State Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is building a new headquarters in Hanover

It’s turning out to be a busy development year so far for Hanover County. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries plans to build a new, $10 million headquarters in the Northlake Business Park. The announcement comes a week after California-based developer Craig Realty Group bought 43 acres to build a 392,000-square-foot outlet shopping mall, near the same site as where the new headquarters will go, down the road from the Bass Pro shops in Ashland.

The property for both projects was bought from developer Gibson Wright. The state closed on a $1.4 million deal for about 15 acres at Lewistown Road and Lakeridge Parkway, where it will build a 37,000-square-foot, two story office and a 7,000-square-foot warehouse.

Tom Kinter, a principal with General Land Commercial Real Estate Co. in Richmond, and the project manager, said the new facility is being done under the state’s PPEA law (Public/Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act.) “We’re following those guidelines,” he said. This is his company’s first public/private project, and he expects an 18-month timeline for the building.
“We are in the preliminary design phase,” Kinter said. “We will then move into the working drawings, which is the permitting phase. We hope to have that done by May or June of this year and then go into construction.”

Baskervill will serve as the project’s architect. The Timmons Group will handle civil engineering, and the general contractor is Kjellstrom & Lee Construction.