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Atlantic Park
Virginia Beach
Proposed in 2017 by music icon Pharrell Williams and Venture Realty Group, Atlantic Park finally got underway in March with a groundbreaking on the first phase of the $350 million surf park project. Phase one will involve 10.95 acres, including 309 multifamily units, 10,000 square feet of office space, a 70,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor entertainment venue and a 2.67-acre indoor lagoon — the first Wavegarden Cove facility in the nation — and two public parking decks. Various components of the project are estimated to open between December 2024 and March 2025, developers expect. The second phase will consist of additional attractions, retail, public parking and residential space. A conceptual plan has been in place for Phase Two for quite some time, and the development firm is in the process of finalizing the plan.
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel
Hampton and Norfolk
Work continues on the $3.9 billion transportation project — Virginia’s largest ever — in all areas along the nearly 10-mile corridor of Interstate 64. As of July, the project was more than 50% complete. In early March, construction crews completed the first traffic shift onto the temporary I-64 East south trestle, and contracting group Hampton Roads Connector Partners continues to work on the three other marine trestles that connect both Norfolk and Hampton to the islands. Mary, the project’s tunnel boring machine, has been digging two new tunnels between Norfolk and Hampton at a rate of 50 feet a day since April. The twin tunnels will take more than two years to complete, and the machine must be reconstructed when it reaches the North Island, before it can turn around and dig the second tunnel back to the South Island.
Crews have finished construction of the Slurry Treatment Plant, dubbed Katherine for late NASA Langley Research Center mathematician Katherine Johnson. The four-story treatment plant, which processes and removes dirt and other tunneling byproducts, is the largest of its kind in North America. Mining operations began in late April and, to date, have mined more than 500 feet and installed 91 rings for the tunnel construction. The contract completion date for the HRBT project is November 2025 — although work is behind schedule by more than a year. Nonetheless, the Virginia Department of Transportation continues to work closely with HRCP to mitigate delays and reach project milestones.
Fairwinds Landing
Norfolk
On June 29, developers held a groundbreaking event for Dominion Energy’s two-building Monitoring and Coordination Center (MCC). It joins Newport News Shipbuilding as the two largest tenants to date in Fairwinds Landing, a maritime operations and logistics center supporting Hampton Roads’ offshore wind, defense and transportation industries. Set to occupy the 122-acre Lambert’s Point Docks, the $100 million project is expected to be home for other major tenants, officials say. Fairwinds Landing is beginning to see an increase in vessels berthing at its facility that are supporting Dominion’s
$9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm, under development 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast. A limited liability corporation, Fairwinds Landing is a partnership between The Miller Group, Balicore Construction and Fairlead Integrated. Developers continue to predict the project will be largely completed in three to five years, with the MCC ready by 2025 and accommodating 200 construction and engineering jobs.
Stihl Inc. headquarters
Virginia Beach
Last year, Stihl Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the German chainsaw and outdoor power equipment manufacturer, announced a $49 million expansion, adding 26,000 square feet to its 60,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility in Virginia Beach. The company plans to increase its capacity to manufacture chainsaw guide bars by a third, creating 15 jobs.
The site for the guide-bar facility expansion was cleared in October 2022, and the building structure was completed in February. The construction is currently in the commissioning phase, with all machines expected to be installed by the end of this year. Production is estimated to begin in early 2024, the company said in June. Stihl is also expanding its battery manufacturing operations, with plans set to be announced later this year.
Fairbanks Morse Defense
Chesapeake
Fairbanks Morse Defense, which builds, maintains and services naval power and propulsion systems, opened its newest training and service center campus in Chesapeake on May 17. FMD moved 40 jobs from its former service center in Norfolk to Chesapeake and also added
10 jobs. The $13 million, 45,000-square-foot facility offers fully integrated service and technology solutions to the Navy, Military Sealift Command and Coast Guard fleets. The move to Chesapeake came after the Navy informed FMD it was interested in increasing the number of field service technicians and having the training facility close by. All equipment can now be serviced in the 25,000-square-foot service area in Chesapeake, and training across all products sold by FMD can be completed at the new facility’s 20,000-square-foot training space, instead of in Wisconsin, where it was previously conducted.