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Tag: commercial real estate

Hanover County business center sells for $41M

Baltimore-based Merritt Properties announced Tuesday it has purchased Crescent Business Center in Ashland from Crescent Business Center LC, a Thalhimer Realty Partners Inc. development, for $41.3 million.

The Hanover County business center includes five industrial buildings with 262,256 square feet of space on 20 acres and are 100% occupied, including Trane U.S. Inc., Electronic Systems, Motion Industries Inc. and Sunbelt Rentals as tenants. Another 19 acres on the property off Interstate 95 are undeveloped, and Merritt is evaluating development options to meet market needs.

“With this acquisition, we continue to execute on our strategy of extending our presence in strategic growth markets from the mid-Atlantic to the Southeast,” Merritt CEO Scott Dorsey said in a statement. “Crescent Business Center offered us the ideal opportunity to establish our presence in Richmond with high-quality existing assets, a strong tenant base and land for additional shallow bay industrial development.”

Eric Robison of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller. Graham Stoneburner and R. Scott Douglas, also with Thalhimer, have been named exclusive leasing representatives for Crescent Business Center on behalf of Merritt Properties. Thalhimer’s Commercial Property Services Group will handle the property management of Crescent Business Center. Jason Crowder has been named portfolio manager for the center.

Merritt Properties already has 1.7 million square feet of office, bulk and flex/light industrial space in Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties.

Lease signed for Fairwinds Landing in Norfolk

The ball has started rolling on the $100 million project turning the Lambert’s Point Docks property in Norfolk into Fairwinds Landing, a maritime operations and logistics center to support the local offshore wind, defense and transportation industries.

The Miller Group signed a lease for the 122-acre site owned by Norfolk Southern Corp. It has 20 miles of rail infrastructure, multicommodity, high-volume transload facilities and 1.1 million square feet of industrial warehouse space.

“Both Norfolk Southern and The Miller Group should be commended for their combined vision for such a tremendous site. The commonwealth, Hampton Roads and Norfolk will benefit greatly from the capital investment, development and job creation that will occur as a result of this transaction,” said Geoff Poston, senior vice president at Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, which brokered the lease.

Jerry Miller established the special purpose company in October 2021 to develop the property. Fairwinds Landing LLC currently uses the personnel of affiliated companies including Virginia Beach-based real estate development company The Miller Group, Virginia Beach’s Balicore Construction and Portsmouth-based Fairlead Integrated, an end-to-end supplier for defense contractors.

Fairwinds Landing will support several aspects of the offshore wind supply chain: manufacturing, fabrication and assembly; construction and storage; staging, maintenance and operations; and maritime logistics and transportation.

Skanska wins $223M contract for offshore wind farm prep

New York-based Skanska USA won the $223 million contract to redevelop the 72 acres of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal that Dominion Energy Inc. will use as a staging area for its $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

The company announced the award on Tuesday. The CVOW calls for the construction of 176 wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach by 2026, and the State Corporation Commission approved Dominion’s application in August.

“Skanska is honored to work on an innovative and sustainable project that supports the state’s clean energy goals and reflects our value to build for a better society,” Brook Brookshire, senior vice president of Skanska civil operations, said in a statement.

Dominion Energy Inc. and the Port of Virginia signed a lease agreement for the 72 acres in August 2021. Dominion will use its portion of the 287-acre terminal as a staging and pre-assembly area for the foundations and 800-foot wind turbines that it will use in the project.

Port of Virginia Spokesperson Joe Harris said, “It’s going to be a laydown area. There’ll be some assembly there, and there’s going to be a blade finishing facility on site, so it’s a big project, and it’s going to be a great use of that terminal and it’s going to be good for the Port of Virginia, but it’s also going to be good for all of Virginia.”

Turbine installation is expected to begin in 2024. The project’s expected completion is in 2026, and which point it will power up to 660,000 homes.

As part of the contract, Skanska will improve 1,500 feet of an existing 3,540-foot wharf. The company will also build three heavy lift berths, a wind-turbine generator delivery berth, a wind-turbine generator loadout berth and the berth for the steel tube monopiles (turbine foundations).

Skanska will also dredge a channel and access area and will strengthen soils and surfaces so they can handle heavy turbine components. The company will also install lighting, stormwater collection systems, fencing and other structures.

Skanska previously worked with the Virginia Port Authority on a wharf expansion project and renovation at the Norfolk International Terminals.

The U.S. subsidiary of the Swedish parent company, Skanska USA has 30 offices across the country with 7,300 employees. Globally, Skanska has more than 30,000 employees.

Chesapeake warehouse sells for $13.59M

A 70,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution building in Chesapeake sold for $13.59 million in late July, Colliers announced Wednesday.

Located at 3512 Business Center Drive in the Cavalier Industrial Park, the property is 100% leased to the U.S. Postal Service and serves as a seasonal processing and distribution center. It totals 9.72 acres of land, with room for an expansion of about 70,000 square feet. Built in 1998, the property includes a 130-foot truck court.

Michael Blunt and Clay Ellis, with the Colliers Industrial Capital Markets team, as well as Chamie Burroughs, represented the seller, a joint venture led by B&D Holdings. The buyer is NATMI LPF Norfolk LLC, according to property records.

Va. Beach honors Ramon W. Breeden Jr.

Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer proclaimed Aug. 9, 2022, as Ramon W. Breeden Jr. Day, in honor of the real estate mogul.

Since starting The Breeden Co. in 1961 out of the trunk of his Pontiac convertible and the back room of a grocery store, Breeden has led his company to be a vertically integrated real estate development firm with a portfolio of more than 25,000 apartments and 2 million square feet of retail and office space.

In May, The Breeden Co. broke ground on a $33 million apartment project in Newport News and started a $21 million expansion of The Village at Westlake Apartments in Richmond.

Breeden stepped down from his roles as president and CEO in January, but remains the company’s chairman of the board. Timothy Faulkner, then the company’s chief operating officer, succeeded him.

Breeden has served on The University of Virginia’s McIntire Foundation board, as well as boards for the Tidewater Builders Association, Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, and Virginia Beach Education Foundation.

Chesapeake industrial building sells for $10.2M

A 152,180-square-foot industrial property in Chesapeake has sold for $10.275 million, S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. announced in July.

Chesapeake Dexter St West LLC purchased the property, located at 101 Dexter St. West in Chesapeake, from On Trading Corp. The building is on 13.89 acres and was fully leased at the time of the sale. It was purchased as an investment and no immediate changes are planned.

Sam Rapoport of S.L. Nusbaum Realty represented the seller in the transaction.

Newport News apartments sell for $9.75M

A Newport News apartment complex has sold for $9.75 million, S.L. Nusbaum Realty announced Aug. 2.

53 Colony Square Court LLC has purchased Colony Square Apartments, which has 92 units, from Lyn Van Turette Trust LLC.

The buyer is planning extensive renovations to the property, which is on 4.82 acres.

Bill Overman and John Wessling of S.L. Nusbaum Realty represented the seller.

Norfolk high rise sells for $27.5 million

The Lafayette, an apartment tower in Norfolk, has sold for $27.5 million, according to Norfolk public records.

Philadelphia-based PRG Real Estate Management Inc. purchased the property from Graycliff Capital Partners and Buligo Capital Partners; it is the company’s seventh apartment investment in Hampton Roads, according to Colliers, which brokered the sale. The Lafayette is in Norfolk’s Colonial Place neighborhood, at 4601 Mayflower Road.

The high rise has 168 units (studios, one -, two- and three-bedroom apartments) with recently upgraded amenities and common areas. It has views of the Lafayette River and the Norfolk skyline and was built in 1964.

PRG also owns properties in Richmond.

Amazon opens new Chesapeake facility

Last week Amazon.com Inc. opened its new, 640,000-square-foot processing facility in Chesapeake, the global e-tailer’s first cross-dock fulfillment center in Virginia.

About 900 of the 1,000 workers that Amazon announced it would be hiring for the facility are already on the job, an Amazon spokeswoman told Virginia Business.

Located at 5045 Portsmouth Blvd., the Chesapeake center receives and consolidates products from vendors and ships them to surrounding fulfillment centers within Amazon’s network. A similar facility planned for Stafford County will create 500 jobs and is expected to be operational by the second half of the year.

“Amazon has quickly become one of Hampton Roads’ largest and most engaged employers,” Hampton Roads Alliance President and CEO Douglas L. Smith said in a statement. “The opening of this facility in Chesapeake represents yet another milestone in their tremendous growth in the region, aided by the impressive collaboration between our partners in the city of Chesapeake, [the] Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Port of Virginia. We are confident that this is only the beginning of Amazon’s relationship with the Hampton Roads community.”

Full-time employees at the Amazon facility make $18 an hour, and earn benefits such as a 401(k) with 50% company match and up to 20 weeks of parental leave, the company says.

Amazon has opened facilities all over the commonwealth, first launching its Virginia operations in Sterling in 2006. Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $34 billion in Virginia through fulfillment centers, cloud infrastructure and research facilities. The e-commerce giant has made 30,000 direct hires and created 96,000 indirect jobs, according to a news release. Amazon is also building out its multibillion-dollar HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington County.

The Breeden Co. restructures property management division

Barry Tomlin

The Breeden Co., a Virginia Beach-based real estate development firm, is restructuring its property management division.

Barry Tomlin, vice president of property management at The Breeden Co. in Virginia Beach, will leave the company Aug. 5, Breeden announced last week.

Bonnie Moore

Tomlin has been with Breeden since 2007.

“Over the last 10 years, we have created a considerable amount of value in the multifamily sector through the implementation of our trademarked luxury lifestyle brand, Enriched Lifestyle Communities, as well as pursuing more business opportunities in the third-party management side of the industry. We appreciate Barry’s contributions to the property management division. Under his stewardship, he has created a strong portfolio, where our communities are averaging 98% occupancy. Because of his work, our organization is positioned to take advantage of new opportunities. We all wish Barry the very best,” Founder and Chairman Ramon W. Breeden Jr. said in a statement.

With Tomlin’s departure, two other executives will take on new roles. Bonnie Moore will be president of property management, a change from her role as the division’s operations director. Additionally, Mark Denny has been promoted to vice president of property management, supporting the goals and initiatives of the division.