Richmond apartments are shrinking — and now rank among the smallest in the country, according to a new report from RentCafe.

Why it matters: Apartment sizes are getting smaller nationally, a reversal in the rental market that saw unit sizes grow during the early part of the work-from-home era.

Zoom in: The average size of newer Richmond apartments is 812 square feet, 8.5% smaller than the 2022 national average of 887 square feet, per the report from listing service RentCafe.

• Richmond's average is only 72 square feet larger than the average new apartment in Manhattan.
• We rank at No. 14 in cities with the smallest apartments.
• Of note: At the local level, researchers considered new apartments those units built between 2013 and 2022.

The intrigue: With an average size of 1,006 square feet, Virginia Beach has some of the largest new apartments in the nation.

The big picture: Nationwide, newly built apartments shed 30 square feet on average in 2022 compared to 2021, per the report.

• That sharp decrease was fueled in part by more studios and one-bedroom apartments entering the market, researchers found, analyzing the 100 metro areas with the most high-density buildings.

Flashback: In 2020 and 2021, demand for more space resulted in larger unit configurations, RentCafe analyst Adina Dragos tells Axios.

• "Fast forward to 2022, the demand for more apartments prompted developers to accommodate more units in their projects," Dragos says.
• Case in point: 57% of apartments completed across the U.S. last year were small units (studios and one-bedrooms).

What we're watching: Apartments under construction. As the market keeps fluctuating post-pandemic, their size could signal whether the trend of smaller rentals will stick.

The city utility department plans to resume cutting off gas and water services to residents who don't pay their bills.

What's happening: The city hasn't stopped service for nonpayment in over three years, racking up more than $60 million in unpaid bills, per a recent audit.

• City utility director April Bingham said this week her department is making plans to end the pandemic-era policy this spring.

Worth noting: The city spent $21 million in coronavirus relief funding over the course of the pandemic to help customers with their bills.

• Customers had to apply for the aid, which was distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

What they're saying: "We do need to get back to the consistent expectation of payment because it does impact our ratepayers overall," chief administrative officer Lincoln Saunders said at a meeting of the city's audit committee Tuesday.

What's next: The city is encouraging customers with overdue bills to sign up for a payment plan to avoid disconnection.

Surveillance footage shows Henrico County sheriff’s deputies tackling, striking and smothering 28-year-old Irvo Otieno before his death at a state mental hospital, prosecutors said during the officers’ first court hearings Wednesday. (WTVR)

• The seven deputies facing second-degree murder charges in the incident are accused of waiting three hours before making a report to Virginia State Police to investigate.
• Two of the deputies were released on bond Wednesday, but covered their faces and declined to comment as they left jail.

💸 Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine say they stand by their past votes to weaken regulations of midsize banks following SVB’s collapse. (VPM)

🎸 Metallica bought Alexandria-based Furnace Record Pressing, one of the largest pressing plants in the country, as demand for the heavy metal band’s vinyl records increases. (DCist)

🌊 Something in the Water announced the lineup for its return to Virginia Beach next month will include Kid Cudi, Wu-Tang Clan, Mumford & Sons, Grace Jones, Skrillex and Jay Pharoah. (Twitter)

The latest exhibition at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture — "Apollo: When We Went to the Moon" — opens Saturday.

The exhibit looks at the space race, zooming in on Virginia's role in the Apollo 11 moon landing through a partnership with NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton.

Attendees can:

• Climb into a lunar rover model.
• Virtually walk on the moon (and leave footprints).
• Touch a lunar meteorite.
• And experience the surround sound of a rocket launch.

Details: "Apollo: When We Went to the Moon" runs through Dec. 31.

• The exhibit is included with admission (adults, $10).
• Save the date for April 15, when retired astronaut (and UR grad) Leland Melvin will visit.

Bonus pick: 🐙 Maymont's new octopus arrives Friday and will be in the The Robins Nature Center for a year.

• The center is open Friday-Sunday. Adult admission is $8, $6 for kids 2-12, free for kids under 2.

💼 Check out who's hiring now.

1. Customer Success Manager at BlackPoint Cyber.
2. Field CTO, Applications at Snowflake.
3. Tax Manager, Partnerships & Flow-Through at BPM.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a Job.

It wasn't even close.

What's happening: Old City Hall and Main Street Station slaughtered the competition and are advancing to the final round of our best building bracket.

By the numbers: 491 of you voted in yesterday's tournament.

• Hotel John Marshall fared a little better against Old City Hall (106-356) than the Southern States Silos did against Main Street Station (74-416).

What's next: An excruciating final round between two landmark historic structures built seven years apart from each other.

🏛 You can vote here until 3pm.

✉️ And hit reply to send us your pick for a people's choice award, which we'll crown alongside the winner tomorrow.