While at university, Chris also worked with the Virginia Council on Economic Education (VCEE) as a coordinator for the Virginia Stock Market Game, a statewide educational program that introduces middle and high school students to investing, economics, and financial literacy. In this role, he helped organize competitions, support teachers, and guide student teams as they learned portfolio strategy, risk management, and market decision-making. The experience allowed him to contribute to financial education statewide while gaining early exposure to market analysis and economic behavior, skills that would later complement his professional real estate practice.

Chris launched his real estate brokerage career in 1998 as a Licensed Salesperson with Divaris Real Estate, working out of their downtown Richmond office in partnership with CRESA, the global leader in occupier-focused advisory services. Representing corporate tenants, he executed market studies, site selection, financial analysis, and lease negotiations—preparing RFPs, negotiating LOIs, and guiding clients through lease execution. His tenant and buyer clients included Cox Communications, Microsoft, EMC, Progressive Insurance, Hecht’s, Amcor Sunclipse, Medical Logistics, and many others. He also represented landlords in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield, negotiating transactions at One Franklin Square, Innsbrook Corporate Center, 360 West Shopping Center, and several properties in the Fan & Museum District, the VCU area, and Shockoe Slip & Shockoe Bottom.

After earning his broker’s license in 2001, Chris expanded into investment sales, corporate site selection, buyer representation, and broader regional assignments across Central Virginia and beyond, including Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and several Southwest Virginia communities such as Roanoke, Martinsville, and Radford. Chris also became a Licensed Certified Real Estate Instructor (2001–2005), teaching Principles of Real Estate, Virginia Law & Regulations, Internet Skills for the R.E. Professional, Exam Preparation, Continuing Education courses, Code of Ethics, and other courses for Moseley-Flint Schools of Real Estate, the largest provider of real estate education in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

From 2002–2012, Chris served as Owner and Principal Broker of Francoise Real Estate LLC, overseeing agents and supervising residential transactions involving houses, condos, and raw land throughout the Richmond metro area. His responsibilities included agent training, contract development, and advising buyers, sellers, and investors on all real estate related matters. The firm specialized in single-family homes, condominium sales, and land acquisition, while offering tailored services for buyer/seller representation and investor consultation.

From 2004–2020, Chris spent 16 years as an Associate Broker with Wilton Realty LLC, providing commercial brokerage services for The Wilton Companies, one of Henrico County’s largest real estate developers. He helped lease and manage a diverse three-million-square-foot commercial portfolio valued at roughly $500 million. His work included retail centers, industrial warehouses, suburban and downtown office buildings, and mixed-use assets. He negotiated proposals, LOIs, leases, renewals, amendments, and sales contracts for corporate tenants throughout Henrico, Hanover, Richmond, Powhatan, New Kent and Chesterfield.

Over his career, he represented numerous local, regional, and national clients including Central Virginia Health Network (CVHN), Health Care Concepts, Care Advantage, Design Depot Online, Electronics Doctor, Impact Makers, Indochine, and many others. Notable transactions included Nationwide Insurance, Toad’s Place Richmond, Alcatel-Lucent, Fresenius Medical Care, Lansing Building Products, March of Dimes, Humana, Werres Corp., Soundworks of Virginia, and Cater 2 Events.

Throughout his career, Chris has completed more than 750 leasing and sales transactions exceeding $200 million, involving over 8 million square feet of commercial property across all major asset classes. He has contributed to third-party retail leasing assignments for Willow Lawn Shopping Mall and West Broad Village in Short Pump representing landlords, tenants, buyers, and sellers in the strategic identification, acquisition, and disposition of commercial assets.

Community Involvement, Activities & Interests

Chris has been active in his community as a Board Member of C2Adopt, a Virginia-licensed nonprofit helping prepare, support, and place families adopting through the foster care system. He is a Member of St. James’s Episcopal Church and has previously served as a volunteer youth soccer coach at Fox Elementary, a volunteer instructor at the Peter Paul Development Center, and a volunteer for River City Crew.

Chris is a current member of the Greater Richmond Association of Commercial Real Estate (GRACRE), VCU’s Association of Real Estate Alumni (AREA), and a long-standing member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Outside of his work life, Chris is an enthusiastic fan of the Washington Capitals and Washington Commanders, attending several games annually. Chris is very interested in family genealogy/ancestry, New Zealand, playing poker at The Lodge in Austin Texas, playing chess at the U.S. Open and going to horse racing events like the Preakness, the Kentucky Derby. Belmont Stakes is next…

Chris has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. (49 states) and Canada including the cities of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Additionally, he has traveled throughout Europe including places like England, Ireland,  France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Northern Ireland, Italy, and Spain.

Most of all, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife Janet, their dog Cubby, and their three adult children, two living in the Richmond area and one in Austin, Texas. Chris is married to Janet P. Peyton, the Managing Partner of McGuireWoods LLP’s Richmond office. Janet has practiced law for 30 years with a focus on intellectual property and data privacy matters. Together, they have three grown children: Sophie Peyton (University of Texas, 2016), L.T. Francoise (Radford University, 2019), and Will Francoise (VCU, 2021).