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Tag: Chesterfield County

World’s first commercial fusion power plant planned for Chesterfield

Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Massachusetts-based fusion energy company, plans to build the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant in Chesterfield County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday.

“It’s a nearly $3 billion capital investment, paying taxes, and it’s a bunch of really high-tech jobs,” Garrett Hart, Chesterfield’s director of economic development, said Tuesday.

“We really do not know exactly what it’s going to cost. It will be in excess of $2.5 billion, I’m certain,” Hart explained Wednesday. The total cost isn’t known since Commonwealth Fusion Solutions hasn’t built a fusion facility this big before and the steam generation power plant that it will connect to hasn’t been designed yet.

Dubbed ARC, the project is expected to be in operation in the early 2030s, according to CFS co-founder and CEO Bob Mumgaard. The project is designed to run for 20 years or more, Youngkin said Tuesday.  It will be located at the James River Industrial Center, a site owned by Dominion Energy, and is expected to create hundreds of temporary construction and permanent jobs. The permanent roles will include operators, electricians, pipe fitters, mechanics and technicians, Youngkin said.

Spun out of MIT in 2018, CFS is the biggest of more than 40 companies currently pursuing fusion technologies. It has raised more than $2 billion in capital from high-profile investors including Google, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Tiger Global, Khosla Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital.

“This will add to our existing infrastructure in a way that I think will provide a new frontier — a new frontier for Virginia businesses and Virginia residents,” Youngkin said Tuesday. “My friends, the future can be seen, and what Commonwealth Fusion Systems will be building will be that pathway to the future.”

According to the governor’s announcement, CFS “conducted a global search” for the site of its first commercial fusion power plant, which will produce about 400 megawatts of carbon-free electricity, enough to power large industrial projects or about 150,000 homes. The siting process took more than two years, Mumgaard said Tuesday.

Historically, fusion has been restricted to labs; the Chesterfield facility will mark the start of an entirely new power industry, he said.

“In the early 2030s, all eyes will be on the Richmond region, and more specifically Chesterfield County, as the birthplace of commercial fusion energy,” Mumgaard said in a statement. “Virginia emerged as a strong partner as they look to implement innovative solutions for both reliable electricity and clean forms of power. We are pleased to collaborate with Dominion Energy.”

Chesterfield County also will benefit from the publicity of being “the first locality in the world to start the fusion revolution,” Hart said. “There’s only one; there’ll only be one place. It’ll always be us, and 50 years from now, they’ll be like, ‘Yep, Chesterfield County’s where it all started.’”

The county is also considering forming an innovation hub-like structure for the area, but nothing is formalized, according to Chesterfield economic development officials.

Previously, Dominion said it planned to build a gas-powered power plant at the James River Industrial Center, but in August, it changed plans to move the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center to the adjacent existing Chesterfield Power Station site on Coxendale Road.

According to a document from Chesterfield County, “Dominion owns the land and has agreed to lease it to CFS. And in a nonfinancial collaboration, Dominion will provide CFS with development and technical expertise, while CFS will provide Dominion insight about fusion power plant technology.” Dominion is not investing in the project and does not have an agreement to purchase power from the plant when operational, according to a corporate spokesperson.

“Commonwealth Fusion Systems is the clear industry leader in advancing the exciting energy potential of fusion,” said Dominion Energy Virginia President Edward H. Baine. “Our customers’ growing needs for reliable, carbon-free power benefits from as diverse a menu of power generation options as possible, and in that spirit, we are delighted to assist CFS in their efforts.”

The ARC plant will be independently financed, owned, built and operated by CFS. The company expects to sell ARC power to large industrial/commercial customers through purchase power agreements, according to a Chesterfield document, so Virginia residents and businesses won’t pay for the plant.

The company, which has secured $16.5 million in the U.S. Department of Energy grants, is completing its fusion demonstration machine, nicknamed SPARC, at its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts, and it is expected to produce its first plasma in 2026 and net fusion energy shortly afterward, according to the governor’s news release. SPARC will require a series of 18 high-temperature superconductor magnets, which the company is developing.

The Virginia Department of Energy partnered with Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Chesterfield County and Dominion Energy to secure this project, and the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank allocated a $1 million grant matched with local funds from Chesterfield County.

“On top of that, Chesterfield County has offered to provide $10 million of longer term support,” Youngkin told reporters, “and then the state has confirmed through the Department of Taxation that the equipment that goes inside the plant will be exempt from sales and use tax, just like the equipment in a data center or an indoor farm or other power plants, and that has resulted in [Commonwealth Fusion Solutions] being very comfortable moving into Virginia.

The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act created a 2050 mandate for generating electricity statewide from renewable, carbon-free energy sources. In 2022, Youngkin announced a state energy plan that endorsed an “all-of-the-above” mix of energy sources, including hydrogen, natural gas and nuclear power, in addition to the wind, solar and battery storage supported by Virginia Democrats.

Dominion Energy’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is expected to be completed in 2026, and the utility called for more offshore wind and solar energy development, as well as small modular nuclear reactors, in a 2024 filing with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and the North Carolina Utilities Commission. In July, Dominion Energy officials announced they were issuing a request for proposals for an SMR at its North Anna nuclear power plant in Louisa County.

Aiming for the fences

When renters tour the new Novel apartment building in Richmond’s Scott’s Addition neighborhood, one fifth-floor vantage point has particular appeal. The windows on the building’s east side look across Arthur Ashe Boulevard onto the site where the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ new baseball stadium, CarMax Park, is expected to open in time for the 2026 season.

“It’s a lot of fun when we are giving tours. You’re looking down into the progress,” says Brandon Wright, managing director for Crescent Communities, the North Carolina developer that built Novel with Richmond’s Thalhimer Realty Partners. In August, Crescent began marketing about half of Novel’s 275 units. “We’ve certainly seen a demand for units on that side of the building.”

Crescent was driven to invest in the project, its entry into greater Richmond, by the hot Scott’s Addition neighborhood — known for its popular breweries, eateries and entertainment options — and plans for the adjoining $2.4 billion mixed-use Diamond District development, which is being led by Thalhimer.

“This is the hottest market in the entire Richmond MSA,” Wright says.

Wright’s observations echo the city government’s excitement about the Diamond District project, which will include replacing the nearly 40-year-old Diamond baseball stadium with the new $117 million-plus, 8,000-seat CarMax Park stadium.

But that’s far from the only major development happening in the greater Richmond region. From a massive indoor farm and sports arenas to manufacturing and office development, the state capital and its surrounding counties are ripe for growth.

Richmond

Over time, the Diamond District will be more than a baseball hub. Development plans for the 67-acre neighborhood call for as many as 3,000 residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and a hotel. 

“It’s an opportunity to intentionally create a neighborhood that meets some economic development goals — bringing jobs, affordable housing [and] also public amenities like a stadium,” says Matt Welch, Richmond’s acting director of economic development. “Residents have said loud and clear that they want the Flying Squirrels to stay in Richmond, while creating an intentional neighborhood.”

Currently, much of the predevelopment work has involved putting in infrastructure and utilities, says Jason Guillot, principal with Thalhimer Realty Partners and managing partner for Diamond District Partners, the joint venture developing the project.

CarMax Park is set to debut for baseball’s opening day in April 2026 as part of the Diamond District’s first phase, which will likely not be completed until 2028, says Guillot.

“With a project this large and complex, the key is to break it down into bite-size pieces and to plan, design and then build while managing the expectations of every internal and external stakeholder, which for us is the most arduous task, as there are many,” Guillot says.

It’s unclear whether a $40 million lawsuit filed by a Connecticut developer against Diamond District Partners will delay the timetable. In the lawsuit, Republic Projects claims it was cut out of the development deal after initially being a partner.

However, “I think it’s fairly obvious to anyone driving by the site that this project is moving forward,” says Guillot, who adds he cannot comment on pending litigation.

Closer to downtown Richmond, Arlington County-based CoStar Group is moving forward on the $460.5 million expansion of its riverfront Richmond campus. The global real estate data and analytics company, which is known for its Apartments.com and Homes.com brands, is building a 26-story office tower and a six-story building adjacent to its main hub at 501 S. Fifth St. CoStar expects to add about 2,000 jobs and 750,000 square feet of office space through the expansion, which is projected to be mostly complete in 2026.

The company’s new Corporate Innovation Campus in Richmond will house employees in sales, marketing, software development and other divisions.

As part of the benefits package for CoStar’s Richmond expansion, the state legislature approved a $15 million grant reimbursing the company for public infrastructure improvements, including commuter access and parking and pedestrian access. The grant is contingent on CoStar reaching at least 90% of its pledged job creation and capital investment targets by Dec. 31, 2028. 

Another major project underway in the city is the 7,500-capacity, $30 million outdoor Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront. A project led by Charlottesville’s Red Light Ventures and Live Nation, the amphitheater is expected to open in time for the summer 2025 concert season. The first new major concert venue in Richmond in decades, the amphitheater will be set on 4 acres near the banks of the James River, near CoStar’s Richmond campus and Tredegar.

In September, Plenty Unlimited opened its Chesterfield indoor vertical farm, which will produce 4 million pounds of Driscoll’s strawberries each year. Photo courtesy Plenty Unlimited

Henrico County

In neighboring Henrico County, GreenCity, a planned multibillion-dollar, 220-acre residential, commercial and entertainment community, is slowly moving forward.

Originally announced in 2020 as an environmentally friendly mixed-use development to be built around a 17,000-seat sports and entertainment arena, GreenCity has been delayed due to rising construction costs and financing needs, says Anthony Romanello, executive director of Henrico’s Economic Development Authority.

However, construction on the project’s residential portion is expected to begin in January 2025. “We don’t have a timeline on the arena, but we are excited that dirt will be turning,” Romanello says of the project from Concord Eastridge and Future Cities.

An arena would benefit Henrico’s sports tourism economy, says Romanello, noting that there’s already been high demand for the county’s Henrico Sports & Events Center, which opened in December 2023 off Interstate 95 in northern Henrico and has been booked for at least 46 weekends, he says.

“Sports tourism is a growth industry,” Romanello says. “We are working very hard to seize that opportunity. It’s a great revenue opportunity for the county.”

In the county’s East End, plans are underway for White Oak Technology Park II, a 622-acre site in Sandston that was rezoned to allow data center development. QTS Data Centers completed its purchase of the property this past summer for approximately $137 million.

Henrico already houses approximately 16 data centers, including several at the original White Oak Technology Park, located at the intersection of interstates 64 and 295 in eastern Henrico.

Romanello estimates that it could be 10 years before the second White Oak tech park is fully built.

To be sure, data centers have been fruitful for Henrico. From 2017 to 2024, through real estate and business property tax revenues, data centers have contributed more than $18 million to the county coffers.

Henrico’s board of supervisors announced in May that it would funnel unbudgeted revenue from data centers to a county affordable housing fund grant program.

Chesterfield County

Indoor vertical farming and a Lego toy-making factory are some of the newest developments in Chesterfield, a testament to the area’s economic development focus on manufacturing and production.

Last year, Danish toymaker The Lego Group broke ground on a $1 billion, 340-acre manufacturing campus in Chesterfield’s Meadowville Technology Park, with plans to begin production in 2025. But that timeline has been pushed back to 2027, due to finalizing agreements with the general contractor and assessing design and ramp-up plans. 

Even so, construction is already taking place at the site, and Lego’s first building is expected to take shape within the next six months, says Matt McLaren, deputy director for Chesterfield Economic Development.

Already, Lego has hired 300 people to work at a temporary packing and training facility in the county, and Lego plans to hire a total of more than 1,750 employees in Chesterfield over the next decade.

“We are really excited to continue to partner with Lego,” McLaren says. “They are keeping all of their promises moving forward. This is one of the largest projects in the county and in the region.”

According to Lego, its Virginia facility will expand its global manufacturing network and support its sustainability goals, with energy efficient production equipment and manufacturing processes that minimize energy use. It also aims to locate more factories closer to major markets, so that it can respond quickly to shifts in demand for products and shorten its supply chain, says Lego spokeswoman Colleen Arons.

Once complete, the Lego campus is expected to house 13 buildings and a high-bay warehouse, all housing everything from offices to operations such as molding, processing and packing.

Nearby, another tenant in the county’s Meadowville Technology Park, California-based vertical indoor farming company Plenty Unlimited, expects to reap the first fruits from its new $300 million indoor vertical farm in early 2025.

Plenty opened its 120-acre, multibuilding Chesterfield campus in September, its second farm and its first production site on the East Coast. Also its first berry farm, the facility will grow more than 4 million pounds of Driscoll’s strawberries a year on 30-foot-tall towers inside an approximately 40,000-square-foot space. Plenty’s farms use artificial intelligence and other technology to grow produce in indoor spaces that aren’t subject to variables in temperature and weather conditions.

Initially, the company planned to hire 60 employees, but as it expands its Chesterfield campus, it hopes to grow to more than 300 employees.

“We’re supportive of these kinds of projects,” says McLaren. “They are not like the typical greenhouse. They use industrial levels of power and light and nutrients. The scale of these buildings is such that it needs to be supported in an industrial park area, rather than outside on the farm.”

Both Plenty and Lego are examples of the ways that manufacturing jobs stretch across industries.

And that lines up with Richmond area economic trends. Since July, the majority of the Richmond region’s active development projects have involved manufacturing, followed by life sciences and food and beverage businesses, says Jennifer Wakefield, president and CEO of the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Meanwhile, Chesterfield continues attracting big manufacturing operations to Meadowville. This summer, Danish electrolyzer manufacturer Topsoe paid $4.95 million for about 57 acres at the county technology park, where it plans to build a $400 million manufacturing plant and create 150 jobs.

Located across the street from Lego’s campus, the company’s facility will manufacture solid oxide electrolyzer cell stacks, which are used to produce renewable hydrogen.

A Topsoe spokesperson has said that the company expects construction on this project to take two years.

In September, Garrett Hart, Chesterfield’s director of economic development, noted Topsoe was working on a site plan and expects to begin construction in 2025.

“They’re moving forward,” Hart said.  

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Photo courtesy Virginia Tourism Corp.

Greater Richmond at a glance

Founded in 1737 by Col. William Byrd II, Richmond is known as the River City for its location on the James River. The state’s capital, Richmond is home to the Virginia General Assembly and much of state government. The metro region, which includes Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover and Henrico counties, is home to 11 Fortune 1000 companies. The region is also home to the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia State University and Virginia Union University.

Population
226,604 (city); 1.3 million (metro region)

Major employers

VCU/VCU Health System:
21,300 employees

Capital One Financial: 13,000

HCA Virginia Health System: 11,200

Bon Secours Richmond: 8,500

Dominion Energy: 5,400

Amazon: 5,100

Major attractions

Richmond is home to historical and cultural attractions such as the Poe Museum, the American Civil War Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. Visitors can also enjoy time outside at Maymont park or the Kings Dominion amusement park in Hanover. Carytown, the Fan District and Scott’s Addition offer many options for shopping, dining and entertainment.

Fortune 500 companies

Altria Group

Arko

CarMax

Dominion Energy

Genworth Financial

Markel Group

Owens & Minor

Performance Food Group

Notable restaurants

21 Spoons
New American, 21spoonsmidlo.com

Buttermilk and Honey
American fast casual, buttermilkandhoneyrva.com

Lemaire
New American, lemairerestaurant.com

L’opossum
Modern French, lopossum.com

Stella’s
Greek, stellasrichmond.com

Specialty coils manufacturer to expand in Chesterfield

Super Radiator Coils, an engineering and manufacturing company based in Minnesota, will invest $22 million to expand in Chesterfield County, creating an estimated 160 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced Friday.

The company will upgrade machinery and add about 80,000 square feet to its existing approximately 160,000-square-foot facility at 451 Southlake Blvd.

The plant has about 400 employees, and the 160 new jobs will be office and shop positions, according to company vice president Matt Holland, who runs its Richmond division. Office positions include engineering, management and supervision, procurement and administrative roles, and shop manufacturing positions include equipment operators, welders, brazers and entry-level assembly roles.

Super Radiator Coils has previously expanded the Chesterfield facility three times, most recently in 2022. The company announced its most recent expansion, representing a $9 million investment, in March 2021.

“This expansion builds on a 44-year history of Super Radiator Coils in the commonwealth and strengthens Virginia’s position as a leader in advanced manufacturing,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Super Radiator Coils manufactures heat exchangers and specialty coils for power generation, commercial and industrial HVAC, data center cooling, military and other industrial uses.

“I’m hugely proud of the growth of our Chesterfield facility over the last 40-plus years,” Super Radiator Coils President and CEO Rob Holt said in a statement. “And this latest expansion will allow us to continue our mission of unleashing the power of thermodynamics to improve our world. … We take our role as a growing Central Virginia employer seriously and can’t wait to see the impact of this latest growth.”

The company has two other manufacturing facilities — one in Chaska, Minnesota, and one in Phoenix. Virginia competed with Minnesota and Arizona for the expansion project, according to a news release.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesterfield County to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $610,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the county. VEDP will support Super Radiator Coils through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a collaboration between VEDP and the Virginia Community College System that provides free customizable workforce recruitment and training services.

Siemens Energy agrees to pay $104M over Dominion bidding scheme

Siemens Energy pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $104 million this week to settle a federal criminal investigation into stealing trade secrets in order to undercut competitors’ bids in 2019 to build a Dominion Energy gas turbine “peaker” power plant in the Richmond metropolitan area.

The settlement comes after three former Siemens employees and a former Dominion employee pleaded guilty to various charges, including conspiracy to convert trade secrets and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as part of a scheme to help Siemens prevail over two competitors — General Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. — in winning the contract to build the plant, a deal valued upwards of $500 million. Peaker plants are backup facilities that provide extra electricity when there is a high grid load.

Siemens Energy is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 5. Along with the financial penalty, the U.S.-based subsidiary of German global manufacturing conglomerate Siemens Energy AG has agreed to a three-year term of organizational probation, according to a U.S. Department of Justice announcement released Monday.

“Corporate accountability remains a top priority for the Department of Justice,” Jessica D. Aber, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. “The actions of these defendants undermined the integrity of the competitive marketplace, harming both competitors and consumers. The department has established whistleblower programs to encourage corporations and individuals to come forward with timely information regarding misconduct and criminal behavior. Failing to do so invites prosecution and serious consequences.”

Siemens Energy issued the following statement: “The agreement between Siemens Energy Inc. (SEI) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) conclusively resolves a matter related to the misconduct of former employees which took place more than five years ago. The company proactively discovered the conduct in 2020 and voluntarily disclosed it to its customer and two affected competitors whose claims it subsequently settled.

“SEI also investigated the matter extensively with the assistance of a prominent law firm and has cooperated fully with the U.S. government investigation. It took disciplinary action against several individuals, including separation, and has further enhanced the company’s already-strong compliance program.

“SEI is committed to the highest standards of integrity and compliance and the aberrant conduct that occurred in this case does not reflect who we are as a company.”

According to the DOJ, GE and Mitsubishi submitted closed bids for the project to Dominion in May 2019, and a Siemens account manager, Michael P. Hillen, “coordinated with a Dominion insider,” Theodore S. “Ted” Fasca, then director of generation system planning, “who used his sensitive position to improperly obtain GE and MHI confidential information.”

Using private and work email accounts, Hillen “then disseminated the confidential information to Siemens Account Manager Mehran Sharifi, who analyzed the confidential bid information with other employees. Realizing that Siemens had a less competitive bid than GE by some metrics, Sharifi recommended to Siemens Executive Vice President and Head of Sales for North America John Gibson that Siemens resubmit a lowered bid to undercut GE’s bid price.”

Gibson passed along the other companies’ bid details to other Siemens senior executives, the DOJ said, and submitted a lower bid for the Dominion project, “undercutting GE’s bid” and winning the Dominion project. “Even after submitting the lowered bid, Siemens continued misappropriating GE and MHI confidential information on numerous occasions throughout June 2019,” according to the DOJ. Dominion was not accused of wrongdoing.

Gibson and Sharifi both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convert trade secrets, with Gibson receiving a sentence of three years and seven months in prison. Sharifi faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 11. Hillen and Fasca both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and were sentenced to three years and one month in prison.

“The FBI will work to hold those accountable who steal confidential information to obtain a competitive advantage, whether they be agents, employees, executives, or corporations themselves,” said Stanley M. Meador, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office.  “We will rigorously investigate those who criminally conspire to defraud companies for their personal gain.”

The natural gas plant was canceled in 2020, but Dominion has plans to build a similar combustion turbine plant in Chesterfield County. Known as the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center, the gas plant would be on the retired Chesterfield Power Station site northwest of Dutch Gap Conservation Center, Dominion announced in September, with General Electric having won the bid to manufacture its turbines.

The plant was intended to be built elsewhere in Chesterfield, but some residents opposed the project and fought county rezoning to allow the new plant to be built at the James River Industrial Park. In the new location, the plant is allowed at the former power station site under a 2010 conditional use permit, Chesterfield officials have said.

TowneBank to acquire Village Bank for $120M

Suffolk-based TowneBank has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Midlothian’s Village Bank and its parent company, Village Bank and Trust Financial, a deal worth approximately $120 million, the banks announced Tuesday.

“Our TowneBank family is humbled and excited to partner with Village Bank and its team members,” TowneBank Executive Chairman G. Robert Aston Jr. said in a statement. “We believe our partnership can bring additional products and expanded services to the clients of Village Bank while meaningfully enhancing our Richmond presence, which is core to our franchise and future growth.”

The merged companies will have total assets of $17.8 billion, $14.9 billion in deposits and $12.1 billion in loans, based on financial information reported as of June 30.

Shareholders of the Village Bank parent will receive $80.25 in cash per share for each share of its outstanding common stock. Based on Village Bank and Trust Financial’s common stock currently outstanding, the total transaction value would be about $120 million.

“We’re excited to partner with TowneBank,” Jay Hendricks, president and CEO of Village Bank, said in a statement. “This merger is not just a business decision but a strategic move to enhance the value we deliver to our customers.”

The boards of directors of TowneBank and the Village parent have approved the definitive agreement. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, pending regulatory approval and Village shareholders’ approval.

Founded in 1999, TowneBank has more than 50 locations across Central and Eastern Virginia and North Carolina. As of June 30, it had $17.1 billion in total assets.

Village Bank was also founded in 1999. It has nine branch offices serving the greater Richmond area and Williamsburg. As of June 30, parent company Village Bank and Trust Financial had total assets of $747.7 million.

Topsoe buys land for $400M plant in Chesterfield County

Topsoe, a Danish electrolyzer manufacturer, paid $4.95 million for about 57 acres in Meadowville Technology Park in Chesterfield County this summer, where the company plans to build a $400 million manufacturing plant.

In April, Topsoe announced the investment, which is expected to create 150 jobs. 

The company will manufacture Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell stacks, which are used to produce renewable hydrogen. Under the federal Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022, about 35 companies, including Topsoe, received clean energy tax credits totaling nearly $2 billion, which the U.S. Department of Energy announced in April. Topsoe received $135.9 million in tax credits. 

“Electrolyzers are key for decarbonizing energy-intensive industries like steel, mining and long-distance transportation, which account for approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions,” the U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement about the award.

The land, which is located at 11700 Meadowville Lane and 1301 Meadowville Technology Parkway, was purchased from the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority on June 25. 

Topsoe plans to spend $140 million on building construction and $260 million on production machinery and tools, according to a performance grant agreement unanimously approved May 15 by the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. 

A spokesperson for Topsoe confirmed the land was purchased for the previously announced plant and added that the company expects construction on this project to take two years.

Garrett Hart, director of economic development for Chesterfield County, noted Topsoe is currently working on a site plan and expects to begin construction in 2025.

“They’re moving forward,” Hart said.

To secure the project, Chesterfield County received a $6 million grant from the Commonwealth Opportunity Fund, and Topsoe is eligible for benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program. The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program also will support job creation and training, according to the governor’s office.

Additionally, in May the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors approved a performance agreement that would give Topsoe $2.1 million from the county’s Economic Development Authority from the land sale. The county will also provide an annual grant for six years equal to the amount of machinery and tools tax Topsoe would pay for six years, an amount estimated to be $3.9 million. 

In return, the company must make $400 million in capital investments to the facility by the end of 2029. 

The property purchased by Topsoe sits across the street from where Lego plans to build $1 billion building-block manufacturing facility. 

Output of electrolyzer stacks at Topsoe’s Chesterfield County plant will enable the planet to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the amount of carbon sequestered by planting over 33 million tree seedlings and allowing them to grow for a decade, according to an August post on Topsoe’s website. 

Founded in 1940 in Denmark, Topsoe has two U.S. facilities in Texas and California, and it has offices around the world and more than 2,800 employees. The company specializes in technology that helps reduce carbon emissions, including heavy industry, long-haul transportation and producing cleaner fuels.

ACI doubles its Chesterfield HQ

Commercial and industrial contractor Atlantic Constructors Inc. (ACI) is doubling its headquarters in Chesterfield County, a roughly $25 million project.

The contractor, which provides mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection products and services, plans to open a second 170,000-square-foot building on 18 acres beside its existing building, which sits on 25 acres, in early November. The facility will be primarily used for warehouse and manufacturing space, with some office space.

“Since so much of our work is non-office-based, that’s how we set up our facilities. They’re a large manufacturing center, along with some office that supports it,” said ACI CEO Evan Shriver.

The company will create modular construction components in the new facility, expanding its production.

“We’re dedicating that space to building some structural steel components that we can then put the main piping systems, electrical systems, plumbing systems and fire protection systems together on, and then ship them all across the country to then build the buildings in sections like that,” Shriver said.

“But it’s mainly achieved by building it here in our factory in Richmond,” he added, “as opposed to having to find skilled tradesmen across the country and move those people around. It’s much easier to just build it in a controlled environment and then ship it out there.”

ACI currently has 1,200 employees and plans to hire up to 100 people to work in the second headquarters building, likely within the first two years of its opening, Shriver said. The company expects to have about 50 people working in the facility when it opens.

As of Aug. 30, the exterior of the new building was complete. Over September, the company is working on final landscaping and the paving of parking lots and roads. Interior drywall and paint finishes are ongoing.

ACI began planning the expansion in 2019, Shriver said, and physical construction started in early 2023.

“This is part of the strategic vision of the company … to maximize offsite construction through modular building, and that increases safety, quality and productivity and helps remove geographic barriers so we can then pursue projects all across the country,” he said.

While a construction site has factors outside of a contractor’s control, a controlled environment like a manufacturing facility reduces safety risks and has the advantage of automated machinery, Shriver added.

ACI works on large commercial buildings for health care, advanced manufacturing, data centers, higher education, chemicals manufacturers and other industries. In addition to its Chesterfield County facilities, the contractor has offices in Roanoke, Sterling and Suffolk, as well as in Wilmington, North Carolina. In 2022, the company expanded its presence in Roanoke and Hampton Roads.

Big deals

These economic development announcements were some of the largest in Virginia for 2023 and the first half of 2024:

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Chesterfield County: In April, the offices of U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan announced that Danish electrolyzer manufacturer Topsoe plans to build a $400 million manufacturing facility with the assistance of $136 million in construction-related federal tax credits. The new plant, which will manufacture Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell (SOEC) stacks used in the production of renewable hydrogen, is expected to create 150 jobs.

Chesterfield County: Condair Group, a Swiss humidification systems manufacturer, announced in June that it would invest $57.2 million in a new production plant. Initially, workers at the facility will focus on manufacturing products for the large-scale industrial cooling needs of the data center industry. The company plans to retrofit an existing 400,000-square-foot warehouse at 1410 Willis Road for its facility, which it anticipates will create 180 jobs.

Prince George County: Florida’s PGT Innovations, a manufacturer and supplier of windows and doors, announced plans in November 2023 to retrofit the former Rolls-Royce facility in the Crosspointe Logistics Center for use as a new plant for its wholly owned subsidiary Triple Diamond Glass. With an investment of $54.3 million, PGT Innovations, expects the venture to create 659 jobs.

EASTERN VIRGINIA

In Lynchburg, Framatome is expanding its U.S. headquarters, a project expected to create 515 jobs. Rendering courtesy Framatome

Chesapeake: A South Korean cable manufacturer’s U.S. subsidiary, LS GreenLink USA, announced in July plans to build a $681 million subsea cable manufacturing plant in Chesapeake, producing an expected 338 jobs. The cables will be used for offshore wind farms, and this would be the first such plant in the United States.

Newport News: Liebherr Mining Equipment announced in June that it will invest $72.3 million to expand its plant at the border of Newport News and Hampton, creating an estimated 175 jobs. The manufacturer of industrial-scale mining trucks used to transport material at open-cast mining operations has more than 550 employees.

Norfolk: In November 2023, Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, began production on an eight-acre satellite campus at Fairwinds Landing to support the shipyard’s growing nuclear-powered military aircraft carrier component manufacturing workforce. Anticipating an investment of $100 million over five years, NNS expects the expansion — its first satellite campus — to create 150 jobs.

Virginia Beach: With an investment of $350 million, e-tailer Amazon announced in September 2023 that it plans to build a 650,000-square-foot robotics fulfillment center and a delivery center in Virginia Beach, producing more than 1,000 jobs. The delivery station is expected to open for this year’s holiday season, and the fulfillment center is set to come online in late 2025.

Virginia Beach: Virginia Beach’s Doma Technologies announced in November 2023 that it plans to invest $3.7 million in an expansion that will include a new 69,000-square-foot facility. The cloud-based software company anticipates that the expanded operations will create 307 jobs over the next three years.

LYNCHBURG/ ROANOKE/ NEW RIVER VALLEY

Lynchburg: French nuclear power company Framatome announced in December 2023 that it would invest $49.4 million to expand its U.S. headquarters in Lynchburg. Framatome, which has operated in Lynchburg since 1989, expects the expansion to create 515 jobs. Groundbreaking took place in April.

Roanoke County: In February, San Francisco-based banking giant Wells Fargo announced plans for an expansion of its commercial offices that is expected to create 1,100 jobs. The $87 million expansion will make Wells Fargo the largest employer in Roanoke County.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Arlington County: In February, online real estate company CoStar Group announced plans to relocate its global corporate headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the Central Place Tower in Rosslyn, which it purchased for $339 million. Investing $20 million in the move, CoStar Group will bring around 500 current corporate employees to the new headquarters and anticipates adding 150 positions.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Rockbridge County: Wisconsin’s Modine Manufacturing said in March that it will invest $18.1 million in the expansion of its Rockbridge facility. The manufacturer of data center cooling equipment anticipates that the growth will create around 211 jobs.

Waynesboro: In February, aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman began construction on a 315,000-square-foot electronics manufacturing and testing facility. Investing more than $200 million in the venture, the Fortune 500 company expects the facility to create roughly 300 manufacturing and engineering jobs over the next five years.

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

Halifax County: In June, Hitachi Energy announced plans to invest $26 million to expand its South Boston facility, where transformers are made. Expected to create about 100 jobs, the move comes as the company is increasing global transformer production worldwide, investing $1.5 billion toward the goal.

Henry County: In August 2023, Poland’s Press Glass said it plans to invest $155.2 million in the expansion of its plant in Ridgeway. Expected to create about 335 jobs by 2025, nearly doubling the facility’s workforce, the investment is the largest in Henry County’s history.

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Russell County: Data center storage rack manufacturer Tate announced in November 2023 it was moving into a vacant 280,000-square-foot plant in St. Paul, near the Russell-Wise counties border. The $14.9 million renovation is expected to create 170 jobs over four years, and the plant opened in January.  

Top Five August 2024

The five most popular daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from June 12 to July 12 included news of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees now holding a majority on the governing boards of Virginia’s state colleges and universities.

1   |   Youngkin peppers university boards with GOP power players

New members included some conservative movers and shakers, such as Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. (June 28)

2   |   $681M subsea cable plant coming to Chesapeake

LS GreenLink USA, the U.S. subsidiary of a South Korean cable manufacturer, is expected to create 338 jobs. (July 9)

3   |   Condair invests $57.2 million on Chesterfield County plant

The Swiss commercial and industrial humidification systems manufacturer, plans to hire 180 workers for a factory slated to open in 2025. (June 18)

4   |   Dominion Energy to buy N.C. offshore wind lease for $160M

Dominion Energy Virginia is purchasing the Kitty Hawk North Wind lease from Connecticut energy company Avangrid. (July 8)

5   |   State delays choosing Shenandoah medical marijuana provider

As 40 applicants vie for the lucrative license to be the sole pharmaceutical cannabis distributor for the Shenandoah Valley, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, the state Cannabis Control Authority delayed the selection, saying staff need more time to review. (June 26)

Chesterfield County facility sells for $9.3M

An entity associated with Barefoot Spas, a hot tub and swim spa manufacturer, sold a five-acre property in Chesterfield County to an entity associated with Maguire Hayden Real Estate Company, a Pennsylvania commercial real estate investment firm, on July 1 for $9.3 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer Capital Markets Group and Industrial Services announced last week. 

The 114,714-square-foot facility at 8401 Fort Darling Road sits on about 5.2 acres, and Barefoot Spas will lease the property from the new owner.

“It’s a highly functional industrial building, and it’s located right off of Interstate 95 right outside of Richmond,” Bo McKown, first vice president at Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets, said. “The Richmond industrial market continues to be really one of the one of the strongest on the East Coast.” 

For Richard French, CEO of Barefoot Spas, McKown said, the sale-leaseback was “an evolution of his business plan.” French did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

“The tenant does some manufacturing in this facility. They do some assembly of products and they also use it as distribution as well,” McKown said. “So it’s a pretty flexible building, and all of those attributes kind of contributed to why it was pretty highly sought after in the investment community.”

 The sale-leaseback was a collaborative effort between Thalhimer’s Industrial Services Group and Capital Markets Group completed by Graham Stoneburner, McKown and Chrissy Chappell. 

In June, an industrial warehouse and about 11.6 adjoining acres in Chesterfield County sold for $9.85 million. Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled that sale on behalf of the seller.