Axios Richmond

March 16, 2023
It's Thursday, Ned's favorite day of the week.
🙏 Today's weather: Sunny, with a high near 64.
Today's newsletter is 860 words — a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: Tiny apartments

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.
2. 🚱 Water bill amnesty ending
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
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.
3. The Current: Henrico deputies in court
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
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)
4. 🚀 1 weekend pick: To the moon
A model of Saturn V. Photo: Courtesy of NASA
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.
A new career is waiting for you
💼 Check out who's hiring now.
- Customer Success Manager at BlackPoint Cyber.
- Field CTO, Applications at Snowflake.
- Tax Manager, Partnerships & Flow-Through at BPM.
Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.
Hiring? Post a Job.
5. 🏆 Best buildings: The final round
Old City Hall and Main Street Station. Photos: Courtesy LIbrary of Congress
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.
🙁 Ned is sad the Southern States Silos got voted out of the building bracket, but proud of how far they got. Those old grain elevators overcame a lot of adversity and showed a lot of heart.
❤️ Karri loves this beautiful tribute by Godfrey's to beloved Richmond performer John Jessie, aka Natasha Carrington, who passed away earlier this week.
- Godfrey's will honor their memory during performances all week.
Thanks to Hadley Malcom for editing and Carlin Becker for copy editing this newsletter.
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