Richmond's commercial mortgage book runs to $1.1 billion across 50 CMBS loans, and the strain is concentrated in one place. Office is both the largest sector at $409 million and by far the most distressed, with 40.6% of the book in special servicing or 60-plus days delinquent — nearly four times the 11.1% national office rate. Retail, the other $0.4 billion sector, shows no filed distress at all, below a 2.6% national mark. That split defines the metro: the credit problem here is an office problem.
The overall distress rate sits at 15.7% as of July 2026 and has held flat in the filed record, neither climbing nor easing. The median loan still carries a 1.79 debt-service coverage ratio, and the near-term pressure point is further out than this year's refinancing calendar: the heaviest maturity load lands in 2028, when $425 million — 40% of the book — comes due. Loans maturing in 2029, 2030 and 2031 are lighter and carry no filed distress.
Away from the trust-level data, the ground has been more active. Richmond logged 28 distress events over the past year — 12 store closures and 16 layoff notices — affecting 1,917 jobs. The local economy underneath remains firm, with unemployment at 3.6% as of August 2026, up a tenth of a point year over year. For now the office book is where the attention belongs, with 2028 the date to watch.
Richmond, VA is showing three of four stress signals elevated. Store closures are elevated at 7 closures (1.28 per 100k jobs), but this is driven by metro size rather than rate — the metro ranks 58th of 392 by count versus 236th by rate. WARN layoff notices are elevated with 16 notices (0.22% of employment), and bank CRE over the noncurrent line is elevated at $1,474.4mm (11.84% of allocated CRE). Securitized loans in special servicing, however, are not elevated, with 4 rows (15.76% of the securitized balance read here). Of the six pairs, three agree on elevated readings and three disagree. The disagreements tell a structural story: closures hot with the CMBS tape quiet reads as retail failing on buildings the tape doesn't hold; WARN hot with the tape quiet suggests employer cuts without the securitized book moving; and bank hot with tape quiet indicates lenders stressed on a book the tape cannot see. The CMBS leg's absence of elevation (4 rows at 15.76%) is not a sign of no distress — it reads a different population than the bank leg.
| Signal | Level | Rate | Rank by count | Rank by rate | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| store closures store closures per 100,000 jobs |
7 closures | 1.28 per 100k jobs | 58 of 392 | 236 of 392 | elevated trailing 365 days to today
|
| layoff notices (WARN) workers on layoff notices as a share of the metro's employment |
16 notices | 0.22% | 44 of 386 | 106 of 386 | elevated trailing 365 days to today
|
| bank CRE at lenders over the noncurrent line share of the CRE lent into this metro that sits at a lender over the blended-noncurrent line |
$1.47bn | 11.84% | 33 of 393 | 49 of 393 | elevated
allocated 2026-03-31
|
| securitized loans in special servicing share of the securitized balance read here that is in special servicing |
4 loan records | 15.76% | 42 of 335 | 29 of 335 | quiet 2026-07-29
|
In Richmond, VA, the elevated distress signals are bank-distressed CRE, closures, and WARN notices. Specifically, bank distressed CRE is $1.47bn, with a 90th percentile measure of 2.3% of bank CRE allocated to risk, while the bank CRE at risk at the P90 is 10.2%. Also elevated are closures (7 store closures in the past year) and WARN notices (16 in the past year). The CMBS special servicing reading is elevated as well, with $166.0mm in special servicing UPB, representing 15.8% of metro UPB. However, the reading for distressed bank assets is unavailable, as the figure provided is stated as 0 but the exact dollar amount in billions is not given—only the count of distressed banks (0) is noted. The overall convergence is 3, indicating a modest, early-phase signal.
| Bank | Deposit share | CRE / Capital* | Room contributed | Noncurrent CRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Union Bank VA | 24.1% | 264% total 363%
|
🔒 | 0.42% |
| Primis Bank VA | 42.7% | 188% total 317%
|
🔒 | 3.31% |
| Townebank VA | 12.0% | 249% total 345%
|
🔒 | 0.19% |
| Citizens And Farmers Bank VA | 65.0% | 267% total 304%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Blue Ridge Bank, National Association VA | 34.9% | 255% total 315%
|
🔒 | 0.14% |
| Fulton Bank, National Association PA | 0.7% | 184% total 283%
|
🔒 | 0.79% |
| Locus Bank, Inc. VA | 36.5% | 195% total 226%
|
🔒 | 0.71% |
| First Community Bank VA | 5.4% | 202% total 296%
|
🔒 | 0.20% |
| Chesapeake Bank VA | 10.9% | 226% total 282%
|
🔒 | 0.29% |
| First Bank VA | 20.1% | 283% total 391%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| The First Bank And Trust Company VA | 1.8% | 240% total 277%
|
🔒 | 0.08% |
| Virginia National Bank VA | 1.9% | 226% total 289%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Southern Bank And Trust Company NC | 0.1% | 158% total 320%
|
🔒 | 0.12% |
| Bank | Total CRE | CRE / Capital* | Noncurrent CRE | Early Warning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locus Bank, Inc. | $170M | 195% total 226%
|
0.71% | 🔒 |
| Atlantic Union Bank | $15.9B | 264% total 363%
|
0.42% | 🔒 |
| New Horizon Bank, National Association | $126M | 264% total 401%
|
0.08% | 🔒 |
| Citizens And Farmers Bank | $1.0B | 267% total 304%
|
0.00% | 🔒 |
| Community Bankers' Bank | $73M | 286% total 351%
|
0.00% | 🔒 |
Richmond, VA ranks 32 of 275, counting from the MOST strained, with a wall_to_room of 2.49 against $572.5mm of CMBS maturing across 19 loans; regional and community bank room is $229.6mm after $1.28bn of committed draws, though before those draws it stood at $973.0mm (wall_to_room_before_committed_draws of 0.59), and with 13 banks qualifying against 9 banks excluded here, the reading should be treated cautiously — the room is only what regional and community banks could still write before the SR 06-26 concentration line, and the wall is the CMBS balance maturing within 24 months, not the metro's whole maturity load.
| REIT | SS NOI | SS Revenue | Occupancy | Rent | As Of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAA | +5.8% | +4.7% | 96.2% | +2.9% | 2026-07-29 |
| UDR | +5.1% | +3.9% | 96.3% | +4.4% | 2025-10-29 |
Over the trailing window_days of 365, the Richmond, VA record shows store_closures of 12 approved closures and warn_notices of 16, affecting jobs_affected of 1,917 — a floor, since notices stating no headcount are counted but contribute zero jobs. The CRE-side reading is weaker: cre_bankruptcies of 1 is a STATE PROXY, not a metro-native count, and a reading on metro-level CRE distress on the ground is unavailable.