Recent Articles from Katherine Hamilton
Landmark Mall redevelopment in the works
Used as a vintage backdrop to film scenes for “Wonder Woman 1984” and anchored by bankrupt retailers like Sears, the Landmark Mall in Alexandria was a relic. Almost two decades ago, the City of Alexandria first began strategizing a redevelopment of the 1960s-era indoor mall, which closed in 2017, but plans for a new 18-hour […]
Left behind?
In June 2022, Booz Allen Hamilton was without a chief diversity officer. The McLean-based Fortune 500 management consulting contractor’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Jon G. Muñoz, stepped down after a year in the role. A year and a half later, Booz Allen hasn’t hired anyone new for the position — but that’s by […]
McLean mixed-use project, Mars expansion approved
As the third wealthiest community in the U.S., McLean is known for its luxurious mansions and classic suburban feel. That’s starting to change. In June 2021, Fairfax County supervisors adopted a plan, known as the McLean Community Business Center, to redevelop the town’s 230-acre downtown, bounded by Old Dominion Drive and Chain Bridge Road, to […]
House of cards
Working as a mortgage lender in Roanoke for the past 18 years, Jason Bialek experienced everything from the financial crash of 2008 to the historic spike in home sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following that bonanza in 2020, though, Bialek and others in the residential real estate industry will probably look back at this period […]
Mining for talent
At the end of October, United Way of Southwest Virginia broke ground on its $25 million project to convert a former Kmart store in Abingdon into a regional workforce development and child care hub. It’s an attempt to address the region’s workforce shortage, one of the most pressing issues among area employers. “There’s a lot […]
‘National powerhouse’
From 2017 to 2022, McGuireWoods, with offices in 21 cities, added 36.6% in revenue, and still the state’s largest law firm is pushing for yet more growth. With roughly 1,000 lawyers, 300 of whom are based in Virginia, the Richmond-based firm — the nation’s 50th largest firm by number of attorneys — works hard to […]
On the basis of race
Logan Barry began working as a reporter for The Progress-Index newspaper in Petersburg in 2018, less than a year before a merger placed his paper under the ownership of Tysons-based media conglomerate Gannett. In August, he joined a federal class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia alleging […]
Coming into focus
In 2016, amid concerns over how the Virginia Economic Development Partnership was being run, the General Assembly directed Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to examine VEDP’s organizational management and performance. “There was a perception, at least publicly, that [VEDP] was a fairly good organization that was successful in bringing in business,” says Hal […[...]
Always right
Eric Tan opened his business, VA Wholesale Mortgage, a month before the COVID-19 pandemic sent the housing market into three years of unprecedented fluctuation. During those three years, Tan has managed to not only survive but reach an average revenue growth rate of 2,230%, landing the firm at No. 252 on the 2023 Inc. 5000 […]