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byline: Kate Andrews

Va. Beach hotels may not sell out for SITW

Something in the Water, the three-day Virginia Beach music festival helmed by music superstar Pharrell Williams, is a big economic deal for Hampton Roads — but whether area hotels will sell out is still up in the air.

As of Thursday evening, a quick scan of Expedia.com showed some remaining rooms near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, ranging between $249 a night at Seashire Inn & Suites to $599 at Boardwalk Resort and Villas. A few weeks ago, Oceanfront rooms were advertised in the $800 to $1,000 daily range, but as Something in the Water’s return to the beach got closer, prices got more realistic.

In 2019, the first year the festival was held and the last time it was in Virginia Beach, the area hotel occupancy rate during SITW was above 94%, according to Kurt Krause, president and CEO of Visit Norfolk. The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, and temporarily moved to Washington, D.C., last year.

This time, Krause and his colleagues in Virginia Beach are hoping for occupancy rates between 85% and 90%. “That’s not selling out,” he said, noting that spillover hotel room sales in Norfolk and other parts of southern Hampton Roads are “not the same as it was four years ago.”

Nevertheless, downtown Norfolk hotels sell out nearly every weekend, and nightly rates there run in the $300s, a boost from pre-pandemic prices primarily due to inflationary price hikes, Krause observed.

John Zirkle Jr., president of the Virginia Beach Hotel Association, corporate director of operations for Harmony Hospitality and general manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Virginia Beach, echoed Krause’s comments.

“We’re a little softer than we were in 2019,” he told Virginia Business on Thursday, saying he has heard similar stories from other beach hoteliers. But Zirkle wasn’t worried. “We’re all very encouraged that it’s going to be a sellout or near sellout for the resort area.”

In the resort area between Second and 17th streets, where the festival will be held, many hotels initially required two- or three-night minimum reservations, but those restrictions were removed as the festival neared. Regardless, hotels are planning for sellout crowds and staffing up accordingly, Zirkle noted.

Still, he also doesn’t think the demand for rooms in nearby Hampton Roads cities will be as strong for this year’s festival. “In 2019, I think all of Hampton Roads was full. I don’t think we’ll see quite that big of an impact this year.”

Some concerns, Zirkle notes, could be affecting hotel occupancy rates, including later announcements of performers and set times, and possibly more short-term rental options being available — although those properties will mostly be further away from the festival and more expensive than hotel rooms, he says. Additionally, the forecast is calling for rain during the long festival weekend, which could deter some last-minute attendees.

The festival effect

Far, far away from Hampton Roads, the two-weekend Coachella festival in Indio, California, prompted a boost in hotel prices earlier this month. According to Isaac Collazo, vice president of analytics for STR Inc., a division of CoStar Group Inc. that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality industry, the Palm Springs, California, submarket that includes the concert site had a 92% hotel occupancy rate during the two weekends of Coachella, and a $511 average daily room rate. On non-Coachella festival weekends this year, hotels were 80% full, with room rates averaging $296 a night.

“There is a bump you expect to happen” from festivals, said Collazo, who attended Coachella this year and has tickets for the Austin City Limits festival in Texas this October. South by Southwest, the March music, film, TV and tech festival held in Austin, is another event that increases hotel room prices, he adds — noting that some well-established festivals like SXSW and Coachella have “industry appeal. It’s like a corporate event.” That means attracting celebrities, influencers and well-heeled corporate types who are fine with paying for a $1,000-plus hotel room, Collazo said.

It’s hard to tell yet whether Something in the Water could be seen as having similar networking appeal or will achieve  that status in the future. Virginia Beach native Williams, who hosted the Mighty Dream business conference in Norfolk last November, is part of the development team behind Atlantic Park in Virginia Beach, and was hired as creative director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s fashion line in February, typically emphasizes equity, diversity and inclusion in business in his Virginia projects, as well as collaboration and networking opportunities. In 2019, Something in the Water included panel discussions at the Virginia Beach Convention Center — although this year is limiting its business focus to a pitch contest on Saturday for local entrepreneurs.

This year’s festival has “more of a celebration feel,” with three local music stages, “dozens and dozens of local vendors,” and partnerships with area businesses, said Robby Wells, SITW’s executive producer and an executive with I Am Other, Williams’ strategic consulting and creative collective. Although Wells said Thursday he didn’t have a full breakdown of who purchased tickets for the 2023 festival, “a significant portion are from drivable markets,” i.e., fans from Virginia and other states on the East Coast.

But one sign that there are high rollers at SITW is the sellout of all VIP tickets, ranging from $525 to $600 each, and the ultra-exclusive Yellowzone passes, which cost $2,000 for access to “prime viewing area” at both stages, a dedicated merchandise store and an air-conditioned VIP area at Waterman’s Surfside Grille, among other perks.

Still, most SITW attendees will be young fans of hip-hop, rock, R&B and pop music, Collazo said, many of whom “can’t afford $1,000 room rates.”

Zirkle said SITW brings a diverse crowd to Virginia Beach — mirroring the character of the city. In 2019, he said, SITW “brought a sense of togetherness and community,” and that’s what he’s hoping for with this year’s event.

Even if the hotels don’t sell out, “yay for Hampton Roads, and yay for Virginia Beach for doing it,” Krause said. “The excitement around Pharrell — that will attract people.”

Richmond baseball stadium agreement reached — with year delay

The city of Richmond has reached an agreement with developers RVA Diamond Partners on the $2.44 billion Diamond District development and a new baseball stadium expected to open in spring 2026 — a year later than Major League Baseball’s April 2025 deadline.

Now it’s up to MLB to decide whether to grant the city an extra year or move the Richmond Flying Squirrels Double-A team to another home, but Richmond officials are hoping the forward momentum will be enough to keep the Squirrels in place. A spokesman for Richmond Flying Squirrels said the team had no comment to make at this time.

According to city documents made public Tuesday, the stadium will cost $90 million instead of $80 million reported previously, and the new ballpark will have 9,000 capacity instead of 10,000.

Although the 38-year-old Diamond’s aging condition has been a persistent problem that led to the Triple-A Richmond Braves’ departure in 2008, a 2020 decision by Major League Baseball to require all Minor League Baseball teams’ host municipalities to bring their stadiums up to league standards by opening day 2025 or lose their teams, has created more urgency in Richmond.

Jason Guillot, principal of Thalhimer Realty Partners, one of the development team partners, noted that Richmond is far from alone among cities running behind on renovating or replacing their MiLB stadiums by MLB’s 2025 deadline.

“You’ve got COVID, you’ve got this run-up in interest rates,” Guillot said. “It’s not been easy for municipalities.” That said, “the hope is that MLB and the Squirrels will be able to work with us.” According to the city, the federal interest rate rose from 0.08% in October 2021, when the Diamond District request for proposals was announced, up to 4.83% currently.

Monday night’s announcement followed the Richmond City Council’s introduction of language to approve the city’s agreement with the joint venture that includes Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners; Washington, D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp.; Chicago-based Loop Capital Holdings LLC; and San Diego venue developer JMI Sports.

City Council also will vote in coming weeks to convey nearly 61 acres of the 67-acre Diamond District footprint to the Richmond Economic Development Authority, and that land — which does not include the new stadium’s property, which will remain city-owned — will be sold to RVA Diamond Partners for $68.3 million, including $16 million for the first phase, according to a fiscal and economic impact study produced for the city by Davenport & Co. That’s a change from earlier plans, and the city also expects to create a larger incremental tax district beyond the 67 acres to pay for infrastructure improvements that will create better walkability for surrounding neighborhoods, Guillot said.

According to the Richmond City Council website, the two ordinances are scheduled to appear on the May 1 Organizational Development Standing Committee agenda — one to authorize Richmond’s chief administrative officer to execute the project development agreement, and a second to convey the 61 acres to the city EDA. If approved, the two measures could appear on City Council’s May 8 agenda. The second item will require a seven-vote majority to pass, since it involves the city’s transfer of property.

Also, the city will be responsible for the public infrastructure in phase one of the project, which includes construction of the stadium. “Funding will come from multiple sources, including cash from land sales, public utilities’ enterprise funds and general obligation bonds as capital improvement projects,” the city’s announcement said.

The Davenport report was made public Tuesday and includes the following financial details:

  • Despite the higher cost of the stadium, the overall project is still expected to cost $2.44 billion, as anticipated last September.
  • Phase 1 is expected to cost $627.6 million.
  • Non-recourse CDA revenue bonds are expected to provide about $80 million of $110 million in funding for the stadium.
  • The developer will still pay $20 million in non-recourse subordinate loans to fund the stadium’s construction, which will be repaid after the payment of the CDA bonds and meeting specific targets.
  • The sale of the phase 1 land to the developer will provide the city about $10 million of equity for the stadium.

The Davenport report anticipates a net benefit ranging from $1.01 billion to $1.07 billion through fiscal year 2068, after the maturing of CDA revenue bonds for the fourth and final phase, and through 2035, the city can expect between $9.1 million to $16.4 million in economic benefits — although costs will likely supersede revenue in the second half of the decade. The difference in revenue depends on CDA bonds’ interest rates, the report says.

According to the city’s announcement Monday, the project will still include 2,800 residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and two hotels.

Next, the city must rezone the 67-acre Diamond District and create the Stadium Signage Overlay District, create a Community Development Authority and design standards, and reach lease agreements with the Flying Squirrels and Virginia Commonwealth University. The developer must also submit the subdivision of the land to Richmond City Council to create the new Diamond District.

Earlier this month, Lou DiBella, president and managing partner of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, expressed concern over the delay of firm plans for the stadium and surrounding development.

“This is not about your Flying Squirrels wanting a new ballpark,” DiBella said in a statement April 11. “If there isn’t a stadium built that meets prescribed MLB guidelines, is suitable for professional baseball, and is worthy of the great city of Richmond, there will be no Opening Day 2026 in RVA.”

Va. tourism pitch hits Saks Fifth Ave. windows

New Yorkers and Manhattan visitors will spot an intriguing sight at the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship department store — two windows featuring a Virginia tourism campaign.

Virginia Tourism Corp., United Airlines and Saks partnered to highlight three high-end resorts in Virginia — the Historic Cavalier Hotel and Beach Club in Virginia Beach, Keswick Hall in Albemarle County, and Middleburg’s Salamander Resort & Spa — in two windows at the luxury department store at the corner of 50th Street and Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The windows, which include the state’s famous slogan “Virginia Is for Lovers,” were unveiled Friday and will remain in place for two weeks, according to the VTC.

Depicting mannequins in resort clothing and surrounded by enlarged photos of fields, horses, dogwood blossoms, the seashore and other Virginia scenery, the two windows are promoting the tourism corporation’s 15 Luxury Resort Collection properties that are marketed to United MileagePlus members. In addition to the three resorts featured in the Saks windows, other properties include the Inn at Little Washington, The Jefferson Hotel, Williamsburg Inn and Primland Resort.

“Virginia is an ideal destination for travelers hoping to reconnect with themselves and their loved ones,” VTC President and CEO Rita McClenny said in a statement. “A luxury vacation in Virginia serves up the opportunity to sip and savor fine wines, superior whiskeys, superlative oysters and award-winning, farm-fresh cuisine.”

DroneUp to deliver meds to Eastern Shore

Virginia Beach-based unmanned flight company DroneUp will launch a project to deliver medications via drone to patients on the Eastern Shore and Tangier Island as part of a collaboration with Riverside Health System and the Virginia Institute for Spaceflight & Autonomy (VISA) at Old Dominion University, among other partners.

The project received $1.877 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SMART Grants Program as one of 59 winning proposals out of a pool of 389 applications. The medical cargo drone delivery project, which was Virginia’s only SMART Grant-winning entry, will first test and plan delivery of prescription medicines to patients living in rural parts of the Eastern Shore and Tangier Island, according to the Monday announcement. After stage one is complete, the project will move into full implementation. Drones will leave Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital carrying medications to patients’ doorsteps, and both the hospital and patients will be able to track the drones’ progress in real time.

Riverside will begin the program with a focus on delivering hypertension medicines, as the condition is more common in the Eastern Shore than in other parts of the state.

In addition to Riverside, DroneUp and VISA, other partners in the medication delivery project include the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission and Virginia Innovative Partnership Corp., which includes the Unmanned Systems Center.

“We are excited to see the first medical cargo drone take flight from RSMH in May,” says Nick Chuquin, president of Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital, based in Onancock. “The Eastern Shore is a unique geographical area with a rural makeup that can pose accessibility challenges for patients in need of prescription medication. We know that drone service delivery to our patients living in rural areas of our community will not only improve access to medications but also improve patient outcomes and overall health.”

According to the announcement, the partnership is working closely with USDOT to finalize documentation and begin project work on June 1.

DroneUp, founded in 2016, announced in August 2022 that it planned to add 655 jobs as part of an expansion that includes establishing a $20 million drone testing, training and research and development center at Richard Bland College in Dinwiddie County. In May 2022, DroneUp and Walmart announced plans to expand drone delivery services to 4 million homes in six states. Walmart has a minority stake in DroneUp.

Harvey Lindsay Jr., Norfolk real estate icon, dies at 93

Harvey L. Lindsay Jr., chairman and former president of Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, died Wednesday at the age of 93, the Norfolk firm announced Thursday. In addition to his nearly 70-year career in real estate, Lindsay was a Korean War veteran and an active volunteer in Hampton Roads civic organizations, as well as an early civil rights activist.

“Harvey was an eternal optimist and a true servant leader who believed in empowering individuals to take care of their neighbors,” said Robert M. King, one of Lindsay’s sons and current president of the real estate firm, which was started by Harvey Lindsay Sr. “Throughout his career, my dad believed that what was good for people was good for business. His solid unyielding values are embedded in the culture of our company. All of us at Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate are committed to honoring his legacy of leadership and community service in the Hampton Roads region.”

Lindsay, who served on the Korean War’s front lines as a Marine lieutenant and graduated from the University of Virginia, joined his father’s company in 1954 and became president of the firm in 1969. He continued as chairman up to his death and, according to his grandson Bobby Beasley III, was still a regular presence in the firm’s office up through last week.

“He treated everybody like family,” Beasley said Thursday. “He taught me how to always have an interest in someone’s life. He loved this city, and the city was very good to him.”

Over his career, Lindsay was part of many major real estate developments in Hampton Roads and the Peninsula, including Tidewater Community College, Military Circle Mall, City Center at Oyster Point, Dominion Tower and the Village Shops at Kingsmill. He also was closely involved with Old Dominion University, where the commercial real estate program was named for him.

A conversation with a Black soldier during the Korean War prompted Lindsay to take action to support desegregation when he returned home to Virginia, Beasley said, which was a courageous plan in 1950s Virginia. In the foxhole, the soldier had said that even though he was on the front lines of a U.S. military conflict, as a Black man, he wasn’t treated the same as white people at home. Lindsay took the story to heart, and he chaired a racially mixed citizens advisory committee that pushed to reopen Norfolk public schools, which had closed down instead of integrating. Lindsay later helped found the Urban Coalition, a precursor to the Urban League of Hampton Roads, and served as its president.

“At a time when taking a bold stance on race relations in Southern Virginia was risky, Mr. Lindsay stood for what was right, demonstrating uncommon courage,” Gilbert Bland, president and CEO of the Urban League of Hampton Roads, said in a statement. “He continued to be an ally throughout his whole life in support of the Urban League and our mission, as well as support of other like-minded organizations. And he was a personal friend. Hampton Roads is a stronger, more inclusive community because of his efforts.”

Beasley, the son of Lindsay’s daughter Franny Beasley and vice president of industrial sales and leasing at the firm, says his grandfather preferred to steer attention away from himself and often gave to others anonymously. “He always wanted to help people.”

One of his grandfather’s joys was attending his children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events. “He’d come out in a suit and tie and stand on the sidelines and root us on,” Beasley said. Another pleasure was having a hot dog with mustard and relish, and a vanilla milkshake from Doumar’s, his grandson remembered. Often, the two would eat their meal together at the office, and Lindsay would tell Beasley stories about the war, the civil rights era and the legacy of his own father, whom he called “a great real estate man [who] did a lot of great things” in a 2021 interview with Virginia Business.

Lindsay also served as president of the Norfolk Community Concert Association, director of the U.S. Naval Base Little League, director of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and a board member of the Access College Foundation, as well as raising money for local chapters of the Boys & Girls Club and the United Way, and the Union Mission Ministries’ $30 million campus in Norfolk. In 2018, he was given the Darden Award by the Civic Leadership Institute in Norfolk, and was named First Citizen of Hampton Roads by LEAD Hampton Roads in 2014.

Lindsay had five children, including Bob and Billy King, the sons of Robert M. King Jr., a naval pilot who died in a training flight accident in 1954. Lindsay adopted the brothers when he married King’s widow, Frances, and had three more children. Frances Lindsay died in 2018 at the age of 88, and Harvey Lindsay is survived by his five children, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and other family and friends. A celebration of his life will be announced later, Beasley said.

Potomac Yard Metro station opening May 19

Potomac Yard Metro station will open May 19, Alexandria’s mayor and Metro’s CEO announced Wednesday. Metro’s 98th station, it will be located near Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus and Amazon.com Inc.’s Arlington HQ2 East Coast headquarters.

“Our team is working hard to put the finishing touches on the station, and we look forward to welcoming customers on May 19,” said Randy Clarke, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s general manager and CEO, in a statement. “This station opens a multitude of possibilities for those who live and work in Alexandria by providing a gateway to the region and all the city has to offer. We appreciate the hard work and vision of the city to turn an idea more than 40 years in the making into reality, and we look forward to welcoming customers to our newest station.”

Potomac Yard, which fills in the space on the Blue and Yellow lines between the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Braddock Road stations, was originally set to open last April but was slowed down by late deliveries by contractor Potomac Yard Constructors and safety concerns with Metro’s 7000-series trains. In December 2022, WMATA announced it expected to open the Potomac Yard station in May, following approval by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, the city of Alexandria, Metro and the fire marshal. Metro will complete all safety reviews and provide staff training before opening for passenger service next month, according to Wednesday’s announcement.

The city initiated the project and, with private partners, invested $370 million, and the contractor was awarded a $213.7 million contract. The station is one of the first rail stations in North America to receive a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) designation from the U.S. Green Building Council.

“It’s not cliché to say, in this instance, ‘Dreams really do come true,'” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said in a statement. “Bringing Metro to Potomac Yard has been Alexandria’s most significant economic development, transportation and climate initiative. While not always easy, the opening of this station is a monumental achievement for the city, WMATA, and its contractors. But more importantly, this station is the legacy of a legion of Alexandrians who never gave up the dream.”

According to Metro, the station is expected to generate billions of dollars in new private sector investment over the long term and eventually support 26,000 new jobs and 13,000 new residents.

Report: Snyder agrees to $6B sale of Commanders

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder has agreed to sell the Ashburn-based NFL team for a record-breaking $6 billion, according to several news reports Thursday. The buyers are a group of investors that includes NBA legend Magic Johnson and is led by two Maryland billionaires, Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris and Danaher Corp. co-founder Mitchell Rales.

Sportico, a sports business website, broke the news Thursday afternoon, and The New York Times released a story about half an hour later reporting the purchase agreement, a record-setting amount for any professional sports franchise. In late March, ESPN reported two $6 billion offers for the Commanders, including Harris’ offer and a second bid by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos.

The team’s reported buyers are a group led by Harris, who is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and also owns the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, and Rales of Potomac, Maryland.

In recent days, The Washington Post and others reported that Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, who had previously indicated interest in the team, had decided not to make an offer.

Snyder, the team’s owner since 1999, and the team’s head office have come under scrutiny by the NFL and Congress for alleged sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment. His wife, Tanya, took over as co-CEO of the team in 2021, after the NFL’s $10 million fine of the team for an “improper” and “highly unprofessional” workplace culture. At the time, there seemed to be little appetite among team owners to force the Snyders to sell. According to NFL bylaws, it would take the agreement of 24 team owners to oust another owner.

In November 2022, Dan and Tanya Snyder hired Bank of America Securities to consider potential sales, the Ashburn-based NFL team announced. Any sale would require approval of three-fourths of the 31 team owners.

According to The New York Times, the Harris group must submit its proposal to the NFL’s finance committee, followed by the entire group of owners. That could take place in the next several weeks; the owners are set to meet May 22-23 in Minneapolis.

Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management and a Bethesda, Maryland, native, and Rales, a resident of Potomac, Maryland, who is a co-founder of Danaher Corp., are the major funders of the deal, according to reports. The same group, which includes former L.A. Laker Johnson as a limited partner, made a failed bid to buy the Denver Broncos last year. That team went to Walmart heir Rob Walton for $4.65 billion, setting a sales record for an NFL sports team.

Apostolopoulos, the other Commanders bidder, founded Six Ventures Inc., a private equity fund, and is managing partner of the Toronto-based real estate firm Triple Group of Cos. He was previously interested in purchasing the Charlotte Hornets team, ESPN reported.

Of particular interest to Virginians may be the prospect of a future stadium in the commonwealth. Although the General Assembly backed off a generous incentive package to lure the Commanders’ next stadium to Virginia while Snyder and his team were being investigated by Congress and the NFL, a new owner may change the equation. The team has a contract to continue playing at Landover, Maryland’s FedEx Field until the end of the 2026 season, but the team has been open about wanting to build a new stadium. Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed $500,000 in state funding to study ways to encourage the team to build in Northern Virginia, funding that could be included in the state’s 2024 budget.

In December 2022, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a report finding that “sexual harassment, bullying and other toxic conduct” took place in the franchise’s operations, and that Dan Snyder attempted to intimidate witnesses in the congressional investigation. The NFL also launched a second probe of the team in February 2022, led by Mary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Earlier this week, the L.A. Galaxy soccer team announced it had hired the Commanders’ chief creative and digital officer, Will Misselbrook, as its chief creative and content officer.  He was tapped in May 2021 to lead the team’s rebrand after it dropped the name Redskins in favor of the Washington Football Team and later the Commanders.

Data center park headed for Surry County

A Middleburg developer plans to build at least 30 data centers on a 641-acre plot next to the Surry Nuclear Power Station in Surry County, with the possibility of a hydrogen and nuclear-powered green energy production facility in the future, the county announced Wednesday.

John Andrews, CEO of Middleburg-based Green Energy Partners LLC of Virginia, is a longtime Northern Virginia developer who built the Stonewall Energy Park in Loudoun County, including the Panda Stonewall Power Project, a natural gas-fueled 778-megawatt power station that uses wastewater from Leesburg to run the plant’s cooling tanks. Andrews also built Stonewall Secure, a business park near the Leesburg Executive Airport, as well as Fairfax County’s Spring Park Technology Center.

GEP is under contract to purchase the 641-acre property where the Surry Green Energy Center is set to be built, said Renee Chapline, a consultant with Surry County Economic Development.

According to Bill Puckett, Green Energy Partners’ vice president of strategic development, the company plans to build at least 30 data centers occupying three to five acres each, with construction starting in the next 18 months. The data centers would create revenue for the company to build a hydrogen-production facility on 10 to 20 acres and four to six small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) “on the order of 35 acres” — a system that would create a renewable energy source in the next 10 to 15 years to run the data centers if approved by federal and state officials. The data centers would run on conventional energy sources in the meantime, Puckett said.

If all goes as planned, the Surry facility would serve as a backup energy source for Loudoun County data centers, where 70% of the world’s data traffic passes.

Andrews is privately funding the data centers, but the company is currently interviewing prospective customers, and tech investors are “banging on our door,” Puckett says. GEP is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory and Surry County, and the company is also having conversations with SMR vendors, data center builders and hydrogen power experts. The company expects to create 3,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Surry area, although some may come in 10 to 15 years, if all parts of the project move forward.

SMRs have come up in Virginia’s energy sector before; in 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin called for the country’s first small modular reactor to be built in Southwest Virginia within 10 years as part of the state’s strategy to meet Virginia Clean Economy Act goal of 100% carbon-free power sources by 2050. A bill to conduct an SMR pilot program failed this year in the Virginia General Assembly, but nuclear energy is still a hot topic among state energy stakeholders. Youngkin anticipates that it would take about 10 years to build a functional SMR in Southwest Virginia, although Puckett says that depending on the model, an SMR could be up and running in five years in Surry. Although the only working commercial SMR in the world is in Russia, many countries are testing models.

The data center part of the project is fairly straightforward, and it’s a major deal for Surry County, Chapline said. GEP did not seek state tax incentives, she noted, although the governor’s office and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership have been briefed on GEP’s plans. She expects groundbreaking on the data center park to take place in about a year.

Puckett said Wednesday that ultimately the Surry Green Energy Center would use SMRs to heat water to 800 degrees, splitting the water into oxygen and hydrogen with the use of an electrolyzer that turns it into carbon-free hydrogen fuel. If built, the energy center would be the first of its kind in the United States. Surry was “ideal” for the development because it has plenty of available land and water, as well as fiber optics, gas lines, electric grid access and proximity to the Port of Virginia, Puckett said.

“Our objective is to create a model for the world,” Puckett said.

 

Anthem taps new Virginia president

Monica Schmude has been named president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Virginia, the health care insurer announced Wednesday. She was previously president of Cigna’s mid-Atlantic market.

“Monica brings a commitment to fulfilling our mission of improving the lives and communities we serve across the state,” Kurt C. Small, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s east region, said in a statement. “She has an in-depth knowledge of the health care industry and recognizes the importance of supporting and enhancing the whole health of a person. Monica is a proven leader who understands the specific needs of our members, employer customers and provider partners here in Virginia.”

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Schmude held several executive positions over the past 13 years at Cigna, including leading the mid-Atlantic market, which includes Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and as president of Cigna’s Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and Ohio market. She’s spent nearly 30 years in the health insurance industry and replaces Jeff Ricketts, who retired as Anthem’s Virginia president in September 2022.

Outside of work, Schmude is a board member for the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, as well as a founding member of the Champions for Children network at the Lourie Center for Children’s Social & Emotional Wellness in Rockville, Maryland.

“I’m honored to be asked to lead Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Virginia, a place I call home and know so well,” Schmude said. “We have a talented, dedicated team in Virginia focused on innovation and collaboration in order to bring greater affordability and better health outcomes for the people and businesses we serve. I look forward to working with the team to continue and further those efforts.”

Anthem’s Virginia service area includes the whole state with the exception of Fairfax city, Vienna and the area east of state Route 123.

Squirrels president is worried over ballpark timeline

The Richmond Flying Squirrels are worried that a new stadium may not be ready by April 2025 as needed to meet new Major League Baseball regulations, according to the Minor League Baseball team’s president and managing partner, Lou DiBella. In a statement Tuesday, DiBella said that there has been “very little progress” from the city and its chosen development team toward getting a new stadium built on time.

“Since the Diamond District was announced, there has been very little progress for plans for a new stadium,” DiBella said. “Much needs to get done, but we are out of time to meet the requirements of Major League Baseball. This is not about your Flying Squirrels wanting a new ballpark. If there isn’t a stadium built that meets prescribed MLB guidelines, is suitable for professional baseball, and is worthy of the great city of Richmond, there will be no Opening Day 2026 in RVA.

“Sadly, with imminent deadlines looming, we cannot be confident that the future of the Squirrels in Richmond is secure. The next three or four weeks will be critical with respect to moving forward in the hometown that we love.”

DiBella referred to MLB’s new requirements for MiLB stadiums that must be met by the start of the 2025 season — or else the city will lose its team. The state of the aging Diamond, which was built in 1985 as home of the Triple-A Richmond Braves team, has been a persistent problem for both the Braves, who relocated to the Atlanta region in 2008, and the Double-A Flying Squirrels, who moved to Richmond in 2009 amid promises of a new downtown stadium plan that failed. The Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team also plays at the Diamond.

In 2014, ownership of the Diamond was transferred from the Richmond Metropolitan Authority to the city, but Richmond officials didn’t take action toward replacing the Diamond until late 2021, under new stadium standards set by MLB in 2020.

The city’s last major announcement about the Diamond District took place in September 2022, when the city announced it had selected a joint venture known as RVA Diamond Partners LLC as the project’s developer. The group includes Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners; Washington, D.C.-based Republic Properties Corp.; Chicago-based Loop Capital Holdings LLC; and San Diego venue developer JMI Sports. According to the city’s announcement, the group committed to purchase the first $20 million of bonds needed to finance the stadium. Since September, however, there have been no public updates on a construction timeline or design specifics on the new ballpark.

RVA Diamond Partners released a statement Tuesday night: “RVA Diamond Partners (RVADP) continues to work with city leadership and staff to finalize the legal, financial and programmatic details required to bring this bold and ambitious project to fruition. This work includes detailed programmatic and design discussions with both the Flying Squirrels and VCU for the new ballpark that will anchor the Diamond District.

“Our team meets regularly with the Squirrels, VCU, the city and our design and construction partners to ensure that we have a plan for a financeable ballpark that not only meets the needs of the teams and MiLB but delivers a fantastic fan experience through thoughtful integration with the public spaces, retail, residential, commercial and hospitality uses planned for the broader Diamond District.

“RVADP has committed itself to this project since the award in September, and we continue to work towards a groundbreaking as soon as possible.”

MLB’s new rules require that all Minor League stadiums include improved field lighting, better training facilities for players and larger clubhouses, among other standards. The Diamond also had to make about $3.5 million in renovations and repairs before the start of the season last week after an inspection, using funding allocated by Richmond City Council.

DiBella’s statement prompts questions about the larger Diamond District plan — a $2.44 billion project that would include a new ballpark, 2,800 residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and two hotels. Although the new ballpark, which is expected to seat 10,000 and cost approximately $80 million, is the Diamond District’s centerpiece, the surrounding mixed-use development is the largest project in the city’s recent history and is expected to take about 15 years to complete.

The cost of the baseball stadium and public infrastructure will be financed with Community Development Authority (CDA) bond financing, the city said in September 2022, which would not require Richmond to repay bonds if there is a shortfall. Bond financing will be repaid with tax revenue generated in the 67-acre development property, including taxes on real estate, businesses, meals, hotel revenue and baseball admissions. Local portions of the state sales tax, lease payments and other revenue will also be part of the deal.

The city released a public statement Tuesday evening: “The city of Richmond is committed to completing this important, intentional project. While there is still some work to be done, RVA Diamond Partners and the city have been working tirelessly together to ensure we bring a stadium and fully realized development that lives up to its potential, provides significant economic investment, and delivers for our residents and the Squirrels. We look forward to creating a thoughtful area for residents to live, work, play and raise a family.”