Most people in Richmond probably never heard of CoStar Group Inc. before this week.

Soon the 30-year-old company that is the No. 1 provider of information on commercial real estate will be a local household name.

In a coup for the state capital, the Washington-based firm plans to make the city its research hub and a center for software innovation to support the collection of information the company needs to serve its clients.

To make that happen, CoStar plans to bring 732 high-paying jobs to Downtown during the next two to three years. The planned workforce would catapult the company into the list of the top 10 private employers in Richmond.

The company already is recruiting online at its website, CoStar.com/Richmond, where prospective employees can learn about the company and complete applications.

Andrew C. Florance, who founded the publicly traded company in 1987 and propelled it become No. 1 in its field as its chief executive, made it official Monday.

Ending a nearly yearlong hunt for space, Mr. Florance announced Richmond had won the competition for the company’s research center that will be moved from Washington.

He joined a beaming Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who help lure the company with a total of $8 million in incentives, including a state grant and two years of relief from the city’s business professional and occupational (BPOL) license tax. Richmond City Council approved the relief in 2013 to help attract businesses.

“We’re thrilled to welcome CoStar to Virginia and to our capital,” Gov. McAuliffe said. “This will be a transformational project for the city and the metropolitan area.”

Mayor Jones also welcomed the company and called CoStar’s decision more evidence of the “quality of our workforce and our real estate.” He said the influx of hundreds of people into Downtown will “bring additional life to an increasingly thriving” area.

Mr. Florance said the company plans to invest $8.17 million to prepare the company’s space on the top four floors of the nine-story headquarters building of WestRock — formerly MeadWestvaco — at 501 S. 5th St. on the riverfront.

He said the company expects be in the space by the end of November and to have 200 to 300 employees working there by the end of the year, including some transfers from Washington and other offices and others to be hired locally. His plan is to expand the workforce to the full complement as quickly as possible during the next 12 to 24 months.

CoStar already had dipped its toe into the Richmond area. The company opened a smaller office in the Richmond area in August to monitor commercial real estate trends in Central Virginia.

According to Mr. Florance, the research center in Downtown will play a far larger role for the company.

“We expect the new office will place Richmond at the absolute center of the transaction flow for the nation’s $17 trillion commercial real estate industry,” Mr. Florance said.

He said the hundreds of employees will collect and analyze market data from across the country “that connects millions of properties and the thousands of companies that need those properties to grow their businesses.”

That information is in demand. The company reports that its website receives 25 million views a month from people interested in using the tools to lease, buy or analyze potential deals on apartment complexes, vacant land, industrial space, warehouses, office buildings and retail stores.

“We employ a highly educated and motivated workforce,” Mr. Florance said, “and chose Richmond because it offers access to an incredibly strong higher education system and a great quality of life.”

CoStar tried to keep the hub in Washington, but began looking elsewhere when its attempt to buy and renovate a former school building was rebuffed.

Richmond, which has sought to make itself more attractive to technology firms, beat out Charlotte, Kansas City, Atlanta and 18 other cities to claim one of the biggest relocation prizes of 2016 in that business sector.

Mr. Florance said that his company was impressed with the array of universities in Richmond and across the state from which the company can recruit employees.

He also cited Richmond’s growing reputation for top-notch restaurants and its bustling art scene as more reasons for choosing the city.

Richmond also had a leg up in cost. The company was able to lease prime Downtown space for half the price of Charlotte and spend less to equip the space.

He did not say so but Richmond also apparently benefited from the dispute in North Carolina over a controversial state law, HB2, that has drawn widespread fire from companies and pro athletic leagues for clamping down on gay and transgender individuals. That provided another excuse for CoStar to cross Charlotte off its list, according to a Charlotte business magazine.

Ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing companies, CoStar, which trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange, is reported to have a $6.8 billion value, currently employ 2,700 people and generate more than $700 a million a year in revenue.

It maintains a network of offices across the country and in Europe and Canada to monitor commercial real estate, including newly opened offices in the Richmond and Norfolk areas.

Fortune recently listed CoStar as one the 100 fastest growing companies in the world, while earlier this year, Forbes named CoStar as one of the top 10 software companies on its list of the most innovative growth companies.

The company also has been named a top workplace based on its compensation, benefits and work environment by the Washington Post and as a top company for philanthropy by the Washington Business Journal.