Roanoke developer pivots from office space to downtown park
Sometimes the best decision a builder can make is not to build. That’s the conclusion Lucas Thornton, managing partner at Hist:Re Partners in Roanoke, recently reached, although his plans for an office building may happen in the future. Thornton’s downtown mixed-use development, The Bower, was set to open by late June with 90 one- and […]
Artspace plans Roanoke artist housing community
Roanoke developer Ed Walker first tried to lure Artspace, a Minnesota-based nonprofit real estate developer for the arts, to Roanoke for an early 2000s redevelopment project, but Artspace essentially ghosted him. “It’s very, very, very, very difficult to get Artspace’s attention and to get them interested in a community,” Walker says. “It’s like trying to […]
Wise County tech park is growing
Progress continues on the Wise County Industrial Development Authority’s 200-acre Elam Farm industrial site in Wise County, which will expand an existing technology park. With help from various sources, including a total of $1 million from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, the project so far has received $4.8 million in investments, with plans to […]
Atlantic Park expected to open in spring 2025
The $350 million Atlantic Park project backed by music icon Pharrell Williams in his hometown of Virginia Beach is progressing, with the 2.6-acre surf lagoon, entertainment venue and other pieces of the project expected to be delivered in spring 2025, Kathy Warren, Virginia Beach’s planning director, told the city council Tuesday. Atlantic Park, a joint […]
The Lake takes shape in Chesterfield
The first wave of commercial tenants is coming to The Lake, a long-planned, 105-acre mixed-use development that’s slated to bring a surf park to western Chesterfield County. The Lake’s centerpiece will be a 13-acre artificial lake with a tow cable. It’s expected to be ready by summer 2025 for wakeboarding, kayaking, standup paddle boarding and […]
Bruce Smith teams with Cordish on Petersburg casino plan
Virginia Beach developer and NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith is vying for the chance to develop a casino in Petersburg and has joined forces with Cordish Cos., the Baltimore-based entertainment company that has already made inroads in Virginia. There’s just one obstacle facing Smith and other prospective developers, including Bally’s, Penn Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming […]
HHHunt starts work on 2,200-home development in Midlothian
Construction has started on a new master-planned community in Chesterfield County’s Midlothian area that will bring hundreds of single-family homes, town houses, apartments and commercial space. Glen Allen-based developer HHHunt and real estate investment firm GrayCo are developing The Aire at Westchester. The 334-acre tract is at Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike on the western […]
JLL: NoVa is still nation’s top data center market
Northern Virginia remains the country’s largest data center market, according to a report released Monday by real estate company JLL. The 581 megawatts of capacity leased by energized — or built-out — data centers in Northern Virginia for 2023 represented a new record, according to the JLL report. Data centers leased 184 MW in capacity […]
$550 million development planned for Pittsylvania’s Axton area
Plans for a $550 million mixed-use development in Pittsylvania County’s Axton area include a five-story, 150-room hotel and a 180,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a grocery store, but it’s the project’s housing component that most interests the county’s economic development director, Matthew Rowe. “First and foremost,” he says, “it is addressing a major need … […]
Developers put Fort Monroe marina redevelopment on indefinite hold
The redevelopment of Old Point Comfort Marina at Fort Monroe has been put on hold due to rising costs, with no timeline specified for when it could occur. Instead of negotiating a long-term development agreement, the Fort Monroe Authority (FMA) and Smithfield-based hospitality management company Pack Brothers Hospitality (PBH) are now discussing a revised management […]
Va. Tech Innovation Campus building opening delayed
The opening of the first academic building on Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus has been delayed to spring 2025, the university announced Thursday. Virginia Tech started construction on the first academic building of the $1 billion campus in Alexandria in September 2021 and had planned to open the $302 million building this August. The delay on […]
Nation’s first Goodwill-owned supermarket to open in NW Roanoke
Roanoke-based Goodwill Industries of the Valleys broke ground Nov. 14 on Melrose Plaza, a community hub that will be anchored by the nation’s first full-scale, full-service grocery store owned and operated by a Goodwill organization. Slated to open in December 2024 in a Northwest Roanoke food desert, the 25,000-square-foot Market on Melrose is expected to […]