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The Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate (HRACRE), a multi-disciplined organization of 600 executives and commercial real estate professionals in the Hampton Roads region, elected the following people to serve as officers for 2016: President: Jeremy R. Starkey, who's president of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Group for Monarch Bank; President-elect: Robert Orlando, general manager, Patrick Henry Mall; and Secretary/Treasurer: Christopher T. Aebel, civil department head, Clark Nexsen.
byline: Paula C. Squires
Mark Abbott joins Sigal Construction as director of project development
Sigal Construction Corp. said that Mark Abbott has joined its staff as director of project development. In this role, Mark is responsible for business and relationship development at the Arlington-based general contractor.
He has more than 20 years of experience in the construction services industry, where he has spearheaded project management initiatives. Former clients have ranged from local organizations to international companies and Fortune 500 companies.
Abbott holds a masters of business administration degree from Marymount University and a bachelor of arts degree from Virginia Tech.
BerkleyNet to relocate headquarters to Prince William County’s Innovation Park
BerkleyNet has signed a 15-year lease to occupy a build-to-suit headquarters building at Innovation Park, a university-anchored research and technology park in Prince William County.
BerkleyNet, currently located in Woodbridge, is a member company of W. R. Berkley Corp. that specializes in workers compensation insurance delivered through the Internet.
According to Colliers International, which brokered the transaction, BerkleyNet selected the location at 9301 Innovation Drive to keep its roots in Prince William County and to provide employees the benefit of a reverse commute.
Another benefit is the location’s proximity to George Mason University’s Science and Technology campus and its amenities.
Buchanan Partners owns the land where the 70,000-square-foot building will go. Berkley Net will occupy 49,000 square feet.
The relocation will enable BerkleyNet to more than double its space, accommodating the company’s future growth. It expects to move its 125 employees to the new site in spring 2017
“We are excited to have selected a site that allows us to keep our roots within Prince William County,” Jim Gilbert, president and CEO of BerkleyNet, said in a statement. “As our business continues to grow, our new headquarters will allow for much improved collaboration and efficiency across our team.”
Keith Summers, a vice president with Colliers International at Tysons who represented BerkleyNet, said “BerkleyNet’s decision to locate here will likely drive renewed interest in Prince William’s largest business park.”
Colliers’ Senior Managing Director Howard Kaplowitz worked with Summers locally to provide site selection, programming, developer comparison analysis, and lease transaction services.
The new office will be within walking distance of the Hylton Performing Arts Center, Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center, the Mason Center for Team and Organizational Learning (the EDGE) and the Mason Enterprise Center.
BerkleyNet will join other Innovation Park tenants that include the FBI Northern Virginia Resident Agency, American Type Culture Collection, Mediatech, Powerloft Data Center and the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.
“The addition of BerkleyNet, which is a technology-based insurance provider, will no doubt enhance the existing ecosystem of science and technology companies already located in Innovation Park,” said Jeff Kaczmarek, executive director, Prince William County Department of Economic Development.
Kaczmarek noted in a statement that the announcement comes on the heels of other recent developments within the park, including the addition of new restaurants, the conversion of the historic Thomasson Barn into the county’s first destination brewery and beer garden, and the potential location of a commuter rail stop by the Virginia Railway Express. “…All bode well for the future of Innovation Park and its evolution into a virtual town center,” said Kaczmarek.
Topgolf International throws a party to celebrate its Virginia Beach opening
A little more than three weeks after Topgolf International opened its third Virginia location in Virginia Beach, the company is throwing an official grand opening celebration tomorrow night.
The Jan. 14 private VIP event will be held at the 65,000-square-foot golf entertainment venue located at 5444 Greenwich Road.
Constructed by ARCO/Murray, the three-level Topgolf in Virginia Beach includes: 102 climate-controlled hitting bays, a full-service restaurant and three bars, more than 250 high-definition flat-screen TVs, a rooftop terrace with fire pits and 3,000 square feet of private event space.
Topgolf, based out of Dallas, also has locations in Alexandria and Loudoun County. The Virginia Beach site is the company's 24th worldwide.
The party will offer music, entertainment, prize giveaways and celebrity appearances. Topgolf offers seven competitive games and advanced technology to track the accuracy and distance of players' shots.
“The Virginia Beach community has already shown amazing enthusiasm for Topgolf with the recent sellout of our New Year's Eve party,” Topgolf Director of Operations Michael Matley said in a statement. “We are excited to introduce many more special events and programming for all ages and serve as a new entertainment destination for both residents and tourists alike.”
Topgolf said it hired about 450 people to staff the Virginia Beach venue. Company officials estimate that the location will serve 450,000 visitors in its first year of operation. The estimated 10-year economic output is $264.5 million, according to a third-party audit.
Fairfax County approves 4.2 million-square-foot, mixed-use project at Tysons
The Meridian Group said Wednesday it will move forward with plans to develop The Boro after Fairfax County approved the 4.2-million-square-foot, mixed-use development in the heart of Tysons.
The county’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the project, on an 18.1-acre site that was formerly the campus for SAIC. The campus, with four office buildings and surface parking, is within walking distance of the Greensboro Metro station.
Plans for the Boro include offices, apartments, condominiums, retail – including the region’s largest Whole Foods grocery store — restaurants and entertainment. Three of the former SAIC office buildings reportedly will be kept intact while a fourth building will be torn down.
“We’re pleased that the Board of Supervisors approved our plans, and we’re excited to be moving ahead,” David Cheek, president and co-founder of The Meridian Group, based in Bethesda, Md., said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to making The Boro one of the preeminent developments in the Washington area.”
The Meridian Group has a joint venture with Kettler to develop The Boro’s residential buildings as well as retail space in those buildings. The first phase, scheduled to break ground this summer, will consist of 1.7 million square feet of mixed-use development. It will include 800 residential units, 223,000 square feet of retail, 400,000 square feet of office space, and a one-acre public park.
“The Boro will be a vibrant town center on a huge 18-acre site,” said Gary Block, managing director of The Meridian Group. “We’ve had tremendous interest from a number of tenants interested in being a part of this outstanding development.”
The Meridian Group said it already has signed two companies as tenants:
• Whole Foods Market, which will open a 70,000-square-foot store as a flagship location – both in terms of size and innovative concepts. Plans call for a food court, a craft-beer brewing operation and demonstration kitchens with guest chefs and cooking classes. The store, the biggest in the DC region, will open in 2019.
• Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, which will open a new cinema with 15 screens, upscale dining options and reserved seating. Opening in the summer of 2018, the Showplace ICON cinema will offer large screens and deluxe leather recliners.
The Boro, located near Route 7, Route 123 and Greensboro Drive, plans to have a combination of high-rise and mid-rise construction. According to its developer, the project will be divided into various blocks, with three residential towers. There will be lots of outdoor open space, with pedestrian-friendly roadways and restaurants with outdoor seating.
The Washington, D.C., architectural firm of Shalom Baranes Associates is designing the buildings.
When complete, The Boro will consist of more than 1,500 residential units, 1.8 million square feet of office, 316,000 square feet of retail, and 250,000 square feet of hotel space.
Inland Real Estate buys Marketplace at Tech Center in Newport News
Inland Real Estate Income Trust Inc. announced the acquisition Tuesday of one of Newport News largest and newest shopping destinations. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said it bought the 210,000-square-foot Marketplace at Tech Center, because the grocery-anchored development is a “terrific addition” to its retail portfolio. Inland did not disclose the purchase price for the retail component of what has been envisioned as a larger $250 million mixed-use development.
“Marketplace at Tech Center is a terrific addition to Inland Income Trust’s retail portfolio because of its exceptional variety of high-caliber grocery, restaurant, clothing and retail offerings,” Mitchell Sabshon, president and CEO of Inland Real Estate Investment Corp., said in a statement. “With its diverse tenant mix, strong demographics and ideal location near major employers, including the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Marketplace at Tech Center is a dominant retail property in the market and is well positioned for future growth.”
Mark Cosenza, vice president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc., facilitated the purchase of the property behalf of Inland Income Trust.
Newly constructed in 2015 by the W. M. Jordan Co. in Newport News, the shopping center is located on the busy Jefferson Avenue corridor at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Oyster Point Road. It’s near about 172,000 residents living within a five-mile radius. A 39,998-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store opened at the location in November.
In addition to Whole Foods, other tenants include several first-to-the Peninsula retailers including DSW Shoe Warehouse, BJ’s Brewhouse and P. F. Chang’s China Bistro. Other retailers include Ulta Beauty, Five Below and AT&T.
John Lawson, CEO of W. M. Jordan, could not be reached for comment. He, along with SJ Collins, based in South Carolina, have been the developers behind the center. The larger master plan for the Tech Center includes 230,000 square feet of retail, 290 apartments, and 30,000 square feet of specialty office space. In the second phase of devleoper there also are plans for an adjacent research park planned around the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, a federally funded laboratory.
Local officials hope that the U.S. Department of Energy will choose the lab as the site of an electron ion collider facility, which would bring a second underground facility there, but that decision may be years away.
The Daily Press reported last month that W. M. Jordan has asked the city to enter into a formal public-private partnership for the planned research park. The newspaper said progress on the research component can’t move forward until W. M. Jordan can secure land for the project from the city, its economic development authority and the school board, which currently has a school bus facility on a portion of the site.
Dominion Virginia Power plans $9.5 billion in infrastructure and upgrades through 2020
Dominion Virginia Power said Tuesday that it plans to invest nearly $2 billion per year through 2020 to add new, clean generation — including solar energy — and to secure and upgrade the electric grid in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
Dominion said the planned $9.5-billion spend builds on a record of new capital investment by the company in recent years with spending on electric infrastructure designed to meet growth, enhance reliability and promote cleaner air and water. The company made $1.8 billion in similar investments in 2015.
The investments are in addition to the proposed controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a $5 billion natural gas pipeline that, if approved by federal regulators, would serve Dominion Virginia Power and other electric and natural gas utilities.
“We know our customers expect high reliability, clean energy and reasonable rates,” Robert M. Blue, president, Dominion Virginia Power, said in a statement.
Blue said that since 2008 the company has invested more than $8 billion in new electricity infrastructure, including environmental control equipment designed to reduce fossil power station air emissions.
“Over the same period, our reliability has improved 25 percent,” he said. “Our reliability in 2015 was 99.98 percent – which translates into approximately 2 hours of outage time per customer over the whole year.”
To get comparative year-to-year data across the industry, Dominion and other utilities typically do not include outages from major storms in reliability measures.
Dominion said its electric rates remain lower than national, regional and state averages. In recent years residential rates have increased by an average of less than 1 percent annually. The company said it achieved minimal increases through efficiency and by holding down operating costs.
Of the $9.5 billion planned capital expenditures through 2020, $2.4 billion is slated for the company’s distribution system, $3.6 billion for transmission lines and substations, and $3.5 billion for new generation and environmental improvements. Included in those amounts are $700 million for new solar generation and additional funds for undergrounding vulnerable distribution lines, if approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
Not included are costs for coal ash removal. According to Dominion Virginia Power, the estimate for closing 11 ponds at four power stations in Virginia is about $325 million. If the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) proposes stricter limits, frequent testing and increased monitoring, the costs could be higher.
Dominion has said that it is closing the ponds in compliance with standards set by the state and the Environmental Protection Agency. Coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal to produce electricity, contains hazardous chemicals.
The Virginia State Water Board is expected to act Thursday, Jan. 14, on a proposal from Dominion Virginia Power, which owns the Possum Point Power Station in Dumfries next to Quantico Creek, to divert millions of gallons of water from its coal ash ponds into the creek, which feeds into the Potomac River. The board also expected to rule on a similar request for the Bremo Power Station in Fluvanna County, which is located near the James River. In both cases, Dominion proposes to treat the water before releasing it under limits prescribed by the DEQ. In Chesterfield County, the company also is moving forward with plans to build a lined, dry landfill to store coal ash.
The proposals have drawn opposition from environmental and other groups who are lobbying for more stringent limits before the coal ash could be released into the state’s waterways.
Dominion Virginia Power currently serves 2.5 million customers in Virginia and northeast North Carolina. It said more than 430,000 customers – the size of a large city – have been added in the past decade.
Inland Real Estate Trust buys majority of Marketplace at Tech Center in Newport News
Inland Real Estate Income Trust Inc. announced the acquisition Tuesday of one of Newport News largest and newest shopping destinations. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company bought 210,000-square-feet of the Marketplace at Tech Center for $72.5 million, calling the grocery-anchored development a “terrific addition” to its retail portfolio.
John Lawson, CEO of W. M. Jordan Co., one of the developers behind the center, said the center’s 250,000-square-foot retail component is part of what is planned as a larger, $450 million, mixed-use development that includes apartments, office and a corporate research park.
“Marketplace at Tech Center is a terrific addition to Inland Income Trust’s retail portfolio because of its exceptional variety of high-caliber grocery, restaurant, clothing and retail offerings,” Mitchell Sabshon, president and CEO of Inland Real Estate Investment Corp., said in a statement. “With its diverse tenant mix, strong demographics and ideal location near major employers, including the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Marketplace at Tech Center is a dominant retail property in the market and is well positioned for future growth.”
Lawson said in an interview with Virginia Business that he and the project’s other developer, Georgia-based S.J. Collins Enterprises, considered several investors to buy the shopping center and thought Inland was the best match. “Neither Collins nor Jordan are property managers, so we knew when we got to the end that we would need property managers to go forward,” said Lawson. Inland stood out, he said, because “they’re large, they’re experienced, and they have other developments in the area. We made it very clear that we wanted the level of quality that we’ve begun to be maintained going forward, we felt like they would do that. What was primary in my mind was someone that would continue our vision.”
Newly constructed in 2015, the shopping center is located on the busy Jefferson Avenue corridor at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Oyster Point Road. About 172,000 residents live within a five-mile radius. A 39,998-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store opened at the location in November.
In addition to Whole Foods, other tenants include several first-to-the peninsula retailers including DSW Shoe Warehouse, BJ’s Brewhouse and P. F. Chang’s China Bistro.
Lawson made clear that W. M. Jordan will remain as a primary developer and owner for the overall project. The final master plan for the Tech Center includes 250,000 square feet of retail, 288 apartments in 4 buildings, more than 100,000 square foot of office and a corporate research park.
One 25,000-square-foot office building already is under construction, Jordan said. Phase two will include the apartments, a clubhouse and fitness center. “The first occupancy will be in late spring and during all of 2016, we’ll have various buildings turned over,” Lawson said.
Phase 3 is a planned 1.2 million-square-foot corporate research park adjacent to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Local officials are in hopes that the U.S. Department of Energy will choose the Jefferson lab over a competing lab in New York as the site of an electron ion collider facility, which would bring a second underground facility to the site, but that decision may be one to two years away.
Even if Jefferson Lab doesn’t get the nod, Jordan said he plans to proceed with the corporate research park, if the developers can obtain the necessary land. He said he has signed a letter of intent to buy six of the needed 100 acres from the William & Mary Real Estate Foundation.
A school bus facility owned by the Newport News City Schools sits on a portion of the needed tract.
W. M. Jordan has asked the city to enter into a formal public-private partnership, Lawson said, for the planned research park, but the city has not acted on the issue. He noted, however, that the city has appropriated money in its capital improvements budget to relocate the school bus facility and is seeking bids from companies to do the work. W. M. Jordan and other companies have submitted proposals for the job.
“It the city doesn’t move the bus facility, we don’t have the land, so the corporate research center can’t be built,” he said. If the land becomes available, its ownership could be worked out as part of a public-private partnership. “You can propose to do it on the city’s land … You can slice it and dice it a lot of different ways,” Lawson said.
Eastern Union arranges financing for acquisition of a $6.7 million project in Falls Church
Eastern Union Funding, a brokerage based in Brooklyn, N.Y., arranged financing for the $6.75 million acquisition of a newly constructed two-story office and retail center in Falls Church.
The property at 7121 Leesburg Pike consists of five ground-level retail condos and nine second-story office condos.
Eastern Union Funding’s Marc Tropp, a senior managing director based in the firm’s Bethesda, Md. ,office, negotiated a $4.25 million, seven-year deal fixed at 4.3% with six months interest. Tropp brokered the loan with Burke & Herbert Bank on behalf of 7121 Metrowest LLC.
“We were able to broker an excellent deal by partnering with a regional lender and working in a timely fashion. That we could lock in such a competitive rate – literally within hours of the federal rate hike – made the final product that much more exciting for all parties involved,” Tropp said in a statement.
Armada Hoffler completes sale of Williams Mullen office tower for $78 million
Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. said Monday that it has completed the previously announced sale of a downtown Richmond office tower for $78 million.
The 15-story, 207,000-square-foot office building that Armada Hoffler developed at 200 South 10th Street is known as the Williams Mullen center, because the law firm relocated to the tower in 2010. The sale is not expected to affect the tower’s tenants. The building is 98 percent leased, with Williams Mullen occupying 82 percent of the space.
Armada Hoffler, a real estate investment trust located in Virginia Beach, said it intends to use net proceeds from the sale to partially fund the $170.5 million purchase of a previously announced acquisition of 11 retail centers in the mid-Atlantic and South-Central U.S. The retail portfolio acquisition is expected to close during this year’s first quarter, subject to the satisfying customary closing conditions.
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L. P. (HFF), based in Washington, D.C. represented Armada Hoffler, closing the sale and arranging the financing. It said the buyer was Kireland South 10th Street LLC. HFF said it also assisted the new owner in securing $52 million in fixed-rate acquisition financing.