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byline: Robyn Sidersky

Sentara Healthcare acquires Fla. insurance company

Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare has acquired AvMed Inc., a not-for-profit health plan company based in Miami, from SantaFe HealthCare Inc., Sentara announced Thursday. Financial terms of the deal, which closed Dec. 31, 2022, were not disclosed.

AvMed is a health insurance company with more than 200,000 members and 35,000 providers and nearly 500 employees. It offers commercial group, individual and Medicare Advantage coverage.

“Sentara has extensive experience operating successful health plans that facilitate access to high-quality, coordinated care for members, and we are excited to be bringing Sentara’s mission — we improve health every day — to an even larger community,” Sentara President and CEO Dennis Matheis said in a statement.

The affiliation between Sentara and AvMed “creates greater economies of scale allowing Sentara to better coordinate care, enhance overall experience, improve affordability and continue capability investments to better serve patients, members and communities,” according to a news release.

“Sentara and AvMed are like-minded, mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations with long histories of serving our communities and delivering excellence in service, quality and member satisfaction,” Colin Drozdowski, president of Sentara Health Plans and executive vice president of Sentara Healthcare, said in a statement.

Sentara operates Sentara Health Plans, the health insurance division of Sentara Healthcare, offering plans through its subsidiaries, Optima Health and Virginia Premier. With the acquisition of AvMed, Sentara’s health care operations expand coverage to nearly 1.2 million members, according to a news release.

 

Va. Beach office building sells for $15.5M

Charlottesville-based Seminole Trail Management LLC is the new owner of Pinehurst Centre, a 99,337-square-foot office building in Virginia Beach, Colliers announced Jan. 9.

Virginia Beach-based real estate developer Robinson Development Group sold the four-story, Class A office building to Seminole Trail for $15.5 million. The office is located at 477 Viking Drive in the Lynnhaven area. RDG acquired the building in June 2000.

Tenants include Financial Security Group, Progressive Casualty Insurance and Davenport & Co.

Colliers’ Will Bradley and Mark Williford represented the seller.

GTT Communications emerges from Chapter 11

McLean-based GTT Communications Inc. has completed its financial restructuring process and emerged from Chapter 11 cases, the telecommunications company announced Jan. 3.

“The transformed company is repositioned to focus on providing customers with industry-leading managed network and cloud security services that leverage the company’s global Tier 1 IP network,” GTT wrote in a news release.

The company and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2021. 

“Today marks the beginning of an important new chapter for GTT,” GTT CEO Ernie Ortega said in a statement. “Over the past two years, we have concentrated relentlessly on transforming our business into a customer-focused, managed services provider with a culture of continuous improvement. As we begin 2023 on a new path, I’m tremendously excited about the opportunities ahead.”

Through GTT’s sale of its infrastructure division in 2021 and its financial restructuring process, the company reduced its debt by $2.8 billion, or about 80%, according to GTT. The company announced a new board of directors, including a new chairman, in April 2022. With the financial restructuring completed, two more have been added to the board of directors: Beau Harbour, managing director at Lone Star Funds and Alex Grau, managing director at Hudson Advisors LP, an investment adviser to Lone Star.

“The company’s board and new owners are looking forward to working with Ernie and the entire GTT team to build on the company’s momentum and our shared vision to serve businesses with network, security and communications needs across multiple locations globally.” Tony Abate, chairman of the board, said in a statement. “GTT is well-positioned to capture the growing demand for bandwidth, cybersecurity and managed services as enterprises optimize the performance of their own SaaS and cloud-based applications anywhere in the world.”

 

Nat’l Science Teaching Assoc.’s Arlington HQ sells for $14M

The Arlington headquarters of the National Science Teaching Association has sold for $14 million, CBRE announced Thursday.

Washington, D.C.-based The Fortis Cos., a real estate development and investment company, purchased the 48,000-square-foot building at 1840 Wilson Blvd. The transaction also includes two on-site restaurants: Rhodeside Grill at 1836 Wilson Blvd. and Il Radicchio at 1801 Clarendon Blvd.

The building is flour floors and has an underground parking garage with 136 spaces and is less than a quarter mile from the Courthouse Metro station.

CBRE represented NSTA in the transaction, led by Dean Stiles and John Sheridan.

Roanoke custom printing company buys building for $1.65M

Roanoke-based custom screen-printing and embroidery company Press Press Merch LLC purchased a Roanoke County building for $1.65 million as its new business location, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer reported Wednesday.

Press Press Merch bought the 32,926-square-foot property at 4721 Starkey Road, just outside the city, from Starkey Road Properties LLC.

The company also makes posters, postcards, stickers and other promotional products.

Barry Ward, Bill Poe and Price Gutshall of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

Franklin Johnston Group sees father-son succession

The Franklin Johnston Group, has promoted W. Taylor Franklin to CEO, succeeding his father, Wendell Franklin, who has become chairman, the Virginia Beach-based real estate development, investment and management firm announced last week.

Taylor Franklin previously served as the firms’ chief operating officer and Wendell Franklin served as CEO for the past decade.

The Franklins, Steve Cooper and Tom Johnston left Norfolk real estate firm S.L. Nusbaum in 2013 to co-found The Franklin Johnston Group. As chairman, Wendell Franklin will be less involved in day-to-day decision making and instead will seek to leverage his institutional and industry knowledge to facilitate dialogue and perspective around the company’s short- and long-term goals, Taylor Franklin told Virginia Business.

As COO, Taylor Franklin oversaw company operations, new business and partnership acquisitions and new development opportunities. The firm had nearly 500 employees in Virginia in 2022 and nearly 600 across seven states. As CEO, Taylor Franklin will continue to focus on building the company’s brand, team, culture and strategic initiatives for all aspects of  TFJG’s management and development business. The firm will not name a new COO, but Taylor Franklin said the move “will give TFJG the opportunity to continue to build upon our development footprint throughout the commonwealth and management presence up and down the East Coast.”

Last year, Taylor Franklin was tapped as the youngest King Neptune in the 48-year history of Virginia Beach’s Neptune Festival. He also serves as vice chair of Norfolk Collegiate’s board of trustees and as a trustee for his alma mater, Virginia Wesleyan University. He is assistant secretary of the Virginia Beach Development Authority and is chairman and president of the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Foundation.

 

Rivers Casino Portsmouth opening delayed

Rivers Casino Portsmouth‘s grand opening has been delayed until Jan. 23, eight days after its initially scheduled opening planned for Jan. 15, the casino announced Tuesday. The casino wanted to allow for additional time to test and verify new gaming equipment, a spokesperson for the casino said in an email. 

“Providing a superior guest experience is a top priority for Rivers Casino Portsmouth. Our intention is to be the entertainment destination of choice for Hampton Roads, and we’ll settle for nothing less. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to welcoming our guests very soon,” casino officials said in a statement. 

The “charity days” previously scheduled for Jan. 10 and 12 have been rescheduled to Jan. 19 and 21. 

The grand opening is now scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 23.

The $340 million 250,000-square-foot casino will be operated by Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming. Construction began in December 2021. The entertainment venue, located along Victory Drive in Portsmouth, will feature 1,448 slot machines, 57 table games and 24 poker tables. It’s expected to bring $16.3 million in annual tax revenues to the city. When it opens, it will be the commonwealth’s first permanent casino, though a temporary casino has been open in Bristol since July 2022. Two other proposed casinos are in the pipeline in Danville and Norfolk.

 

 

Exclusive: Colliers names new Va. exec. managing director

Colliers has named Jamie Thomas executive managing director and brokerage market leader for Virginia, effective Monday, the company told Virginia Business.

Thomas, a Richmond native and Virginia Commonwealth University graduate, replaces J. Scott Adams, whose role shifted to prioritize client services and investment sales across Virginia and North Carolina. Adams had been serving as executive managing director since November 2021.

Thomas will oversee brokerage operations, recruitment, retention and business development in Richmond, Norfolk and Charlottesville, overseeing about 60 brokers across the three markets.

He joins Colliers from Commonwealth Commercial Partners LLC, where he led a team of 18 overseeing a large real estate portfolio in Virginia. He has more than 25 years of experience directing commercial real estate operations. He has served as managing partner of GVA Advantis and is the 2023 president of the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate (GRACRE). 

“My past experience in both Richmond and Norfolk really led me to be uniquely qualified, knowing the markets, knowing all the people,” Thomas said. His goals, he added, include continuing growth, enhancing office culture and “keeping everybody happy and making sure they have the resources or access to resources that Colliers offers.” He also wants to mentor younger brokers, he said.

Richmond apartments sell for $19.3M

Arlington-based Ritz Banc Group has acquired the Forest Ridge Apartments complex in Richmond from Colony Management for $19.3 million, Colliers announced Jan. 4.

The apartment community has 135 units and is located in the Stratford Hills neighborhood, at 2665 Granite Hills Circle. Most of the units have townhome-style floorplans.

The new owners are planning renovations to the community.

 

REIN elects new board

The Real Estate Information Network Inc., the multiple listing service for the Hampton Roads region, has a new board of directors and executive committee.

The new board includes:

  • Jon McAchran, president
  • Gary Lundholm, vice president
  • Barry Nachman, secretary
  • Dorcas Helfant-Browning, treasurer
  • Tina Holt, director
  • Cavelle Mollineaux, director
  • Kimberly Plourde, director
  • Brenda Reid, director
  • Barbara Wolcott, director
  • Liz Moore, past president

REIN has 10,000 members and serves an area that stretches from Williamsburg and Glocester, down to Moyock and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Members of its executive committee (president, vice president, secretary and treasurer) serve one-year terms on the committee and the board of directors, all either principals or managing brokers of a stockholder-member firm, each serve two-year terms. They are elected by REIN broker-stockholders.