Proposed in 2017 by music icon Pharrell Williams and Venture Realty Group, Atlantic Park finally got underway in March with a groundbreaking on the first phase of the $350 million surf park project. Phase one will involve 10.95 acres, including 309 multifamily units, 10,000 square feet of office space, a 70,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor entertainment venue and a 2.67-acre indoor lagoon — the first Wavegarden Cove facility in the nation — and two public parking decks. Various components of the project are estimated to open between December 2024 and March 2025, developers expect. The second phase will consist of additional attractions, retail, public parking and residential space. A conceptual plan has been in place for Phase Two for quite some time, and the development firm is in the process of finalizing the plan.
Photo courtesy Virginia Department of Transportation
Work continues on the $3.9 billion transportation project — Virginia’s largest ever — in all areas along the nearly 10-mile corridor of Interstate 64. As of July, the project was more than 50% complete. In early March, construction crews completed the first traffic shift onto the temporary I-64 East south trestle, and contracting group Hampton Roads Connector Partners continues to work on the three other marine trestles that connect both Norfolk and Hampton to the islands. Mary, the project’s tunnel boring machine, has been digging two new tunnels between Norfolk and Hampton at a rate of 50 feet a day since April. The twin tunnels will take more than two years to complete, and the machine must be reconstructed when it reaches the North Island, before it can turn around and dig the second tunnel back to the South Island.
Crews have finished construction of the Slurry Treatment Plant, dubbed Katherine for late NASA Langley Research Center mathematician Katherine Johnson. The four-story treatment plant, which processes and removes dirt and other tunneling byproducts, is the largest of its kind in North America. Mining operations began in late April and, to date, have mined more than 500 feet and installed 91 rings for the tunnel construction. The contract completion date for the HRBT project is November 2025 — although work is behind schedule by more than a year. Nonetheless, the Virginia Department of Transportation continues to work closely with HRCP to mitigate delays and reach project milestones.
On June 29, developers held a groundbreaking event for Dominion Energy’s two-building Monitoring and Coordination Center (MCC). It joins Newport News Shipbuilding as the two largest tenants to date in Fairwinds Landing, a maritime operations and logistics center supporting Hampton Roads’ offshore wind, defense and transportation industries. Set to occupy the 122-acre Lambert’s Point Docks, the $100 million project is expected to be home for other major tenants, officials say. Fairwinds Landing is beginning to see an increase in vessels berthing at its facility that are supporting Dominion’s
$9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm, under development 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast. A limited liability corporation, Fairwinds Landing is a partnership between The Miller Group, Balicore Construction and Fairlead Integrated. Developers continue to predict the project will be largely completed in three to five years, with the MCC ready by 2025 and accommodating 200 construction and engineering jobs.
Photo courtesy Stihl Inc.Photo courtesy Stihl Inc.
Last year, Stihl Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the German chainsaw and outdoor power equipment manufacturer, announced a $49 million expansion, adding 26,000 square feet to its 60,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility in Virginia Beach. The company plans to increase its capacity to manufacture chainsaw guide bars by a third, creating 15 jobs.
The site for the guide-bar facility expansion was cleared in October 2022, and the building structure was completed in February. The construction is currently in the commissioning phase, with all machines expected to be installed by the end of this year. Production is estimated to begin in early 2024, the company said in June. Stihl is also expanding its battery manufacturing operations, with plans set to be announced later this year.
Photo courtesy Fairbanks Morse Defense
Fairbanks Morse Defense
Chesapeake
Fairbanks Morse Defense, which builds, maintains and services naval power and propulsion systems, opened its newest training and service center campus in Chesapeake on May 17. FMD moved 40 jobs from its former service center in Norfolk to Chesapeake and also added
10 jobs. The $13 million, 45,000-square-foot facility offers fully integrated service and technology solutions to the Navy, Military Sealift Command and Coast Guard fleets. The move to Chesapeake came after the Navy informed FMD it was interested in increasing the number of field service technicians and having the training facility close by. All equipment can now be serviced in the 25,000-square-foot service area in Chesapeake, and training across all products sold by FMD can be completed at the new facility’s 20,000-square-foot training space, instead of in Wisconsin, where it was previously conducted.
The $6.05 billion sale in July of the WashingtonCommanders by embattled former owner Dan Snyder did more than set a world record for the highest price paid for a professional sports team.
The deal also reignited Virginia’s bid to persuade the Ashburn-based NFL team to move its stadium here. Lawmakers up for re-election in November and representing districts under previous consideration for a new stadium — including Woodbridge and Dumfries in Prince William County as well as Sterling in Loudoun County — see a fresh opportunity to work with the Commanders’ new ownership group led by Maryland-raised billionaire and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris(see related Q&A with Harris).
“With a new ownership team coming in, I think we all should go back to the drawing board,” Democratic Del. Luke Torian of Prince William County told the Virginia Mercury in May.
Torian and Democratic Sen. Jeremy McPike represent districts in Prince William that could be targeted for a stadium. McPike is “ecstatic” about the new owners; he’s less enthusiastic about using state money to attract the team. “There’s not a lot of appetite for taxpayer incentives, even if it’s incremental financing,” McPike says.
In September, the General Assembly passed a budget allocating $250,000 to evaluate economic incentives to attract sports teams to the state in the best interest of taxpayers.
In Loudoun, Democratic Dels. Dave Reid and Suhas Subramanyam, who is running for the state Senate in the 32nd District, say a stadium could diversify the county’s economy, which is best known for data centers; they also want certainty that any deal would be good for taxpayers.
“What would be the number of new jobs that would be created? What type of additional tax revenue would that generate?” asks Reid, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “And then also, what are going to be the performance-based incentives to make sure that we’re protecting the taxpayer’s dollars?”
While Virginia faces renewed competition for the stadium from Maryland — the Commanders currently play in Landover — and Washington, D.C., Gov. Glenn Youngkin has expressed willingness to play ball so long as the deal is a collaborative effort between lawmakers and a good deal for taxpayers, he said in late July to Fox 5 in D.C.
“I think Virginia is the best place to live, work and raise a family,” Youngkin said, “and it should be the best place to have a professional football team.”
The top five most-read daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from Aug. 16 to Sept. 14, 2023, were led by the news that Bon Secours filed suit against Anthem in Henrico County Circuit Court.
Urban One unveiled a new moniker for the $562 million resortcasino city voters will reconsider in a fall referendum: Richmond Grand Resort & Casino. (Aug. 31)
Henrico County and an affiliate of Markel|Eagle Partners agreed to purchase the 110-acre Scott Farm property for $35.1 million; the site will become part of the $2.3 billion GreenCity development. (Aug. 17)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Virginia Lottery Executive Director Kelly Gee as secretary of the commonwealth after Kay Coles James stepped down to become a senior adviser to Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia political action committee. (Aug. 29)
Rocket Lab USA is boosting the visibility of one of the United States’ lesser-known spaceports on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Since January, the California-based aerospace company has launched three successful missions from its Launch Complex 2 at Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Rocket Lab selected the spaceport, located within NASA‘s Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County, as the site of its first U.S. launch site in 2018.
Leaders of the U.S. Space Force have taken note of Rocket Lab’s relationship with the spaceport, according to Ted Mercer, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, also known as Virginia Space, the state agency that owns and operates the spaceport.
“When you listen to speeches or presentations that they give about the space ports, they are now including the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in their discussions [about] guaranteeing assured access to space for the nation,” Mercer says. “So that’s huge.”
It’s a win-win arrangement, according to Mercer. By using Virginia’s spaceport, Rocket Lab avoids the headache of operating out of NASA’s busier Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “If you want to launch a rocket out of Cape Canaveral, you’re going to have to kind of wait in line,” Mercer says. “We don’t have that issue.”
On Jan. 24, Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Wallops Island — marking the first Electron mission to take off from U.S. soil. Previously, the Electron launched from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, from which it launched a mission for the Space Force. For its January mission, Rocket Lab deployed satellites for Herndon-based HawkEye 360, a commercial provider of satellite-based radio frequency data and analytics.
Less than two months later, on March 16, Rocket Lab launched its second Electron mission from Wallops Island. That time, the rocket sent two satellites into orbit for Capella Space, a California-based space tech company.
Rocket Lab made headlines from Wallops again on June 17 when the company successfully launched its first suborbital testbed launch vehicle, dubbed HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron), from the Virginia pad. The customer for that launch was Reston-based Leidos Holdings, which was completing a large-scale test for its Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) program. The MACH-TB is designed to increase the speed of testing for all commercially available hypersonic systems. According to Morgan Bailey, senior director of communications at Rocket Lab, Leidos is “looking to build on that cadence in the months and years to come.”
Rocket Lab is poised to make more news from Wallops Island. In February 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the company had selected the area as the launch site and rocket production complex for its new Neutron rocket, a 130-foot, partially reusable launch vehicle. By comparison, the Electron is 59 feet tall. Another difference: the Electron is always an unmanned rocket.
“Electron does not fly humans, and neither will Neutron at first, but we are developing Neutron to be capable of … [manned missions] in the future,” Bailey says.
While the Electron allows Rocket Lab to deploy satellites “in the single digits” to orbit, the Neutron will be designed to serve “an explosion” of commercial customers who want to put numerous satellites into space at once, according to Bailey.
“We’re entering that era of mega-constellations, where you’re talking hundreds and thousands of satellites that need to be launched to specific orbits and quite quickly and quite cost effectively,”
she says.
Currently, she says, there aren’t enough launch vehicles available to quickly serve these customers, particularly since Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, Russia has largely halted its launches of commercial satellites. According to a 2022 Reuters report, Russia has accounted for about 16% of the global launch market since 2017.
“We’re really bringing to market a reliable, cost-effective vehicle that’s going to open up the access to space,” Bailey says.
In April 2022, Rocket Lab broke ground on the rocket production complex where the company will manufacture the Neutron on 28 acres adjacent to the Wallops Island Flight Facility. However, “you won’t see much visible progress on that for a few more months because that’s sort of later in the development,” says Bailey, who declined to say how much the complex will cost to build.
Construction is further along on the Neutron’s launch pad, which will be located at the southern end of Wallops Island. Rocket Lab plans to launch the Neutron from there in 2024. The company doesn’t need the production complex to be completed before the launch pad because testing for the rocket will occur at other Rocket Lab sites, Bailey says. The Neutron’s upper stage is being developed with help from the Space Force, which awarded the company a $24.35 million contract in 2021.
Once Rocket Lab is in full production and launch mode on the Neutron, the company plans to hire up to 250 engineers, technicians and support staff to support the Neutron at Wallops Island. The company currently has about 20 to 30 employees there, according to Bailey. “The key function for that team at the moment is still Electron launch operations,” she says.
Local officials are making plans to accommodate the influx of new workers.
In May 2022, the Accomack County Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning and a conditional use permit for Maryland-based CCG Note to build a 140-unit townhome and commercial mixed-use development on property surrounded by the Captain’s Cove community in Greenbackville. That project, referred to as Hastings/Mariner, is stalled by a civil lawsuit filed in November 2022 by Captain’s Cove residents against CCG Note — which bought out the neighborhood’s original developer — as well as its property owners’ association. The plaintiffs contend that CCG Note’s plans to use a private street to access the proposed development and its sewer system in support of the new development violate the neighborhood’s covenants.
Accomack County Administrator Mike Mason says that if that project does not go forward, the county will continue efforts to attract more housing by removing “barriers to development” and by partnering with towns that “have a desire to extend or enhance town services.”
“We will be responsive to developers and builders interested in expanding housing stock by providing them with clear guidance and a ‘path to yes’ through county permitting,” Mason says.
Officials are also spending federal and state funds to prepare for the influx of workers. That includes $600,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act that the county spent at the beginning of the year to add 126 child care openings at new and existing facilities and a $15.6 million Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development grant awarded to Accomack and Northampton Counties to extend broadband service to currently unserved areas.
“The majority of funds in Accomack that came from that grant are being directed in the northeast portion of the county, particularly some communities out there that did not have access at all, and some of these communities are some of the ones that are closest to Wallops Island,” Mason says.
Earlier estimates that the Neutron facility will generate about $2 million in direct annual property tax revenue to the county have not changed, according to Mason. “We haven’t really started to see that,” he adds, “because the construction hasn’t yet commenced.”
It’s been a few months since Virginia Commonwealth University‘s Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center was added to an elite, national list of comprehensive cancer centers, but the excitement around the June announcement continues.
“It definitely is a huge deal,” says the center’s director, Dr. Robert A. Winn. “This is something we’ve chased for the better part of several decades.” Winn joined Massey as its director in 2019, but he’s well-versed on the history behind VCU‘s quest to gain the comprehensive designation for Massey from the National Cancer Institute.
In fact, Winn found it “surprising and puzzling” that Virginia had no NCI comprehensive cancer centers when he came to VCU from Illinois, which has two comprehensive cancer centers, both in Chicago. Nearby states North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee all have multiple NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers.
“We can now join the ranks of those states,” Winn says, noting that the University of Virginia Cancer Center became the first to receive comprehensive cancer center status in February 2022, followed by Massey in June.
U.Va. and Massey were previously on the NCI’s list of designated cancer centers, which means they met the rigorous requirements to be funded by NCI to deliver cutting-edge treatments. Comprehensive status is another step up, and it’s considered the gold star for cancer institutions. It denotes superior work in the areas of research, training and community impact. Currently, there are 72 NCI-designated cancer centers in the country. Of those, 54 are comprehensive cancer centers.
Being in the comprehensive category gives Massey a tremendous boost in terms of resources and visibility, enabling it to “offer care at a level that wasn’t there before,” Winn says. “It’s not only a big deal for Massey, it’s a big deal for the commonwealth.”
Community-to-bench model
A key to gaining comprehensive status, according to Winn and others at VCU, is Massey’s dedication to serving Virginians who previously may have been underserved when it came to advanced cancer treatments. The concept of equitable care is at the forefront of VCU administration goals, Winn says, and Massey is emerging as a national model for how to approach cancer research and treatment by looking first at the needs of the patient base.
This “community-to-bench” model calls for community involvement to shape the research done at the laboratory bench and then guide the design and implementation of clinical trials and treatment programs. “It’s looking at who we serve and making sure the science serves them,” he says. Massey generally draws patients from Central, Eastern and Southern Virginia.
“Innovation does not equal impact for all people,” Winn says, so Massey is stepping out of the traditional mold for how to provide top-level care. It’s making a concerted effort to involve and help “invisible communities” that may not get much attention at other cancer centers, he says.
This approach is in line with the mission of VCU Health, says the health system’s interim CEO, Dr. Marlon Levy. “We’re a high-tech, high-touch hospital,” he says. “But we’re also a safety-net hospital whose doors are open to all.”
Achieving comprehensive status is “really the pinnacle of many, many years of effort by a very large team,” Levy says, adding that Winn’s push for increased community involvement put Massey “over the top.”
Massey follows a path different from many of its peers on the NCI comprehensive list.
“The hallmark of this comprehensive cancer center … is we’re serving a very vulnerable population,” Levy says. “A lot of other cancer centers may not focus on that the way Massey does.” In Levy’s opinion, this is just the beginning of what Massey can do to better serve all patients: “We aspire to transform cancer care delivery … and care access to the patients we serve.”
Dr. Paula Fracasso, Massey’s deputy director, is confident the cancer center will be recertified by the NCI as a comprehensive center in 2028. Photo courtesy VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Nearly 50-year history
Massey’s roots reach back to 1974, when VCU established a cancer center on the Medical College of Virginia campus. In 1983, it was named Massey Cancer Center in honor of a gift from coal-magnate brothers Bill and E. Morgan Massey. Under the direction of Dr. Gordon Ginder, who became the cancer center’s director in 1997, Massey experienced steady growth and added advanced research labs. Ginder led Massey for more than 20 years before announcing his decision to step down in 2019.
Massey made a national name for itself in bone marrow transplants and stem cell research, Levy says. And the comprehensive designation puts Massey in an even better position to “attract top talent … to do more advanced research,” he says. Today, the center has about 150 researchers across nearly 40 academic departments at VCU.
While downtown Richmond still is the nucleus for Massey operations, its patients receive oncology care in locations throughout the Richmond metropolitan area as well as in smaller communities elsewhere in the state, including Tappahannock and South Hill. Securing expansion space in downtown Richmond is difficult due to space constraints. VCU Health made headlines this year for backing out of a multimillion-dollar private development deal for a medical office tower at the site of the city’s former Public Safety Building, located near VCU hospital buildings. VCU paid $73 million to exit that deal, which could have cost as much as $650 million over 25 years. In June, VCU received city approval to raze the Public Safety Building, and it may instead build a new $415 million dental school there.
Most NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers are affiliated with universities, many of which are large, public schools. Examples include Ohio State University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Alabama and the University of Michigan. Others with comprehensive status are affiliated with widely recognized private schools such as Duke University and Johns Hopkins University.
‘In the Ivy Leagues’
Winn joined Massey as its director and Lipman chair of oncology after serving as director of the University of Illinois Cancer Center in Chicago, which is not NCI-designated but is known for its community focus in developing and executing treatment plans. Winn brought with him a reputation for advancements in treating lung cancer as well as his work to eliminate health disparities. He has continued to draw national attention as a champion of equitable care. In 2021, he was the first recipient of the Association of American Cancer Institutes’ Cancer Health Equity Award. He is also the namesake of the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program, a $114 million training and education program for clinical trialists that VCU is spearheading in partnership with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation.
Anita Harrison, Massey’s executive director of research strategy, says Winn’s community-focused programs have propelled Massey forward. “We are involving the community in everything we do,” Harrison says. Massey is even working with high school science programs to cultivate future employees across diverse backgrounds. But the community focus alone would not have gained Massey its NCI-designated comprehensive status.
When applying for the NCI designation, “you’re laying out the case as to why your institution is leading the nation in cancer research,” Harrison explains. In addition to proving that the institution is breaking new ground in a meaningful way, “you have to show that you’re training the next generation … and actually making an impact in your immediate community.”
The work doesn’t stop now that Massey has received the comprehensive designation. “We cannot let up at all,” Harrison says. “We have to show that we’re making more impact … especially through clinical trials.”
And, in keeping with VCU’s mission, treatments must be available to everyone. “All the discoveries are worthless unless we can get them to the people who need them,” she says, adding that Massey needs to aim to “improve outcomes for all people.”
In the big picture, Massey is significantly smaller than many of the institutions on the comprehensive list in terms of patient volume and area population. “We’re not in New York City,” Harrison says. While Massey has about 150 researchers, other comprehensive centers might have 500. “Even though we’re small, we’re mighty,” she says. “We’ve really kind of made our mark, especially in this health equity area.”
Massey may not have the household name recognition of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York or the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, but it now has achieved the same NCI status. That’s an accomplishment for which Massey should be proud, Harrison says: “We’re up there in the Ivy Leagues of cancer centers.”
Vision for the future
Dr. Paula M. Fracasso, formerly of the University of Virginia, joined Massey last year as deputy director and senior vice president of the cancer service line. An oncologist, medical school professor and former pharmaceutical executive, Fracasso works with Winn on Massey’s initiatives while coordinating the service line that helps patients navigate their health care.
“I have the incredible opportunity to … work with all to ensure we deliver the highest quality care through the entire patient journey,” Fracasso says. She taps into resources offered by the American Cancer Society and other philanthropic and stakeholder organizations to “help people who need help.” That may involve anything from explaining treatment options to lining up transportation and lodging.
Massey’s advancements in bone marrow transplants and stem cell research draw patients from throughout the state and beyond. “We are the only [Virginia] site that has MRI-guided radiation therapy,” Fracasso says. The center also offers some less technical programs, such as its Survivorship Clinic, which helps cancer patients thrive during and after treatment.
Fracasso feels sure that Massey will retain its comprehensive status when its NCI recertification rolls around in five years. “We’re going to continue doing what we did to earn it,” she says. “We are extremely thrilled, excited, jazzed … to let the people of the commonwealth of Virginia know what kind of care we give and will continue to be giving.”
She describes this as an “incredibly exciting time” in the history of Massey. The center will continue to strive for a “seamless patient journey with state-of-the-art care,” Fracasso says. “That’s what we’re trying to do at Massey every day for every patient and every family.”
Philanthropic support has been critical to Massey’s successes thus far, Winn says, and will continue to play a big role in its future. He would like to see an expansion in the center’s wet laboratory space and data sciences research. “Right now, the shirt is tight-fitting,” he says. More research space would be welcomed. “The complexity of cancer care is incredible,” he says.
Winn also dreams of a day that Massey has its own hospital, with its own emergency room, just for cancer patients. But for now, he’s happy to be at the helm of a comprehensive cancer center that conducts research involving and serving people who might otherwise not get the care they need. In this way, he says, Massey is a “North Star for many other cancer centers.”
VCU at a glance
Founded
Virginia Commonwealth University was founded in 1838 as the Medical College of Hampden-Sydney and was later renamed the Medical College of Virginia. In 1968, MCV merged with Richmond Professional Institute to form VCU.
Campus
VCU has two campuses in downtown Richmond covering a total of 198 acres. The Monroe Park Campus houses most undergraduate students and classes. VCU’s five health sciences schools, the College of Health Professions, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and VCU Health are located on the MCV campus.
Enrollment
Undergraduate: 21,270
Graduate: 5,622
First professional: 1,516
International: 999
In-state: 86%
Minority: 47%
Employees
24,065*
Faculty
Full-time faculty: 2,501
Full-time university and academic professionals: 3,390
Tuition and fees
In-state tuition and fees: $16,233
Tuition and fees (out of state): $38,817
Room and board and other fees: $13,283
Average financial aid awarded to full-time freshmen seeking assistance: $19,290
About VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
More than 1,000 people work at Massey, which sees more than 3,000 new patients every year. Massey patients receive care at multiple locations, including:
VCU Health’s Adult Outpatient Pavilion
VCU Medical Center
VCU Health Stony Point Campus
VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital in South Hill
Last year began on a high note for the Hampton Roads residential real estate market, with home prices and apartment rents soaring. According to the Real Estate Information Network, monthly median rent costs rose 20.4% compared with 2021, with median rents of $1,800.
But by the fourth quarter of 2022, rent growth slowed and sales volume plummeted as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to battle 40-year-record inflation rates.
Old Dominion University’s 2023 Hampton Roads Real Estate Market Review & Forecast, presented in March, noted that fourth-quarter rent growth was down to 5% in the region, compared with 11.6% for 2021’s fourth quarter. Paul Van, CEO and chief investment officer for Croatan Investments in Virginia Beach, said consumers’ economic health had declined, and the record high $755 million in multifamily sales in 2021’s fourth quarter plummeted 77% to $173 million in 2022’s fourth quarter.
Clark Simpson, senior vice president of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s capital markets group in Virginia Beach, notes the effect on the market. “Last year, developers were more aggressive buying land because construction loans had lower rates and rent growth was solid,” but that’s slowed, he says, because of higher interest rates and construction costs, as well as concerns over the rate of rent growth.
By early summer, the region’s homebuying market righted itself, with median sales prices setting records in May and June, at $335,000 and $345,000 respectively, according to REIN, and Virginia Realtors reported in May that multifamily inventory rose by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2023, with the average monthly rent payment rising by $56.
While the higher cost of housing is not great for buyers or renters, the whole Hampton Roads region is not a monolith, notes Alvin “AJ” Abston, a senior market analyst for Washington, D.C.-based CoStar Group, which collects and analyzes real estate data. Micro-economies among the region’s localities were affected by inflation differently.
With regard to rentals, Virginia Beach, with a population of almost 457,700, “has been able to absorb the extra level of inventory” and has 5.6% vacancy, he says. Suffolk, on the other hand, with a population of 96,000, “has vacancy in the double digits. It’s a smaller market, so impacts are seen a lot quicker.” The submarket of Chesapeake is seeing an influx of residents, he adds. “More people are moving in who have been priced out of other areas.”
Demand is high in the affordable housing market, notes Christine Gustafson, vice president of marketing and public relations for The Breeden Co., which is redeveloping Tidewater Gardens in Norfolk. The project replaces 618 aging units, built in the 1950s, with 714 units.
“We can’t build fast enough,” she says. Breeden is also involved in The Lift & Rise in Newport News, part of the Marshall-Ridley Neighborhood Transformation Plan. The community includes a mix of 81 affordable and market-rate apartments, with rents ranging from $968 for one bedroom units to $2,250 for three bedrooms.
Breeden also has been busy at the other end of the market spectrum with the Lofts at Front Street, a luxury 258-unit building in downtown Norfolk on the Elizabeth River, with rents ranging from $1,740 to $2,685. This apartment community and others reflect customer demand, such as “Zoom rooms or coworking spaces,” Gustafson says. “What may have been a billiard table will now be a work table where people can work and meet.”
Thalhimer’s big project last year, Simpson says, was the April 2022 sale of Smitty’s Mobile Home Park in Norfolk for $9.75 million. The buyer, Bonaventure, a real estate developer in Alexandria, plans to build a 418-unit apartment and townhome complex, replacing 100 mobile homes.
“They’re Class A apartments. It will really improve that corridor,” he says.
The Richmond Grand Resort & Casino seems virtually identical to the proposed ONE Casino + Resort that voters shot down in a 2021 referendum. Maryland-based Urban One once again is pitching the casino, joined by Kentucky-based Churchill Downs, which last year purchased the assets of Urban One’s previous casino partner, Peninsula Pacific Entertainment.
Just like the earlier pitch, the Richmond Grand proposal includes a 250-room hotel, a 3,000-seat concert venue and a soundstage where Urban One pledges to invest $50 million over 10 years in TV, movie and audio productions. Also like before, the casino promises to make a $26.5 million upfront payment to the city government and forecasts that it will create an estimated 1,300 permanent jobs and generate $30 million in annual tax revenue. If passed, it would be built on the same 100-acre South Side site proposed in 2021.
Urban One and Churchill Downs say the new pitch reflects an extensive survey of Richmond voters who supported and opposed the casino referendum two years ago.
Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins acknowledged at the plan’s rollout that although his media conglomerate knows plenty about advertising, it is new to amassing political support. According to state campaign finance records, Urban One gave $3.9 million and Churchill Downs donated $3.1 million to a pro-casino PAC in August — more than three times what was spent in 2021.
Churchill Downs, which owns the Kentucky Derby and is an investor in casinos in 13 states, is an equal partner in the project with Urban One. If the referendum passes, it will become a significant part of the company’s holdings in Virginia, which also include Colonial Downs in New Kent County and six Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums across the state.
Churchill Downs CEO William Carstanjen didn’t specify what his company plans to do if the Richmond casino referendum fails a second time.
“This is a project that needs to get done in Richmond … and we put together the team that can do it,” Carstanjen says. “Now we just have to take our message to the citizens of Richmond and convince them, and we think we can do that.”
Already home to a nascent 176-turbine wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads is expanding its foray into the clean energy industry with the creation of a greenhydrogen production facility at Newport News‘ Tech Center Research Park.
Last spring, the Blacksburg-based Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, which operates the 40-acre park near Jefferson Lab, joined forces with the Hampton Roads Alliance and the cities of Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach to develop a $6.5 million green hydrogen fuel program aimed at sparking regional commercial development. The partnership received a $1.6 million grant from GO Virginia and $5 million from ITA International, Genplant, W.M. Jordan and the City of Newport News to develop the 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot demonstration lab, which is expected to be in operation in a year to 18 months.
Green hydrogen, produced from renewable energy sources such as Dominion Energy‘s offshore wind farm, is created by separating hydrogen atoms from water molecules. It is expected to be a $410 billion global industry by 2030.
“Hydrogen is a clean fuel source that can burn 12 to 18 hours without stopping,” says Brett Malone, president and CEO of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. “There are zero carbon emissions when burning hydrogen. It’s another tool to help the commonwealth reduce its carbon footprint and add energy capacity.”
Virginia’s 2022 Energy Plan includes directives to invest in hydrogen, which can be used to decarbonize large industrial, maritime and long-haul freight operations.
The center, which includes three to five hydrogen application projects to spur local industry investments and a workforce training program, is expected to lead to the creation of 230 jobs over the next five years. Malone says more than 30 applications have been identified, with initial efforts focusing on maritime and port operations, where vessels and trucks could be converted to run on hydrogen.
Officials with the Hampton Roads Alliance, a regional economic development organization, say energy transition will attract more industries and jobs to the area as businesses seek to incorporate clean energy in their operations.
“We saw the opportunity in Hampton Roads, starting with offshore wind, to be a leader in transitions and renewable energy sources,” says Matt Smith, the alliance’s director of energy and water technology. “This is part of a bigger picture of being an innovative region that’s attractive to businesses that want to use green energy.”
Starting in 1966, the team formerly known as the Redskins began its RFK Stadium sellout streak. For decades, tickets for home games were harder to snag than Taylor Swift tickets today. Divorcing couples battled over custody of season tickets, and the team reportedly had a 100-year-plus season ticket waitlist.
That changed in the Dan Snyder era — to put it mildly. During the 21st century, former fans dropped season tickets like a dog sheds its fur. The team kept losing games under an ever-changing series of coaches and general managers whom Snyder micromanaged and then fired after lackluster seasons.
Perhaps the nadir for fan relations was 2009, when the team actually sued a 72-year-old season-ticket holder — a grandmother — who requested that the team waive her season tickets after the Great Recession hurt her real estate business.
Meanwhile, in the front office, according to an NFL investigation released in July, Snyder and his executives created a workplace in which sexual harassment and hostile treatment of employees thrived. Snyder has vehemently denied these allegations, but after 24 years as owner, he sold the team for a record-setting $6 billion in July to a group of 20 investors.
Josh Harris, a Maryland native and private equity billionaire, is now the principal owner of the WashingtonCommanders, as well as the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
I sat down with Harris in September at the Planet Word language-arts museum in Washington, D.C., where the team hosted a VIP-only season kickoff party before its first regular season home game. The 58-year-old Harris, who made his money as a co-founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, is getting used to the brighter spotlight that comes with being an NFL team owner.
He says the question of where a new stadium will go is in very early stages — although Harris’ group has more options than Snyder did, with renewed interest among Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., officials to host the stadium following the change in ownership. (See related story.) Included among Virginia’s state budget amendments passed in September was a $250,000 stadium study, a promising gesture.
Looking between the lines, there’s a fair argument that FedEx Field’s replacement could land in the old RFK Stadium space. In our interview (see October 2023 cover story), Harris says that transportation — including Metro access — and the economic boost of a stadium to the community are factors under consideration. His Sixers have built team facilities in underserved, disadvantaged neighborhoods around Philadelphia and its surroundings. It’s not a huge leap to imagine a similar decision benefiting RFK’s neighborhood on the banks of the Anacostia River, instead of a far-flung NoVa suburb.
Of course, nostalgia doesn’t drive such decisions, and with 20 investors in his group, Harris will likely listen carefully to what they say about a new stadium location. Economic incentives could still lure the stadium to Loudoun or Prince William counties, as have been previously suggested, or another Northern Virginia site.
Like many stances, Virginia’s attitude toward inviting the Commanders to place their stadium here — and even keeping their headquarters in Ashburn — could be affected by the November elections, which will see all 140 state Senate and House of Delegates seats up for grabs.
In this issue (see related story), freelance writer Mason Adams delves into the most competitive races that will determine which party will control the state Senate and the House, perhaps for decades to come. Of course, the elections will also play a significant role in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s latent presidential hopes and his ability to get more tax cuts and other legislation passed in the final two years of his term.
Home to eight Fortune 500 companies and three Fortune 1000 companies, metro Richmond is “punching above our weight” for a region of 1.3 million residents, says Jennifer Wakefield, president and CEO of the Greater Richmond Partnership.
For the third year in a row, the Richmond region was named by Business Facilities magazine as a top 10 location for corporate headquarters and corporate campuses. Richmond ranked No. 9, coming in just behind the Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria region.
Business Facilities’ rankings consider the number of corporate headquarters in a location and what resources that area offers for business operations, such as the cost of doing business and quality of life for workers. Richmond scores high in those factors and offers companies a strong business climate, workforce availability and solid infrastructure, say regional economic development officials.
The region’s star also is rising among those who make business location decisions, according to annual surveys of site selection consultants and corporate officials conducted for GRP, the lead regional economic development organization. A 2021 survey found that 20% of site selection consultants had considered Richmond previously, but only 2% of corporate executives had. But by the 2023 survey, nearly 40% of both groups said they’d considered the region, and site selection consultants said they short-listed Richmond about 40% of the time.
Friendly business climate
While cost is never the only factor companies prioritize when weighing locations, businesses want to locate headquarters or major assets in places with low taxes and stable, business-friendly policies, Wakefield says. Ranked second on CNBC’s Best States for Business list in 2023, Virginia checks those boxes; the state’s 6% corporate tax rate hasn’t changed in 50 years.
GRP compared the costs for operating a 50-person office — including rent, salaries and benefits, and utilities for a year — and found Richmond is less expensive than seven other major cities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. Companies settling in Richmond pay lower costs for office rents, state unemployment insurance and commercial electric rates than in the comparison cities.
Fortune 500 utility Dominion Energy, which has its corporate headquarters and 5,400 employees in Richmond, charges industrial electric rates in Virginia that are more than 16% below the national average, according to Dominion Energy Virginia President Ed Baine. The company’s array of solar and wind projects under development also helps attract businesses that want renewable energy to help meet sustainability goals.
By the time company executives contact a local economic development office about a relocation, they’re ready to move quickly, so the locality must be ready, too, says Anthony J. Romanello, executive director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority.
Take for example Facebook (now Meta Platforms), which approached the county in late 2016 about building a 970,000-square-foot data center complex and was able to start construction by fall 2017 because the county offers a quick permitting process.
Additionally, last year, to attract more companies with lab and research activities, the Henrico Board of Supervisors lowered its research and development tax rate from $3.50 to $0.90 per $100 of assessed value. Last year, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced a $92.3 million expansion of lab operations in Henrico, and diagnostic lab testing company Genetworx also said it would double the size of its facility in the county’s Innsbrook area.
In recent years, Henrico also raised the threshold for exemption from BPOL (business, professional and occupational license) taxes to $500,000 in annual gross receipts. Supervisors “recognize that if we reduce the tax burden on the business community, they will respond in kind. We have seen substantial investment since taxes were reduced,” Romanello adds.
In the city of Richmond, business-friendly policies such as a citywide technology zone to encourage the growth of tech firms and a commercial area revitalization program to keep commercial corridors vibrant have helped attract and retain businesses, says Leonard Sledge, director of Richmond’s Department of Economic Development.
“We endeavor to move at the speed of business to help businesses grow in the city,” he says.
Worker availability
Many companies with Richmond operations praise the availability of skilled workers, due in part to the city’s proximity to several colleges and universities.
“One of the attractions of having a big base of operations in Richmond is a deep talent pool,” particularly in information technology, says Ted Hanson, CEO of ASGN, which occupies 78,000 square feet across multiple offices in the city. The company moved its headquarters from California to Henrico three years ago. Its largest business unit, Apex Systems, also has its headquarters and about 530 employees in Henrico.
The 17 counties of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area have a workforce of 695,000 people, which rises to 1.2 million for the broader Central Virginia area. The greater Richmond region is home to more than 20 higher education institutions — including public schools like Virginia Commonwealth University, private universities like the University of Richmond, and two historically Black colleges and universities, Virginia State University and Virginia Union University.Collectively, they graduate thousands of students annually. With about 1.7 million higher education students within a 150-mile radius of Richmond, recruitment opportunities are unlimited. Additionally, nearly 40% of the region’s working-age population, ages 25 to 64, have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with the national average of 33.5%.
“The state’s top-tier universities and thriving business communities help create a strong pipeline of candidates for a range of positions,” says Bill Nash, CEO of Goochland County-based Fortune 500 used-car retailer CarMax, which has 2,300 associates in metro Richmond.
Performance Food Group, a Fortune 500 company that employs nearly 1,000 workers at its Goochland headquarters and two area distribution centers, has “been very successful building the Performance family with local residents,” says company spokesperson Scott Golden. While PFG makes “some strategic hires outside of greater Richmond,” the company recruits locally for information technology, human resources and finance professionals, as well as skilled warehouse workers, truck drivers and front office workers.
Metro Richmond’s labor pool is also increasing because the region’s population is growing at a faster rate than the state as a whole — by 9.8% between 2010 and 2020, compared with 7% statewide. People relocating from Northern Virginia make up the largest group moving to the region, Wakefield says.
Occasionally, companies tell GRP that they’re worried about the potential number of available workers in Richmond, but in those cases, the market may be too small for their needs, Wakefield says. “If they’re looking for an Atlanta-sized market,” Richmond isn’t the right place, she adds.
Quality of life
Richmond’s quality of life is vital in attracting and retaining companies and their employees, economic development officials and company representatives agree.
The region’s low cost of living grabs people’s attention, says Matt McLaren, managing director of business attraction for Chesterfield County Economic Development. “People from larger metros nationally and internationally are surprised by the affordability, low congestion and sophistication of our market,” he says. “Taking them through neighborhoods and seeing them look at their real estate apps is always fun as they compare what they could afford in our region versus back home.”
Richmond’s cost of living is better than some markets with which the city directly competes for business relocations, including Charlotte, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee. Richmond home prices averaged about $383,000 last year, substantially lower than the national average of $452,000.
Henrico EDA’s Live Your Best campaign focuses on the region’s quality of life and promotes it as a place “where workers and families are going to want to be,” Romanello says. The campaign touts Henrico’s top-ranked public schools, variety of housing and neighborhood options, low cost of living, and recreational attractions ranging from the James River to craft breweries.
Many projects coming to Chesterfield involve relocating employees, McLaren says. “Once they visit, it is an easy decision for them to choose to locate to a region rich with diversity and affordability of housing, amazing educational opportunities … [and] amazing recreational and cultural attractions.”
Richmond’s “deep talent pool” is an attractor for companies, says Ted Hanson, CEO of ASGN, which moved its headquarters to Henrico County from California in 2020. Photo by Matthew R.O. Brown
CarMax’s Nash echoes those comments: “Our hometown of Richmond is a vibrant place to live and work and attracts top talent from across the country.” He highlights the city’s restaurants, museums, and proximity to mountains and beaches as things his company’s employees love about the region.
Just as geography provides Richmonders a central location that’s two hours from mountains, beaches or the cultural offerings of Washington, D.C., it also offers companies a central location on the East Coast, approximately halfway between Florida and Maine and two hours from the nation’s capital. With three interstates serving the city, 45% of the U.S. population is within a day’s drive, including major markets in the Northeast and Southeast. Port access is available via river barge, trains and trucking.
For commuters, the city’s traffic is relatively light. “Richmond’s central location is a real benefit. You have the advantages of being in the state capital but not having to battle the hustle and bustle of traffic that you may get in other areas of the state,” ASGN’s Hanson says.
One of the region’s few weaknesses site selectors mention in GRP’s annual survey is the limited number of direct flights from Richmond International Airport. “Our location is an advantage but also a disadvantage because airlines look at the largest markets,” Wakefield says, adding that Perry Miller, president and CEO of the Capital Region Airport Commission, “has done a tremendous job of attracting new direct flights,” and the airport now has direct flights to
35 destinations. “That’s needed because we’re being counted out of projects.”
Regional cooperation
While economic development officials use phrases like “secret sauce” to describe Richmond’s brew of positive qualities, one of the biggest attractions for corporate headquarters and campuses is simply the fact that so many companies already have settled in Richmond. “Other companies like to cluster where there are headquarters and corporate service firms,” Wakefield says.
Henrico’s economic development staff is happy to tell corporate prospects that it has six Fortune 1000 companies and to namedrop Markel Group, Altria Group and others with major operations in the county. “Worldwide companies have double-downed on Richmond, and the rest of the world takes note of that,” Romanello says.
“Success begets success,” Sledge says, offering CoStar Group’s major investment in Richmond as an example. The D.C.-based real estate analytics and information company, with 1,500 area employees, has been in Richmond since 2016, and broke ground on a $460 million, 750,000-square-foot expansion of its riverfront campus in 2022. “Because of the business they are in,” Sledge says, “that investment sends a strong message about the city, region and commonwealth.”
Richmond-based companies also do their part to help economic development. Dominion Energy, for instance, has a team of energy experts that assists businesses seeking to expand or relocate in Virginia. Many companies, whether long established in Richmond or newcomers, contribute to the quality of life by being good corporate citizens, providing grants and volunteers for local nonprofits, sponsoring cultural events, and working to keep Richmond a vibrant community, Sledge says, adding that regional cooperation around economic development is also a plus.
“We are equally as excited and enthused about growth in the city as we are about growth of our partners in the counties. We need and want each other to be successful,” Sledge says.
Ranking among Business Facilities’ Top 10 metro areas for corporate locations is a bonus. Choosing a corporate site involves “some subjectivity,” but also plenty of analysis and objective criteria, Wakefield says, so when an executive sees Richmond in the Top 10, he or she might think, “if someone else put them on a list, maybe I shouldn’t discount them.”
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Photo courtesy Virginia Tourism Corp.
Richmond at a glance
Founded in 1737 by Col. William Byrd II, Richmond is known as the River City for its location on the James River. The state’s capital, Richmond, is home to the Virginia General Assembly and much of state government. The metro region, which includes Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover and Henrico counties, is headquarters to 11 Fortune 1000 companies. The region is also home to the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, Randolph-Macon College, Virginia State University and Virginia Union University.
Richmond is home to historical and cultural attractions such as the Poe Museum, the American Civil War Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. Visitors can also enjoy time outside at Maymont park, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden or the Kings Dominion amusement park. Carytown, the Fan District and Scott’s Addition offer many options for shopping, dining and entertainment.
Top convention hotels
Richmond Marriott 413 rooms, 26,760 square feet of event space
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Richmond – Midlothian 237 rooms, 26,039 square feet of event space
The Jefferson 181 rooms, 26,000 square feet of event space
Hilton Richmond Short Pump Hotel and Spa 254 rooms, 21,937 square feet of event space
Notable restaurants
Lemaire New American, lemairerestaurant.com
Longoven
New American, longovenrva.com
L’Opossum
Modern French, lopossum.com
Shagbark New American/Southern,shagbarkrva.com
Stella’s
Greek,stellasrichmond.com
Fortune 500 companies
Performance Food Group
CarMax
Altria Group
Dominion Energy
Markel Group
Owens & Minor
Arko
Genworth Financial
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