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Marshall’s department store has leased 26,000 square feet of space in Brenneman Farms at Princess Anne Road and South Plaza Trail in Virginia Beach. Other major tenants in the center are Harris Teeter, Petco and CVS. Christopher Rouzie of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled lease negotiations on behalf of the tenant.
byline: Paula C. Squires
Ambit Group relocates to larger office in Reston
The Ambit Group (Ambit) in Reston has moved to a larger 10,300-square-foot office as part of a business expansion to celebrate the company’s ninth anniversary.
Ambit’s new address is 1902 Campus Commons Drive in Reston. The new, larger space to accomodate the firm’s growth includes a dedicated training facility. The move to larger quarters is part of an anniversary celebration that includes a restructuring of leadership and several employee promotions.
John Condon, former CEO, has moved to the role of chairman of the board, while Kim Hayes, former president, has taken over the role of CEO. “Over the past nine years our business has evolved and grown to a point where we are ready for the next stage of our corporate history,” Condon said in a statement. “Our employee growth and promotions coupled with our office relocation will better position us for future success.”
Lou Kerestesy, Ambit’s former chief operating officer, succeeded Hayes as company president.
Ambit, which employs 100 people, is a provider of strategic and IT management services to the federal government.
Beer in Virginia
Beer is responsible for 10,000 jobs in Virginia. That’s one of the nuggets in a new economic impact report by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) in Alexandria.
The report, produced by Bill Latham and Ken Lewis of the Center for Applied Business & Economic Research at the University of Delaware, says Virginia beer distributors generate $1.5 billion in total economic impacts.
The report takes into account how beer distributor activities are intertwined with many parts of the economy, especially the personal services sector. The report also includes the amount of resources contributed by beer distributors in supporting community events and local economic development, contributing to charitable causes and promoting responsible alcohol use.
Some of the report’s key findings:
Virginia beer distributors directly employ 3,791 people.
When the impacts of distributor operations, capital investment and community involvement are considered, the total number of impact jobs is 9,850.
Virginia beer distributors generate $1.5 billion in total economic impacts.
Virginia beer distributor activities contribute $334 million to the federal, state and local tax bases. This does not include an added $245 million in federal, state and local alcohol excise and consumption taxes on beer sold in Virginia.
The Virginia beer distribution industry contributes more than $440 million in transportation efficiencies for the beer industry each year.
Beer distributor contributions to local community activities generate $4.1 million in impacts annually.
“The beer distribution sector is a hidden gem that has been tremendously undervalued in previous economic reports,” said Latham. “Fueling more than 345,000 direct and indirect jobs across the country, beer distributors add $54 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product and offer far reaching benefits to brewers, importers, retailers, consumers and government agencies at all levels.”
Altogether, America has 3,300 independent beer distributors who directly employ more than 130,000 people, according to the NBWA.
Advance Auto Parts sees higher profit in 2012; drop in revenue for fourth quarter
THE TAKE: Roanoke-based Advance Auto Parts (AAP), a Fortune 500 retailer of automotive parts and accessories, saw an increase in earnings of 2.2 percent in 2012, and a drop in earnings of 2.2 percent for the fourth quarter.
THE NUMBERS:
Sales: $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up 0.1 percent from the same quarter in 2011. For fiscal 2012, sales were $6.2 billion, up 0.6 percent compared to $6.1 billion in 2011.
Earnings per share: Fourth quarter, 88 cents per diluted share, a 2.2 percent decrease. For fiscal 2012, EPS was $5.22, an increase of 2.2 percent.
Net operating income: $113.2 million, or 8.5 percent of total sales, compared to 8.4 percent during the same period last year. For fiscal 2012, the operating income rate was 10.6 percent vs. 10.8 percent during fiscal 2011.
As a result of the recent acquisition of BWP Distributors Inc., the company estimates that BWP will add about $170 million to $180 million of revenue in 2013.
THE COMPANY’S TAKE: “Overall fiscal 2012 was a challenging environment, which is reflected in our results. Yet we achieved many milestones that position us for a strong future. Those achievements include the launch of our in-house commercial credit program, the opening of our new distribution center in Remington, Ind., improvements in our commercial customer satisfaction, the market entry into the boroughs of New York and the acquisition of BWP which closed after our fiscal year ended.”
Virginia Association of Realtors says state’s housing market is recovering
The Virginia Association of Realtors released a report Wednesday that says the state’s home sales market is in recovery. The “Pieces of Home 2012 Housing Market Report” says Virginia saw an 8 percent growth year-over-year in home sales in 2012. Nearly every month last year the home sales market experienced higher sales when compared with the same month in 2011.
However, some regions fared better than others. According to the VAR, the Central Virginia and Northern Virginia regions led the way with 11% and 9% growth respectively, though the Central Shenandoah Valley (+8%) and Roanoke / Lynchburg / Blacksburg (+7%) weren’t far behind. Two of the smaller regions, (Southside
Virginia and Southwest Virginia) experienced modest declines (-3%, -1%) in buyer activity during 2012.
Another highlight from the report is that Virginia’s median sales price increased 7 percent year-over-year, to $240,000. Home prices were higher than that in Northern Virginia. The report includes housing data, trends and comparisons, and articles by real estate experts from across the commonwealth.
AT&T names two new directors
AT&T named two new directors Tuesday to oversee the company’s retail stores in Virginia and West Virginia. They are Adam M. Ragab and Claire Reazin, who will be based in Richmond.
Ragab comes to the position from New York City, where he managed seven retail stores, including AT&T’s Times Square store, one of the largest in the country. Ragab started his career in telecommunications 12 years ago and has worked for AT&T for seven years.
Reazin has worked for AT&T for 11 years, previously serving as a regional performance manager. She began working in Richmond, managing retail stores throughout the area.
Last two waterfront development sites in Old Town Alexandria go on market
Studley Inc. in Washington, D.C., has been retained by Robinson Terminal to market for sale the last two prime waterfront redevelopment sites in historic Old Town Alexandria. Robinson Terminal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Co. which also is exploring the sale of its headquarters building in downtown D.C.
Studley said in a press release Tuesday that the sites, known as Robinson Terminal North and South, are located across the Potomac River from Washington and represent a redevelopment opportunity. The two properties offer the potential for more than 600,000 square feet of mixed-use redevelopment on approximately 6.7 acres of land and include 1,000 linear feet of Potomac River frontage and 2,000 linear feet of street frontage on major Old Town thoroughfares. Due to their size, location and water views, the terminal sites have been a key focus of the Alexandria City Council’s Waterfront Small Area Plan, which seeks to establish redevelopment goals for Old Town’s waterfront.
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that is considering relocating from its historic headquarters building in D.C. to a more modern, efficient building. It has retained two brokerages, JM Zell Partners Ltd. and Studley, to explore options in the area.
Studley brokers Vernon Knarr and Arthur Greenberg are heading up the marketing for the Old Town sites. “They have breathtaking, unobstructed river views of Washington, D.C., and present a tremendous opportunity for new residential, hotel, commercial, retail, restaurant and other transformative mixed uses in the heart of Alexandria,” Greenberg said in a statement.
Robert W. Taylor, president of Robinson Terminal, said, “We have decided that the time is right to market the North and South Terminals on the Alexandria waterfront, where we have had a long history of operations. As the business has evolved over time, we can consolidate operations in Springfield, [where the Post has a printing facility] and continue to provide high-quality service to our customers.”
Lexington George Washington Inn & Conference Center in Williamsburg sells for $2.7 million
The Lexington George Washington Inn & Conference Center at 500 Merrimac Trail in Williamsburg sold to Janco Development LLC for $2.7 million. According to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, Janco purchased the 250-unit hotel on about six acres from Merrimac Partners LLC as an investment. David Butchello of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.
Huntington Ingalls opens new office in Houston
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said Tuesday it is opening an office in Houston, Texas, to pursue opportunities in the energy infrastructure market for its Avondale subsidiary.
“We have a great workforce at Avondale with unique engineering and manufacturing capabilities that have been demonstrated for many decades,” Mike Petters, HII’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Additionally, these skilled men and women are located in the heart of a region where there is more manufacturing demand than the current suppliers can meet, particularly in the energy markets.”
Chris Kastner, HII’s corporate vice president and general manager, corporate development, who is leading the effort for Avondale, added, “We are in active discussions with respected companies in the oil and gas infrastructure market. We’ve satisfied ourselves that the engineering and construction elements of these projects are very comparable to shipbuilding, and we are working very hard, both internally and with prospective customers, evaluating and competing for new opportunities.”
The company said Avondale will transition into this market by building upon the shipyard’s 30-plus years of modular engineering and construction expertise and nearly 75years of experience in heavy manufacturing. Located on the Mississippi River near New Orleans, the 268-acre Avondale facility has the potential to employ up to 10,000 people.
HII, based in Newport News, designs builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe.
Virginia creates a Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corp.
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Virginia is seeking to boost its profile as a state for bioscience research with the creation of a tax-exempt corporation. Designed to foster collaborative scientific research innovation by providing a new program for public/private partnerships with Virginia universities, the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corp. (VBHRC) will be funded at $5 million for 2013/2014 from the state’s general fund.
Five schools ― Eastern Virginia Medical School, George Mason University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Tech—will put in a $50,000 cash contribution in each of the first and second years.
Announced Monday by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the mission of the corporation is to serve as a catalyst to accelerate life sciences research momentum at Virginia’s universities. Other goals include developing patents, fostering new startup companies, creating jobs and raising Virginia’s ranking in health care delivery and the life sciences nationally.
Currently, the state’s bioscience industry is made up of nearly 800 firms with about 28,700 employees. Virginia offers companies a central location in the mid-Atlantic life sciences corridor combined with access to research institutes, including SRI International, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and 11 federally funded R&D centers.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Gov. Bob McDonnell said in a statement, “… R&D investments have a tremendous economic impact in total jobs and increased annual state tax revenue. “
Jerry Giles, a managing director on VEDP’s business expansion team, will serve as interim chair of the VBHRC until a board of directors can be recruited. “The VBHRC is a unique model, which draws upon the institutional and collective life science strengths of five Virginia universities,” he said. To attract significantly larger sponsored research from private sector corporations, he added that foundations and federal sources will focus on bioinformatics and medical informatics, point-of-care diagnostics, and drug discovery and delivery. “VBHRC will entertain no application for research funding support, unless at least two of the five founding universities have material research engagements in the application,” he said in a statement.
The VBHRC Board of Directors will be include 13 members, including five university members, with one member appointed from each of the five founding universities; five members designated by the Virginia secretary of commerce and trade, including one member from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, one from the office of Commerce and Trade, two from major statewide health care system providers in Virginia, and one from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; one from the private equity/venture capital community; and two members from life science companies.
VBHRC also is currently recruiting a president/CEO who will report directly to the Board of Directors.