Mayor Jones Welcomes CoStar Group to Downtown
Mayor Dwight C. Jones welcomed CoStar Group to downtown Richmond during a press conference held with Governor Terry McAuliffe today. The Governor announced that CoStar Group, the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, will invest $8.17 million in a new research and software development center in Richmond. Virginia successfully competed against states in the Southeast and Midwest for the project, which will create 732 new jobs and have a total economic impact of $250 million.
“We are thrilled to welcome CoStar Group to Virginia and to our capital city,” said Governor McAuliffe, speaking at the event. “This will be a transformational project for the City of Richmond and the greater metropolitan area, bringing a new, high-profile corporate partner and more than 700 high-paying jobs. With our outstanding technology infrastructure and our unparalleled higher education system, the Commonwealth is a hub for the IT sector and the perfect home for CoStar’s research operation. Today is a huge milestone for Richmond and for our efforts to diversify and build a new Virginia economy.”
“The fact that CoStar, the world’s leader in commercial real estate information, has chosen the City of Richmond as the location of its new research headquarters, says a lot about the quality of our workforce and our real estate,” said City of Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones. “The company’s 732 new, full-time employees, working in the heart of our central business district along the James River, will bring additional life to an increasingly thriving downtown. We look forward to partnering with CoStar through our Office of Community Wealth Building workforce programs and our multi-modal transportation initiatives to immediately promote new, high-quality jobs to our city’s residents that will be available early calendar year 2017.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the City of Richmond and the Greater Richmond Partnership to secure the project for Virginia. Governor McAuliffe approved a $4 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund (COF) to assist Richmond with the project. CoStar Group is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
For the $4 million grant the City receives from the COF, the City will provide the required local match through local Enterprise Zone incentives, public transportation improvements, installation of a bike share station, Business Professional Occupational License (BPOL) tax relief, and job training and recruitment assistance.
“CoStar is excited to become an essential business partner to the city of Richmond and the state of Virginia,” said Andrew Florance, CoStar Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “This is an opportunity that allows us to expand our research and software development capabilities in a city that provides a highly educated labor pool, a superior quality of life for our employees and a culture that aligns to our business model.”
Founded in 1987, CoStar Group is the leading provider of commercial real estate information and marketplaces combining research, technology and powerful marketing to connect commercial real estate professionals with the data, insights, networking and leads they need to succeed. Their suite of brands includes CoStar, Apartments.com. LoopNet, LandsofAmerica and BizBuySell to name a few, and together it serves as the primary source of business intelligence and communities that fuel the real estate industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CoStar maintains offices throughout the U.S. and in Europe and Canada with a staff of approximately 3,000 worldwide, including the industry’s largest professional research organization.