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Tag: Hanover County

State files injunction motion against Hanover seafood restaurant

Updated, Aug. 19

The state health commissioner and the Virginia Board of Health have filed a motion for an injunction against a seafood restaurant in Hanover County that refuses to close in spite of multiple public health orders alleging it is in violation of the state’s COVID-19 rules.

Calabash Seafood has been “serving customers food without a license” for the past three weeks, reads a motion filed by Attorney General Mark Herring’s office Monday in the Hanover County Circuit Court. The state asks the court to “order that the defendants close the restaurant while the restaurant license is suspended … until the matter is decided on the merits.”

According to the motion, the Hanover Health Department received “numerous complaints” related to employees not wearing masks in areas with customers and not requiring patrons to wear masks when they were not eating or drinking. Also, the restaurant did not close the bar area and other areas where people congregate, which is required by State Health Commissioner Norman Oliver’s and Gov. Ralph Northam’s public health and executive orders.

Herring’s office, in a statement Monday, said the Mechanicsville restaurant has received a complaint that the manager of the restaurant “did not take the threat of COVID seriously, saying that the ‘health department could not tell him what to do,’ that ‘the servers did not need to wear face coverings,’ and that he ‘did not see the need for face coverings, claiming that COVID-19 was pretty much over.'”

The restaurant’s license was suspended July 27 after multiple inspections, the AG’s office said, and a second notice of license suspension took place Aug. 13.

In a video posted by Republican gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase on Facebook last week, Calabash Seafood owner Dennis W. Smith said, “It’s going to take a court order” to close the restaurant. Chase was criticized for refusing to wear a mask at a Harrisonburg restaurant and threatening to sue its owners after they enforced their mask policy.

Other restaurants in the state have had their licenses suspended for not following the state’s policies intended to stem the COVID-19 pandemic, but none have remained open.

Smith said Monday evening he had no comment, and cook Richard A. Shearin, also named as a plaintiff, was not available for comment. An employee at Calabash said the restaurant planned to open Monday as usual.

A hearing has been set Sept. 1 in Hanover County Circuit Court.

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Hanover County packaging manufacturer making isolation gown material

Hanover County-based packaging manufacturer INDEVCO North America announced Thursday that it’s shifting its manufacturing materials to make materials for protective isolation gowns, worn by first responders and medical workers.

The company typically produces house wrapping material under its Barricade Building Products brand, but due to COVID-19, there’s been a decrease in U.S. housing starts — but a surge in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE). 

Isolation gown material close-up. Photo courtesy INDEVCO North America

Possessing the raw materials and equipment, INDEVCO North America’s Specialty Coating & Laminating (SC&L) plant in Doswell, Virginia, has begun to produce and supply fabric for the gowns. Industrial fabric rollstocks are sold to Virginia companies that produce disposable medical PPE to be cut and sewn into gowns. 

One of INDEVCO’s customers, a Virginia-based manufacturer (that INDEVCO asked not to be named in the story) sells the finished isolation gowns to be used by first responders and health care workers within Virginia. SC&L’s manufacturing processes can produce volumes of gown rollstock that can be converted into millions of gowns per week, according to Geoff Baldwin, president of INDEVCO North America Paper Division.

The fabric rollstock is used by Virginia manufacturers to create isolation gowns. Photo courtesy INDEVCO North America

The fabric that is manufactured is water repellent and breathable. 

“When health care professionals wear these materials, they’ll find them lightweight and breathable,” Baldwin said in a statement. “Most importantly, they meet ANSI PB70 standards, which means they’re reliable in protecting against fluids and cross-contamination.”

The challenge to obtain PPE has been a struggle since the pandemic began, as materials were primarily sourced from overseas manufacturers. 

“As local manufacturers, we have a social responsibility to pivot production to help keep our communities safe and healthy,” Pierre Khattar, CEO of INDEVCO North America, said in a statement. “We’re taking assets geared toward construction and producing isolation gown fabric that will protect givers and receivers of care in clinics, hospitals and nursing homes.”

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Mechanicsville apartment complex sells for $7.6 million

The Signal Hill Apartments complex in Mechanicsville sold for $7.6 million on March 26, according to Glen Allen-based real estate company Commonwealth Commercial Partners LLC.

Signal Hill includes 68 units and one four-bedroom rental home and is located at 8111 Signal Hill Road. 

The property came on the market during  fall 2019 and was sold to an affiliate of Washington, D.C.-based Peak Strategic Capital. The buyer financed the purchase through Freddie Mac.

Bruce Milam, Chip Louthan and Colton Konvicka of Commonwealth Commercial represented the seller in the transaction.

Owens & Minor names new board member

Mechanicsville-based Fortune 500 medical supply distribution company Owens & Minor Inc. has appointed retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Bingham to its board of directors, effective March 5.

Bingham is a retired three-star U.S. Army lieutenant general and most recently was the Department of the Army’s assistant chief of staff for installation management, providing policy, programs and resourcing expertise for 156 Army installations. She has served in military leadership positions in the U.S. and overseas.

She received the 2018 Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the 2018 Women in Defense Service to the Flag award. Bingham earned a master’s degree in national defense strategy and resources from the National Defense University, and her master’s degree in management from Central Michigan University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Alabama.

Owens & Minor was founded in 1882 and has distribution, production, customer service and sales facilities in the Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. It employs more than 17,000 people and sells medical supplies to customers in 90 countries.

Building in Ashland’s Northlake Business Park sells for $9.1M

The Creative Office Environments building in Ashland has sold for $9.1 million to New York City-based One Liberty Properties Inc., Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group announced Tuesday.

The 88,003-square-foot property is located at 11798 N. Lakeridge Parkway in Ashland and is the headquarters for workplace interiors and technology provider Creative Office Environments. The property is located approximately one mile from Interstate 95 in the Northlake Business Park.

CDH Properties LLC previously owned the Class A industrial property, which is located in the same business park with tenants including Amazon.com Inc., Pitney Bowes and Owens & Minor Inc. Creative Office Environments was the only tenant in the building sold at the time of the sale and will remain as the only tenant in the building.

The sale was completed by Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer Senior Vice President Eric Robinson.

Virginia ABC breaks ground on $91M HQ in Hanover County

Gov. Ralph Northam led a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority’s $91 million state headquarters complex in Hanover County, expected to open next year.

Virginia ABC’s existing warehouse in Richmond is just more than 295,000 square feet, but is operating at 100% capacity and “bursting at the seams,” said Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran, who oversees the ABC. With its move to Hanover County, Virginia ABC’s headquarters will occupy a 40-acre property — nearly double the size of its 22-acre property in Richmond.

“For ABC to keep pace with the growth of ABC stores and the craft beverage industry and position itself for future growth, it needs new space,” Gov. Ralph Northam said during the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday.

The new ABC headquarters at the intersection of I-295 and Pole Green Road in Hanover County will include a 315,000-square-foot warehouse and a 95,000-square foot office building where approximately 500 of ABC’s 4,000 workers will be stationed. 

Demopolis, Alabama-based H&M Construction LLC — which has built distribution centers in other states — is handling the project. The total cost includes property, pre-closing costs, costs to build and furnish and make the building operational in 2021. ABC bought the 40-acre plot for $8 million.

ABC staff will remain at the current Richmond office until the project is completely finished, but there are no updates on how the current headquarters will be used once ABC vacates, Virginia ABC Public Relations Manager Dawn Eischen said. 

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has the first right of refusal on the land. Although Northam’s most recent proposed budget would allow VCU to use the land for an athletic village, ABC could also lease it to the Richmond Flying Squirrels Minor League Baseball team to erect a new stadium to replace the 35-year-old Diamond.

ABC regulates alcoholic beverage sales at more than 19,000 businesses in Virginia and ships more than five million cases of product every year to its nearly 400 retail stores across the state. Northam said that ABC is also on track to add a new store each month over the coming year. ABC brought in $1 billion in revenue in 2019. 

ABC headquarters map
ABC headquarters map

ABC CEO Travis Hill says that the construction of the new headquarters is key to ABC continuing to grow revenue for Virginia.

“As these buildings rise, they will be a visible manifestation of our dedication to constant improvement and planning and be future-focused on the needs of our constituents,” he said Tuesday.