Local Brief
Richmond Common House drops name amid management shakeup
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The building formerly known as Common House. Image: Courtesy of Kate Thompson
Arts District social club Common House will soon go by a different name.
Why it matters: The swanky members-only club is cutting ties with the brand and reopening under new management — an abrupt shift that follows a sudden closure at the original Charlottesville location.
The big picture: The building owners of the 303 W. Broad St. property announced this week that the club and event space is transitioning management and won't operate under the Common House brand after May 19.
- Most operations will stay the same, including the staff, private bookings and scheduled events, along with amenities like the rooftop pool, co-working space and restaurants such as Birdie's on the ground floor.
How it works: The Ukrop family and New York-based private investment firm Mercer Street Partners — who both own Quirk Hotel — own the building, while Common House has been operating the club under its brand.
- The building owners had been paying a monthly fee for Common House to do so since the beginning, their spokesperson tells Axios.
- Now they're taking over management, and tapping the firm that manages Quirk — Kentucky-based Schulte Hospitality Group — to run the reopened social club.
- With the split, a new name will be announced soon.
Flashback: A trio of UVA alums opened the first Common House in Charlottesville in 2017, hoping to create a modern country club for a younger generation.
- Three locations followed, all with the same model and branding — offering in-house restaurants, co-working spaces, coffee bars, wine clubs and hip programming. Most locations also have a pool and podcast studio.
- Richmond's opened in 2020, followed by outposts in Chattanooga (2021) and New Orleans (2024).
Zoom out: The sudden changes at Richmond's Common House follow the abrupt closure this month of the Charlottesville one due to a landlord-tenant dispute, C-Ville Weekly reported.
- According to that pub, the original Common House owners quietly sold it in 2024 while retaining ownership of the building.
- The Charlottesville Common House closed on April 16 after the building owners (and Common House founders) failed to reach a lease agreement with the new owners, per a letter from Ben Wood, the Common House CEO since 2024 and the former head of global operations for WeWork.
What's next: More info on the club's new name and operational changes will be shared in the coming weeks.
- Folks can follow along at @303westbroad and www.303westbroad.com for updates.