1. Updated: D.C. firm going big in downtown
Richmond
MICHAEL THOMPSON OCTOBER 25, 2016 1
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CoStar officials announced its move on Monday with the help of Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (Michael
Thompson)
When CoStar Group CEO Andrew Florance began a year ago considering whereto make an $8.1 million
investment to expandthe commercial real estateresearch firm, Richmond’s food scene helped keep the
city at the top ofhis list.
“Y ou have the best restaurants in the United States,” Florance quipped Monday, when asked what
attracted the publicly traded company to Richmond.
A healthy portion ofstate and local incentives probably didn’t hurt either.
To help lure CoStar to bring hundreds ofjobs downtown and lease a total of130,000 squarefeet on the
top three floors ofthe WestRock building at 501 S. Fifth St., the state and the city are providing grants and
incentives valued at a combined $8 million.

2. Gov. Terry McAuliffe approveda $4 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to the
City of Richmond. Grants from the fund are awarded on a matching basis, a requirement Richmond is
meeting not with cash but in-kind incentives such as a two-yearexemption on the Business Professional
Occupational License(BPOL) tax, job training and recruitment, and improvement in the city’s
transportation network.
CoStar marked its arrival in late August with the help of its company plane. (Courtesy Costar)
“Essentially, a lot ofthe things we’ve been doing as part ofour business growth strategy are part ofthis
deal,” Tammy Hawley, press secretary for Mayor Dwight Jones, said. “It’s in line with our efforts to bring
new jobs to the city. We’re not giving gifts to multi-million dollarcompanies.We’re leveraging our assets.”
For its part, Washington, D.C.-based CoStar is making Richmond the headquarters for its research
division. It plans to eventually hire732 employees for its Richmond office. Twenty jobs in Richmond are
expected to be filled by the end ofthe week and 200 positions areplanned to be filled by the end of2016.
Charlie Colligan, CoStar’s treasurer,said the company is investing $8 million ofits own funds in addition
to the state and local incentives that were announced. He said CoStar’s investment will be used for
outfitting its new office along with paying for hardwareand software.
BizSense first reported Monday morning that CoStar had plans to make a move to the WestRock building.
An official announcement was made yesterday afternoon on the third floor ofthe state capitol building.
Florance said Richmond was whittled down from a list of22 cities that included Charlotte. He said in
addition to the local food scene, CoStar was attracted to Virginia’s highereducation system and
Richmond’s quality oflife.
“We like to partner with these institutions,” Florancesaid ofVirginia’s universities. “This city stands out
for its art scene.”

3. Fresh off a weekend visit to the recently minted Blue Bee Cider facility in Scott’s Addition,McAuliffe
touted the state’s workforce in attracting CoStar to Virginia.
MWV signage has since been removed from the glass-paneled building, which remains the headquarters
for WestRock.
“They knew we had the technology workers,”McAuliffe said, before handing Florancea Virginia stateflag.
The top floors ofthe WestRock building went on the market for subleasein March, after the company
consolidated its offices in the building following its formation last year through the merger ofAtlanta-
based Rock-Tenn Co. and fellow packaging giant MeadWestvaco.
Colliers International handles the leasing for the WestRock building. BrokerKen Campbell said with
CoStar moving in the nine-story property is now fully occupied.
CoStar was founded in 1987 and has about 750 workers at its Washington, D.C. headquarters.
The company entered the Richmond market last month with a small West End office at 1800 Bayberry
Court, where it houses seven or eight employees.
CoStar’s core product is its searchableonline database ofcommercial real estateproperties used by
developers, lenders, brokers,appraisers and vendors.CoStar owns LoopNet, a listing and advertising site
for properties, and Apartments.com, a rental listing site.
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