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Construction leaders’ confidence dipped in June

In June, the U.S. construction industry expressed a small drop in confidence about near-term prospects for nonresidential construction but contractors remain reasonably upbeat, according to the results of the most recent Construction Confidence Indiex survey released by the Associated Builders and Contractors.

Contractors were slightly less optimistic about sales expectations, profit margins and staffing levels than in the prior month, according to a statement from the national construction industry trade association, which represents 21,000 members in 69 chapters nationwide.

Overall, 67% of contractors survyed in the June report said they expect sales to rise in the next six months, while 59% predict staffing increases and 54% expect profit margins to grow. Responses above 50% in the index indicate industry growth.

Although “economists near and far are searching for signs of the next economic downturn,” the contractors' outlook shows that nonresidential construction is still positioned as a driver for economic growth, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in a press release.

“What is perhaps most impressive is the expectation that profit margins will continue to rise,” Basu said. “This is an indication that contractors continue to enjoy pricing power, helping to offset the impacts of rising wage pressures. Even with wages rising, more contractors expect to add people than to subtract them, another reason to believe that, for now, the U.S. expansion remains firmly in place. This is further supported by indications that sales of nonresidential construction services continue to expand.”

 

Governor launches workforce development listening tour

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam embarked on the first leg of an eight-stop workforce development listening tour Monday in Roanoke. 

The tour coincides wtih National Workforce Development Month in September. The talks are intended to provide workers, employers and local leaders a forum to provide suggestions and feedback to Northam on how to address employment challenges and strengthen Virginia's workforce. 

“Virginia was recently named the best state to do business in America, and that recognition is the result of our ongoing and targeted investments to build a diverse and highly-skilled talent pipeline,” Northam said in a statement Monday. “Over the next month, I look forward to visiting every region of the commonwealth to hear directly from the people of Virginia about the business, workforce and education challenges they face. These conversations will help us better understand how we can address their needs as we work to develop policies and programs aimed at expanding economic opportunity for all Virginians.”

“With unemployment at record lows, businesses are struggling to find the talent they need,” Megan Healy, the state's chief workforce development advisor, said in a press release. “We know the innovative solutions to some of the commonwealth's largest hiring challenges will come from people in our communities closest to the these issues.”

The sessions are scheduled as follows:

  • Aug. 26: Roanoke
  • Aug. 27: Harrisonburg
  • Sept. 4: Danville
  • Sept. 10: Northern Virginia
  • Sept. 17: Norfolk
  • Sept. 20: Richmond
  • Sept. 23: Richlands

 

 

 

 

Glen Allen firm buys Virginia Beach apartment complex for $48.6 million

Glen Allen-based real estate investment firm Capital Square 1031 has purchased a Virginia Beach apartment community for $48.6 million from The Runnymede Corp., a commercial real estate development and management firm in Virginia Beach.

The Aug. 22 sale of Saltmeadow Bay, a 229-unit development on 24 wooded acres a mile from the ocean, was handled by Colliers International Mid-Atlantic Multifamily Advisory Group.

“Located less than one mile from the Virginia Beach boardwalk and less than 20 minutes from the largest naval station in the world, Saltmeadow Bay Apartments is an exceptional multifamily community that benefits from outstanding demographics,” said Louis Rogers, founder and chief executive officer of Capital Square 1031, in a press release. “There is also a significant opportunity to improve operations at this high-end property and enhance value through active management.”

Built in 2006, Saltmeadow Bay is a group of four four-story buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments featuring granite countertops, walk-in closets, washer/dryers and fireplaces. The property also has a dog park, clubhouse, swimming pool and 24-hour fitness center and is within a three-mile radius of 4.1 million square feet of retail businesses, including a Whole Foods grocery store and The Shops at Hilltop, as well as the renovated Cavalier Hotel and the Virginia Beach Museum of Fine Art.

“Saltmeadow Bay was considered a highly prized, core asset for us,” Don Frederick, vice president and CEO of The Runnymede Corporation, said in a statement. “TWe had owned the land for this site since the 1940s and it truly cannot be replicated. The Colliers team convinced our ownership that the market was right for this transaction and worked with our management and staff along every step in the process. We are deeply grateful for their professionalism and assistance closing this deal.”

Named one of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Fantastic 50 businesses in 2019, Capital Square 1031 has purchased more than $1.5 billion in tax-advantaged real estate offerings. The firm announced in a press release that it seeks to raise up to $24 million in total equity for Saltmeadow Bay from accredited investors. The property was financed with a Fannie Mae acquisition loan with a 3.49% fixed rate for 10 years.

Smithfield Foods’ foundation donates to support homeless vets

The charitable arm of Virginia-based global food company Smithfield Foods Inc. donated $150,000 to support Virginia programs for homeless military veterans and their families during a ceremony held in Richmond Thursday with Gov. Ralph Northam and other state dignitaries.

The donation from The Smithfield Foundation to the Virginia Veterans Service Foundation, a state agency, will support the Homeless Veteran Fund, which provides gap assistance to homeless vets and those on the brink of homelessness. Smithfield previously donated $68,000 to held establish the fund in 2016. The Homeless Veteran Fund was established by the Virginia Veteran and Family Support Program, which is operated by the Virginia Department of Veteran Services (DVS), and the Virginia Veterans Service Foundation, which seeks donations and grants to provide supplement funding for Virginia veterans programs.

“At Smithfield, our ongoing commitment to support veterans directly aligns with the mission of the DVS Homeless Veteran Fund and we are pleased to provide resources to ensure the continued success of this program right here in our home state of Virginia,” said Kenneth M. Sullivan, president and CEO of Smithfield Foods. “We are honored to give back to our nation’s veterans through this unique and successful public-private partnership, in honor of their service and sacrifice to all of us.”

In a statement released Thursday, Northam said, “With nearly one in 10 Virginians having worn a uniform, our commonwealth is home to one of the largest veteran populations in the country, and we owe it to our Virginia veterans to ensure they have a safe place to live. We are grateful for our ongoing partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies, and the financial support of generous donors like Smithfield Foods that enables us to meet the needs of the more than 730,000 veterans living in Virginia and make sure that veteran homelessness in our commonwealth is rare, brief and non-recurring.”

Smithfield Foods is the world's largest pork processor and hog producer.

Image courtesy Smithfield Foods Inc.

Richmond nonprofit incubator’s first cohort is ready for takeoff

Two Richmond entrepreneurs and Virginia Commonwealth University are helping boost the fortunes of three small nonprofit organizations, named the first cohort of NPO Launchpad, a new incubator for charities started this summer.

The three Richmond-based organizations announced Thursday will receive work space at VCU’s da Vinci Center, mentoring from local business and nonprofit leaders, and an opportunity to pitch area philanthropists at a December fundraising gala that will conclude the three-month accelerator program, which starts Sept. 4. The three organizations won’t receive direct funding but will meet with fundraising and marketing experts to give them the tools to expand.

The cohort includes Beyond Boundaries, a group that offers outdoor activities for people with disabilities; Shood, which collects running shoes that are reconditioned and given to people in poverty; and VET Fund, which helps financially strapped pet owners afford life-saving veterinary treatments.

NPO Launchpad’s co-founders — Pat Hull, who started and sold lucrative web-based businesses GetLoaded.com and FreightCheck, and fellow entrepreneur Jeff Palumbo — have collaborated on several business projects, and both have considerable experience with startup incubators and philanthropic causes. The Hull Foundation, which Hull started a decade ago for philanthropic causes, funds NPO Launchpad, although Palumbo says they hope to win grants and funding from other sources in the future.

The two came up with the idea of a nonprofit incubator when they were talking in June, Palumbo says. “Needs for early-stage nonprofits are nearly identical to needs for early-stage startups,” he says, and by the time they parted, the partners had come up with a name and a plan.

By mid-August, Hull and Palumbo had 29 cohort applicants and 13 mentors on board, including Techead CEO Phil Conein, Richmond Symphony Director of Advancement Scott Dodson and Charles P. Ajemian, president of Social Enterprise Alliance Virginia. The co-founders and mentors voted on the applicants, choosing the three winners.

Palumbo says they plan to expand the number in the next cohort, starting in 2020, although he doesn’t have a specific number to announce yet. To qualify, an organization must be based in the Richmond region, have 501(c)3 status and earn less than $100,000 in revenue annually. Although the three winners this fall have local missions, Palumbo says nonprofits with global or national focuses can apply, too.

In addition to the accelerator curriculum, NPO Launchpad also will host half-day and full-day workshops for nonprofits that weren’t accepted into the cohort, providing tools and resources.

“I subscribe to a ‘no man left behind’ ideology,” Palumbo says. “We want to create a whole ecosystem.”

State on track for record $1.6 billion in reserves

The state is on track to have a record $1.6 billion in reserves in 2021, Gov. Ralph Northam said Tuesday. He also stated that his administration has brought in more than $20 billion in investments just a year and a half into his term, surpassing previous governors’ full terms.

“This is a record,” he said Tuesday in prepared remarks delivered before a joint meeting of the Senate Finance, House Appropriations and House Finance committees. “The $20 billion of investment is more than any previous administration has announced in a full four-year term, and we have achieved this significant milestone in less than half that time.”

The state was in good financial shape at the close of fiscal year 2019, with a surplus of $797 million, much of which is going toward taxpayer relief and water quality after depositing $344.4 million in surplus, the governor said. 

The 378 new economic development projects secured during his term — notably skewed by Amazon’s $5 billion East Coast HQ2 headquarters under construction in Arlington — will create more than 51,000 new jobs across Virginia, including more than 8,700 in distressed communities, Northam added.

“We worked together to attract new business to the state — notably Amazon, which is ahead of schedule in hiring, and has submitted its development plans for its National Landing campus,” he said.

One goal of his administration, Northam added, is to put 8% of the state’s revenues into reserves, “and we’re on the path to do so.”

Employers continue to add jobs, he added, and the state’s unemployment rate is at 2.9%, but job growth has slowed because Virginia is close to full employment.

Northam noted that the state has maintained its triple-A bond rating, approved transportation funding for Interstate 81 and other projects, gave teachers their largest single-year pay raise in 15 years and enrolled more than 306,000 Virginians in Medicaid expansion over the last year.

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.

Building One opens at Tech Center Research Park

Building One @ Tech Center Research Park, the first of 10 buildings planned for the 50-acre Newport News research park, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its official opening, according to an announcement by developer W.M. Jordan Co.

The 81,600-square-foot building has been under construction since August 2017. The $450 million, 850,000-square-foot Tech Center Research Park, which is being developed by W.M. Jordan, Virginia Tech and the city of Newport News, is part of larger, mixed-use campus that will include Marketplace at Tech Center, a 250,000-square-foot project with retail and restaurants, and Venture Apartments Tech Center, a 300,000-square-foot multifamily residential community.

“Building One symbolizes the beginning of what will be an innovation powerhouse in Newport News,” Newport News Mayor McKinley Price said in a statement. “New and emerging companies will thrive in an environment backed by the strength of Virginia Tech, Jefferson Lab and their network of entrepreneurial services.”

Building One is 94% leased, according to a press release issued Friday, and its major tenants include coworking firm Gather, which will occupy 27,000 square feet on the first and second floors. Newport News-based iWatch, a medical biosensor technology company, is leasing 25,000 square feet on the first and third floors. ITA International and its subsidiary ITA Data Analytics Center, which provide integrated support services, will be leasing more than 14,000 feet in the facility. 

The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center and Virginia Tech Outreach and International Affairs division will also occupy 5,000 square feet in the building, serving to promote collaboration with entrepreneurs, professional service providers, research and development firms and science and technology companies. It will also encourage economic development of new and expanding science and tech firms as well as supporting and complementing research-related activites at the adjacent Jefferson Lab, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory.

Colliers International is handling leasing for the research park.

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.