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By late spring, surf will be up at Atlantic Park on the former site of The Dome, Virginia Beach’s distinctive geodesic dome convention center and concert hall that was torn down in 1994.

Atlantic Park, a $350 million mixed-use entertainment venue and surf lagoon project at the Oceanfront, is the highest profile project in the Hampton Roads area, and it’s scheduled to open in May 2025 — partly due to the backing of music and fashion superstar Pharrell Williams, who grew up near the site — but there are other big developments on the horizon.

Atlantic Park shares a theme with other notable projects, including improvements to the Half Moone Cruise Terminal and Norfolk International Airport. They’re designed to raise the region’s international profile and attract new visitors. Meanwhile, improvement plans for other sites — including Fort Monroe in Hampton and MacArthur Center mall and the former Military Circle Mall in Norfolk — continue to run into obstacles.

Atlantic Park, approved in 2019 by Virginia Beach City Council and funded with $153 million in public money, has faced its own challenges — including funding delays — and earlier this year, groundwater containing high levels of iron and arsenic from the project’s lagoon excavation flowed into nearby Lake Holly. Ultimately, the project’s Virginia Beach-based developer, Venture Realty Group, removed the chemicals in March, allowing work to progress.

By May 2025, planners expect it will be time for visitors to get into the water at the 11.5-acre plot between 18th and 20th streets and Pacific and Baltic avenues. The development will feature a 3,500-seat indoor entertainment venue with room for an additional 1,500 people outdoors, as well as retail, restaurants, parking garages, apartments and 10,000 square feet of office space. But the attraction unique to the area will be the 2.67-acre surf lagoon.

Chuck Rigney, who stepped down as Virginia Beach’s director of economic development in late July amid a city investigation into his travel expenses, said earlier in July that Atlantic Park’s first phase — including the lagoon — was scheduled to open in late spring 2025.

“This is as significant a project as it gets, and it’s going to be a catalyst for redevelopment all in that area,” Rigney said, noting that the infrastructure upgrades will create development opportunities in the area. “It’s going to have an effect on a lot more development down there of, hopefully, a signature-type caliber, so we can raise the profile of Virginia Beach into more of an internationally known city.”

By land, air or water

Along Norfolk’s downtown waterfront, another project appealing to tourists is under construction at the city-owned Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center. To prepare for weekly cruises by the 12-deck Carnival Sunshine ship beginning in February 2025, the terminal is demolishing its small escalator and building a sloped circular ramp to make exiting and boarding more efficient for an estimated 3,000 passengers per cruise. Customs stations are also being improved by introducing mobile kiosks.

Another project scheduled for completion in fall 2025 will be enclosing a terrace to create an air-conditioned seating space for 600 passengers waiting to board.

Nauticus Executive Director Stephen Kirkland, who also manages the cruise terminal, forecasts 300,000 passengers will move through Norfolk annually starting
in 2025. Carnival’s marketing to fill the ship weekly will increase drawing passengers from a wider area. “It’s a game changer for us and for the community,” he says, noting that passengers will fly or drive in a day or so early to be sure to make their cruise.

“That’s a big opportunity for us as a community,” he adds. “These guests really will be coming from much further afield, all across the mid-Atlantic and beyond, and they will, many of them, be staying with us the day before and the day after.”

Cruise passengers flying into Norfolk will also discover new amenities as Norfolk International Airport responds to dramatically increased demand growing by about a half-million passengers annually — from 4.1 million passengers two years ago to a projected 5 million this year.

Norfolk International, notes airport Executive Director and CEO Mark Perryman, hasn’t had major improvements other than upgrading parking structures in more than two decades. “What we’re doing now is modernizing the existing airport,” he says. “We’re redeveloping it in a manner that will re-life the airport for the next 25, 30 years.”

Several reasons are behind the increased demand. During the pandemic, people outside the area discovered the Outer Banks, Virginia Beach and Norfolk beaches when they couldn’t go to other vacation destinations, Perryman notes, and those traditionally drive-to locations became fly-to locations. Additionally, he says, the rebound in business travel also has contributed to higher traffic.

Norfolk International Airport Executive Director and CEO Mark Perryman anticipates that the addition of three gates at Concourse A will be finished in November. Photo by Mark Rhodes

At the airport, an addition of three gates to Concourse A is expected to be finished by November, as well as a new customs and border patrol facility that is likely to attract more international flights. By mid-2025, a new moving walkway connecting parking decks is expected to be operational, and a 165-room Courtyard Marriott with restaurants and a fitness center next to the departures building is due in early 2026. Perryman says those projects combined will cost about $80 million.

Further down the line is a new $400 million departures terminal, likely to break ground in 2026, and a $200 million rental car facility scheduled for a 2025 groundbreaking.

The airport is on a solid financial foundation, Perryman says, with a preliminary estimate of $98 million in total revenue for fiscal 2024, up from $77.7 million in 2023.

No local money subsidizes the airport, although it does receive relatively small grants from the state and federal governments. Also, the Courtyard Marriott’s developers are bringing their own financing, and rental car companies are doing the same for their on-site facilities at the airport.

“We are a growing, thriving airport, and that is good for the Hampton Roads region,” Perryman says. Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk supply most of the airport’s passenger traffic, but Norfolk International’s reach extends halfway up the Interstate 64 corridor to Richmond, west to Suffolk and Isle of Wight, and south to North Carolina.

Meanwhile, on the logistics front, Amazon.com is rolling forward with two large facilities in Virginia Beach, costing approximately $350 million and creating an estimated 1,000 jobs by 2025. A delivery station is expected to be open and in operation later this year in time for holiday deliveries, and a multistory, 650,000-square-foot fulfillment center is set to be open by mid-2025.

Real estate taxes on the facility will pay off the city’s investment of $22.5 million for a new road accommodating the two warehouses within 20 years, according to Rigney.

“Amazon, in the competitive world of home delivery, is trying to get the time that you buy a product to the time it gets onto your doorstep really shrunken down to within a two-hour time frame, so they need to be in closer proximity to major urban areas,” Rigney said in early July.

He noted there is an adjacent site that could accommodate 450,000 square feet of development. “If that was to come in,” he added, “it would represent another significant capital investment, real estate taxes and jobs, as well.”

Not quite there yet

Not all area projects are moving forward smoothly. In March, Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander announced a redevelopment idea for the long-ailing MacArthur Center that would include a 400-room hotel, more than 500,000 square feet of high-rise apartments and a 2.5-acre pedestrian promenade with more than 172,000 square feet of retail space. But that vision is still more wish than reality.

Sean Washington, Norfolk’s economic development director, says no developer has been identified for the project, nor is there a financing plan. The city is investigating whether it makes economic sense.

“This is going to be a very large public-private partnership,” Washington says. “And so, with all the other major projects we have going on at the municipality, we really want to get a better understanding of what would we be able to properly invest back in the site, which we know is obviously high priority.”

The city, Washington adds, wants a better understanding of how to maximize tax generation and examine what economic development and financial tools it can use. A developer would not have a proposal until sometime in 2025, he says, and the project would be completed in phases, with the first construction phase lasting two to three years.

The overarching goal is to create an attraction, much like MacArthur was when it opened in 1999. “We really want this to be this premier mixed-use destination, not just for our city but also for the region,” Washington says.

Another Norfolk project that experienced false starts also faces an uncertain future. The former Military Circle Mall was purchased by the Norfolk Economic Development Authority for $13.4 million in 2020. Following decades in decline, the 97-acre shopping center closed completely in 2023 after 53 years in operation.

In 2021, the city issued a request for proposals to redevelop the mall site and received three proposals that officials gave further consideration — including some big names like Pharrell Williams, Virginia Beach hotel developer Bruce Thompson and NFL Hall of Famer and developer Emmitt Smith. Among the plans were new arenas, hotels, office space, residential buildings and retail.

Going back to 2016, when the city adopted its long-term Vision 2100 master plan, Military Circle was a preferable location for redevelopment because it is among the highest elevation properties available in Norfolk — a significant advantage with so much land threatened by storm-surge flooding and sea-level rise.

Although the city began informal talks with Williams and Venture Realty Group about their “Wellness Loop” proposal in 2022, no formal announcement or contract materialized, and in late 2023, the plans to build an arena-anchored development at Military Circle were dead.

Nonetheless, the city has demolished some of the property’s buildings, although clearing the rest of the mall is in limbo, Washington says, because a Ross Dress
for Less store remains on-site and has lease options that run through 2036. Demolition cannot proceed without their consent, but the city is in discussions with Ross, he says.

“There have been some conversations that we potentially look for a new home for Ross that’s kind of relatively close [to Military Circle],” Washington says. “They absolutely love it there.”

Also, the city launched a market analysis and feasibility study this year to examine the possibility of a mixed-use family sports complex at Military Circle, along with housing, retail and lodging space. Sentara Health’s insurance office is already in the former JCPenney space. 

Fort Monroe, the former military installation in Hampton, has seen a pause in redevelopment because of cost inflation, officials say. Photo by stock.adobe.com

On the move

Two other major downtown Norfolk projects are moving into design phases. The much-discussed renovation of Chrysler Hall has $1.5 million allocated for design costs during the next year, according to City Manager Pat Roberts, while the city’s capital improvements plan lists as high priorities a proposed $82 million allocation in 2027-28 for project construction.

Nearby, $4.5 million is earmarked each year in 2025 and 2026 to pay for the design of a “significant” renovation of Scope Arena. The capital budget allocates $54 million beginning in 2027 for renovations, labeling that project a “medium” priority.

Another major regional project facing marketplace uncertainty is the redevelopment of Fort Monroe 13 years after the Army closed the 565-acre property and turned it over to a state authority. A master plan completed in 2013 called for preserving the site’s history and envisioned a phased development with residential, retail, restaurants, a hotel and enhanced public spaces.

Smithfield-based Pack Brothers Hospitality had plans to invest $45 million to build a marina, renovate two historic buildings into conference space and a restaurant and hotel over the water, but those plans were shelved in January due to rising costs, the developers said.

“One of the biggest challenges for developers coming to Fort Monroe is there are a lot of historic preservation requirements that developers have to meet,” says John Hutcheson, the Fort Monroe Authority’s deputy executive director in charge of real estate. “Sometimes that increases cost, [and] sometimes it adds time to the permitting process. Specifically, to the Pack Brothers marina development, they got caught up in a combination of the cost inflation post-pandemic and the increase in interest rates for construction financing. Those two things combined to make the project not viable in the current market.”

Hutcheson says the project could become viable at some point and that the authority might make another request for proposals. For now, the authority is pursuing utility upgrades necessary because the Army’s old water and electrical systems do not fit with current utilities.

Those include two sites where Richmond’s Echelon Resources has options to transform historic buildings into apartments. Echelon has begun the design and permitting phases for two other sites that do not require utility upgrades and will house 75 to 80 apartments, says Hutcheson.

Developing the property is complicated, he notes. Its history goes back to Indigenous people, making it a part of American history, not just military history. The Old Point Comfort site also has historic significance as the place where enslaved Africans first landed in America in 1619. The authority planned to take bids in September to construct the African Landing Memorial plaza. 

“I think that will be the thing that carries Fort Monroe to achieve its rightful place among the most historic sites in our country,” Hutcheson says. “That’s what we’re all working for. That’s what all keeps us focused. It’s a big real estate project, but it’s equally as big a historic project.”  

Flying high

Norfolk International Airport is on track to have the best year since its 1938 opening. In June, the airport reported a 7.5% increase in passenger activity, with 431,637 passengers — up from last June’s figure of 401,517, marking the largest number of June passengers in the airport’s history.

During the first six months of 2023, the airport’s passenger count increased 8.7% to 2,083,371 passengers, compared with 1,915,866 for the same period in 2022.

One contributing factor is Norfolk International’s ability to grow its number of airlines and flights. “It has eight airlines, so customers have lots of options,” says Vinod Agarwal, deputy director of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis at Old Dominion University.

Airlines serving the Norfolk airport include Allegiant, American, Breeze, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, United and their regional airline partners. The airport began adding low-cost carriers in 2017, starting with Allegiant, followed by Frontier in 2018, Breeze in 2021 and Spirit in 2023.

In 2021, Breeze airlines selected Norfolk as a crew base for pilots and flight crews. Passengers can fly to 16 cities nonstop on Breeze from Norfolk, including the addition of Fort Myers, Florida, in July.

“We currently have 41 locations we can now fly nonstop,” says Norfolk International Airport President and CEO Mark Perryman. “We are continuing to grow that number and move up.”

The addition of Spirit Airlines in March, with flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, was another boost to passenger count.

“They are a growth-stimulator type of airline, and they are doing that. Spirit went from 0% in March to now serving 3% to 4% of our total traffic. There is huge growth in low-cost carriers,” Perryman says. “We are talking with other airlines all the time. We have two other airlines that are extremely interested,” but Perryman declined to name them.

The airport’s positive growth hasn’t gone unnoticed. This year, it received a 4-Star Regional Airport rating from London-based Skytrax. The annual ratings, which go up to five stars,  are a global benchmark of airport standards.

Of the 572 airports rated in the 2023 survey, Norfolk International was one of only seven U.S. 4-Star airports, a group that includes the Cincinnati, Houston, Indianapolis, New York (LaGuardia), Portland and Seattle airports. Skytrax also ranked NIA sixth place among the World’s Best Domestic Airports.

To keep its standards steady, Norfolk International is undertaking a $30 million runway rehabilitation project to repair aging asphalt and concrete portions of two runways. The work is being performed in two $15 million phases, with phase one’s completion expected in November and phase two anticipated to be completed in November 2024.

In August, the airport released a request for proposals for a construction manager for a concourse gate expansion and a customs and border control facility, aimed at helping NIA attract international flights. The project is currently in the conceptual design phase.

In May, the airport issued a request for proposals for development of a new hotel on airport property. Perryman was set to provide the airport’s board with a recommended developer in September, after this publication’s deadline.

Like Norfolk, many U.S. airports are beginning to see some of the largest increases in air traffic since the start of the pandemic, a sign of a pent-up consumer demand for recreational travel.

“We are predominantly domestic, and our numbers rebounded faster than some others in the country. The big international airports with flights internationally are still struggling,” Perryman says. “Anecdotally, I think the pandemic opened people’s eyes to what the Hampton Roads region has to offer, but we don’t have hard evidence.”

Regionally, though, the story is different at the Newport News-Williamsburg Airport, which has a single airline — American Airlines, which serves only flights to Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2018, Newport News recorded 403,575 total passengers. In 2022, that number fell to 129,971. In February, the airport’s board dismissed airport Executive Director Mike Giardino. Avelo Airlines ended service at the airport in April, less than a year after it began offering flights from Newport News to Florida. In 2022, Delta left the airport.

“In the last 10 years or so, Newport News has seen a decline in its number of airlines. Supply and demand factors indicate the airport is having a tough time coming back to where it used to be,” says Agarwal. “If it flew to other places, it would attract more people.”

This summer, the Hampton Roads Alliance received a $100,000 GO Virginia grant to conduct a regional air transportation study, which will focus on both regional airports and include $50,000 in funding from Norfolk, Newport News, the Norfolk Airport Authority and the Peninsula Airport Commission.

The Peninsula Airport Commission’s members declined to discuss plans for Newport News’ airport until after the study is completed in early 2024. 

Not by coincidence

Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander has a vision for his city that includes increasing revenue without creating additional taxes for residents.

His focuses in achieving that goal include tourism, hospitality and entertainment — familiar parts of neighboring Virginia Beach’s economy. However, unlike Virginia Beach, he points out, Norfolk doesn’t have a reliable seasonal tourism base. It also doesn’t have the same kind of beachfront tourism infrastructure as Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront district.

Another challenge to Norfolk’s revenue, Alexander notes, is the fact that while the city is 97% developed, about a third of that property is occupied by entities that are exempt from real estate taxes, such as universities and the military.

So, the city’s strategy has been focused on redevelopment and economic development to fill the gap.

In the past few years, the city has seen some major projects announced, including the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s planned $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino on the Elizabeth River near Harbor Park, as well as the city’s proposal to redevelop the former Military Circle Mall into an arena-anchored mixed-use development. But both of those developments have stalled due to changing economic conditions and other factors.

Other projects are on track, though, including expansions of the Nauticus maritime museum and the Chrysler Museum of Art, upgrades to Norfolk International Airport and Carnival Cruise Line’s increase in stops in the city, with a goal of year-round service out of Norfolk.

Additionally, Norfolk City Council voted in June to allocate $18 million to purchase the struggling MacArthur Center mall, which sits atop a 23-acre chunk of city-owned property that is prime for redevelopment. 

Alexander wants to see the city attract more meetings, conventions and concerts, all generating taxes paid by non-city residents. But that’s no easy feat. It takes not only a thought-out vision but cooperation from many stakeholders — public and private — and time. 

Nauticus plans to finish its $21.5 million renovations in time for Carnival Cruise Lines to begin year-round service to Norfolk in 2025, says the museum’s executive director, Stephen Kirkland. Photo by Mark Rhodes

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where [the city needs] to be investing heavily,” Alexander says. “Investing in hospitality, entertainment, travel and leisure allows [Norfolk] to generate the money to invest in schools and public safety as long as possible and keep the city beautiful.” 

Work in progress

Once touted as one of the city’s biggest projects in recent memory, the redevelopment of Military Circle Mall has seen little progress over the past several months. 

Norfolk’s Economic Development Authority purchased the failed mall and an adjacent hotel for $13.4 million in 2020. Demolition is underway, having started in April, with the main mall building set to be razed in late summer. It’s not clear what will wind up being developed on the cleared land, although there are hints.

The EDA solicited redevelopment proposals for the mall property in 2020, ultimately narrowing the pool to three finalists that were invited in early 2021 to submit plans for large mixed-use developments centered around multiuse entertainment arenas.

Then, without formally making or announcing a decision, the EDA opened talks in July 2022 with one of the finalists: a high-powered joint venture led by music superstar Pharrell Williams, Virginia Beach-based Venture Realty Group and California arena management company Oak View Group. (The same trio is developing the $350 million Atlantic Park project at Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront.) Their proposed Wellness Circle project calls for a 15,000-seat arena, 1 million square feet of office space, a 200-room hotel and 1,100 housing units.

Last November, when discussing the status of the project during his Mighty Dream Forum event in Norfolk, a slightly exasperated-sounding Williams said of the Wellness Circle proposal that the “ball’s in their court,” referring to city officials. Little has been shared publicly about the project since then.

Sean Washington, Norfolk’s interim economic development director, says the EDA is still negotiating with the Wellness Circle team, but some issues have come to the surface. 

Alexander says some unanswered questions remain about Wellness Circle’s plans, including who will pay for parking garages and infrastructure upgrades, as well as potential environmental impacts of the project. The mayor notes too that Norfolk-based Sentara Health owns about 15 acres of the land around Military Circle and two buildings there — 6015 Poplar Hall Drive and 824 N. Military Highway, the former JCPenney building — so that must also be incorporated into plans.

Another challenge is the prospective arena, and whether it is needed or wanted in Norfolk — and how much the city would have to pay in associated costs for it. 

“The public participation required for that asset is potentially more than the city would prefer to absorb,” says Washington, who became interim director in August 2022. Parking and infrastructure improvements would be part of the package if an arena is built, and “figuring out the actual end game” for the arena’s use — such as whether it would accommodate sports events, music acts, etc. — have slowed the process, he adds.

However, many city officials acknowledge that the 52-year-old Norfolk Scope arena is getting long in the tooth and isn’t big enough to accommodate larger modern music acts that bypass Norfolk for Washington, D.C., Charlotte, North Carolina, and other cities.

Norfolk’s slate of pending development projects was the result of “very, very strategic” efforts, says Sean Washington, the city’s interim economic development director. Photo by Mark Rhodes

Alexander says an alternative to building a new arena would be renovating the Scope so it can host “world-class concerts, collegiate basketball tournaments” and other high-profile events. Tearing down the Scope, he adds, is not being considered, even if Wellness Circle builds a new arena.

The mayor wants to make sure whatever replaces Military Circle is “the highest and best use of the land,” especially since the property is the physically highest ground in Norfolk — a big deal in a city threatened by flooding and sea-level rise. 

He expects to have more answers about Military Circle’s future by the end of this year. 

“We’re looking for development that will have some density there, because as we move from low-lying areas … we want to put everything on Military Circle,” including residential, commercial and industrial users, Alexander says.

Change in casino plans?

Meanwhile, plans for the HeadWaters Resort & Casino — a partnership between the King William-based Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Tennessee billionaire Jon Yarbrough — have changed significantly.

When voters approved the project in a November 2020 referendum, its developers were pitching a $500-plus million resort casino with a 300-room hotel, restaurants, an entertainment venue, a rooftop pool, thousands of slot machines and as many as 150 table games. Later, HeadWaters’s developers announced plans to open a 45,000-square-foot, single-story temporary casino with hundreds of slot machines in the Harbor Park parking lot as soon as March 2023, while the permanent casino was under construction.

The temporary casino didn’t materialize, however, and the casino project seemed to be in limbo until mid-June, when developers submitted plans to the city for a development certificate for the permanent casino —  announcing simultaneously that they were scrapping plans for the temporary casino.

“We have changed our approach and gone with a first-class experience from the get-go,” says Jay Smith, spokesperson for HeadWaters Resort & Casino.

According to the plan filed with the city, the permanent resort casino will be built in two phases. The first will focus on the casino, including a 45,000-square-foot gaming floor, restaurant and parking garage. While the plan doesn’t include details on the project’s second phase beyond renderings, Smith says phase two will include a hotel, outdoor pool, additional restaurants, an entertainment venue and other amenities.

HeadWaters’ developers plan to get the casino built and operational before moving on to the second phase, Smith says.

As submitted to the city, Alexander says, the casino plans fell short of what he was expecting. “Although it may be constructed in phases, I was not expecting them to turn [the plan] in phases,” Alexander says. The mayor adds that he was concerned by the lack of concrete details in the plan, as well as a lack of communication from developers on the casino’s application status with the Virginia Lottery, which must approve its operating license.

“We continue to ask them for the same information over and over again,” Alexander says. “I want all the details to accompany the pretty pictures. Submit the supporting documentation.”

However, in a March letter sent by the city to the casino developers, the city requested only conceptual details for the future phases of development, while it required details such as architectural renderings, building elevations and a site layout for the first phase, all of which were provided. 

While the casino project moves forward, another city property — MacArthur Center — could also provide dividends. 

The struggling downtown mall, built in 1999, is more than half empty and went up for sale in January. In a similar move to the city’s purchase of Military Circle mall, Norfolk City Council voted in early June to buy MacArthur Center for $18 million. (See related story.)

“We recognize the center is an important component of our downtown,” Alexander says. “The purchase will enable the city to take an active role — an active and strategic role.”

There has not been public discussion about what comes next, other than MacArthur Center continuing to operate as a mall as the city planned to reach out
to the mall’s tenants.

The mall has nearly 1 million square feet of leasable area and a multistory parking garage with about 4,000 spots. 

Strategic investments

Norfolk International Airport is another asset in the city that’s setting itself up for growth and change. More than 4 million passengers traveled through the airport last year, marking the busiest period in its 84-year history, and Norfolk Airport Authority CEO Mark Perryman knows accommodating more aircraft and processing more passengers is taxing its operations. A $30 million project is underway to rehab the airport’s main runway, renovations have been made to parking garages, and the terminals and concourses also will be modernized. Seven new gates will be added beginning next summer, along with a modern jet bridge, a central Transportation Security Administration Authority checkpoint and consolidated ticketing and baggage screening areas. Additionally, moving sidewalks are being reinstalled across a pedestrian bridge this summer, largely funded by $5.4 million from the Federal Aviation Administration. The original people mover was removed in 2017 instead of being repaired.

Perhaps the biggest change at the airport will be preparing for an on-site hotel, which will ease a citywide shortage of hotel rooms. In May, the airport put out a request for proposals, with a June 30 deadline, for the design, construction and operation of a hotel with around 150 rooms. 

Another major announcement at the end of 2022 was the increase of Carnival Cruise Line’s 26 sailings from Norfolk, up from 11 seasonal sailings in October and May. That number will increase further in 2025, and ultimately the cruise line expects to offer year-round weekly departures from Norfolk, bringing an estimated 200,000 unique passengers into the city in 2023 and about 300,000 by 2025.

By that time, the Nauticus maritime museum will have completed its $21.5 million refresh, with five new museum galleries, including exhibits on sea life and Elizabeth River fish species set to be open in late June. In October 2024, the museum will open galleries focused on the Navy, the Port of Virginia and a STEM-focused sailing exhibition.

Nauticus Executive Director Stephen Kirkland, who also oversees the cruise program, says the museum’s board knew they needed to make a major investment in their “core product,” adding that the expansion has been in the works since 2018, although the pandemic delayed completion.

Also downtown, the Chrysler Museum is getting some shine, as it expands its Perry Glass Studio by 18,000 square feet, a two-phase process expected to cost $55 million and conclude in fall 2024. The expansion will triple the size of the Perry Glass Studio and double its educational and programmatic offerings. 

Having all these improvements and new facilities arriving at the same time is helping to solidify plans for decades ahead for Norfolk’s arts and cultural scene — as well as the city’s economy, says Washington.

“Some people may think that all this investment is happening by coincidence at the same time,” he says, “but I would argue that it’s very, very strategic.”  

Norfolk at a glance

Harbor Park Photo courtesy Virginia Tourism Corp.

Located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Norfolk’s vast waterfront acreage has earned it the nickname of “the Mermaid City.” Home to Naval Station Norfolk — the world’s largest naval base — the city has capitalized on its strategic location as a hub for both defense and international shipping. However, Norfolk has grown beyond its maritime roots, developing a vibrant food and entertainment scene. The third most populous city in Virginia (behind Virginia Beach and Chesapeake), Norfolk is also a higher education powerhouse, home to Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Tidewater Community College, ECPI University and Tidewater Tech.

Population 242,742

Top employers

U.S. Department of Defense
(10,000-plus employees)

Sentara Health
(7,500 to 9,999 employees)

Norfolk Public Schools
(7,500 to 9,999 employees)

Norfolk city government
(2,500 to 4,999 employees)

Old Dominion University
(2,500 to 4,999 employees)

Major attractions

Tourist attractions in the Mermaid City include Nauticus maritime museum and the Battleship Wisconsin. Norfolk Botanical Garden, undergoing a $30 million renovation, the largest in its 85-year history, has 60 different gardens and offers a popular holiday lights display. The Chrysler Museum of Art, the Barry Art Museum at ODU and the Glass Light Hotel & Gallery collectively have the largest collection of glass to be viewed for free in the world.

Top convention hotels

Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel
 466 rooms, 42,210 square feet
of meeting space

Norfolk Waterside Marriott
 407 rooms, 68,879 square feet
of meeting space

Hilton Norfolk The Main
 300 rooms, 60,000 square feet
of meeting space

Professional sports

Norfolk Tides
Minor League Baseball
(Baltimore Orioles affiliate)

Norfolk Admirals
East Coast Hockey League

Norfolk airport hotel is ‘desperately needed’

An influx of 200-seat airplanes is bringing record numbers of passengers into Norfolk International Airport, leading officials to fast-track infrastructure upgrades and pursue construction of an airport hotel.

There is high demand for on-site lodging, especially among airline crews and travelers taking early morning flights, who often stay at downtown Norfolk hotels, says Norfolk Airport Authority President and CEO Mark Perryman. “Norfolk alone is down 1,000 hotel rooms. We’re contributing to filling that gap.”

Perryman envisions a 150-room hotel being built where the airport’s north short-term parking lot now sits, with the airport leasing the land to a hotel developer.

An airport hotel is “desperately needed — the sooner the better,” says Kurt Krause, president and CEO of VisitNorfolk, the nonprofit city convention and visitors bureau. Norfolk expects to reach 70% hotel occupancy this year. “When it hits that mark, the demand [will be] stronger than the inventory,” Krause adds, noting that the downtown hotel business has grown as more groups sponsor events.

More than 4 million passengers traveled through the airport last year, the busiest in its 84-year history. “We’re having to accommodate larger aircraft and process more passengers, which has taxed our operations,” Perryman says.

In April, a $30 million project will get underway to rehab the airport’s main runway, to be completed in late 2024.

And with renovations to two garages almost done and passenger loading bridge replacements targeted for completion this year, the airport also is accelerating terminal improvement projects in its 10-year capital plan. “Our terminal and concourses need to be modernized and expanded partly because of the larger aircraft,” Perryman says.

Beginning next summer, Concourse A will be redesigned, adding seven gates and a modern jet bridge. A central Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint will be established, and the ticketing and baggage screening areas will be consolidated.

Moving sidewalks will be reinstalled across pedestrian bridges this summer, largely funded by $5.4 million from the Federal Aviation Administration.

With the March arrival of Spirit Airlines, eight airlines now fly into and out of Norfolk. Outbound flights average 81% full capacity.

That bodes well for the region’s ability to attract and retain businesses, says Hampton Roads Alliance President and CEO Doug Smith.

“Passenger experience and connectivity is critically important,” Smith says. “It’s a very positive story to share with companies here and companies we are trying to attract.”

Sharing the wealth

Virginia small businesses are getting a piece of the biggest highway construction pie ever baked by the Virginia Department of Transportation: the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project.

Since April 2019, VDOT has awarded 313 contracts worth a collective $455 million to companies that qualify under the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business (SWaM) federal and state programs for government contractors.

“Thank God for this program,” says William André Gilliam, president of Metals of Distinction Inc., a Hampton-based welding and metal fabrication company that has so far been awarded $1.6 million in renewed contracts through DBE, a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Transportation. “I wish I could get more work like this, but unfortunately I only seem to get this kind of opportunity when there’s a requirement for DBE.”

The federal Department of Transportation designates DBE-qualified businesses, but certification is fully accepted throughout the state if a business is bidding for a contract in a project receiving federal transportation funds. SWaM certification, which is granted by the state Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, is needed for state contracts that don’t include federal funding.

Then-Gov. Ralph Northam directed executive branch agencies in 2019 to allocate more than 42% of discretionary spending to certified SWaM businesses, a policy that has not changed under Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

To qualify for DBE status, a company must meet certain criteria, including posting gross receipts not exceeding an annual average of $26.29 million over the previous three fiscal years. Also, business owners cannot have a personal net worth that exceeds $1.32 million, excluding equity in a primary residence and ownership interest in the company.

Among Virginia’s criteria to be certified as a small business for SWaM purposes, a company must be at least 51% independently owned, have fewer than 250 employees and report average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less for the past three years. To qualify as women- or minority-owned, companies must be majority-controlled by a woman or any person of minority ethnicity. In all three cases, the majority owners need to be U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens.

Queen Crittendon, VDOT’s civil rights manager for the Hampton Roads district, says SWaM- and DBE-certified businesses have important roles to play. Photo by Mark Rhodes

Road contracts

Typically, a certain percentage of work on large transportation projects such as the HRBT is allocated to DBE- or SWaM-certified vendors. 

The expansion of HRBT to four two-lane tunnels, which began construction in October 2020 and is expected to be finished in November 2025, pledged 12% of its contracts to DBE businesses and 20% to SWaM companies, says Brooke Grow, VDOT’s communication manager for the project.

As of early August, that goal had not been met, Grow notes, but the Hampton Roads Connector Partnership, the design-build joint venture running the project, “is tracking to achieve the established contract goals and demonstrates good-faith efforts in doing so.”

Queen Crittendon, VDOT’s civil rights manager for the Hampton Roads district, calls the inclusion of certified businesses “an important part of our culture. We want to ensure the maximum opportunity for small businesses to bid and participate in the procurement and contracting process. With the increase in federal transportation funding for highway and bridge improvement, VDOT will need the support of all businesses, including minority- and women-owned businesses, to meet the demands.”

Although out-of-state companies can apply for certification, Grow says 80% of the DBE/SWaM companies involved with the expansion project are based in Virginia, and 52% hail from Hampton Roads. 

One of those is Chesapeake-based Bryant-Ritter Hewitt Electric Corp., a 70-employee company founded in 2005. It has a contract through DBE and qualifies as both majority woman-owned and as a small business, says President Susan Ritter.

Her company has been DBE-certified for more than 10 years, and its contract is worth around $12 million for work performed over four years. 

It’s one of the three largest contracts the company has ever won and will involve several tasks, including installing around 50 overhead sign structures along the revamped span.

Ritter says state procurement programs for businesses like hers are “critically important. They’ve allowed our company to grow tremendously in both size and scope.” She adds that it’s “an honor” for her company to be working on the HRBT, which opened in 1957.

Since Bryant-Ritter Hewitt received its certification, Ritter says, DBE contracts have made it possible for the company to expand from mostly local work to larger jobs in the Richmond area and now a major project in Maryland: assisting with the replacement of the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac River, connecting the Northern Neck to southern Maryland.

Gilliam, too, says that DBE contracts have been invaluable to his business, which was started by his father in 1969. In 1999, Gilliam took over the welding company, which now has  12 employees, including Gilliam and his wife. Before winning contracts for work on the HRBT expansion, Metals of Distinction was awarded contracts associated with the expansion of the Midtown Tunnel that connects Norfolk and Portsmouth, and which was completed in 2017.

Working on big projects isn’t a magic bullet for future success — Gilliam says that “after the Midtown Tunnel, it seemed like no one knew who I was, so I had to get back out and grind at my business” — but he is thankful to be part of the HRBT expansion. His single $25,000 contract has been renewed dozens of times and has generated between $1.4 million and $1.6 million during the past two years. 

“I just wish other contractors could see how I operate my business,” he says. “With these contracts, at least I’m able to prove myself worthy.”  

FOR THE RECORD

CENTRAL VIRGINIA 

AutoZone Inc. plans to build a $185.2 million warehouse and distribution center in New Kent County, creating 352 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in February. The 800,000-square-foot facility will serve as the auto parts company’s East Coast distribution operation. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, AutoZone has more than 6,000 stores nationwide and reported $14.6 billion in sales in fiscal 2021. The deal includes a $2.5 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund that former Gov. Ralph Northam approved to assist the county, and AutoZone is eligible for benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone grant program. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Churchill Downs Inc. entered into an agreement to acquire Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC, the parent company of Colonial Downs Group and Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums, for $2.48 billion, Churchill Downs announced in late February. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, although it is dependent on approval from the Virginia Racing Commission and similar entities in New York and Iowa. Pacific’s assets in Virginia include the Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent and six Rosie’s sites across the state, as well as The Rose, a $400 million gaming facility and hotel being built in Dumfries, set to open in late 2023. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Massachusetts-based scientific equipment and software supply company Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will invest $97 million to expand its laboratory operations into three new locations in the greater Richmond area, a project expected to create more than 500 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in March. Two of the labs will be at the former Toys “R” Us store in western Henrico County, and the third will be at the VA Bio+Tech Park in downtown Richmond. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The University of Virginia Foundation wants to add a massive new mixed-use development with up to 1,400 homes to its North Fork industrial park property in Albemarle County, but concerns about water infrastructure could stop it in its tracks. In February, the foundation requested a rezoning of 172 acres of its approximately 540 acres from Planned Development Industrial Park to Neighborhood Model Development, to allow residential, commercial and retail uses. The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, though, has expressed concerns around the size and timing of the project.
(The Daily Progress)

Virginia Commonwealth University received an unprecedented $104 million donation from Dr. Richard Todd Stravitz and his family’s Barbara Brunckhorst Foundation to support liver research, President Michael Rao announced in February. It’s the largest gift in VCU’s history and also believed to be the largest publicly shared gift to support liver research in the country. It will support the liver institute that VCU first announced in December 2021. The gift also establishes two endowed chairs for medicine and microbiology at the School of Medicine. Stravitz, whose maternal grandfather founded Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Inc., is a clinical professor at VCU and was medical director of liver transplantation at VCU Health’s Hume-Lee Transplant Center for a decade. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Walgreens will invest $34.2 million to establish a micro-fulfillment center in Hanover County, a project expected to create 249 jobs, Gov. Glenn
Youngkin announced in late February. The 65,686-square-foot facility will be located at the Atlee Station Logistics Center and outfitted with automated machinery to allow a flexible operating model. Walgreens operates nearly 9,000 stores across the country and its territories, including 200 stores in Virginia, where it employs 4,600 people. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the county and the Greater Richmond Partnership to secure the project. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA 

Alarm.com announced in late February it will expand its technology research and development division at its Tysons headquarters, investing $2.6 million and creating 180 jobs, according to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office. The technology company already has several hundred workers in Virginia, and the expansion is expected to create additional engineering positions within its research and development division. Alarm.com was named to Fortune magazine’s list of 100 Fastest Growing Companies in 2021, and the company’s platform that integrates with a growing variety of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has more than 8.4 million subscribers. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Reston-based Leidos Holdings Inc. won an $11.5 billion contract to consolidate and streamline the Department of Defense’s Fourth Estate information technology systems into one common network, the Pentagon announced in March. More than 380,000 employees comprise the Fourth Estate, the nickname for DOD’s nearly two dozen defense agencies and field activities outside the military services and intelligence community. Under the contract, the Fortune 500 government contractor is expected to unify the agencies on one Defense Information Systems Agency network, with a potential 10-year period of performance and a base ordering period through February 2026. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Reston-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant Inc. has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Google LLC in an all-cash transaction valued at $5.4 billion, the companies announced in March. If approved, it would be Google’s second-largest acquisition ever, behind the $12.5 billion Motorola deal in 2012. When the deal closes later this year, Mandiant will join Google Cloud. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The $1.9 billion, all-cash acquisition of Falls Church-based government contractor PAE Inc. by an affiliate of Maryland-based aerospace defense contractor Amentum Services Inc. closed on Feb. 15. Founded 67 years ago, PAE was acquired by Lockheed Martin Corp. in 2006, sold to two other owners, and then became a publicly traded company in 2020 on  the Nasdaq. Following the sale, former PAE CEO John Heller was tapped as Amentum’s next CEO. He was set to take his new post March 28. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Tysons-based broadcast and digital media giant Tegna Inc. will be acquired in a $5.4 billion cash deal by an affiliate of New York hedge fund Standard General LP, the company announced in February. Standard General is one of Tegna’s largest shareholders and will team up with New York-based private equity firm Apollo Global Management to buy the media company for $24 per share in cash, with the deal set to close in the second half of the year. Tegna, which owns 64 TV stations in 51 U.S. markets, said the deal has an enterprise value of $8.6 billion, including the assumption of debt. The company was created in 2015 after Gannett Co. Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, spun off its broadcast and digital media divisions. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Washington Commanders NFL team is considering three sites in Virginia for a new stadium, which would serve as the centerpiece to a vast entertainment complex, according to planning documents prepared for the project. The Ashburn-based team is considering options in Sterling, Woodbridge and Dumfries, sites all at least 27 miles from Washington, D.C., and only the Sterling site would be accessible by Metro, assuming the Dulles extension on the Silver Line opens. The state’s efforts to lure the Commanders to the commonwealth have intensified, coinciding with the franchise’s rebrand in early February. (The Washington Post)

EASTERN VIRGINIA

Breeze Airways will expand flight offerings from Norfolk International Airport to Jacksonville, Florida; Los Angeles; Savannah, Georgia; and Las Vegas this summer. The new flights will range in price from $49 to $99 one-way, and increase based on customer comfort level. Breeze CEO David Neeleman said his company has five bases, including Norfolk. He says the expansion will also lead to more jobs. Breeze added flights to Long Island and Palm Beach, Florida, in February. (WAVY)

The most expensive Hampton Roads home sale on record happened in February for $9.5 million. A nearly 11,000-square-foot mansion on 3.7 acres overlooking Linkhorn Bay in Virginia Beach sold after about 18 months and was reduced from $11.8 million. The home features a saltwater pool, private sand beach and dock and was sold by former Virginia state Sen. and entrepreneur Jeff McWaters to Harbor Group International President T. Richard Litton Jr. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Demolition of the 65-year-old Ridley Place Housing Community in Newport News’ Southeast Community began in mid-February and is expected to take four months. The public housing complex will be replaced by a mixed-use, mixed-income development, including homes, commercial spaces, an early childhood center and a walking/biking trail and is part of a phased plan to revitalize the area. The $58 million Ridley project is funded by a $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhood Initiative. The city devoted an additional $26.7 million of its American Rescue Plan Act dollars for the project. (Daily Press)

On Feb. 28, California-based Rocket Lab USA Inc. picked Wallops Island as the location to manufacture, assemble and launch its Neutron rocket, a move that’s expected to create as many as 250 jobs. A 250,000-square-foot complex will be built next to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Rocket Lab recently landed a $24 million contract from U.S. Space Force’s Systems Command in support of Neutron’s capability to aid national security and defense missions. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Health care workers resigned in droves as the pandemic raged. During the past two years, Sentara Healthcare has spent more than $310 million on employee raises, benefits, gifts and other compensation to attract and retain workers. Bon Secours spent $100 million in 2021 on market adjustment pay increases and more than $87 million in bonuses related to the pandemic. Riverside Health System employees received a pay increase of up to 17% in January. Sentara says its actions led to a below average turnover rate of 14.5%, compared with a national average of 19.5%. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Former Virginia Beach Economic Development Director Warren Harris will serve no jail time after admitting to embezzling nearly $79,479 from city taxpayers during his 11-year tenure. Harris, who served from 2007 to 2018, was sentenced in Circuit Court in February and is required to repay the city. Among the expenses he charged was a 2018 trip to Spain. The city changed its policy allowing department heads to approve their own expenses after Harris’ resignation. (The Virginian-Pilot)

PEOPLE

Kern
Kern

Sentara Healthcare President and CEO Howard P. Kern announced his retirement from the Norfolk-based health system in early February. Kern worked in hospital administration, finance and insurance for Sentara for 42 years and has led the $9.8 billion system since 2016. Sentara was listed as one of the nation’s top five large health systems in the 2021 annual ranking by Fortune and IBM Watson Health. It employs more than 1,200 physicians and 30,000 other people. Kern said he would continue in his position until his replacement starts later this year; a search for a new CEO is underway. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

ROANOKE / NEW RIVER VALLEY 

A new $11 million Lowe’s warehouse and distribution center is expected to create 70 jobs in Roanoke County, the project’s developer announced Feb. 7. Lowe’s Cos. Inc. has hired Roanoke-based Cherney Development, in partnership with North Carolina-based Samet Corp., to build a 60,000-square-foot distribution warehouse and distribution center on an 8.45-acre site in Roanoke County’s Valley TechPark. Construction is expected to begin in the next few months and be completed within about a year. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is facing what it calls “greater uncertainty” after losing two crucial permits and the confidence of one of its five corporate partners. Yet developers of the natural gas pipeline are not giving up, they said Feb. 22 in a conference call with financial analysts. “We’re all hands on deck to find the right path forward for MVP,” said Thomas Karam, chairman and CEO of Equitrans Midstream Corp., the venture’s lead partner. Mountain Valley, which had hoped to complete the often-delayed project by this summer, no longer expects that to happen.
(The Roanoke Times)

The location of the New River Valley’s proposed rail station has been narrowed to one of two sites, each of which are in proximity to the Uptown Christiansburg mall, based on work performed by the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. The VPRA began a feasibility study this past fall to look at potential station locations in the New River Valley and then conducted a survey that ran from Dec. 22, 2021, to Jan. 31. Respondents’ general preferences were for the two Christiansburg mall sites. The start of the New River Valley service is not expected until at least 2025. (The Roanoke Times)

Virginia Tech leaders and donors broke ground Feb. 2 on the university’s $85 million, 100,000-square-foot Hitt Hall, which will house the Myers-Lawson School of Construction. The building, which is expected to be completed in spring 2024, will feature general assignment classrooms and a 600-seat multivenue dining facility. The Myers-Lawson School is a collaboration between the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the College of Engineering. The Virginia Tech board of visitors approved funding for the hall in August 2021. W.M. Jordan Co. is the construction manager, and the building is designed to obtain
or exceed the LEED Silver certification. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Officials from LewisGale Hospital Montgomery celebrated the groundbreaking of the facility’s new surgical wing Feb. 24 in Blacksburg. The hospital will add more than 7,500 square feet to its surgery department, including two new operating rooms, a 15-bed post-anesthesia care unit and additional storage space. Crews will also renovate 4,800 square feet of the existing surgery center. Construction is expected to finish in spring 2023. “What we’re trying to do is continue to stay with the community as it grows,” CEO Alan Fabian said. “We’re excited to provide services here at LewisGale Hospital Montgomery rather than have people travel outside of the area.” (The Roanoke Times)

PEOPLE

Maxey
Maxey

Roanoke College President Michael C. Maxey was elected chair of the Council of Independent Colleges’ board of directors, the council announced Feb. 7. Maxey joined the board in January 2018 and became vice chair for programs in 2021. Maxey, who has been with Roanoke College since 1985, announced in September 2021 that he would be retiring from his college presidency at the end of this academic year. He has served the longest of any Roanoke College president, having assumed the role in 2007. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA 

The Blue Ridge Rock Festival — an event that brought a record crowd of 33,000 people to Pittsylvania County in 2021 — is steering down the road this year to a new venue at Virginia International Raceway in Halifax County. The new location was officially announced Feb. 18 when tickets went on sale for the four-day festival set Sept. 8-11. The event will be the largest on record for the road racing course tucked away in rural Alton. (Danville Register & Bee)

A spot next to the Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex in Chatham could be a good fit for a new hotel, according to a feasibility study released in February. The hotel would have easy accessibility because of its location along U.S. 29 and provide good proximity to four airports, including those in Danville, Lynchburg, and Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina, according to the study performed by Horwath HTL, an Atlanta-based hospitality consulting firm. The ag complex brings in more than 100,000 visitors per year for a variety of events, and a hotel there would face no direct competition from Chatham. (Danville Register & Bee)

In late February, Danville announced it had been chosen to join an initiative led by the National League of Cities and commit to increase economic inclusion and resilience for communities of color. As part of the Southern Cities Economic Inclusion initiative, Danville joins 15 other cities in the Southeast that will receive up to $30,000 in grant funding and opportunities to learn from national experts and other cities. Economic inclusion strategies involve intentional engagement by cities to implement policies and programs to expand the participation of businesses and residents of color in the economy. (WDBJ)

A subsidiary of Lowell, Arkansas-based transportation company J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has acquired a subsidiary of Bassett-based home furniture and marketer Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. for $87 million. J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. finalized the purchase of Zenith Freight Lines LLC on Feb. 28, a deal funded by Hunt’s existing cash balance. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

A familiar face will take the helm of the Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce in April. Anne Moore-Sparks will serve as the chamber’s next president and CEO, the chamber announced March 7. She replaces Alexis Ehrhardt, who left last year to become the University of Virginia’s executive director for state government relations. “Anne is well-known in the community and will bring her connections and strong interpersonal skills to the Chamber,” said John Settle, chair of the search committee. A Danville native, Moore-Sparks worked for the city school system as a community engagement and business partnership specialist, a teacher quality specialist and as director of the Danville Public Schools Education Foundation. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Martinsville-based ValleyStar Credit Union promoted three executives to C suite-level positions in mid-February. Justin Barnes was appointed the credit union’s chief lending officer, Mendy Shaffer was tapped as interim chief financial officer and Robert Sparrow is ValleyStar’s new chief risk officer. Barnes joined the credit union in 2018 and was most recently vice president of commercial lending. Shaffer joined ValleyStar in 2018 as vice president of accounting. Sparrow joined the credit union in 2013 and was most recently vice president of risk management. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Amazon.com Inc. will open a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Augusta County, creating 500 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Feb. 23. The facility at 32 Trader Road in Fishersville will open in spring 2023 and will pick, pack and ship bulky or larger-size items, such as patio furniture, outdoor equipment or rugs. Amazon has more than 30 fulfillment and sorting centers and delivery stations in Virginia. The first opened in Sterling in 2006. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Developer Echelon Resources Inc. of South Boston is proposing a residential and commercial complex for the 1900 and 2000 blocks of Valley Avenue in Winchester. According to information presented March 1 to the Winchester Planning Commission, Echelon intends to buy the 17.34 acres needed to accommodate the Winchester Grove mixed-use complex from its current owners — Virginia Apple Storage Services LLC and Elms Properties LLC. The property has a total assessed value of $5.76 million. Echelon would construct and manage seven buildings containing 440 apartments, 19,457 square feet of commercial and restaurant space and 13,038 square feet of indoor amenities. The rezoning will go before the Planning Commission, the Planning and Economic Development Committee and City Council. (The Winchester Star)

Harrisonburg City Council voted Feb. 22 to approve Simms Pointe, an 80-unit affordable housing development on Lucy Drive. The development is geared toward nonstudent housing. Neighbors of the property had encouraged the council to vote against the proposal, citing concerns with the traffic, safety and other impacts to the neighborhood, as well as questioning the character of the Ohio-based developer, Woda Cooper Development. The approved special-use permit requires the complex to include a 6-foot fence and at least a 10-foot-tall landscaping buffer along the southern boundary of the property (Daily News-Record)

The Rockingham County Board of Supervisors voted Feb. 23 to deny Pennsylvania-based Dynamic Energy Solutions’ request for a special-use permit to build a large-scale solar energy facility outside Dayton. The project would have encompassed about 22 acres of a 50.7-acre parcel on the west side of John Wayland Highway, southwest of Huffman Drive. Dayton Mayor Cary Jackson and the town manager, Angela Lawrence, had asked the board to deny the project, and one of the concerns board members had was that the proposed facility would have been located in Dayton‘s annexation area for future growth. (Daily News-Record)

The Winchester-Frederick County Tourism Board decided Feb. 17 that it would release $290,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau in two phases over the next two years. Since it is jointly funded by the governments of Winchester and Frederick County, the CVB will receive $160,000 in ARPA funds from the county and $130,000 from the city. The funds are intended to support new marketing initiatives to bolster local tourism and can be used for expenses such as print, broadcast and online advertising; video production; social media campaigns; and targeted promotions. (The Winchester Star)

PEOPLE

William

Brandy William was appointed the next president and CEO of United Way of Northern Shenandoah Valley, effective March 15. William leads a staff of six at a United Way branch that has more than 50 community partners, 4,000 donors and 2,000 volunteers serving Winchester and the counties of Clarke, Frederick, Page and Shenandoah. She succeeds Nadine Bullock-Pottinga, who stepped down Dec. 31.
William was previously a fundraising and development specialist for the American College of Radiology and the development director for the Lorton Community Action Center. (The Northern Virginia Daily)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA 

The Appalachian Regional Commission announced on Feb. 22 funding for two projects in Southwest Virginia. The town of Lebanon will receive $500,000 for the Russell Theater Restoration Project to renovate and reopen the 5,590-square-foot Russell Theater. The restored theater is expected to attract businesses for live performances, concerts and other events. The second project, in the town of Wise, will also receive $500,000. The project will install 5,540 linear feet of sewer line to the Hamiltontown community located along Virginia State Route 758. (Bristol Herald Courier)

The Bristol Virginia Industrial Development Authority unanimously approved transferring a 2.88-acre tract of land at retail development The Falls to Georgia-based Tidal Wave Auto Spa Properties on Feb. 23. Tidal Wave Auto Spa Properties will develop a $5 million car wash project on its half of the parcel. Developer Martie Murphy said the company hopes to open it in the fourth quarter of this year. The business will employ 12 to 15 people. The company has pledged to grade the site and prepare the pad for an adjoining business, an unnamed fast food restaurant. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Project Fuse, a regional cooperative initiative to make Southwest Virginia a location of choice for remote employment, launched Feb. 18 with the release of a playbook to attract businesses. The Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority commissioned the playbook with support from the state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. InvestSWVA brought project members together. The study states that to attract businesses, localities need to have ubiquitous internet connectivity and reliable transportation networks; downtown office buildings with meeting space; affordable, diverse housing options in walkable areas; and established networks with academic partners. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Chicago-based custom sign manufacturer Signco Inc. will invest $650,000 to take over the former MC Signs facility at 334 Industrial Park Road in Bluefield, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced March 4. Signco, which is owned by Anthony Morrone and Vince Sclafani, designs, manufactures and installs signs for many industries, and the company has developed a new manufacturing process using 3D printing to make multidimensional LED letters. Signco expects to hire 19 workers at the facility. The company employs welders, painters, assemblers and computer numeric controlled (CNC) operators. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

On Feb. 22, Hard Rock International Inc. announced Allie Evangelista had been appointed as its president of hotel and casino operations in Bristol. She most recently served three years as a vice president and general manager for Penn National Gaming Inc. operations. Evangelista joined the gaming industry in 2006 as an assistant slot operations manager in Missouri and worked her way up into vice president and managerial roles at casinos in Iowa and Ohio. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Carl Snodgrass, Wise County’s chief economic development professional for three decades, died on Feb. 3 at age 84. Snodgrass began working for the county in 1992 and remained active with its Industrial Development Authority projects. He was instrumental in recruiting Dominion Energy Inc. to build the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, renovating the Inn at Wise, and creating the Lonesome Pine Business and Technology Park and bringing the Mineral Gap data center to it. He had served on Wise Town Council and as mayor. Before his county employment, Snodgrass helped launch the First State Bank, of which he became president. (The Coalfield Progress)

Breeze Airways takes off in Norfolk

Breeze Airways has been flying out of Norfolk International Airport less than six months, but the startup is steadily attracting passengers eager to satisfy their pent-up wanderlust.

Founded by aviation entrepreneur David Neeleman, the Salt Lake City-based airline began offering nonstop, low-cost flights out of 16 cities last spring. Service from Norfolk started June 10, with flights to Tampa, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. By August, the startup also had routes to Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh; and New Orleans.

Targeting leisure travelers, Breeze flies out of Norfolk two to four times a week. More than 18,000 passengers traveled on Breeze flights into and out of Norfolk during summer 2021, including 2,457 passengers in June, 5,159 in July and 10,523 in August. Charles Braden, Norfolk International’s director of market development, credits the spike to increased name recognition.

Still, the August numbers represent only about 3% of the airport’s passengers. “Breeze is relatively small compared to other airlines,” Braden notes.

Launching a new airline amid a pandemic is not the norm, he acknowledges, but from Breeze’s perspective, he explains, “the pandemic is a greater reason to start because of their intention to bring low-fare service to the public.”

Breeze, which focuses on smaller, secondary airports with routes averaging fewer than two hours in the air, is on track to invest $5.2 million in an operations center in Norfolk, creating 116 jobs, says Gareth Edmondson-Jones, the airline’s director of corporate communications. “There’s lots of growth to come,” he adds. “We look at where there is opportunity and the most demand. Norfolk fits that bill.”

The 116 employees include flight crew and maintenance personnel, Braden notes.

Some of Breeze’s 80 new A220 Airbus planes serving routes longer than two hours’ flight time could land in Norfolk after they enter service in spring 2022. “It’s safe to say you will see the A220 flying into Virginia,” Edmondson-Jones says, adding that the airline also plans to add cities to its network in 2022. Currently, Breeze flies a larger version of regional jets.

Braden believes the airline will continue to attract more Norfolk passengers. He notes that Breeze is one of five airlines started by Neeleman, including JetBlue Airways. “That gave the industry, as well as our local community, great confidence. There’s strong financial backing and strong management behind the airline, and their future is bright.”  

Breeze Airways setting up base in Norfolk

Breeze Airways, a new low-cost airline, will invest $5.2 million to build an operations center in Norfolk, producing 116 jobs, the governor’s office announced Friday. The airline also will offer nonstop flights out of Richmond International Airport and Norfolk International Airport.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup company, which offers service to mid-size U.S. markets, will include Norfolk as one of its first four operations bases in the United States, and it also will offer flights out of Richmond International Airport, Gov. Ralph Northam said in a news release Friday. The airline started accepting flight reservations Friday morning.

“Aviation has long been ingrained in the Hampton Roads economy, and the arrival of Breeze Airways is another sign of this region’s growing position as a commercial flight hub,” Northam said in a statement. “The post-pandemic world will offer increasing opportunities for travel and tourism, and the addition of this new low-cost carrier at Norfolk International Airport will be a catalyst for economic growth, welcoming visitors to our commonwealth with convenient, nonstop service to often overlooked markets. We are honored that Breeze Airways has selected Virginia as one of its first domestic locations and look forward to building a strong and successful partnership with the company.”

David Neeleman, who founded JetBlue and other airlines, is behind Breeze, which will begin offering flights in June, mainly in markets not served by other low-cost carriers. All employees, including airline crew and maintenance workers, will remain local, the governor’s office said.

“Breeze is excited to be announcing two destinations in Virginia: Norfolk and Richmond,” Neeleman said in a statement. “Norfolk, particularly, is a strong inbound destination with a significant number of unserved markets that will provide Breeze with many years of growth opportunities. We’re looking forward to providing Virginians with low fares and nonstop service, getting them where they’re going in half the time, usually for about half the price.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the city of Norfolk, the Norfolk Airport Authority and other regional and state organizations to secure the project. Northam approved a $400,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the city, and the company is eligible to receive benefits from the major business facility job tax credit for new full-time jobs created.