Longtime friends and empty-nesters Susan Grady and Sharon McAbee would talk on the phone week after week and lament their loneliness. “Finally, we said, ‘We’re so stupid,‘“ Grady recalled. They decided to stop living alone and buy a house together. It took them a year to find the perfect house—a spacious home on a golf course in Chesterfield County. They ironed out the details with an attorney, got a mortgage together, and have been more than satisfied with the results since moving more than a year ago.

The Downtown Master Plan is headed to the full City Council, but what happens when it gets there is still up in the air. The long-awaited plan made its way through a three-member council committee yesterday en route to discussion before all nine members Oct. 13. The tricky part will be getting in a vote before a state-mandated 90-day time frame for action expires.

Laura Lafayette, senior vice president of the Richmond Association of Realtors, will become chief executive officer of the 5,400-member organization when Ralph Cantrell retires next year. Lafayette, 43, has worked at the Realtors association for 15 years, managing nearly all the departments at the RAR and the Central Virginia Multiple Listing Service. The MLS is 90 percent owned by the Richmond association with the remainder by the Southside Association of Realtors.

Donnie Woodcock is part of a dying breed in Chesterfield County—he’s a farmer. But if things go his way, he’ll be moving to greener pastures. Woodcock, a lifelong resident, owns 250 acres in the heart of the county known as Belcherwood Farm. The property is one of about 200 operational farms left in the growing suburb. A rezoning request before the county’s Board of Supervisors tomorrow night would open the door for Woodcock to sell his land—including the farm, forest and a recently capped 33-acre landfill—for development into a 230-home subdivision.

Private investment has transformed some historic parts of Richmond by converting old buildings into apartments or restaurants. But there still are about 1,700 vacant buildings in Richmond, said Rachel Flynn, the city’s director of community development. These were among the topics discussed yesterday during the River City Saunter, an event held by the Partnership for Smarter Growth.

NEW FACES Long & Foster Realtors:

SALES Taylor Long Properties Inc. reports the sale of 5,000-square-foot building at 15101 Patrick Henry Highway in Amelia County for $1.041 million to HPY Real Estate Holding. Mike Weisberg represented the seller, Amelia Retail. Grubb & Ellis/Harrison & Bates reports the sale of 108,350-square-foot warehouse at 8140 Quality Drive in Prince George County for $3.5 million to Virginia Seal Products.

Oscar Napier grew tired of running a grocery store and got into real estate. That decision in 1955 would change his life and carry him and his family through the next several decades. His sons, Jim Napier and Rich Napier, carry on the tradition.