WASHINGTON — State grant money and other incentives helped convince District-based commercial real estate data company CoStar Group to locate its new research and software development center in Virginia.
CoStar will invest $8 million in the new Richmond facility and create more than 700 new jobs, the company said.
“This is an opportunity that allows us to expand our research and software development capabilities in a city that provides a highly educated labor pool, a superior quality of life for our employees and a culture that aligns to our business mode,” said CoStar chief executive Andrew Florance.
Governor Terry McAuliffe approved a $4 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund. CoStar is also eligible to receive state benefits through the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program.
CoStar was lured to the District by incentives several years ago. The company paid $41.25 million for a building at 1331 L Street in Northwest and relocated from Bethesda to downtown D.C. in late 2013.
CoStar controls vast databases of commercial real estate information, but it is probably best known to those not in the commercial real estate business for one of it’s subsidiaries, Apartments.com, and its television commercials which have included Jeff Goldblum and Lil Wayne.
