Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

byline: Staff Reports

Hilb Group acquires Massachusetts insurance agency

The Hilb Group LLC, a Henrico County-based insurance brokerage group, has acquired a Massachusetts agency.

The Sept. 1 deal involves The Incentive Group LLC, which is based in Waltham, Massachusetts and provides employee benefits consulting and insurance services.

Hilb Group said The Incentive Group will continue to operate out of its Waltham office under the management of co-founders Paul Beggan and Tim Nugent.

The Hilb Group has more than over 85 offices in 21 states. It is a portfolio company of Abry Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm.

Andrew Genova joins Avison Young

Andrew Genova has joined the Toronto-based commercial real estate services firm Avison Young as a principal based in its Tysons office.

Genova will focus on consulting and advisory services for commercial real estate leasing and investment sales, primarily in the Washington, D.C., region.

He also will manage corporate real estate portfolios for international security technology companies and government contractors.

Genova previously was a vice president with West, Lane & Schlager Real Estate Advisors in Washington.

During his career, he has advised clients on more than 1 million square feet of space.

Genova holds a master’s degree in commercial real estate finance and development from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Birmingham Southern College.

SAIC appoints chief human resources officer

The Reston-based technology company Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has appointed Michelle A. O’Hara as its chief human resources officer.

O’Hara, who has more than 20 years of HR leadership experience, will succeed Karen Wheeler, who is retiring. The appointment takes effect on Oct. 1.

SAIC, a Fortune 1000 company with revenue of $4.7 billion last year, has 23,000 employees. O’Hara currently is human resources senior vice president at the SAIC, where she has worked for 10 years.

She has led major HR functions at the company, including talent strategy, recruiting, benefits, learning and development, inclusion and diversity, payroll and executive compensation.

O’Hara received her bachelor’s degree from William & Mary and completed the Executive Education – Leadership program at the Yale School of Management.

She also holds a Strategic HR Business Partner Certification from the Human Capital Institute.

Architectural firm names new chairman

Burt Pinnock has been named chairman of the Richmond-based architectural firm Baskervill.

A Baskervill principal and fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Pinnock succeeds the firm’s longstanding chairman, Brent Farmer, who moved into an advisory emeritus role earlier this year.

Pinnock serves on the Historic Richmond Foundation Advisory Board, City of Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals, Venture Richmond board of directors and Virginia LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) advisory board.

He is also chair of the Commonwealth of Virginia Art & Architectural Review Board, co-chair of the Richmond 300 Advisory Council, and the creator and co-founder of Storefront for Community Design.

Founded in 1897, Baskervill is one of the nation’s oldest continually operating architectural firms.

Board awards nearly $22 million to Virginia airports

The Virginia Aviation Board has awarded nearly $22 million to 66 public-use airports in the commonwealth.

Public-use airports are available for use by the general public without requiring prior approval by an airport owner or operator.

The funding total includes $13.95 million awarded to commercial airports accommodating at least 2,500 passenger boardings a year.

Another $3.23 million was awarded to air carrier-reliever airports, which are designated by the FAA to relieve congestion at commercial airports.

General aviation airports, which do not have scheduled service or have fewer than 2,500 annual passenger boardings, received $4.1 million in funding.

The governor’s office said aviation annually contributes $23 billion to the Virginia economy, transporting more than 8.3 million tourists a year to the commonwealth.

Two warehouses under construction in Prince William

Baltimore-based Merritt Properties has begun construction on two industrial buildings in the I-66 Business Park in Prince William County.

When completed, the business park, located at the intersection of Balls Ford and Groveton roads, will include six buildings with a total of 596,900 square feet.

Construction on the first three buildings was completed in January. Their overall occupancy reached 91% in July.

Merritt Construction Services now is building two warehouses, one with 97,200 square feet and a second with 137,350 square feet.

The buildings are expected to open in December.

Merritt Properties, whose Virginia office is in Ashburn, is a full-service commercial real estate company with nearly 16 million square feet of space in Virginia and Maryland.

Virginia unemployment stays at 2.9%

Virginia’s unemployment rate was unchanged in July, but its labor force continued to expand.

The commonwealth’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained at 2.9% for the second consecutive month. Seasonally adjusted data take into account seasonal fluctuations in the labor force.

In releasing the July figures, the governor’s office noted that Virginia had the lowest unemployment rate among Southeastern states and tied for fifth lowest nationally with four other states — Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts and South Dakota.

Meanwhile, Virginia’s labor force expanded in July for the thirteenth consecutive month by 12,345 workers to set a new record high of 4,389,783.

Virginia’s jobless rate also was 2.9% in July 2018. The U.S. unemployment rate last month was 3.7%, the same as June.

In July, the private sector recorded an over-the-year gain of 29,600 jobs, while employment in the public sector decreased by 6,600 jobs.

Virginia ranks high in internet-speed survey

Virginia ranks fifth nationally in average internet speed, according to a recent survey.

HighSpeedInternet.com ranked the states using data from more than a million speed tests completed by consumers on its website.

Virginia’s average internet speed was 55.98 megabits per second (Mbps).

States ranking ahead of Virginia were:

Maryland — 65.02 Mbps
New Jersey — 59.58 Mbps
Delaware — 59.08 Mbps
Rhode Island — 56.77 Mbps

HighSpeedInternet said the national average in its survey was 42.42 Mbps.

The five states with the slowest average internet speeds were:

Alaska — 17.03 Mbps
Mississippi — 24.77 Mbps
Idaho — 25.30 Mbps
Montana — 25.70 Mbps
Maine — 26.05 Mbps

New tenants announced for Virginia Beach shopping center

Efforts are underway to reposition a Virginia Beach shopping center.

Colliers International’s Norfolk office said it has been working with Orlando-based Mishorim Gold VAB LP, the owners of the Lynnhaven North Shopping Center, on a new lineup of tenants since Mishorim Gold acquired the property in January.

The Colliers leasing team has brought 17 new tenants to the shopping center including two entertainment anchors, Surge Adventure Park and SK8 House VB.

The Lynnhaven North site will be the 14th location of Surge Adventure Park. Its 41,262-square-foot space at the shopping center will house an indoor trampoline and adventure park with zipline courses, climbing walls, obstacle courses and foam pits.

SK8 House VB is building two roller rinks in its 27,000-square-foot space. The larger 10,000-square-foot rink is designed for free skating, and a smaller rink will be used for training and child skaters.

The shopping center, which was built in 1985, has 173,191 square feet of retail space. Mishorim Gold has made a multi-million investment to improve the shopping façade and parking areas.

Colliers hires senior vice presidents in Richmond

Harrison Hall and Peter Vick have joined the Colliers International Retail Services team as senior vice presidents in the Richmond office.

Hall has 16 years of commercial real estate experience. He previously was senior vice president of Divaris Real Estate in Richmond and specializes in retail site selection, landlord and tenant representation, land assemblage, land sales and investment sales.

Vick has 10 years of commercial real estate experience. He also was a senior vice president with Divaris in Richmond and specializes in site selection, tenant and landlord representation, land sales and investment sales.

Together, they have been involved in the leasing of more than 2 million square feet of commercial space and the disposition/acquisition of over $100 million in sales.