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byline: Veronica Garabelli
Innovation center will provide space for entrepreneurs
Startups soon will have a new hub in the River City, thanks to a partnership between a Richmond incubator and McLean-based Capital One Financial Corp.
Last spring, the banking giant purchased a former tobacco warehouse at 1717 E. Cary St. for $1.84 million from Will Loving and Brad Cummings, two co-founders of Startup Virginia, a business incubator currently located in a 5,000-square-foot building at 27 N. 17th St. The 42,000-square-foot Cary Street building will reopen by March as the 1717 Innovation Center, which will serve as the new location of Startup Virginia as well as space for Capital One.
Startup Virginia will lease and occupy the first three floors of the six-story building. The fourth and fifth floors will house Capital One’s product research lab and conference and programming space. Capital One will have a group of rotating employees on-site in addition to 10 permanent workers.
“This is really about bringing Richmond together, supporting the blooming startup ecosystem that we have here,” says Rasheeda Creighton, the center’s director. “Being a founder-led company, I think that’s really important for us.”
Each floor is named after a Richmond neighborhood and will include elements of that area. The first floor, for example, is named after Scott’s Addition, a former warehouse district now home to breweries, apartments and restaurants. The floor’s décor will incorporate wood and metal, mimicking the neighborhood’s industrial feel.
Capital One added a sixth floor to the building, which will function as meeting and event space. The addition, dubbed the “Sky Lounge,” has a glass wall offering a sweeping view of Richmond that leads to an outdoor patio.
The center’s membership packages range from $150 to $1,600 per month, depending on the amount of space and resources needed. Amenities include 24/7 building access; use of event space, conference rooms and research lab and access to a network of vetted mentors. Startup Virginia now has 31 members but plans to expand.
“As we scale, we anticipate 75 high-growth companies will hold memberships at any one time,” says Bryan Bostic, Startup Virginia’s executive director and co-founder.
Chaos Mountain Brewing is expanding in Franklin County
Chaos Mountain Brewing LLC said Wednesday it’s spending $250,000 to expand in Franklin County. The project will create five jobs.
“We look forward to purchasing new equipment, increasing production, and making improvements to our facility, including adding more parking,” Chaos Mountain Brewing’s owners, Joe and Wendy Hallock, said in a statement.
The company, which began operation in 2014, also has committed to sourcing nearly half of its agriculture purchases from Virginia farms over the next three years as part of the deal. “Virginia agricultural products will play a large role in increasing our production and extending our distribution out of state,” the Hallocks said.
Gov. Ralph Northam approved an $8,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund (AFID), which Franklin County is matching.
Staunton lawyer named president of the Virginia Bar Association
C.J. Steuart Thomas III has been installed as the 2018 president of the Virginia Bar Association.
Thomas is a partner at TimberlakeSmith in Staunton, where he focuses his practice on medical malpractice defense and civil litigation. He succeeds David S. Mercer of MercerTrigiani in Alexandria.
Thomas is the first VBA president from Staunton in 52 years and the fourth since the association was organized in 1888.
Also elected to leadership roles were:
Richard E. Garriott Jr. of Pender & Coward PC in Virginia Beach as president-elect.
Alison M. McKee of Kaufman & Canoles PC in Virginia Beach as chair of the VBA board of governors.
Construction company names three employees partners
Tysons-based Bognet Construction, a 20-year-old commercial general contracting firm, has named three long-time employees equity partners.
Founded in 1998, Bognet had revenue of more than $120 million last year.
The company specializes in large interiors and building renovations.
The new partners are Tracey Gardiner, Trevor Hirst and Carlo Stalteri
Gardiner joined the firm in 2008, rising from marketing coordinator to the director of preconstruction operations.
Hirst joined Bognet in 2011 and now is vice president of construction.
Stalteri started as an intern in 2006 and now serves as a senior project manager.
Jim Bognet is president of the company.
Chesapeake businesswoman named chair of Virginia Chamber
Suzy Kelly, CEO of Chesapeake-based Jo-Kell Inc., has been elected chair of the board of directors of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
Kelly has been a member of the chamber board since 2009 and a member of its executive committee since 2010. She succeeds Dennis Treacy, president of the Smithfield Foundation.
Founded in 1977, Jo-Kell is a woman-owned small business specializing in Navy shipboard and high-tech industrial automation products, systems and services. The company has more than 60 employees working in Chesapeake; Jacksonville, Fla.; San Diego; Atlanta; and Charleston, S.C.
Kelly has been a member of the Chesapeake City Council since 2010.
The chamber’s board of directors also elected Charlie Meyer as first vice chair. Meyer is a partner with the Richmond law firm O’Hagan Meyer, where his practice focuses on employment litigation and counseling.
Holland House Apartments in Norfolk sell for $2.3 million
Holland House Apartments LLC has purchased the 35,524-square-foot Holland House Apartments in Norfolk from Holland Associates, a general partnership, for $2.3 million in an off-market transaction.
The property, located at 200 Drummond Place, is on The Hague inlet in the city’s Ghent section. It was built in 1904. According to Divaris Real Estate Inc., the four-story property is includes 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Divaris’ George Fox brokered the sale on behalf of the buyer.
In another sales transaction for Divaris, Anthony L. Rolando purchased 53,535 square feet of retail space at 9460-9468 West Broad St. in Richmond from EF SBC 2013 1L REO LLC for $1.7 mllion. Peter Vick and Harrison Hall from the Richmond office of Divaris Real Estate brokered the sale on behalf of the seller.
According to Divaris, this was an investment sale of a retail property in a West End location with visibility on West Broad Street at a signalized intersection. Tenants in the property include Honey Nail & Spa, Leisure Fitness and Takara.
Joint venture acquires Park Center complex in Alexandria
A joint venture involving USAA Real Estate and Lowe, a national real-estate investor, developer and manager, has acquired the Park Center office complex in Alexandria for an undisclosed price.
The three adjacent office buildings, located at 4300 King St., 3101 Park Center Drive and 4401 Ford Ave., total 566,000 square feet.
“The Park Center acquisition provides us with an exceptional opportunity to pursue leases with tenants that have large space requirements as well as to consider repositioning portions of the property for other uses,” Lowe Executive Vice President Mark Rivers said in a statement.
Situated at the intersection of I-395 and King Street (Route 7), Park Center offers access to the Pentagon, Crystal City, Ronald Reagan National Airport and downtown Washington, D.C. Park Center also is close to restaurants, shops and entertainment venues, including The Village at Shirlington.
Joe Carrol of Lowe and Bruce Childs of USAA Real Estate led the acquisition team. HFF represented the seller and arranged financing for the transaction.
Lowe and USAA Real Estate most recently teamed up on the development of the 705,000-square-foot National Science Foundation Headquarters building, which was completed in August 2017.
Lowe established its D.C. area office in 1980 and has been an active investor and developer of commercial real estate throughout the region since then. In addition to the National Science Foundation Headquarters, projects include The Hepburn luxury apartments developed adjacent to the Washington Hilton Hotel where the firm completed a $150 million restoration redevelopment of the 1400 Crystal Drive office building in Crystal City.
Los Angeles-based Lowe, formerly known as Lowe Enterprises, has a portfolio of $8.5 billion in commercial, hospitality and residential assets and has more than $2 billion in commercial real estate projects in the pipeline or under development.
Lowe maintains regional offices in Southern California, Northern California, Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle, Raleigh, N.C. and Washington, D.C.
HHHunt Communities announces new leadership team
HHHunt Corp. has announced a new leadership team for HHHunt Communities, a developer of master-planned communities in Virginia. Kim B. Kacani has been named president while Jonathan Ridout and Hans Klinger have been named vice presidents.
A native of Central Virginia, Kacani will support the company’s growth and oversee all functions for HHHunt Communities. She was most recently a senior vice president for HHHunt Communities and co-led the division with George Moore, who retired in late 2017.
Kacani joined HHHunt more than 30 years ago and has been a member of the HHHunt Communities team for more than two decades. She is a past president of the Community Associations Institute and is active in the Urban Land Institute, serving on its advisory council. Kacani also serves on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Common Interest Community Board, a gubernatorial appointment.
As vice president for land development, Ridout will oversee land entitlement and development activities, lot closings and builder relationships. He joined HHHunt in 2005 and has extensive community development experience. He is a member of the Home Builders Association of Richmond board of directors and is involved in the Urban Land Institute Virginia District Council.
Klinger will serve as vice president for business development. He will be responsible for land acquisition, feasibility and zoning initiatives. He joined HHHunt 17 years ago and has been active in recent land acquisition and business development efforts. Klinger also serves a number of community organizations and is currently a member of the Leadership Metro Richmond Class of 2018.
HHHunt Communities, based in Glen Allen, develops master-planned communities in locations with access to shopping, restaurants, job centers, and schools. Among the developer’s projects are Wellesley, Wyndham, Twin Hickory, Charter Colony, Rutland and White Hall.
Couple donate $2 million to Virginia Tech real estate program
Alumni couple Willis Blackwood and Mary Nolen Blackwood of Richmond and Bonita Springs, Fla., have donated $2 million to name and endow the director’s position at the rapidly growing Virginia Tech real estate program.
According to the school, the gift is the largest ever made to the program, which began with four students in August 2013 and has grown to more than 200 undergraduates.
“Virginia Tech is on the leading edge in this industry,” Willis Blackwood ’72, said in a statement. He is the founder and president of Blackwood Development Co. Inc., a privately owned real-estate firm in Richmond. “Students from this program are extremely valuable to future employers because they get a comprehensive foundation in the industry that other schools just don’t provide.”
The Blackwoods have supported Tech’s real estate program since its inception. Willis Blackwood earned bachelor’s degree in business administration from Virginia Tech and has an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He chairs the Virginia Tech Real Estate Industry Advisory Board. Mary Nolen Blackwood, '73, earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Virginia Tech and has a master’s in health administration from what is now the VCU School of Medicine.
In 2014, the Blackwoods endowed the Willis and Mary Blackwood Junior Faculty Fellowship, now held by Erin Hopkins, an assistant professor of property management at Virginia Tech.
Kevin Boyle, director of the Program in Real Estate, said in a statement that he was “deeply grateful” for the ways Willis Blackwood has promoted the program. “His vision and support help us recruit top students and bring great industry people into the program. He’s an inspiration to our program’s students, faculty, and supporters.” In spring 2017, Tech had 41 students graduate from the real estate program.
Willis Blackwood said he and his wife hoped their gift would inspire other leaders in the real estate industry to support the Program in Real Estate and its students. “One thing Tech does very well is that it generates employable graduates.”
The Program in Real Estate is an academic unit of the Pamplin College of Business in collaboration with the colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Architecture and Urban Studies, Engineering, and Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Students can earn a bachelor of science in real estate or a real-estate minor through Pamplin.
The program’s curriculum includes many aspects of real estate, including planning, construction, finance, property management and sales. Students majoring in real estate can choose a second major or minor in a related field to further their education and professional preparation.
“If somebody likes diversity in their work challenges, it’s a fun industry to be in,” said Willis, whose company has developed more than 2 million square feet of retail space. “It’s people oriented, it’s bricks-and-mortar oriented, it’s law, it’s accounting, it’s a lot of different things. It’s entrepreneurial, and the sky’s the limit for anybody that wants to go out and work hard and be creative.”