D.C. commercial real estate data company CoStar Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP) is committing $18 million to support the development of a new arts and innovation building at Richmond’s Virginia Commonwealth University.
The new center will be tentatively named the CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation and it will consolidate the university’s school of arts as well as its innovation programs in one building for the first time.
It’s another sign of CoStar’s growing presence and influence in Virginia’s capital city, which has been home to the company’s research operations since 2016 and where it is moving forward on construction on a $460 million research and technology hub of its own.
The $253 million, 213,000-square-foot VCU building will be located on a 1-acre site at the intersection of Broad and Belvidere streets in Richmond and will include flexible classroom spaces, interdisciplinary performance venues and maker spaces.
In its announcement, CoStar said the building would house activities “from opera to quantum computing, integrating disciplines of engineering, cinema, theater, immersive media technology, gaming and the creation of new knowledge.”
Groundbreaking for the project is expected later this year, while the center is expected to formally open in 2027. The project is still subject to approvals by the VCU Board of Visitors — of which CoStar CEO Andy Florance is a member — as well as Virginia state agencies.
“CoStar Group’s strategic partnership — the second-largest corporate commitment in VCU history — will provide a launch pad for generations of VCU innovators, artists, makers and performers,” VCU President Michael Rao said in a statement.
CoStar currently employs about 1,500 in Richmond and it plans to add 2,000 jobs there with its new research hub. The new building will make CoStar the the largest technology company in Richmond and one of the city's largest private employers, the company has said.
“VCU has proven to be a constant source of innovation and energy and CoStar Group has drawn heavily from its graduates and creative talent in recent years," Florance said in a statement. "As we continue to expand our business, our interests align seamlessly with VCU’s commitment to educational excellence.”
In all, CoStar employs roughly 5,300 people across 80 global offices, including several hundred at its D.C. headquarters on L Street NW. D.C.'s staffing isn't expected to be affected by the Richmond expansion.
CoStar’s share price closed trading Friday at $75.37. It has a market cap of $30.79 billion and posted $584 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2023 and $2.18 billion in revenue across 2022.
