Downtown Richmond is struggling. Businesses are uniting to fix that

The big picture: People initially stayed home to "flatten the curve" and then, thanks to remote and hybrid work, they stayed put — for years.

• In the absence of workers and visitors, the city center in general and Broad Street specifically languished and "serious safety issues" cropped up, Richmond restaurant owner Liz Kincaid tells Axios.

Zoom in: The issues were many, multiple people who work or run downtown businesses tell Axios.

• There were shootings, stabbings, robberies, buildings tagged with graffiti, motorcyclists drag racing up and down Broad, streetlights that went out and stayed out, and unhoused people erected tents in the doorways of vacant buildings.

By last summer, an especially violent one for downtown, Kincaid — whose restaurants include Tarrant's Cafe, And Dim Sum and Bar Solita — had enough. She was afraid, for herself, her employees and her businesses.

• But she channeled that fear into a mission, an Arts District Business Watch, basically the commercial version of a neighborhood watch — something a police officer suggested after responding to a break-in at her restaurant.
• Kincaid's mission was simple: She wanted downtown business owners to talk to each other, share tips and strategies and work together to apply pressure on city officials when things needed to get done.

So, armed with a clipboard, Kincaid started going door to door up and down Broad to introduce herself to her neighbors, most of whom she hadn't met in her 10 years there, and ask them to get involved.

• The response was incredible (though some owners kicked her out as soon as they saw the clipboard), she says.

More than 120 people across 85 businesses are now involved in the watch, which holds monthly meetings. And change is happening, Kincaid says.

• Critical for the group has been focusing on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, essentially that well-lit and well-kept areas attract less crime.

How it works: Now, business owners text each other when they see an issue, like broken streetlights, drag racing and graffiti, and they flood 311 with requests to fix it.

• Designated block captains follow up on the requests and keep an eye out for new issues to report them.
• In just the first few months of 2025, there have been more than three dozen 311 requests filed in the Arts District, mostly for graffiti, streetlights or drag racing, per an Axios review.

Often instead of calling police, Arts District owners dial Leon Dangerfield, downtown's dedicated social worker.

• Since last summer, Dangerfield has been walking the strip daily to connect anyone struggling with homelessness, mental health issues or addiction to services that can help them.
• He's long worked with people in addiction treatment through Project Recover and makes it his mission to treat everyone on Broad with dignity and respect, he tells Axios.
• And because of his background, he knows everyone, so if someone is struggling, "I can connect them with someone," says Dangerfield, who's contracted through Venture Richmond, downtown Richmond's booster and advocacy group.

But Richmond police have also increased their presence. Since last year, two bike officers ride the strip daily to check in with business owners and be available for "solving problems," RPD spokesperson James Mercante tells Axios.

• Owners' new relationship with police led to a big-deal solution for downtown: more parking. RPD agreed to stop enforcing parking restrictions on the city-owned surface lot on Grace and Jefferson, behind Bar Solita, for free public parking on weekends and after 5pm on weekdays.

What they're saying: "A city's downtown is its heart, and for Richmond, that is no different. As is the heart, so is the body," Janine Bell, president of Elegba Folklore Society, tells Axios.

How we got here

Flashback: Just before the pandemic hit, downtown's Broad Street corridor was thriving.

By mid-2018, the Pulse's years-long construction — which removed hundreds of street parking spaces and dotted Broad with traffic cones for years — was finally wrapped and the rapid transit line was running.

• It seemed to be the culmination of years of fits and starts to revitalize downtown and Broad Street, which may have started when The National opened in 2008, or with the opening of CenterStage, now Dominion Energy Center, the next year.
• But the 2015 opening of Quirk, the city's artsy and high-profile boutique hotel, seemed to usher in a final wave of change that solidified Broad Street's revival.
• New restaurants and retailers quickly followed, including high-end men's retailer Ledbury. The Maggie L. Walker Memorial Plaza and ICA, VCU's contemporary art museum, opened and Common House, an out-of-town members-only social club, announced Broad for its Richmond location.

By 2019, locals regularly packed First Fridays Artwalk, which had gotten so big residents started hosting pop-up shows in their apartments, Kincaid says.

• Folks waited in line for a spot on Quirk's rooftop, vied for a bar seat before shows at the November Theatre, watched construction finally happen on long-vacant buildings, and sweated in the street each year for the Broad Appetit food festival.

Then the pandemic hit and everything shuttered. And just as the city started reopening, social justice protesters took to the streets nightly for the entire summer.

• Their path was often straight down Broad Street and through the Arts District, and while most protesters peacefully marched, some broke windows, started fires, looted and covered area businesses in spray paint.
• Most Broad Street businesses boarded up and stayed closed through the summer. Some would never reopen.

While the protests and pandemic are long over, for many Richmonders, especially ones who live in suburbs and whom downtown businesses relied on, the damage was done.

• Several business owners tell Axios that they're seeing fewer suburban clients come downtown since then.

Downtown, like many nationwide, has a perception problem.

• And that's one of the many things Broad Street business owners want to tackle next.

What's next

There are many signs of hope and new life on Broad, some of which started before last summer.

Venture Richmond is working closely with Broad Street businesses to come up with solutions.

• The group used a $100,000 grant in 2022 to help land 10 new businesses in vacant storefronts on Broad.
• Venture this month started conversations to bring holiday lights, and an illumination ceremony, to Broad later this year.
• And they plan to bring a second social worker on board for downtown later this year, Venture executive director Lisa Sims tells Axios.

Through the business watch, owners are working to add more lighting to storefronts and sidewalks.

• They've also begun discussions to give graffiti artists a place in the Arts District where they can hone their craft, likely through murals.
• And they're crafting plans to cross-promote each others' businesses to bring people back to the streets.

What we're watching: They're also setting their sights on tackling downtown's persistent vacant building issue.

• There are more than two dozen vacant properties on Broad between Belvidere and Second streets, according to the city's vacant property list.
• Roughly half of those are owned by D.C.-based Douglas Development firm, which has done little work on most of them in the decade it's owned them, BizSense reported in 2022.
• The empty buildings, some of which are still boarded up, make the whole area look blighted, Bell says.

Elegba Folklore Society has been on the corner of First and Broad for nearly three decades, and Bell was just elected president of the resurrected Downtown Neighborhood Association, she tells Axios.

• And she's ready to get to work.

The bottom line: Downtown Richmond is primed and ready for its latest comeback. The only thing it needs is Richmonders.