Walker & Dunlop Inc. said Thursday that it arranged $33.5 million in permanent debt for the refinance of a mixed-use project adapted from the rehabilitation of the historic Miller & Rhoads department store in downtown Richmond.
The development, located close to the Greater Richmond Convention Center, has 133 residential units, a 250-room Hilton Garden Inn and more than 20,000 square feet of retail space.
Andrew Coleman, a senior vice president with Walker and Dunlop in Bethesda, Md., and New Orleans-based managing director Stephen Farnsworth led the team that structured the seven-year, fixed-rate loan for HRI Properties LLC. HRI, based in New Orleans, is a real estate development company.
According to Walker & Dunlop, HRI plans to complete an $8.8 million plan by the end of 2015 to convert the hotel to a full-service Hilton to gain meeting space, attract more large-scale events and compete with other local full-service hotel flags.
Originally built between 1888 and 1909 as a one-room store, Miller & Rhoads subsequently expanded to an eight-story building on an entire city block. With many of its original architectural features preserved, the development is considered a significant historic structure in the Grace Street Commercial Historic District.
“Millers & Rhoads is a unique development that deserved a tailored loan structure. After learning about the property and HRI Properties’ business goals, we were able to structure a refinance loan through a long-standing relationship that met the needs of the property and the borrower,” Coleman said in a statement. “… Every element of this development is special, and we are proud to have arranged financing for such a historically significant project.”
Huntington Ingalls Industries said Thursday that it has awarded a contract to QuadMed, to manage and operate HII's family healthcare centers for the company's Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi and Newport News Shipbuilding division employees and their families.
“QuadMed's commitment to strong patient-provider relationships and patient confidentiality is evident by their 98 percent patient satisfaction rate. It is our hope that the availability of these healthcare centers will contribute to a robust and enhanced culture of health and wellness among our employees and their families,” Bill Ermatinger, HII corporate vice president and chief human resources officer, said in a statement.
The healthcare centers, scheduled to open in 2015, will be located near the shipyards. They will provide primary care services that focus on prevention, wellness, early intervention and chronic condition management. These services, which include pharmacy, radiology and laboratory services, will be available to non-represented employees and their dependents who are covered by the Anthem consumer-driven or preferred-provider plans.
QuadMed, based out of Wisconsin, operates employer-sponsored health centers for companies across the country, including Briggs & Stratton and Stihl, Inc.”We are pleased to be partnering with Huntington Ingalls Industries on this very important initiative,” said Sue Buettner, president of QuadMed.
HII's health centers are part of a new benefits strategy designed to optimize employee health and wellness options. HII also is offering employees access to Teladoc, a program that provides employees with access to board-certified physicians via telephone, mobile application or computer. Another new benefit is a discounted rate for healthcare to salaried employees who attest that they do not use tobacco.
Huntington Ingalls Industries designs, builds and manages the life cycle of nuclear and conventionally-powered ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. HII also provides engineering and project management services expertise to the commercial energy industry, the Department of Energy and other government customers. Headquartered in Newport News, the company employs more than 39,000 people operating both domestically and internationally.
Four major U.S. energy companies — Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources — announced Tuesday the formation of a joint venture to build and own a $4.5 billion to $5 billion, 550-mile natural gas pipeline. It would run from Harrison County, W. Va., southeast through Virginia with an extension to Chesapeake in Virginia and then south through central North Carolina to Robeson County.
Details about the pipeline came from a joint press release and a news conference at the state capitol, with Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe touting the project’s economic benefits.
The partnership, called Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, will own the pipeline initially proposed by Dominion as the Southeast Reliability Project. It is designed in part to meet needs identified in requests for proposals last April by Duke Energy and Piedmont, and in June by Virginia Power Services Energy.
The pipeline would provide a new route for direct access to the burgeoning production in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. It also would deliver natural gas supplies to growing markets for additional customers in Virginia and North Carolina.
The chief executives of the four sponsoring companies — Thomas F. Farrell II of Richmond-based Dominion, Lynn J. Good of Duke Energy in Charlotte, Thomas E. Skains of Piedmont Natural Gas and John W. Somerhalder II of AGL Resources in Atlanta — issued a joint statement calling the pipeline “ a transformational project for our region. It will create thousands of construction jobs during development and significant new revenue for state and local governments throughout North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.”
During Tuesday’s press conference, the governor’s office released the results of a study by Richmond-based Chmura Economics and Analytics. It said the pipeline’s construction would:
· Produce about $1.4 billion in economic activity in the commonwealth.
· Support more than 8,800 new Virginia jobs, including nearly 5,000 directly supported by spending on construction activities.
· Generate more than $14.6 million in additional tax revenues, including individual income and corporate tax revenues.
· Generate a total of $37.8 million per year in ongoing economic activity, once the pipeline is complete, supporting a total of 188 jobs annually and producing more than $233,000 in additional state tax revenue.
“This project is a game changer for Virginia’s economy, and the benefits will be both immediate and long-lasting,” said Gov. McAuliffe. “In addition to the thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity that the construction of this project will create, the Atlantic Coast pipeline will lower energy costs for Virginia residents and businesses and help reduce carbon emissions in our state and region.”
Dominion would build and operate the pipeline on behalf of the venture, and it would hold the majority ownership interest at 45 percent. The other ownership stakes are: Duke Energy, 40 percent; Piedmont, 10 percent; and AGL Resources, 5 percent.
Subsidiaries and affiliates of all four joint venture partners plan to be customers of the pipeline under 20-year contracts, pending regulatory approvals. If approved, construction of the pipeline could begin as early as mid 2016, with service beginning in late 2018. It would have an initial daily capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The main pipeline would have a 42-inch diameter in West Virginia and Virginia, reducing to 36 inches in diameter in North Carolina.
Dominion has begun surveying to determine the best route and has met with strong resistance in Nelson County. Thirty-five miles of the pipeline would run through rural Nelson, affecting about 225 parcels. A recent public meeting on the pipeline drew a standing-room only crowd, and several groups already have formed to fight the project. Some Nelson residents and businesses have posted “no pipeline” signs along Virginia Route 151, a scenic byway known for its wineries and breweries.
Dominion said it plans to make a prefiling request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) this fall on behalf of Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It expects to file its FERC application in the summer 2015. If it receives the FERC Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in summer 2016, construction could begin shortly thereafter.
The extensive FERC review process solicits input from numerous local, state and federal entities, and private citizens. It examines cumulative impacts on public safety, air quality, water resources, geology, soils, wildlife and vegetation, threatened and endangered species and cultural and historic resources.
Virginia has limited access to supplies from Marcellus and Utica shale. According to Dominion, the project would provide the increased infrastructure to support growing demand for natural gas-fired generation and would add supply diversity for reliability and price stability.
Glen Besa, Virginia Director of the Sierra Club, expressed disappointment with McAuliffe’s endorsement of the project. “It is most disheartening that the very first major energy announcement coming from the McAuliffe administration is in support of Dominion's natural gas pipeline to facilitate expanded fracking,” Besa said in a statement.
“There are far more opportunities to create jobs and address climate change in Virginia through investments in energy efficiency, solar power and offshore wind. For example, this week is the one-year anniversary of Dominion winning the right to develop offshore wind off the Virginia Coast. We really need Gov. McAuliffe to push Dominion to move forward on offshore wind.”
As an engineer, Virginia Tech’s new president, Timothy D. Sands, values the importance of research. So when he wanted to investigate the vibe of Virginia Tech’s campus firsthand, Sands and his wife, Laura, surreptitiously tagged along on a tour for prospective students and parents.
“We pretended that we were parents and that our student had canceled, but we still wanted to see the campus. It was before we were widely recognized on campus, so we got away with it — almost,” he recalls with a laugh. “Actually, one of the four student guides figured it out.”
Still, Sands gleaned valuable information. “It was so much fun hearing our student guide talk about Virginia Tech with so much passion … It was a great thing to do, because it’s what everybody else sees, and I wanted to see it. ”
Since becoming Tech’s 16th president on June 1, Sands has spent hours in meetings with the university’s many constituencies. As Virginia’s third-largest public university, Tech has more than 31,000 students (undergraduate and graduate) and an annual budget of more than $1.2 billion. Based on feedback he has received so far, Sands says he is beginning to develop a vision for Tech and what he wants to accomplish.
“I’m starting to feel the pulse, and I’m excited by it.” He comes to Tech from Purdue University, another land-grant, public university, where he served on the faculty, ran its nanotechnology center and served for four years as provost and vice president of academic affairs. Sands also was Purdue’s acting president from June 2012 to January 2013, while its current president, Mitchell E. “Mitch” Daniels, served out his term as governor of Indiana.
Sands’ short list so far for Virginia Tech? Attract more international students. Expand the focus on first-generation students. Keep tuition affordable. Retain and attract top talent.
While he was at Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., the school boosted the international student population (undergraduate and graduate) from about 4,000 to 9,000. A similar initiative at Tech, he says, would help prepare students for a global working environment and generate new revenues.
International students not only pay out-of-state tuition ($28,048 for mandatory tuition and fees during Tech’s 2014-15 school year compared with in-state tuition and fees of $12,017) but also are charged “an international tuition bump as well. It is a way to bring in revenue …” says Sands.
As he meets with faculty members and others, Sands says there is a prevailing concern. “It has to do with attracting and retaining talent. We’ve had a few years of very low raises. The compensation plans have been modest.”
On average, he adds, Tech is about 10 percent behind peer schools such as Purdue and Sands’ alma mater, the University of California-Berkeley. “… It’s going to take several years of persistent chipping away to come into parity.”
Ask Sands about Tech’s prospects in research, and the new president lights up. Currently, Tech has seven research institutes and ranks 40th nationwide in terms of research expenditures with a portfolio of $494 million. It aspires to move into the top 30 ranked schools — a goal Sands supports. He says the push should be about more than just expenditures, though. He envisions Tech as a “high-impact, curiosity-driven, opportunistic university that’s easy to engage with, that doesn’t put barriers to working with companies, working with the government, working with foundations.”
An inventor himself, Sands holds 16 patents. One of them involves a key step in making white LEDs, or solid-state lighting. As with many discoveries, Sands says he, a colleague at Berkeley and a student “stumbled” across the process.
“That was a thrill,” he says. When Sands learned that the process was used in the manufacturing of a Samsung large-screen projection television, “I had to go out and buy it. We still have it. The technology, they’ve moved on and you can’t even buy that TV anymore … [Still,] any engineer/inventor wants to see people use their work. And you’re lucky to have that happen in your lifetime.”
Virginia Business interviewed Sands at its Richmond office in late July. An edited transcript of the interview follows.
Virginia Business: You have been doing a listening tour of sorts as a prelude to developing a blueprint of goals for your administration. What are you hearing from the faculty, administrators and other constituencies?
Sands: I would say I’m still early in that listening tour … I’m setting up meetings right now with faculty — lunch, breakfast meetings where I’m gathering 10 or 12 of them together every two weeks to get a sense … of what’s going on at the institution. But if there’s any prevailing concern that I see, it has to do with attracting and retaining talent. We’ve had a few years of very low raises. The compensation plans have been modest. And we were behind anyway, behind our peers. So there is some concern there, and that’s something that I’m taking seriously.
VB: When you say Virginia Tech is behind its peer institutions in terms of faculty pay, how far behind?
Sands: I would say on the average about 10 percent. It’s not an insurmountable goal, but it’s going to take several years of persistent chipping away to come into parity. The reason that’s so important is the top talent at the institution is being lured by our peer institutions, and we’re doing some of that ourselves. We’re out there poaching as well. We’ve lost some, and we’ve gained some … It’s not a dire situation; it’s just one of these things that if you let it go, it will eventually erode the institution.
VB: Some schools have been trying to do more online teaching. Will there be a greater emphasis on online teaching under your leadership? Is this one way to make higher education more affordable?
Sands: In the long run it may be a way to make higher education more affordable, but if you look at Virginia Tech’s place among the options … it’s a residential university. We have some great online programs. But if I think about where Virginia Tech’s strengths are, it’s not in distance ed, per se. I will say, though, that online- or technology-enhanced teaching and learning has a great role on a residential campus … So I’m not going to say that we’re not going to do online. But it’s not our business model, nor is it our high-impact area. If you look at Virginia Tech, its strength is in experiential learning in a residential environment … The special part is the skill building — learning how to present your work, undergraduate research, internships, study abroad, all the campus organizations … they’re really about preparing our students to have a greater impact when they leave so that they can contribute to the betterment of humanity … You can’t do that online yet.
I think where it makes sense for Virginia Tech is bringing the capability of high-performance computing and simulations into the classroom … When you have the technology so that students can do a lot of this work on their own time and in whatever place makes sense and then they come into the classroom and have an active experience with the faculty member, not a passive one, that’s the win/win.
VB: How do we make higher education more affordable so the next generation isn’t saddled with debt, which hurts our national economy?
Sands: The challenge we’ve seen is the amount of resources coming from the commonwealth … Tuition has gone up to partly fill that gap. We’re going to try and make it through. There are ways. We have very generous donors, and there’s more to be done there. We’re talking with the state about more flexibility because a lot of the cost drivers or the constraints on our budget have to do with rules and regulations that are imposed for good reasons … by the state. We want to have a conversation about that so we can free up some revenue streams that may be a little nontraditional.
VB: Such as what? Can you give me an example?
Sands: Well, one of the areas that we’re looking at is growing Virginia Tech. I think we can draw students from all over the world to Virginia Tech because there’s a lot of interest. But at the same time, we have to serve the needs of the Virginia students.
VB: Right now you have about 31,000 students? Maybe more international students?
Sands: More international students would help if they were not all from one country. When I was at Purdue, we went from about 4,000 or 5,000 international students to 9,000; it seemed like it was overnight. And it’s great that Purdue was able to attract those students … What we didn’t understand at Purdue, and what I’m hoping to avoid at Virginia Tech, is that you’ve got to be an inclusive university before you’re a diverse university. You have to figure out how to manage these cultures and people coming from all over the world in such a way that everybody benefits from it, including our Virginia resident students who are clamoring for that kind of experience because they know they’re going to be in a global environment … So you want to be very intentional about which students you invite in, what countries they’re from, what cultures they represent, to create an environment that’s both inclusive and diverse, that gives our students a chance … to engage directly with other cultures.
VB: And they’re paying the higher out-of-state higher tuition?
Sands: Not only are they paying out-of-state, but they have an international tuition bump as well. It is a way to bring in revenue, there’s no question about that. And that’s part of the attractiveness of it, frankly.
VB: Let’s talk about research. Virginia Tech has been trying to break into the top 30 research schools in the country. Will you continue that goal?
Sands: The progress has been wonderful. The top 30 was an aspiration, a bold aspiration. But I do think we can get there. It’s a reasonable expectation given the trajectory that Virginia Tech is on. There are some financial constraints, and that’s one of the big concerns…
Our [research] expenditures are just under $500 million per year. That has come up dramatically and steadily for Virginia Tech. Getting [to the high $600 millions]? If we look at what the past would suggest, but of course we’re going through a period where federal funding of research is going to be declining or holding steady at best. … I think the great hope is to engage industry, because … in the last decade or two there has been an acceleration of the outsourcing of [industry] research if you will — the open innovation model where the companies have decided they no longer can support basic research, but they also have trouble supporting even applied research, and even product-directed research. So they’re looking for partners to work with. Virginia Tech, because of its long-standing coupling to industry, is in a great position to take advantage of that.
VB: What do you see as Tech’s strengths in research?
Sands: I can give examples. I was exposed to some of the work going on at the Virginia Tech/Carilion Research Institute that Mike Friedlander’s group is doing in neuro-economics. I love this because it combines economics and neuroscience. Essentially you’re using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures brain activity in real time and maps it, with decision-making processes that humans make on a daily basis. … It’s exciting because it takes two fields that are quite disparate and pulls them together.
One of the most exciting things I saw — and I think I’ve been on three tours of it since I’ve been there — is going through the ICAT, the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, where they’re pulling together engineering and technology and science with art and design. This is a case where Virginia Tech has made a huge commitment, and that’s coupled with the Moss Performing Arts Center. So, in every corner of Virginia Tech, I see all these opportunities. There’s a lot of discussion right now, and former President Steger is one of the leaders in this, this concept of resiliency, whether it be community resiliency, resiliency of an organism, resiliency of a technology. That whole way of thinking, I think, is going to be the core of the land-grant [university] mission in the future. I like the fact that Virginia Tech is a thought leader in that and has been for a while … I’m just kind of taking it in. Instead of doing my day job, I would love to just walk from lab to lab and hear all these stories, because they are great.
VB: I understand that you hold 16 patents. Tell me about one of them.
Sands: Well it’s sort of technical …
VB: Just give me your elevator speech.
Sands: Okay, my favorite patent … [With] any white LED, light-emitting diode, there’s a good chance that it has a processing step in it that we got a patent for and licensed. With one of my students and a colleague at [University of California]-Berkeley, we stumbled on — it was really an accident — a process that turned out to be very important for creating the white light-emitting diode. That was a thrill.
VB: And you patented a piece of that process?
Sands: A very tiny piece, but an important one.
VB: What are the greatest challenges in higher education today? What are you passionate about?
Sands: One area I’m increasingly passionate about is the first-generation student. I think you could really transform a society if you could focus on the success of first-generation students. You need to be in a position where you’re able to support the students and to mentor them. The first-generation student is someone who has not been surrounded by people telling them that they’re going to college. And even if they are surrounded by people saying, “You should go to college,” they don’t have any experience to share with the prospective student. Every time you hear the story of a student who is first generation, you hear the story of a whole family being lifted. If you propagate that forward, the impact is tremendous.
VB: Since the April 16, 2007, shootings at Virginia Tech, the school has spent $40 million on safety and security. Will there be any new initiatives in that area under your leadership?
Sands: That’s a continuous improvement situation. You can never rest on that. One of the things that I’m so impressed with is what has been achieved at Virginia Tech and how it has impacted the rest of the country and probably the rest of the world.
… When I think about my time in a role of responsibility at Purdue, a lot of the work that we had done to prepare ourselves for whatever may come was based on what had been learned at Virginia Tech. We had a murder on campus in a classroom, one student on another, while I was on watch. I had returned from the acting president role to the provost role, but President [Mitch] Daniels was in the country of Colombia when this happened, and I happened to be the senior official on campus … I had been named in December [to the presidency at Tech], and so I had been briefed to some extent on April 16 at a level that was deeper than what I had known before. I had picked up some things and had a few relationships started. So on January 21 at Purdue when this happened … I got calls from Virginia Tech, and we could direct resources at Purdue to Virginia Tech, and they were really helpful in helping us think about what the next steps were because … when these things happen, it’s a state of utter confusion, even if you have the best police force, the best emergency responders, the best campus notification systems — all that is not enough because you’re just flooded with misleading information and confusion.
One of the things I remembered hearing about was how the faculty and staff were ready when the students came back at Virginia Tech. How they greeted the students at the residence halls and the classrooms. They were prepped; they knew what they were going to do in that first class back, the first day back in the residence halls. And so we canceled class for an additional day just to prepare our faculty for that. With all the resources we gave them, they could pick a strategy they thought was good, but they had a strategy, and they were prepared, and the feedback we got back was spectacular… Had I not been named [Virginia Tech’s president] in December … it wouldn’t have occurred to me to take that time just to prepare the faculty.
From their sixth-floor penthouse near downtown Richmond, Josée and Bill Covington enjoy sweeping views of the James River. “We can see the fishermen catching fish,” says Josée.
In the summer, colorful kayaks float by while December brings a parade of boats decked out in holiday lights. “There’s never a dull moment from our terrace,” she says.
Josée, the founder and CEO of Covington Travel, and Bill, a dentist, were among the first to purchase condominiums in the Fall Line building at Rocketts Landing seven years ago.
They left a 3,500-square-foot house with a pool in the Henrico County suburbs — where they had lived for 36 years — for an urban location with wall-to-ceiling windows. “We’re always in the middle of the sky practically. It’s open. That’s what I like,” says Josée.
The Covingtons also enjoy Rocketts’ amenities. The community has a pool, marina, apartments, office space and restaurants within walking distance of their condo. “I want action. This is where the action is,” says Josée.
The Covingtons are among a wave of people across Virginia who are trading in traditional homes for high-rise living. The properties in or near city centers appeal to a broad range of demographics.
“It’s a very hot market to be in,” says Charlie Wexell, an assistant property manager for the Avant, a 15-story, upscale apartment project at Reston Town Center. The 359-unit Avant opened last November. “We are a hair over 50 percent leased,” says Wexell.
The building’s largest units — five three-bedroom apartments — are all taken. Monthly rent prices range from $1,795 per month for a 585-square-foot studio to $4,350 a month for the 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom units.
Avant’s owner, Boston Properties, is so pleased with the project’s progress that it is proceeding with the design for a second apartment community near Reston Town Center. It would have 500 units in two 21-story towers.
“It will take about a year, and then we will gauge the market at that time before we decide to go,” says Richard Ellis, a vice president with Boston Properties in Washington, D.C. “We’ve been able to attract a wide range of demographics: empty nesters, divorcées, young working professionals, even newlyweds.”
Altogether, there are nine high-rise buildings under construction in Tysons — many of them apartments, a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by Ellis. The multifamily sector has been one of the most active in commercial real estate for the past few years, and there is plenty of new supply coming online in Northern Virginia. “We have some concerns about that, but we think it’s about the submarket you are in and the amenity you have at your doorstep, and we have Reston Town Center,” says Ellis.
Zalena Khan says she has no regrets about moving to the Avant. From her perch in a corner-unit penthouse high above the street, the world looks like a monopoly game, she says. “All the little buildings, the pool. It’s just beautiful how it looks from here.”
With floor-to-ceiling windows in all three of her bedrooms, “you always feel like you are outside,” says Zhan. She and her son can see nearby Washington Dulles International Airport, a hospital, a library and Zhan’s favorite: storms rolling in with lightning and rain. “When it snows, you can literally see the heavy drops of snow and how it becomes white,” she says.
The 42-year-old, self-employed financial consultant signed a two-year lease. As a single parent, she likes the building’s security, its underground garage away from the elements and what she calls the icing on the cake: a drugstore on the building’s first floor. Reston Town Center is just a few steps out the building’s door, offering more than 50 shops, 30 restaurants, a 13-screen cinema and year-round events. “It’s like living in the middle of a village,” says Khan.
Not far from the Avant is a 21-story condominium community in Reston called Midtown. That’s home to Maggie Parker, a communications executive in her early 50s, who recently downsized from a 7,500-square-foot home in Great Falls. She bought a three-bedroom condo unit on the 15th floor and loves the views.
“When I get home I don’t want to leave. I’m tucked away in this little aerie — the windows, the black sky with the airport traffic, or the moon and stars. It’s just captivating.”
Nor does Parker mind the condominium fees. “Compared to long-term household maintenance fees, it’s nominal. You don’t have to budget for a $20,000 roof or a $10,000 septic system.”
Another 16-story high-rise apartment building, Vita, is going up at Tysons Corner within walking distance to a new Silver Line Metro station. Michael Caplin, executive director of the Tysons Partnership, says there’s a waiting list of people who want to lease space at Vita, which is scheduled to open later this year.
Caplin leads a group of citizen and business associations committed to transforming Tysons Corner, a 2.2 million-square-foot office and retail center, into a more pedestrian-friendly place. “The demographics tell us there is a huge interest in urban apartment dwelling right now,” says Caplin. “There are a lot of people who are giving up cutting their grass and trading it in for an apartment because of the simplicity and the immediate accessibility of amenities. To go downstairs and have everything there is very alluring, especially since we have relied on cars for so long.”
The story is much the same at projects in other parts of the state.
Michael Minor, association manager for the 120 condominiums above The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center Hotel, says he is seeing prompt resales when units come on the market. “Two or three units recently sold here.”
The prices for these homes range from the low $400,000s to $2.2 million, says Minor. Daniel Hoffler, chairman of Armada Hoffler Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust located at the Virginia Beach Town Center, owns the 3,200-square-foot penthouse unit on the top floor of the 36-story building.
The hotel takes up the building’s first 15 floors; condos are located on floors 16 through 36. According to Minor, the units are popular among working professionals and part-time residents who use them as a second home. “Our oldest resident is 92,” says Minor. Amenities include room service, (which residents must pay for) and access to the hotel’s pool and exercise center. Monthly condominium fees range from $566 to $1,020, says Minor, and cover insurance, maintenance of common areas and other items in the association’s budget.
Meanwhile in downtown Roanoke, developer Bill Chapman invested $12 million renovating the former Shenandoah Building into Parkway 301, a seven-story apartment project that opened last year. “It’s been a successful project for us,” says Chapman, who lives in Richmond. “We preleased 88 of the 89 apartments.”
A local business executive leased the top-floor penthouse unit six months before the building opened.
Today, the building, the former headquarters for the Blue Ridge Parkway, is 100 percent leased. “I think it’s part of the authentic living experience of living in a building with history, more so than living in a high-rise,” Chapman says of the building’s high occupancy.
Back in Richmond, Rocketts Landing is poised for more growth. Coming soon are more apartments, retail and a five-story building of four riverfront town homes. The $1 million dollar town homes already have been sold, according to Richard Souter, a vice president for Rocketts’ developer, the Richmond-based WVS Cos. In May, WVS sold more than 20 unsold condos at auction, at prices ranging from $150,000 to $476,000 — far below the units’ original sticker prices. While some property owners raised concerns about their homes’ values, Souter says the auction was necessary to close out the project’s first phase and set the stage for new development, which will help boost property values.
As for downsides to high-rise living, storage space is at a premium. “You learn to be very organized with your closets and your cupboards,” says Josée Covington.
Norfolk’s newest luxury hotel and conference center, The Main, is counting on local business, the business traveler and conventions to make the $150 million project a success, the managing director of the project said Thursday.
In an address to about 170 members of the Hampton Roads Association of Commercial Real Estate, Kurt J. Krause said developers are “absolutely counting on the local market,” especially to patronize the three new restaurants in the conference center and Hilton Hotel project that will be built at the corner of Main and Granby Streets downtown. “We’re not trying to steal business from local restaurants. We’re trying to bring in more business,” Krause said.
Site work already is underway, and construction begins next month on the 22-story, 301-room project scheduled to open during the first quarter of 2017. Krause said The Main has booked three conventions and expects to become a high-demand venue for weddings and meetings for state and federal associations.
One thing is clear: The Main, billed by developers as an iconic, transformational project with high-end finishes and amenities, will up the price for travelers to Norfolk. According to Krause, room rates will carry a $30 to $40 higher premium than what the market is seeing now. Asked later about the going rate for business travelers to Norfolk, he said it is about $120 a night.
The city of Norfolk, and Gold Key |PHR Hotels and Resorts, based in Virginia Beach, are partners in the public/private initiative. Bruce Thompson, who heads PHR, has developed other major projects in the region, including a Virginia Beach Hilton on the Oceanfront. He also is currently redeveloping The Cavalier, a historic hotel on Atlantic Avenue at the beach.
As he took the audience through a video slide show, Krause, the former general manager of the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, said the property’s design would be a draw. Thompson and the design team visited properties in Miami, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York for inspiration in search of a design “that will represent the renaissance of downtown Norfolk,” said Krause.
The glass exterior of the 484,711-square-foot building will include an atrium inspired by the Time-Warner building in New York. Meanwhile when guests enter on the first level, it will have the feel of Grand Central Station, Krause said, with a seafood restaurant and an escalator leading to a second-floor lobby where visitors will find another atrium and the front desk.
Besides the seafood restaurant, the hotel plans an Italian restaurant, a wine bar, and 4,000-square-foot rooftop garden with sliding garage doors that will open to outdoor terraces. There also will be a large ballroom and Exchange at the Main, a high-tech conference room with views of the Elizabeth River. Krause said hotel rooms would offer views of downtown Norfolk and the river. Parking will be available in a 362-space garage.
Overall, the hotel/conference center expects to employ a staff of 300 to 350 workers, Krause said.
Where is one of the best places to find a job in finance? Richmond ranks among the country’s top 10 cities for finding a job in finance or accounting, according to Accounting Principals, a company that helps recruit and place finance professionals.
Richmond makes the list because it has a diversity of major industries – technology, bio-pharma, government/nonprofit, health care and education.
The most in demand positions fall within the mid-level range. Plus, there is high demand for tax and audit professionals with knowledge of SEC practices, particularly among larger companies.
Jen Dodge, managing director of Accounting Principals’ Richmond office, says she has seen an increase in controller positions at small- to mid-size companies during the past couple of years. “I think that comes from Richmond being such an entrepreneurial market. We have a lot of startup companies that realize they’re to the point where they need a strong controller. They’ve outgrown the bookkeeper, and they need a controller to help them grow their business.”
In larger companies, such as Fortune 1000 firms, Dodge is seeing growth from within so there is a demand for mid-level, CPAs, accountants, and auditors.
As companies grow through acquisitions, she also sees “a huge increase in the need for financial consultants, CFOs, controllers – the need for strong project financial implementation and acquisition integration work.’’
Richmond has made the list several times. The area is viewed as a good place to work, Dodge says, because many companies offer a work-life balance “so finance professionals can have their career and not give up their personal lives. “
The list of 10 Best Cities to Find a Finance Job in 2014 was compiled based on internal data from Accounting Principals’ regional branch network across the U.S. It’s based on year-over-year job placement growth as well as general assessment of the overall economic environment in each market. Accounting Principals is a subsidiary of Adecco Group North America, a leader in professional staffing, and has 72 branch offices across the country.
Besides Richmond, four California cities made the 2014 list. They are: San Francisco, San Mateo/Walnut Creek, Los Angeles and Newport Beach. The other cities are Raleigh, N.C.; Paramus, N.J.; Chicago; Portland, Ore.; and Houston.
Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. has completed its acquisition of Dimmock Square, a retail power center in Colonial Heights.
The Virginia-Beach based commercial real estate investment trust said Wednesday that company acquired a 100 percent interest in Dimmock Square in exchange for approximately 990,000 of operating partnership units and about $10 million of cash.
The acquisition will add more than 100,000 square feet of occupied retail space to Armada Hoffler’s portfolio. Dimmock Square is located between Southpark Mall and a Walmart Supercenter.
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. announced Tuesday that it has acquired three development properties for $4.2 million from Development Fund I LLC, an affiliate of the company. Wheeler said it paid for the assets using a combination of cash and the assumption of debt. It plans to develop the parcels into future retail properties.
Jon S. Wheeler, chairman and CEO of the Virginia Beach-based real estate investment trust, said in a statement, “We are very pleased to close on these three retail-focused development properties. The parcels of land are prime examples of the broad pipeline of locations available for us to develop in secondary and tertiary markets and are located in growing communities in which our team already has strong relationships. We view this as an opportunity to establish and grow the development portion of the REIT while adding value to the company over the long term.”
The three properties consist of about 55.2 acres of land located in Edenton, N.C., Moyock, N.C. and Courtland, Va. Each of the assets is located in commercial zones.
Edenton Commons is a 52.9-acre parcel located at the intersection of U.S. 17 and N.C. 32 in Edenton. It can accommodate a 210,000-square-foot retail space as well as an additional 89,835 square feet in small shop retailers.
Tull's Creek is a 1.2-acre acre parcel located in Moyock on U.S.168, a major connection from the north to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The land can accommodate a 9,000-square-foot building and neighboring retail includes a Food Lion grocery store and Dollar Tree as well as several other nationally known merchants.
Courtland Commons is a 1-acre parcel in Courtland that’s off located U.S. Route 58 (Southampton Parkway), an east to west highway that runs slightly northwest of Harrogate, Tenn., to Virginia Beach. The land is suitable for an 8,400-square-foot freestanding building or strip center and is next to a Food Lion grocery store.
Fox Restaurant Concepts will open the first East Coast location of True Food Kitchen on Sept. 23 in Merrifield’s retail and dining district, Mosaic, in Fairfax.
True Food Kitchen, which got its start in 2008 in Phoenix, is an eatery developed in partnership with boutique restaurant group, Fox Restaurant Concepts, and author, Dr. Andrew Weil.
Led by Executive Chef Michael Obermeier, the restaurant offers a seasonal menu inspired by the principals of Dr. Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet. According to a press release, it relies on natural, locally sourced foods for many menu selections and offers vegan, vegetarian, or gluten free options.
True Food Kitchen has nine additional locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, and Texas.
“We know Washington area residents place a premium on health and an active lifestyle, and we strongly believe True Food Kitchen will be a great fit to the burgeoning restaurant scene,” Sam Fox, founder of Fox Restaurant Concepts and a seven-time James Beard Award nominee for Restaurateur of the Year, said in a statement.
At Mosaic, an open kitchen will be the focal point of the 5,980-square- foot, 142-seat main dining room. Additional seating will be available on a 46-seat covered patio.
The restaurant will hold a job fair at its Mosaic location at 2910 District Ave. #170 on Aug. 19th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Aug. 25 during those same hours to fill many of its kitchen and wait-staff positions.
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Sands: I can give examples. I was exposed to some of the work going on at the Virginia Tech/Carilion Research Institute that Mike Friedlander’s group is doing in neuro-economics. I love this because it combines economics and neuroscience. Essentially you’re using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures brain activity in real time and maps it, with decision-making processes that humans make on a daily basis. … It’s exciting because it takes two fields that are quite disparate and pulls them together.
Zalena Khan says she has no regrets about moving to the Avant. From her perch in a corner-unit penthouse high above the street, the world looks like a monopoly game, she says. “All the little buildings, the pool. It’s just beautiful how it looks from here.” 
The prices for these homes range from the low $400,000s to $2.2 million, says Minor. Daniel Hoffler, chairman of Armada Hoffler Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust located at the Virginia Beach Town Center, owns the 3,200-square-foot penthouse unit on the top floor of the 36-story building.