A 185,000-square-foot sports and entertainment facility opened its doors in suburban Richmond, Virginia, in 2023, part of the meaningful transformation of an antiquated mall and a project touted for growing the region's sports tourism economy while setting a benchmark for sustainable and versatile revitalization.
In recognition, the project earned a 2024 CoStar Impact Award for commercial development of the year, as selected by an independent panel of local industry professionals.
After three years of construction that included pandemic-induced delays, the $50 million Henrico Sports & Events Center held one of its first events in December when the Virginia Commonwealth University women's basketball team played the University of Delaware. The game would serve as a precursor for 2024, which already has more than 226 event days and 46 weekends booked, including the Atlantic 10 women's basketball tournament that was held in mid-March and was projected to generate $1 million in revenue.
The venue's multipurpose design and flexible configuration puts the county in position to increase its sports tourism revenue while accommodating an array of events, including ones it was unable to host previously after citing a lack of facilities. In 2022, Henrico County hosted 136 outdoor tournaments that generated nearly $65 million in local economic activity but missed out on as much as $33 million in annual spending by not having a venue for indoor sports, according to county estimates.
Events planned for the 4,500-seat Henrico Sports & Events Center include Rubik’s Cube championships, the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s National Championships, graduation ceremonies for Henrico County Public Schools, the Special Olympics of Virginia, the Atlantic Coast Volleyball Tournament and the All-American Gymnastics competition, illustrating the adaptability of the forward-thinking development. Preliminary estimates anticipate almost 500,000 people will flow through the venue annually.
Managed by Los Angeles-based ASM Global, the venue also serves as a high-profile draw as the team behind the Virginia Center Commons mall redevelopment looks to build out a larger mixed-use project on the site. That includes plans for two hotels and two full-service restaurants that are expected to break ground later this year near the center.
About the Project: Henrico County partnered with Richmond-based Rebkee Co. to redevelop Virginia Center Commons, a nearly 800,000-square-foot enclosed shopping mall in Glen Allen that was shuttered in 2015 and cued up for mixed-use. In 2021, demolition crews razed the former Sears and Macy's locations to clear the way for the Henrico Sports & Events Center, the result of a collaboration between the county, Rebkee and the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority. Located along Interstate 95 at 10101 Brook Road, the complex includes 115,000 square feet of contiguous court space, a 39,000-square-foot event space with center court seating large enough to accommodate 3,500 spectators or staging and seating for up to 4,500 visitors for meetings and events, four meeting rooms, four team locker rooms and a professional broadcast studio.
What the Judges Said: "This development will attract people throughout the region who will come to Richmond and spend money on hotels, retail, restaurants, etc. and will cause a ripple effect for years to come," said Tom Rosman, director of commercial brokerage at One South Commercial.
The "outstanding community asset" will bring others to the area "with clean dollars for other area companies," added John Jay Schwartz, broker, president and managing Director with The Man With Square Feet.
They Made It Happen: Dennis Bickmeier and Dawn Miller with the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority.
CoStar Market Manager Christian Taylor contributed to this report.