Clarke to repurpose ex-prison site into business park

Clarke County’s long-planned second business park has taken a significant step toward becoming reality.

In November 2025, the county’s board of supervisors unanimously voted to rezone 40 acres at 219 Ray of Hope Lane, off U.S. 340/522 near White Post, from agricultural to light industrial use.

The property, part of the former White Post Correctional Camp 7 state prison facility, includes a 24,000-square-foot 1950s prison building that has stood vacant since the site closed in 2014 due to budget cuts. The county hopes to renovate and repurpose that structure as part of a future business park, Clarke County Economic Development and Tourism Director Michelle Ridings says.

The county purchased the property from the state government in December 2024 for $100,000, with title deeded to  Clarke County Industrial Development Authority, which now owns and is prepping the site for shovel- ready status, with plans to market it to light industrial employers.

Industries the IDA will try to attract could include food and beverage, advanced materials manufacturing, technology manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals, cold storage or an abattoir to support the large agriculture industry in Clarke, Ridings says. Logistics operations are allowed under the zoning, but that’s “not our first choice,” she notes, because manufacturing brings a stronger tax base.

Clarke Board of Supervisors Chair David Weiss frames the project as a way to grow revenue and jobs without sacrificing the county’s rural character.

“We feel like we’ve really threaded the needle to provide some economic development while not setting a precedent that would damage the rest of the county,” he said.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership has labeled the Camp 7 property as highly attractive due to its transportation connectivity. Ray of Hope Lane sits next to a four-lane arterial highway and is roughly five miles from the Virginia Inland Port, six or seven miles from Interstates 66 and 81 and 50 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport.

The new business park will help dispute the idea that “we’re not business-friendly,” Ridings says, emphasizing that the county is simply “very particular” about where businesses develop.

With the existing Clarke County Business Park in Berryville at capacity, she calls the new project “huge for us,” adding that “the stars and the moon aligned” to make the rezoning possible.