Genworth Financial scrapped its plans to build a new headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, and instead opted to sublease the former SunTrust space at 11011-11013 W. Broad St. in Glen Allen in one of the market's largest office leases of 2022. In recognition, the deal earned the 2023 CoStar Impact Award for lease of the year in Richmond, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
The Fortune 500 company late last year finalized a deal to sublease 174,378 square feet from Truist Bank. Genworth also signed a direct lease with building owner FD Stonewater that is scheduled to kick in once the sublease term expires in early 2028.
Genworth plans to relocate its corporate and U.S. Life offices from its temporary space at Reynolds Crossing at 6603 W. Broad St. in Richmond to the former SunTrust space. The company originally subleased 88,800 square feet at Reynolds Crossing to serve as holdover space while it redeveloped its corporate campus, also on West Broad Street. Like the FD Stonewater deal, Genworth also signed a direct deal at Reynolds Crossing with building owner Reynolds Development that gave the company control of 101,020 square feet.
“This direction will get us into our permanent home more quickly and at a significantly lower cost, as the former SunTrust space was fully renovated in 2018 and provides a contemporary foundation from which we can outfit a more modern workplace for our colleagues,” Genworth said in a prepared statement.
About the project: SunTrust Business Center is a two-building, 204,622-square-foot campus that has been home to several area heavy hitters, including Altria Group, Capital One and MeadWestvaco, now WestRock. Formerly known as Westmark Office Park, the complex was rebranded after Utah's Bridge Investment Group bought it in 2017 for $45 million and leased it out to SunTrust Bank, now known as Truist Bank after its merger with BB&T. Bridge sold the property a year later to FD Stonewater for $62.4 million. The campus is home to a tenant roster that includes IT company Wipro, healthcare administrator Magellan, medical equipment supplier Home Care Delivered and EAB, an education software and consulting firm that subleased 70,000 square feet in one of the largest office deals of the second quarter.
What the judges said: "In a year when office markets were suffering and lease transactions were hard to come by, this lease with Genworth stabilized not only the building but also the Innsbrook market," said Andy Little, principal with John B. Levy & Co.
"The office sector was decimated during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Ashley Peace, president of Sauer Properties. "It's impactful to the local and regional economy to have an S&P 400 company retain its office headquarters."
They made it happen: Dean Meyer and Mac Wilson of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, as well as Jamie Smith of Cushman & Wakefield’s Baltimore office, represented Genworth in the lease negotiations. Paul F. Silver, Brian K. Berkey and Karla Knight of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s tenant representation group, as well as Hap Royster and William Woltz of Cushman & Wakefield’s Winston-Salem, North Carolina, office, handled the lease negotiations on behalf of Truist. Amy J. Broderick and Jeffrey A. Cooke, SIOR, also with Thalhimer, represented FD Stonewater.