The 28,760-square-foot Bedrooms, Inc. building sold for $500,000 after three months on the market.

DRE Richmond Office Sells Retail/Warehouse Building

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - Divaris Real Estate’s Richmond office has sold the former Bedrooms, Inc. retail/warehouse building located at 3904 Jefferson Davis Highway in Richmond, Virginia. Wilbur Thompson III purchased the building for $500,000 from its owner, Tommy Samuel, Jr., on May 3, 2002.

Originally, Samuel had requested that DRE lease the warehouse space in the rear of the building. He was using only the front half of the 28,790-square-foot building for his business, Bedrooms Inc.  A retail showroom, offices and a warehouse occupied the front area while the rear warehouse space became available after a previous tenant’s lease expired. Terry Earnest and Debbie Wake of DRE’s Richmond office represented Samuel in the transactions, and had discussed the possibility of selling the building should an opportunity develop during the marketing process. 

“Industrial leasing has definitely been difficult,” said Earnest. “There aren’t a lot of tenants looking to rent space.”  According to Southeast Real Estate Business, larger companies are keeping a tight reign on their inventories, causing leasing activity to be rather slow. In addition, the strained economy and the September 11 terrorist attacks have weakened the demand for industrial space and the market has seen an increase in vacancies (approximately 13 percent in 2001). 

On the other hand, sales for industrial properties are decent because of the drop in interest rates, and many large manufacturing buildings continue to be put up for sale. With that in mind, Earnest and Wake suggested Samuel sell his building.  He agreed, and the building was sold within three months.

The industrial market is showing signs of improvement, however. In its July, 2002 issue, Southeast Real Estate Business reported that development opportunities exist for high bay distribution in the Tri-Cities area (Petersburg, Colonial Heights and Hopewell) and eastern Henrico County, and for flex product in the Interstate 295/Parham and Interstate 95 North submarkets. Opportunities are also available for development or sale-leasebacks on smaller buildings.