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byline: Robyn Sidersky

Home sales slowed in 2023 and in final month of year

Home sales in Virginia dropped 20% last year, compared with 2022, and were the lowest the market had seen since 2014, according to new data released Tuesday by Virginia Realtors.

Across Virginia, 98,464 homes sold in 2023, which is 24,780 fewer than the number of sales in 2022.

Nine out of every 10 counties and cities in the state had fewer sales last year than the year before, reflecting a widespread cooldown. And though there were fewer sales, Virginia’s median home price climbed nearly every month of the year.

The median sales price for all of 2023 was $390,000, an increase of $25,000, or about 4%, from 2022’s median sales price. Sale prices rose 11 out of 12 months in 2023, and price growth accelerated in the second half of the year, according to the report. The median sales price has climbed every year since 2019, when it was $295,685.

In December 2023, there were 6,929 home sales in Virginia, and the median sales price was $382,725, a jump of 6.6%, or about $24,000, over December 2022. Most December 2023 sales were between $200,000 and $400,000 — about 42.6% — and a quarter of sales were between $400,000 and $600,000. Another 10.4% were sold for more than $800,000, and about 11.4% sold for less than $200,000.

Pending sales dropped in the final month of the year, down 2.1% from December 2022. There were also 3% fewer listings than in December 2022. But there were about 1% more active listings on the market, the first year-over-year increase in active listings in Virginia’s housing market in nine months.

Apartments in Orange sell for $1.9M

A 48-unit apartment community in the Town of Orange has changed hands, according to One South Commercial.

Belleview Apartments LLC purchased a 40,111-square-foot property with 48 units for $1.9 million from Belleview LLP.

The apartments are located at 222-224 Bellevue Ave. in Orange. According to town property records, the property was built in 1911.

Ryan Rilee and Tom Rosman of One South Commercial represented the seller in the transaction.

Norfolk apartment complex sells for $38.5M

Enterprise Community Development, a nonprofit affordable housing provider, has purchased Woodmere Trace, a 300-unit Norfolk community, from Raleigh, North Carolina-based Fulton Peak Capital.
Enterprise closed the $38.5 million sale on Dec. 20, 2023. Woodmere Trace is located at 6741 Tanners Creek Drive. The 300 garden-style apartments, comprised of one- and two-bedroom units, were built in 1974 and renovated in 2014. The community has a swimming pool, laundry facilities, a fitness center, picnic pavilion, playground and dog park.
Berkadia secured the sale and financing for the deal. Patrick McGlohn, Brian Gould and Miles Drinkwalter of Berkadia DC Metro and Hunter Wood of Berkadia Richmond secured $25.5 million in Fannie Mae acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer.

ManTech launches AI government contracting group

Herndon-based ManTech International has launched a data analytics and artificial intelligence solutions practice aimed at government clients. It will be led by Brandy Durham, a ManTech vice president and former executive with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.

The new division offers comprehensive AI consulting, AI engineering services and technology accelerators and works with government agencies to plan, design and execute real-world AI strategies, according to a news release from ManTech.

“At ManTech, we’ve assembled a diverse team of AI experts with deep understanding of client missions to create our foundation, ensuring we empower every client’s AI journey,” said Durham, who joined ManTech in October 2023. She previously served as senior practice manager for artificial intelligence-national security at AWS and also worked for Microsoft and IBM.

“The data analytics and AI solutions practice partners with members of the national security community to deliver mission-critical solutions,” Eric Brown, chief innovation officer at ManTech, said in a statement. “To build on this capability, the practice partners work closely with the digital transformation division, formerly Definitive Logic, which was acquired by ManTech in 2023.”

Founded in 1968 with a single Navy contract to develop war-gaming models for the submarine community, ManTech provides technology solutions for U.S. defense, intelligence and federal civilian agencies. It has a worldwide workforce of 9,400.

Babel Street acquires Ohio data insights firm

Reston-based data analytics and threat intelligence tech company Babel Street has acquired Vertical Knowledge, a data products, insights and intelligence company based in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

The acquisition — which has already closed — expands Babel Street’s data sourcing, enrichment and analysis capabilities, according to a news release from the two companies. Babel Street has 228 employees and Vertical Knowledge has 128 employees.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to welcome Vertical Knowledge and its talented team and robust products to Babel Street,” Babel Street CEO Michael Southworth said in a statement. “Together, we can offer our customers and partners unprecedented access to comprehensive, multilingual data assets enhanced by industry-leading natural language processing. This powerful combination of data and technology closes the Risk-Confidence Gap, empowering our customers to operate with greater efficiency, foresight and security.”

Babel Street acquired text analytics platform Rosette about a year ago.

“Joining forces with Babel Street supercharges our ability to equip customers with the intelligence needed to successfully tackle their most difficult problems,” Vertical Knowledge CEO Brian O’Keefe said in a statement. “Babel Street is the gold standard in identity resolution, risk identification and mitigation capabilities that perfectly complements Vertical Knowledge’s strengths in data collection and contextualization. We could not be more excited to fuse our talents and technologies to accelerate innovation in this space.”

 

Virginia Chamber elects Va. Natural Gas president as board chair

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce has elected Robert Duvall, president of Virginia Natural Gas, to chair its board of directors, the chamber announced Thursday.

Duvall succeeds Lakshmi Williams, North American general counsel of Transurban, who chaired the board in 2023. Duvall’s term as chair will last a year.

At Virginia Natural Gas, Duvall is responsible for the delivery of natural gas to more than 300,000 customers in southeastern Virginia and its system growth, expansion and community involvement. He is also senior vice president of Southern Company Gas, VNG’s Atlanta-based parent company, and a member of the Southern Company Gas management council.

“I look forward to working with Robert this year and am thankful for his commitment to the implementation of Blueprint Virginia 2030,” Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber, said in a statement. “Robert has been a vital member of the chamber’s board of directors and executive committee for many years and is a valued member of the business community in the commonwealth.”

A civil engineering graduate of Clemson University, Duvall started his career in 1984 as a distribution engineer at Atlanta Gas Light, a subsidiary of Southern Company Gas. From 2014 to 2016, he was VNG’s president, then served as Southern’s senior vice president of customer operations before returning to helm VNG in 2020.

“I am honored to embark on this journey with the Virginia Chamber and its over 30,000 members,” Duvall said in a statement. “Over the coming year, I look forward to prioritizing the key focus areas of progress: energy, infrastructure and the workforce. Together, we can build resilient foundations and cultivate a workforce to shape a thriving commonwealth for generations to come.”

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce elected a new executive committee and board members at its annual meeting Thursday in Richmond. Linda Stanley, managing director of First Citizens Bank, is first vice chair. Williams is immediate past chair, and Chris Kyle, vice president of Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel), is treasurer.

The rest of the board includes:

At-large officers

  • Gilbert Bland, CEO, Urban League of Hampton Roads
  • Janice Crawford, director, safety, security and loss prevention, Framatome
  • Ben Davenport, chairman, First Piedmont
  • Stewart Leeth, chief sustainability officer, Smithfield Foods
  • Mike Melo, CEO, ITA International
  • Jennifer Siciliano, chief external affairs officer, UVA Health
  • Eric Sisco, chairman, Virginia International Gateway
New members of the executive committee
  • Katharine Bond, vice president for public policy, alternative energy and economic development strategy, Dominion Energy
  • Brad Hall, vice president external affairs, Appalachian Power
  • Thomas Ransom, executive vice president, Virginia region, Truist Financial

New members of the board of directors

  • David B. Armstrong, president and co-founder, Monument Wealth Management, Alexandria
  • Sweeny Bansal, VP/general manager, Atlantic division, Virginia Labcorp, Richmond
  • Eric J. Finkbeiner, director, state and local government Affairs, SAIC, Reston
  • Eric Fletcher, senior vice president, Mary Washington Healthcare, Fredericksburg
  • Dr. William A. Hazel, senior deputy executive director, Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, Fairfax

Caesars Virginia ‘tops off’ Danville casino

Caesars Virginia is a step closer to opening its permanent casino in Danville after a topping-off ceremony Thursday.

Though the temporary casino opened in May 2023, work on the permanent Caesars Virginia casino and 12-story hotel has been ongoing. The floor of the casino has been poured, metal framing is in place and the hotel structure has been fully built, with windows being placed onto the building’s facade up to the sixth floor, according to a news release from Caesars.

The hotel will have 320 rooms — a reduction from the originally announced 500 rooms — plus a swimming pool and spa.

A partnership between Caesars Entertainment and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), Caesars Virginia started construction on the casino in August 2022. The development, at the former Dan River Inc. Schoolfield mill site, is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Chris Albrecht, senior vice president and general manager of Caesars Virginia, was excited that he doesn’t have to say “next year” or “late next year” anymore. “This has truly changed the skyline of Danville when you come from miles away and now see this great addition to the three sisters,” Albrecht said in a statement, referring to the local nickname for a trio of prominent smokestacks left over from closed textiles factories.

The topping-off ceremony, which marks the completion of the building’s framework of a building, included hoisting a tree and American flag to the highest point of the hotel, placed next to a silhouette of Gaius Julius Caesar himself.

“In my eyes, a topping-off solidifies the fact that Danville made the right choice in picking Caesars as a partner in this project,” Barron Fuller, regional president of the Southeast Region for Caesars Entertainment, said in a statement.

The 40,000-square-foot temporary casino brought in $145 million in revenue from its opening in May 2023 through the end of the year. It has more than 400 employees and officials estimated that at least 800 people will work in the permanent casino, which will feature 1,300 slots, 85 live table tames, 24 electronic table games, a poker room and sports book, along with bars, restaurants, a 2,500-seat live entertainment theater and more than 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

Virginia’s first casino, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, opened in July 2022 in a temporary space at the former Bristol Mall after receiving licensing approval less than 90 days earlier. In December 2022, developers began construction nearby on the $500 million permanent Hard Rock casino, which is slated to open in July. The 90,000-square-foot permanent resort casino will include a 2,200-seat indoor entertainment venue, but early plans for an outdoor venue there were scrapped.

The $340 million Rivers Casino Portsmouth, which received its license in November 2022, opened its permanent space in January 2023.

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s license for the proposed $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk is still pending state approval and construction has not yet started. The Norfolk Architectural Review Board is the first body to review plans for the casino, which is pending approval from Norfolk City Council. The review board was set to review the casino’s new plans during its Jan. 8 meeting, but developers continued the review until Jan. 22.

Following Richmond voters’ rejection of a proposed $562 million casino for the second time, Petersburg lawmakers are seeking to hold a casino referendum in the city, which would require the General Assembly to allow a casino in a city with a population below 200,000. State Senate Bill 268, with state Sens. Lashrecse Aird and Louise Lucas as patrons, would amend requirements for a host city to ones favorable for Petersburg, The Progress-Index reported.

 

 

 

 

Ellucian names new COO

Reston-based Ellucian has named Kelly Rogan its chief operating officer, the higher education software company announced Tuesday.

Rogan will oversee Ellucian’s global professional services, managed services, services strategy and innovation, and customer success and support.

She joins Ellucian after spending 15 years at Microsoft, most recently as corporate vice president of global systems integrators. There, she held various leadership positions and led teams driving from strategy through execution at scale, including as COO of the software giant’s U.S. subsidiary focused on seller productivity. Rogan is currently based in Washington state and will continue to reside there for now, but plans to spend a lot of time in Reston at Ellucian’s headquarters.

“Ellucian’s deep understanding of the power of higher education, and its ever-changing landscape, has enabled institutions to drive better outcomes for their students,” Rogan said in a statement. “And at the core of Ellucian’s success is an incredible team. I’m excited to join a group of talented and passionate people, while bringing my expertise in driving cloud transformation and delivering customer success to contribute to the mission.”

She started her career at Ernst & Young, specializing in large-scale system implementations and launching development centers around the world. Then, she joined CNA insurance.

“I am very excited to welcome Kelly to Ellucian and to the leadership team. Her seasoned expertise with the transformational power of the cloud at Microsoft will accelerate and enhance our SaaS delivery and customer success strategies,” Ellucian President and CEO Laura Ipsen, said in a statement. “Kelly’s passion for ensuring customer excellence, coupled with her outstanding leadership qualities and deep commitment to talent development and organizational culture, will make her an invaluable addition to the team as we continue to advance our mission of powering higher education so institutions can empower student success.”

Rogan has a bachelor’s degree in operations management information systems from Northern Illinois University.

In October 2023, Ellucian entered into an agreement to buy United Kingdom-based Tribal Group for $210 million.

Founded in 1968, Ellucian provides enterprise resource planning software products such as student information systems, data analytics tools and graduation-tracking platforms for more than 2,900 higher education customers in more than 50 countries serving 22 million students. It was acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners for an undisclosed amount in September 2021.

RAMP hires new executive director

The new executive director of RAMP, the Roanoke-based Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program, once worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. Now he’ll help startups get off the ground in Roanoke, after doing work in the startup ecosystem in North Carolina.

John Hagy started as executive director of RAMP on Jan. 8. He takes the place of Lisa Garcia, who left the organization after its fall 2023 cohort ended.

Hagy was previously managing director of the Carolina Angel Network, the University of North Carolina’s early-stage investing group. Before that, he was a business development director at a geospatial intelligence startup, a strategy consultant at Deloitte and an intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency.

“RAMP has built an unmatched reputation as a champion for entrepreneurs and companies in Virginia’s growing technology and health and life sciences sectors and ultimately for the ideas and innovation so critical to the region’s economy and job base,” he said in a statement. “I am excited to join the team and helping to continue this forward momentum.”

RAMP also announced two other staff moves: Jessica Dunn was promoted to program coordinator and will work with entrepreneurs on programming and work with in-residence cohorts; and Sarah Spotswood is now in an alumni relations role, working with companies who have completed the RAMP program.

RAMP offers two cohorts each year for entrepreneurs in the technology and health and sciences sector. The 12-week program provides access to mentoring, $20,000 in equity-free funding, office space in downtown Roanoke and membership to the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council, the Global Accelerator Network, Virginia Bio and the Shenandoah Club. They also get three additional years of support. About five companies are selected for each cohort, and since 2017, RAMP has accelerated 48 companies that have gone on to raise more than $28 million in working capital.

Brown Edwards CEO to retire in June

Brown Edwards partner and CEO Jason Hartman will retire this summer, the Roanoke-based public accounting firm announced Tuesday.

Hartman joined Brown Edwards in 1986 and has led the firm for the past seven years. Laura Sprouse, Brown Edwards’ chief operating officer and partner, will become the next CEO on June 1.

Under Hartman’s leadership, Brown Edwards grew through acquisitions, expanding the firm’s market to Richmond, Colonial Heights and Newport News. He also helped the firm reach No. 72 on Inside Public Accounting’s list of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms based on net reviews.

Sprouse has been with Brown Edwards for 25 years and led the firm’s accounting information systems group before she became COO. She became COO at the same time Hartman became CEO, and together, they expanded Brown Edwards’ firm-wide shared services group and built out a C-suite.

Laura Sprouse. Photo courtesy Brown Edwards

Sprouse joined Brown Edwards in 1998 and as COO led the firm’s internal administrative teams, including information technology, human resources, finance and business development, and she spearheads many of the firm’s special projects. Under her tenure as COO, the firm’s revenue has grown from $25 million to $80 million in top line revenue, through acquisitions, focusing on organic growth in local markets and key niche service lines. It is now the largest independent CPA firm headquartered in Virginia, based on number of CPAs.

Sprouse will maintain some of her current responsibilities in her new role and will not immediately name a new COO.

“I am truly honored to assume the role of CEO at BE,” Sprouse said in a statement. “I am committed to building upon Jason’s remarkable legacy and steering our firm towards a future of continued growth, innovation and client-focused excellence. Along with our exceptional team, we will uphold our core values and remain a trusted partner for all our clients’ financial needs.”

Sprouse graduated from Ferrum College with a bachelor’s in accounting and decision support systems.

Named a 2023 Best Tax and Accounting Firm in America by Forbes, Brown Edwards reported $80.1 million in revenue in 2022 and employs 350 people in Virginia.