the ground floor—you can reach this fast-growing market before commercial real estate prices grow to match the market’s growth.