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byline: Paula C. Squires

Twenty-acre site in York County approved for 288 apartments

Work is continuing on a new apartment and single-family residential development in Lightfoot.
Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate in Norfolk announced the closing of the first of four sites in Arbordale, a new 83-acre residential development in York County.

Harvey Lindsay represented the landowner, Bulifants LP, in the $2.4 million sale of the 20.3-acre site approved for 288 apartment units to the master developer, Bulifants Residential LLC, controlled and managed by Peter V. Henderson.

According to Harvey Lindsay, Bulifants Residential LLC successfully rezoned Arbordale last year and has broken ground on the infrastructure needed for the apartments and single-family and townhome portions of the project. Simultaneously with its purchase of the apartment site from Bulifants LP, Bulifants Residential LLC sold the apartment site for $6.1 million to DE Arbordale LLC, an affiliate of Bonaventure Realty Group LLC.

Trip Ferguson and Jay Joseph of Harvey Lindsay represented Bulifants LP in this transaction.

Long & Foster to open new office in Richmond’s historic Church Hill

 

Long & Foster Real Estate continues to expand in the Richmond market with a new office that will open in Church Hill this spring.

Long & Foster, based out of Chantilly, has leased space at 313-315 N. 24th Street. The company says that initially about 12 sales associates will work from the location. Set to open in April, the office will be Long & Foster’s 17th location in the greater Richmond area.

“The Church Hill area is a prime spot for a new Long & Foster office, because it’s in the middle of one of the fastest growing markets in the Richmond region,”  Brian Haug, senior vice president for real estate and mortgage, said in a statement.  “We are always looking for opportunities to grow Long & Foster in key locations where agents can engage directly with their community and clients.”

The new office is located a mixed-use development that includes apartments, commercial space and a community center. Part of the project made use of a renovated 90-year-old former industrial building known as Nolde Garage. It sits across the street from historic St. John’s Episcopal Church, a landmark that dates to 1741 and was the site of Patrick Henry’s famous “liberty or death” speech.

David Gragnani will serve as the office's managing broker. He also oversees two other Richmond-area Long & Foster offices. David Seibert, a Long & Foster agent since 2008, also has assisted Long & Foster in establishing the new office. Gragnani is a lifelong Richmond resident who grew up in the nearby Fan District. Seibert lives in Church Hill.
 

Capital One Arena getting $40 million in renovations


Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., is getting a $40 million facelift. According to the arena’s owner, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the renovation will be privately funded.

“Capital One Arena is part of the heartbeat of Washington, D.C.,” Ted Leonsis, Monumental’s chairman said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud to be making this investment in a building that has played a key role in shaping our city, and that has been home to so many great memories for people … These upgrades will ensure that the fan experience at Capital One Arena remains second to none.”

The renovations will begin at the end of the 2017-18 NBA and NHL seasons and are expected to be completed by this fall. They include new padded seats, a new sound system, modernized concourses including new flooring, new lighting and new décor, two destination lounges, including a new premium club for floor and glass row-seat members, and new designed concessions.

The updated concessions, lounges and clubs will offer culinary talent from the D.C. area that Monumental says will bring locally sourced upgrades to traditional arena fare. The renovation also will include the updating of the flagship retail store at Capital One Arena, which will be open to fans year-round. 


Capital One Arena is one of the few privately owned arenas in the country. Throughout its ownership, Monumental Sports & Entertainment said it has made more than $100 million in investments to ensure the arena remains a top facility. With a capacity of more than 15,000, Capital One Arena is ranked 9th in the nation and 22nd worldwide among top-grossing venues.

Hotel property in Hopewell sells for $8.5 million

Stay Over Suites in Hopewell, a 108 all-suite property, has sold for $8.5 million to Touchstone Place LLC. According to  Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, which brokered the sale, Touchstone made the acquistition as an investment. The 80,400-square-foot property is located at 4115 Old Woodlawn St. on 4.3 acres. Thalhimer's David Butchello handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller, 4115 Old Woodlawn LLC & Hopewell-Oaklawn LLC. 

Virginia ranks ninth in the country for green building


Virginia is a leader in green building. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its annual list of the Top 10 States for LEED, or Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design, the world’s most widely used green building rating system, and Virginia made the 2018 list, coming in at No. 9

The list ranks states in terms of certified square feet per resident in 2017.

Now in its eighth year, the list is based on 2010 U.S. census data and includes commercial and institutional green building projects that were certified throughout last year.

Massachusetts retained its top position for the second year in a row with 130 LEED certifications representing 4.48 square feet of LEED-certified space per resident, the highest since 2010.

The mid-Atlantic continues to show strong regional leadership, with Maryland and Virginia returning to the list for the seventh year. The Rotunda at the University of Virginia, a 38,500-square-foot, historic multiuse space in Charlottesville, is one of the most recent buildings in the state to achieve a LEED rating of silver.

Also notable, Washington, D.C., which is not included in the official list of top states because of its status as a federal territory, tops the nation with 39.83 square feet of space per resident certified in 2017.

Illinois and Colorado are the only states to have made the list every year since the inception of the ranking in 2010.

Blue Ridge Contractors buys 60,000-square-foot industrial building in Lynchburg for $1 million

Blue Ridge Contractors LLC purchased a 60,000-square-foot industrial building on 10 acres in Lynchburg from Carter Bank and Trust for $1 million as an investment.

According to Cushman & Wakefield |Thalhimer, which brokered the sale, the property, the former Waytec building, is located at 1104 McConville Road in Lynchburg.

Blue Ridge plans to renovate the building and then lease the entire building or subdivide it for a combination of users.

Thalhimer’s George Lupton handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the buyer.

Grant Bates joins CBRE|Charlottesville as vice president

Grant Bates has joined the CBRE|Charlottesville office as vice president.

According to CBRE, Bates has more than five years of experience in property management, commercial leasing, sales and development.

Before joining CBRE, he was the managing director of an asset-based funding, merger and acquisition firm specializing in consulting and strategic planning.

Bates is a graduate of the University of Virginia and a member of the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors.

PRP buys two office buildings in Alexandria

PRP, a Washington D.C.-based real estate investment management company, has acquired two office buildings in Alexandria totaling 420,000 square feet for an undisclosed price.  The seller was Clll.

The buildings are located at 4900 Seminary Road and 4825 Mark Center Drive. Built in 1986 and 2000, they are located within the Mark Center submarket, an amenity-rich location situated along I-395 across the street from the Mark Center Transit Center. The center provides regional and local bus service as well shuttle service to two nearby Metro stations.

The location offers about 150,000 square feet of walkable retail amenities and is adjacent to the Mark Center Hilton and Conference Center, Alexandria Hospital and Alexandria Community College.

The building at 4825 Mark Center Drive offers 220,000 square feet on eight floors. The structure at 4900 Seminary Road is smaller, with 200,000 square feet on 12 floors.

PRP said it expects to complete renovations at 4900 Seminary Road, including new elevators and an HVAC system while upgrading bathrooms, lobbies and common areas. 

“We acquired and fully capitalized this transaction to be able to quickly respond to the dynamic office and retail leasing opportunities in Northern Virginia,” Paul Dougherty, president of PRP, said in a statement.

PRP, a private company, focuses on multifamily apartments, office and corporate headquarters facilities leased to investment-grade companies on a long-term basis. Since its formation in 2005, PRP said it has invested more than $1.5 billion in all property sectors.

Pantops Plaza Shopping Center in Charlottesville sells for $6.7 million

 

CooperQuincy LLC has purchased the Pantops Plaza Shopping Center in Charlottesville for $6.7 million, or about $638 per square feet. The company acquired the 10,518-square-foot strip center on Feb. 1, as part of a larger 1031 exchange, according to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group, which represented the seller, Riverbend Development.   

 

Thalhimer said the center is 100 percent leased to a variety of national tenants including Starbucks and Chipotle.  “The asset garnered significant interest in the marketplace …” Thalhimer said in a press release on the sale. 

 

Thalhimer’s Catharine Spangler in Richmond handled sale negotiations with the assistance of Ed Kimple in Thalhimer’s Virginia Beach office.  Thalhimer’s Charlottesville office has retained property management of the asset on behalf of the new ownership.

Region remains in the hunt for Amazon headquarters

Northern Virginia has made it to the next round of competition for Amazon’s $5 billion second headquarters.

Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, Md., also remain in the hunt for the project, known as HQ2, giving the Washington area three prospects, more than any other region in the country. Two other Virginia contenders, Richmond and Hampton Roads, did not make the initial cut.

In mid-January, Amazon announced the 20 cities that are still under consideration for HQ2, which would create 50,000 high-paying jobs during the next 15 to 17 years. A final decision is expected later this year.

Amazon reviewed 238 proposals from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In addition to the three metro Washington contenders, the other areas now in the second phase of the bidding process are: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; Newark, N.J.; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, N.C.; and Toronto.

In its September request for proposals (RFP), Amazon said it would prefer metropolitan areas with more than 1 million people that had access to mass transit, a stable and business-friendly environment and the potential to attract and retain technical talent.

The company also said the initial site requirement would be 500,000 square feet with total build-out for the headquarters expected to be 8 million square feet. Amazon made clear it wanted the headquarters to be within 30 minutes of a city center and 45 minutes from an international airport.

Virginia business leaders and economic development officials were giddy when news broke that NoVa made the short list.  The region’s official proposal included sites in Alexandria and Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties.



Michael Forehand, senior vice president for government and public affairs for the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, says that, to continue being a serious contender, the region needs to focus on dedicated funding for Metrorail. Business leaders have been meeting to address how to fix the transit system, which has suffered from declining ridership and deteriorating infrastructure.



“That effort is currently taking place in Virginia, Maryland and D.C., and the business community is fully committed to getting that done,” says Forehand. “If we could, it would be a tremendous demonstration that leaders in Virginia are committed to one of Amazon’s key priorities spelled out in the RFP, access to reliable public transit.”