Page 2329 – Virginia Business

One of Richmond’s best-known historic renovations, Tobacco Row, is on the market.

Jeff Linton, a spokesman for the property’s owner, Cleveland-based ForestCity, confirmed Wednesday that the property is for sale.

ForestCity has hired CBRE to handle the listing. CBRE offices in Richmond, Norfolk and Washington, D.C., are involved in marketing the property, whose price is not listed.

The mixed-use project, not far the banks of the James River in downtown Richmond, represents one of the city’s most unique adaptive reuse projects. It included the renovation of six abandoned tobacco warehouses into more than 719 apartments, 12 town homes and a 137,000-square-foot office building, known as the Edgeworth building. The Edgeworth orginally was built in 1923 and operated as a tobacco factory for the Larus and Brothers Co.

According to CBRE in Richmond, the assessed value of the property is $105.7 million, including the residential units and the office building.

ForestCity also owns Short Pump Town Center in Henrico County and is the former owner of White Oak Village, another Henrico shopping center that it sold last year. Linton said he couldn’t comment on why ForestCity is selling Tobacco Row, which would be its second major sale of property in the Richmond market.

Work began on Tobacco Row, at 2301 E. Cary St. in Shockoe Bottom, in 1991 when two warehouse buildings were renovated and opened as loft apartments.

ForestCity got involved in the late 1990s and worked with a public-private partnership to finance and redevelop the warehouses.

CBRE says the occupancy rate for the brick front residential units is 95 percent. The occupancy rate is 97 percent for the office building, which includes such tenants as the Hirschler Fleischer law firm, HKS Inc., an architecture firm, and the accounting firm of Ernst & Young.

23 Virginia companies on Fortune 500

Twenty-three Virginia companies made this year’s Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.

The 2013 list included three changes from 2012. Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., the Newport News-based shipbuilder, joined the list at No. 380. The company formerly was the shipbuilding division of Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman Corp. It was spun off in 2011.

Gone from the list is Amerigroup Corp., which was No. 385 last year. The Virginia Beach-based health management company was acquired by Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint late last year.

Also missing from the list was Alliant Techsystems, which was No. 491 last year. The Arlington-based supplier of aerospace and defense products just missed the revenue cutoff this year. The company moved its headquarters from the Minneapolis area to Arlington in late 2011.

Of the 22 companies that repeated on the Fortune list, 15 moved down in ranking this year and seven moved up.

The Virginia companies on the 2013 list include:

No. 31, Freddie Mac, McLean, revenue of $80.6 billion
No. 98, General Dynamics, Falls Church, $31.5 billion
No. 120, Northrop Grumman, Falls Church, $25.2 billion
No. 127, Capital One Financial, McLean, $23.8 billion
No. 153, AES, Arlington, $18.2 billion
No. 159, Altria Group, Richmond, 17.5 billion
No. 176, Computer Sciences (CSC), Falls Church, $15.9 billion
No. 210, Dominion Resources, Richmond, $13.2 billion
No. 213, Smithfield Foods, Smithfield, $13.1 billion
No. 240, SAIC, McLean, $11.2 billion
No. 247, Norfolk Southern, Norfolk, $11 billion
No. 259, CarMax, Richmond, $10.5 billion
No. 271, Genworth Financial, Richmond, $10 billion
No. 297, Owens & Minor, Mechanicsville, $8.9 billion
No. 346, Dollar Tree, Chesapeake, $7.4 billion
No. 365, Alpha Natural Resources, Bristol, $7 billion
No. 380, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, $6.7 billion
No. 409, Advance Auto Parts, Roanoke, $6.2 billion
No. 421, NII Holdings, Reston, $6.1 billion
No. 436, Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, $5.9 billion
No. 448, MeadWestvaco, Richmond, $5.6 billion
No. 453, ITT Exelis, McLean, $5.5 billion
No. 467, Gannett Co., McLean, $5.4 billion

Richmond area tourism bureau names vice president of sales and services

Richmond Region Tourism has named Devin Heath as its new vice president of sales and services.

Heath had been general manager of the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa in Short Pump since 2009.

Heath will be responsible for enhancing and developing the region’s convention services package and generating lead sources. Additionally, he will work to cultivate relationships with Richmond Region Tourism’s key stakeholders – including clients, community organizations, the Greater Richmond Convention Center and the local hotel community,

Before coming to the Richmond area, Heath served in a number of hotel management, sales and marketing roles in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. A native of Washington D.C., Heath is a graduate of Loyola University and lives in Glen Allen.

Fort Norfolk land gets a for-sale sign

A historic piece of waterfront land near downtown Norfolk is on the market for a reported $7 million. CBRE|Hampton Roads announced that it has been retained as the listing agent for the waterfront tract at 533 Front Street known as Fort Norfolk.

The 4.19 acres are zoned for mixed-use development. CBRE is representing the owner, three brothers who have owned the land for decades.

“The Urban Land Institute (ULI) determined this property has enormous potential for high density, mixed-use development because of its close proximity to downtown Norfolk. The waterfront access coupled with the concept of multiple housing and employment options makes the opportunity even more attractive,” Ken Benassi, senior vice president of CBRE|Hampton Roads, said in a statement.

A dredging company has leased the spot for years, but it remains largely undeveloped. It offers views of the Elizabeth River and is located near the city’s Hague area and Eastern Virginia Medical School.

An earlier master plan done by the city in 2005 in an effort to build interest in redevelopment envisioned high-density, residential and commercial development, but city officials say that that plan would be hard to implement unless owners of contiguous properties adjacent to the four-acre tract sell to the same developer.

The historic Fort Norfolk area contains one of the last remaining 19 harbor-front forts authorized in 1794 by President George Washington to protect American harbors.

New Waterpark opening this month at The Homestead

The Homestead’s new waterpark in Hot Springs will open for its full first full season on Friday, May 17.

Allegheny Springs will span two-acres of the 3,000-acre luxury resort and feature water slides, a lazy river, water play zone, Allegheny Springs Grill and miniature golf. Part of a $25 million renovation, Allegheny Springs draws water from the surrounding Allegheny Mountains.

In June, The Homestead is opening Canyon Ranch SpaClub as well as new restaurants. The SpaClub will be Canyon Ranch’s first venture in the Mid-Atlantic region and the first SpaClub to introduce family spa services.

Hunton & Williams names three partners at Richmond office

Hunton & Williams LP has promoted three lawyers in its Richmond office to partner:, Kevin M. Georgerian, Eric J. Nedell and William L. Newton.

They were among nine partners named at five offices.

Georgerian represents clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, and corporate governance and securities law matters. Georgerian received an undergraduate degree from the University of Richmond and law degree from Washington and Lee University.

Nedell focuses on commercial lending, including the representation of borrowers and lenders in debt originations, restructurings and refinancings. Nedell graduated from Stonehill College and received a master of business administration and a law degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Newton focuses on domestic and international energy projects. Newton, who is fluent in French and Russian, graduated with dual degrees from the University of Richmond and received a law degree from the University of Virginia.

Hunton & Williams has more than 800 lawyers in the 19 offices in the U.S. and overseas.

Maersk Line reflagging eight recently acquired container ships

Norfolk-based Maersk Line Ltd. is reflagging eight container ships it recently bought for nearly $500 million.

The company said the newer, larger ships will replace eight existing ships in its fleet in a move to improve the quality of its service to the Middle East and Mediterranean Sea from the East Coast.

Since 2000, MLL has invested more than $1.75 billion in modernizing its fleet.

In a statement, John Reinhart, the company’s president and CEO, said it is “focused on continual improvement, and these ships will further increase reliability and shrink our environmental footprint.”

The ships will join Maersk Line’s weekly Middle East Container Line service in May and June. The route serves commercial customers and the U.S. military and transports U.S.-grown food aid.

Maersk’s fleet includes 56 U.S. flag vessels, employing about 1,200 mariners.

Reflagging a ship ensures that it meets the safety, environmental, operational and compliance standards required by the U.S. Coast Guard and other U.S. maritime authorities.

Once a vessel meets all requirements and receives all U.S. government approvals, the vessel can come under the U.S. flag, making it eligible to carry cargo for the U.S. military, other government entities and commercial shippers.

The eight new vessels are named in honor of American cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Memphis and Pittsburgh. On May 1, Maersk Chicago was the first of the vessels to be reflagged.