Sperity Real Estate Ventures

08/28/2026

Five years ago today, Betsy Mangum joined Sperity without a day of commercial real estate experience.

I had known her from her Richmond Chamber days, and when I heard she was moving back to Richmond, I called her. Five years later she's put Mink Cocktail Lounge into a Carytown space that sat empty for years, brought an Italian medical device manufacturer from California to a building on Dawn Street, and walked Pizzeria Mungo out of a ghost kitchen and into its own doors on Arthur Ashe.

She's also deep in the Chesterfield Chamber and Chesterfield CASA when she isn't working.

Happy five years, Betsy. Richmond's small business owners are lucky you came back.

08/19/2026

Richmond scores 99.2 on NAR's new Commercial Real Estate Demand Index. That's 152nd out of 306 metros, down 7.6 points from a year ago. The index doesn't measure vacancy or rent. It measures the economic activity that creates demand for space later on: hiring, population growth, migration. Every employment category it tracks shrank here year over year. Population growth of 1.1% is what's holding the number up.

That cooling hasn't reached the space itself. Depending on which firm you ask, Richmond office vacancy ran somewhere between 11% and 13% in the second quarter, and most of them have it lower than a year ago. Retail is tighter still, in the 3 to 4% range. Asking rents went up.

So if you're waiting on a slower economy to hand you a better deal, it hasn't shown up yet. Good space still gets taken, and soft demand drivers don't help you when there's nothing available in the corridor you want.

NAR launched its Commercial Real Estate Demand Index, a quarterly index designed to measure economic drivers across more than 300 U.S. metropolitan areas.

07/23/2026

06/04/2026

After 13 years, the group behind Southern Railway Taphouse has handed off one of Shockoe Slip's busiest restaurants and bars.

We represented the sellers, Chris Farag and Hani Atallah, a team we've worked with on several projects over the years, including their acquisition of the Scott's Addition space that became Scotty's Taphouse. Selling a restaurant you've built and run for more than a decade is not a small thing. You want it in the right hands. You want your staff looked after.

This sale did that. The new owner is a 30-year restaurant veteran who's keeping the staff of about 37, keeping the concept, and building on it.

Richmond BizSense has the full story:

05/15/2026

National Association of REALTORS® just published a piece that lines up with what we see in Richmond every week. Demand across commercial sectors has shifted toward smaller spaces, and the development pipeline did not follow.

Small-bay industrial in the 3,000 to 25,000 square foot range is the tightest story nationally. Last-mile space close to rooftops, not the giant distribution boxes off the interstate.

Office under 10,000 square feet is pulling real demand from professional services and medical practices, even while larger office space sits.

Small retail keeps moving, especially the service-driven kind that e-commerce cannot touch.

This is the market we work in. It is also why we stay engaged at the national level through NAR Commercial, where conversations about the small business side of CRE need a seat at the table.

Worth a read.

https://www.nar.realtor/commercial/create/think-small-for-big-returns

Cost pressures, economic uncertainties, hybrid work and e-commerce logistics have made smaller commercial properties a hot commodity in growth markets across sectors.

05/05/2026

Tomorrow at 2 PM, Nathan is joining a panel on Virginia Realtors "The Scoop" webinar to talk about navigating commercial real estate in Virginia. Free for all Virginia REALTORS members.

Register here:

This focused panel discussion introduces Virginia real estate professionals to the key differences between residential and commercial practice. Experienced commercial brokers and industry experts share insights on common pitfalls, frequent scenarios, and client expectations, with special attention ...

04/21/2026

Marianne Trak Hess grew up in her family's restaurant, spending over 30 years at The Grapevine before she and her husband Eric bought Lola's Farmhouse Bistro in Manakin Sabot. A few months later, they were ready for the next one.

We searched together for several months. A few spaces they were set on fell through along the way. Each time, they adapted their concept and kept going. When the former Crafted space at 4900 Libbie Mill E. Blvd. came available, it checked every box. The result is Opa! Social, a Mediterranean concept opening this August that's stronger because of the road it took to get here.

We're proud to have represented Marianne and Eric in this deal.

Opa! Social will serve Greek, American and Italian, and feature popular dishes from Lola's Farmhouse Bistro.

04/09/2026

Five years of pop-ups. Multiple venues across Richmond. A community of 80 vendors and growing. And one constant challenge: not having a permanent home.

Cameron and Deja Hadnot built SwapMeet RVA from 20 vendors in 2021 into one of Richmond's most popular markets. Now they've signed a five-year lease on 33,000 SF at 1505 Cummings Drive near the Diamond, where they're creating a permanent market, coworking space, community event venue, and entrepreneurship programming for local kids and small business owners.

Our agent Jordan Sibold represented Cameron and Deja in the deal. We love watching community builders find the space to match their vision.

Full story from Richmond BizSense: https://richmondbizsense.com/2026/04/08/swap-meet-rva-permanent-market-hub/