Genworth Subleases 175 KSF in Greater Richmond

SunTrust Business Center. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer

Genworth Financial Inc. has subleased 174,378 square feet of space from Truist Bank at SunTrust Business Center in Henrico County, Va., rather than build a new headquarters at its former Richmond, Va., campus.

The financial services company has also signed a direct lease with FD Stonewater, owner of the property at 11011-11013 W. Broad St., to begin when the sublease expires.

Genworth, which is also the parent company of Enact Holdings Inc., a leading mortgage insurance provider, will be relocating its headquarters and US Life offices from a temporary location at 6603 W. Broad St. to the new West Broad Street location. The SunTrust Business Center has a total 204, 622 square feet of space and is located in the heart of the West Broad/I-64/Innsbrook/Short Pump area.

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The company had been planning to build a new headquarters at its previous four-building campus at 6620 W. Broad St., which dates back to the 1970s and early 1980s. A Genworth spokesperson told the Richmond Times-Dispatch the company decided to lease the SunTrust Business Center space rather than wait for a newly constructed building at the original campus because the process would move more quickly. She cited concerns about delays with supply chain issues and rising costs of building materials as factors in the decision. Because the SunTrust space was fully renovated just four years ago, the spokesperson said the company can get the space ready sooner for its employees, which are currently working hybrid schedules.

Genworth still plans to redevelop the 6620 W. Broad St. site and is considering building a mixed-use development with office space, retail, restaurants, townhomes and apartments on the 46-acre property. They are still researching developers and expect to move forward next year with a decision on how and when to proceed.

SunTrust space

The two buildings are located on a 32.34-acre campus and have state-of-the-art building amenities, including a café and lounge. Other tenants include Wipro, Magellan, Home Care Delivered and EAB, which announced in June that it was leasing 70,000 square feet at the site. Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement that EAB, a provider of education research, technology, marketing and enrollment solutions, would be adding more than 200 jobs and investing at least $6 million over five years at the property. Youngkin said the Virginia site competed with other EAB locations across the country for the lease. EAB consolidated two other Richmond locations into the new office space at SunTrust.

FD Stonewater acquired the two-building asset from Bridge Investment Group in May 2018 for $62.4 million. Bridge had only owned the property for a year but had done extensive renovations totaling about $30 million during that time.

Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, which handled the Genworth sublease, also arranged the sale of the building to FD Stonewater on behalf of Bridge.

Dean Meyer and Mac Wilson of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, along with Jamie Smith of Cushman & Wakefield’s Baltimore office, represented Genworth in the transaction. Paul Silver, Brian Berkey and Karla Knight of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Tenant Representation Group, as well as Hap Royster and William Woltz of Cushman & Wakefield’s Winston-Salem, N.C., office worked on behalf of Truist. Amy Broderick and Jeffrey Cooke, also with Thalhimer, represented FD Stonewater.