Shipping Containers for Sale in Richmond, VA

RICHMOND, Va. — CoStar Group has conducted another round of layoffs at its downtown Richmond headquarters, impacting workers on the company's Homes.com platform, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the company's actions. The exact number of affected employees is not yet known.

A CoStar Group spokesperson said the company was deploying advanced AI technologies designed to make the company more money, streamline processes, and improve the customer experience.

"To align our organization with these strategic objectives and position the company for continued success, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate certain roles within the organization," the spokesperson told CBS 6 when asked to comment on the layoffs. "This was not a decision taken lightly, and we are deeply appreciative of the contributions that each affected team member has made during this transformative period."

This marks the second major round of layoffs for the real estate technology company in less than a year. In February 2025, CoStar laid off more than 100 people from its downtown Richmond offices, citing the use of artificial intelligence as one reason for the cuts.

On Tuesday, one day before the most recent layoffs, CoStar announced "the launch of a transformative home search experience on Homes.com AI, powered by Microsoft Foundry."

"This innovation signals a shift as significant as the emergence of online search itself," Andy Florance, founder and chief executive officer of CoStar Group, said. "Home shopping is no longer constrained by rigid filters and disjointed online experiences. Instead, it has become dynamic, consultative, and deeply personalized – mirroring the way people naturally research and evaluate a home. We've spent years building the industry's richest property data and Homes AI harnesses that foundation to transform the consumer experience in a way that feels intuitive, human and incredibly powerful."

At the time of the 2025 layoffs, the company reported more than 2,500 employees in the Richmond area and said it planned to hire around 500 new salespeople for Homes.com and 100 new market analysts.

Watch: CoStar leans into AI, lays off 100+ workers from Richmond office (Feb. 2025)

"The company will complete its major one million-square-foot campus development along the James River in May 2026," CoStar said in its 2025 statement. "Upon completion, the campus will be nearly full and house 3,500 employees."

CoStar has faced pressure from investors due to declining stock prices. The company, which was trading at $94 per share on Aug. 1, 2025, is priced at around $48 at the time of publication.

CoStar said it was "committed to supporting our employees through this transition and will provide resources and assistance."

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RICHMOND, Va. — A Black-owned restaurant outreach effort that's only in its second year has doubled in size and support across Virginia.

From Tuesday, Feb. 17 through Sunday, Feb. 22, over a dozen Black-owned restaurants across the Commonwealth are coming together to offer a "pay what you can" menu to customers.

"We have a special menu that people can come in, choose an item off that menu and pay whatever they can. If they can't afford it, then that item is free," said Samuel Veney, owner of Philly Vegan on Richmond's Southside.

Veney began the group initiative last year after holding pay what you can days for years at his restaurant.

"Here at this spot, we've served over 7,000 people that are free or reduced rate," Veney said. "We had continuous customers coming back and almost every day saying they didn't know how they were going to get through that hard time."

"I feel like this is a perfect time to continue to do our best, to open our hearts a little bit more, to reach out to our neighbors and extend our hands a little bit more," Veney said.

This year, various restaurants and businesses have joined the mission.

"We have restaurants from Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Petersburg, all over Richmond, Henrico, Varina, Chesterfield. It's beautiful," Veney said. "It's not just vegan food. We have traditional food, we have soul food. This year, we have classes."

Natragenix owner Natalie Doss is one of them.

"We are a space of love, where love flows, and we serve the community with wellness. We do different community classes, as well as just having offerings of natural holistic foods," Doss said.

Nestled near the corner of First and Broad Street in Richmond, Doss says they will be opening up their kitchen and wellness classroom this week.

"For those who just need a space to unplug, reset and know that it's accessible. It's so important, not just the food," Doss said. "We will have a Pilates and movement class on Thursday at 6:30 and then on Friday, we will also have a meditation class."

Understanding there are so many across the area in need of a helping hand, both say they are excited to give in this way and hope to see the network of support continue to grow.

"Unity starts with U and I for a reason. So all of these restaurants willing to give their time, willing to give their food to help others is important and I'm glad that we were able to unite to do this," Veney said.

"There's no shame in where you are in your journey. We're here to support you. You are not alone," Doss said.

Veney added that because there were so many people that asked about donating to this effort last year, they have created a donation account that people can give to and you can find those details by clicking here.

See a list of participating businesses below:

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This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, .

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – As localities across Virginia await what will come out of the General Assembly in regard to data center and energy policies, some 200 people from across the Commonwealth gathered at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church across from Capitol Square for the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition’s Lobby Day on Monday.

According to a release prior to the event, the Data Center Reform Coalition is made up of more than 50 organizations as well as hundreds of advocates and concerned citizens from across Virginia, all concerned about “impacts of unconstrained data center development”.

One of the 50 is Charlottesville-based Piedmont Environmental Council. Rob McGinnis, Senior Land Use Field Representative for Albemarle and Greene Counties, told Cville Right Now that PEC and the Coalition are focusing on four major categories of legislation from not just this year, but past years as well.

The four categories are state oversight, enhanced transparency, rate payer protections and tax incentive reform. Each have bills associated with them.

House and Senate bills in regard to state oversight involve prohibitions on operating a high-load facility, defined as a facility whose electricity demand exceeds 25 megawatts that was not operating before July 2026, without first obtaining a certificate of operation from the State Corporation Commission. The bill also details factors for the Commission to consider when reviewing a petition to operate such facilities.

Another set of state oversight companion bills in the House and Senate directs the commission to establish demand flexibility programs for Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company by 2028, as well as other electric cooperatives by 2029. Afterward, each program will be reassessed every three years.

Demand flexibility are measures designed to lower total electric grid system load requirements from time periods of peak system demand to lower system demand. This can be done by requiring or incentivizing retail electric service customers to temporarily reduce or interrupt their electricity usage, or by permitting some to secure electric load reductions from others during periods of peak system demand or other events that cause strain on the electric grid.

Those four bills also address enhanced transparency along with another that directs localities to require an applicant to perform and submit a site assessment and disclose the expected water use for a new data center prior to any approval of a rezoning application, special exception application or special use permit

Rate payer protection has companion House and Senate bills the specifically directs the State Corporation Commission to review cost allocation among different customer classifications for some electric utilities.

In addition, House and Senate companion bills for tax incentives propose tying tax break eligibility for data centers to best practices, pollution reduction and energy efficiency.

“The Coalition’s annual Lobby Day provides an opportunity for constituents to meet with legislators and make their voices heard on critical data center issues impacting Virginia communities,” The Data Center Reform Coalition’s announcement stated, “The Coalition works with lawmakers and data center leaders to establish fair, transparent regulatory oversight for this rapidly growing industry.”

Ultimately though, McGinnis said the big picture at this time among PEC and the other coalition members is pausing data centers for now.

“A lot that is because we just simply don’t have a handle on the energy consumption use planning going forward,” he said. “There just simply is too much load demand coming from data center proposals, so what you get is gas-fueled energy generation proposals. There’s multiple ones, including one very close to here at Tenaska’s second plant, and then you get transmission line projects as well, and those, despite the fact Albemarle County doesn’t have any data center proposals of scale, it’s those transmission lines and the gas plant that actually impact us.”

He added Albemarle County paused their data center policy deliberations until after the General Assembly’s decision but pointed out that three supervisors essentially opposed any update beyond what the policy is now.

“In Greene County, the supervisors basically through their technology district ordinance said they don’t want any data centers there,” McGinnis said.

That said, McGinnis still believes data centers will likely in a way be part of the economic development landscape in Albemarle County.

“AI and the defense intelligence industries; AI and biomed, biotech, life sciences is a reality,” McGinnis said, “There’s already companies that have moved into Albemarle County that specialize in the use of AI in defense intelligence. Is it inevitable? Perhaps. But right now, PEC supports, and we have other coalition partners who support, data centers only by special use permit above the size of 40,000 square feet.”

The Lobby Day release also cites two polls. The first is from the CCAN Action Fund, which found 89% of the voters polled want state legislators to manage the impacts of data centers and 82% are concerned about corporations receiving special tax breaks to build new ones.

The second comes from Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center, in which 86% of respondents support for site assessments before data center approvals that look at water usage, the electric grid, carbon emissions and agricultural impacts, while 69% support laws that would prohibit locating them within a mile of a national park, state park or historically significant site.

RICHMOND, Va. — A group of Buddhist monks on a 2,300-mile Walk for Peace will travel from Richmond to Ashland on their seventh day in Virginia.

The Walk for Peace, which began in Texas in October and plans to end in D.C. in February, aims to promote peace, compassion and nonviolence.

Tuesday, Feb. 3, is the 101st day of their journey. They will leave Virginia Union University where they spent the night and head to the Virginia Randolph Education Center (2206 Mountain Rd, Glen Allen), where they will stop for lunch. They will then continue along Route 1 to Ashland. (Visit the Live Map to track their daily route.)

The Venerable Monks of the Dhammacetiya hosted a walk and peace gathering in Richmond on Monday afternoon, with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Richmond Mayor Danny Avula welcomed the monks to the city.

Watch: Gov. Spanberger declares Walk for Peace Day in Virginia

The group is slated to arrive in Ashland on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Hanover County Sheriff's Office.

"Our office will assist with the escort and traffic management as the group travels north along Washington Highway and the Fall Line Trail to Randolph-Macon College, where they will camp overnight," deputies said. "If the Fall Line Trail is not safe for travel due to ice/snow, we will escort them in the right lane of northbound Rt. 1/Washington Highway."

The group is scheduled to spend the night at Randolph-Macon College before continuing their journey on Wednesday morning.

Law enforcement urged citizens to prioritize safety and treat the monks with kindness and respect:

The group is also scheduled to pass through Ladysmith, Fredericksburg, Catlett, Centreville and Arlington as they trek to Washington, D.C. over an estimated 21 days.

Have you met the monks on their journey? Or

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RICHMOND, Va. — A group of Buddhist monks on a 2,300-mile Walk for Peace made their way from Chesterfield to Richmond for a special event on their sixth day in Virginia.

The Walk for Peace, which began in Texas in October and plans to end in D.C. in February, aims to promote peace, compassion and nonviolence.

Monday, Feb. 2, is the 100th day of their journey, according to the Walk for Peace Facebook page. They left the Chesterfield church where they spent the night and continued along Route 1 to Richmond. (Visit the Live Map to track their daily route.)

The Venerable Monks of the Dhammacetiya hosted a walk and peace gathering in Richmond on Monday afternoon.

The walk began at the Richmond Fire Station 17 at 2211 Semmes Avenue and continued to Richmond City Hall at 900 E Broad Street. They then hosted a Peace Gathering on the Marshall Street side of the building.

"This is a beautiful opportunity to walk together for peace, to gather in unity, and to share in the spirit of mindfulness, loving-kindness, and compassion. Whether you walk with us for a few steps or the entire way, your presence will add light to this peaceful gathering," organizers posted on social media. "We look forward to welcoming everyone with open hearts and walking this path of peace together."

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Richmond Mayor Danny Avula welcomed the monks to the city.

The monks will stay the night at Virginia Union University before continuing on their journey.

The group, which will continue its journey up Route 1, is slated to arrive in Ashland on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Hanover County Sheriff's Office.

"Our office will assist with the escort and traffic management as the group travels north along Washington Highway and the Fall Line Trail to Randolph-Macon College, where they will camp overnight," deputies said. "If the Fall Line Trail is not safe for travel due to ice/snow, we will escort them in the right lane of northbound Rt. 1/Washington Highway."

The group is scheduled to spend the night at Randolph-Macon College before continuing their journey on Wednesday morning.

WATCH: Thousands wait hours to see Buddhist monks' peace walk through Petersburg

Law enforcement urged citizens to prioritize safety and treat the monks with kindness and respect:

The group is also scheduled to pass through Ladysmith, Fredericksburg, Catlett, Centreville and Arlington as they trek to Washington, D.C. over an estimated 21 days.

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