A Roanoke Days Inn has a new owner.
Saul Urban LLC purchased the 165-room hotel, located at 601 Orange Ave., from Shri Sainath Enterprises LLC for $3 million, according to Colliers.
The new owner is planning a comprehensive renovation of the property and is exploring alternative uses.
Prashant Merchant and Nic Wade, both of Colliers, handled the transaction on behalf of the seller.
The Navy man sat in Barbara Gatewood Sgueglia’s office in tears.
His rent was being raised from $1,600 to $2,750, and with several children and his wife in school, he just couldn’t swing it, even if the landlord offered to split the difference.
Anything else he could afford would likely be “much less appealing,” says Sgueglia, Hampton Roads Realtors Association board chairman and founder of the Military Relocation Team in Chesapeake.
The sailor’s situation has become all too common in Hampton Roads, she says. The number of available rentals has dropped so low and rents have risen so high that it’s become hard for people to find what they can afford.
Part of the reason is that Hampton Roads, with its large military presence, has a lot of what Sgueglia calls “accidental landlords.” These are military families who bought a starter home several years ago and rented it out to build equity when they got reassigned. Now they’re moving back — and the area’s real estate market is so tight, it’s hard to find a new place for themselves.
“They’ve had to move back into their [old] homes and the renter has to move out,” Sgueglia says. “That takes another rental off the market.” The Hampton Roads market had 606 newly listed rental properties during August, according to raw data from the Real Estate Information Network Inc. (REIN) — a steep decline from three years ago, when 1,142 apartments were newly listed.
Other investors may have pulled out because of problems they encountered during the pandemic and sold their properties at the height of the real estate market, she says.
Meanwhile more people are looking to rent, says J. Van Rose, president of Rose & Womble Realty Co. in Virginia Beach.
“One of the reasons the housing market was so blisteringly hot was with interest rates as low as they were, you could buy almost a $400,000 house with a 3% interest rate and it would be cheaper than going into an apartment by a long shot,” he says. “Now that interest rate has gone up, it’s closed that gap.”
The situation for renters in Hampton Roads is almost dire, says Jeremy Caleb Johnson, an agent and associate broker with Long & Foster/Christie’s International Real Estate in Virginia Beach.
The rule of thumb for rent in most parts of the area had averaged about $1 per square foot of property, meaning an 1,100-square-foot townhome or condo would rent for $1,100 unless there was something remarkable about it, he says. The average rate is now about $1.25 to $1.30 per square foot in what for many renters has become what he termed “an ultra competitive market.” The average monthly rent for the region was $1,800 as of Sept. 1, up nearly $200 from the same period last year.
“We see multiple applications for a property in many, many instances,” says Johnson, board chairman-elect of the Hampton Roads Realtors Association. “We see people offering above the advertised rent.”
Robert McNab, director of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University‘s Strome College of Business, says Hampton Roads is playing catch-up when it comes to rental rates. Prior to the pandemic, they increased slower than the national average. Now they’re accelerating faster.
“Of course, those increases in housing values and rental prices are outstripping gains in wages and salaries,” he says. “That places extraordinary stress on families in Hampton Roads, especially for military families that may be moving to the region and their basic allowance for housing has not kept pace with the rental price appreciation in the region.”
The challenge for Hampton Roads is to diversify its economy, which is highly dependent on Department of Defense spending, McNab says. It accounts for approximately $4 out of every $10 of economic activity in the region.
“Private sector job growth has lagged behind that of other metro areas in Virginia and the nation, so the broad challenge going forward is how to create more robust private sector growth that is not connected to the federal government,” he says. “This is something that’s obviously not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take a concerted effort.”
Sgueglia’s Navy serviceman and his family were ultimately able to remain in their rental property, after they negotiated a $2,200 monthly payment from the landlord, a decrease from $2,750.
“We ended up settling,” she says. “He’s staying. The owner isn’t thrilled, but the owner is a [former] serviceman himself, so he understands.”
Read about home sales trends in Hampton Roads, including stats and local tax rates.
ElectroTempo Inc. CEO and co-founder Ann Xu wants her company’s software to reach 70% of the United States by 2027.
Founded in 2020, Electro Tempo provides analytics and tools to help vehicle fleets, utilities and governments optimize the size and location of electric vehicle-charging infrastructure.
The company took a step toward accomplishing its goal by moving from Herndon into Arlington-based Zebox America, a technology startup incubator and accelerator that launched in late April.
ElectroTempo is one of three startups that have moved into the Zebox accelerator. With room for as many as 20 companies, the incubator also is intended as a space to bring participants together, says Zebox Vice President Charley Dehoney.
Founded in 2018 by Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and CEO of shipping giant CMA CGM Group, which has its U.S. headquarters in Norfolk, Zebox focuses on startups offering solutions for its corporate sponsors, which include the Port of Virginia and major logistics and transportation companies like founding sponsor CMA CGM. Zebox incubators in France and the Caribbean have supported more than 80 companies so far, Dehoney says.
Zebox America is working with 32 startups, a majority of which are remote. Five are Virginia-based.
“We’ve now identified more than 65 problem statements that our corporate partners share,” Dehoney says. “Some of these problems may take two startups to solve. We’ll keep adding them until all of the issues in the supply chain go away.”
Startups don’t have to be focused directly on logistics, transportation or the supply chain, though. Zebox also is concentrating on supporting businesses working on problems that the industries have in common, such as cybersecurity. “Everybody in supply chain and logistics is worried about cybersecurity because there’s so much shared data in the supply chain,” Dehoney says.
While Zebox considered tech hubs such as Boston and San Francisco as sites for the incubator, Zebox chose Arlington because of its proximity to Norfolk. Additional draws included Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2, Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus and 5G “smart city” infrastructure plans for Arlington.
Zebox’s goal is to add 150 jobs to Virginia, Dehoney says. The incubator represents a $4 million investment.
Being part of Zebox has already paid off for ElectroTempo, Xu says. Corporate sponsors have asked her for presentations, she says, realizing the value ElectroTempo might bring. “We are attacking a real-world issue,” she says, “a pain point that’s out there.”
In 2017, David Kern, a retired Naval submarine officer turned entrepreneur, had a lightbulb moment. While working on a data analytics project at a desk in the Naval Station Norfolk annex, he realized that his company, Virginia Beach–based Kern Technology Group LLC, needed to shift from focusing on product development to becoming a service contractor.
“It wasn’t until I was actually sitting with my customer, the U.S. Navy, and sitting there and seeing what they really need on a day-to-day basis, that it became clear that I needed to refocus the company in order to grow,” says Kern, who founded his company in 2010 and serves as its president.
Two years later, in 2019, Kern Technology Group won its first service contracts. Now, the company mainly provides engineering services to help get ships ready for deployments.
In late August, Kern Technology Group had 30 employees and eight subcontractors, up from three employees in 2019. Kern plans to hire another 15 people this year, largely to focus on data analytics.
Kern Technology Group led the Hampton Roads businesses on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies, coming in at No. 261 with a three-year revenue growth rate of 2,053%. The company’s 2021 revenue exceeded $5 million, Kern says.
Four other Virginia Beach companies ranked within the top 1,000 companies on the Inc. 5000 list, representing industries ranging from consumer services to government contracting to real estate.
With an 854% growth rate, British Swim School placed 737th overall and second in the region. The company provides swimming lessons for people ages 3 to 70-plus and has locations in 24 states, Canada and Turkey.
Jumping from No. 1,033 in 2021 to No. 805 this year, Matbock develops technologies and products for the “soldier, sailor, Marine [and] airman,” says Matbock co-founder and CEO Sean Matson. Its products include an autofocus accessory for night vision goggles and Ghost, a proprietary clothing material that dissipates heat, is waterproof and doesn’t absorb biochemical agents.
Matson and his co-founder, Zach Steinbock, are former Navy SEALs. They started the company in 2010 and introduced its first product, a cargo net, in 2012. At its founding, the company consisted of Matson, Steinbock and a volunteer. Now, Matbock has 35 employees.
Matson credits the company’s growth — 786% over the past three years — to its growing recognition from defense clients. “People know us in the defense industry as innovators. … We really look at how to take what everyone else is doing and hyper-accelerate it into something that is actually innovative,” he says.
In early August, Matbock won a $6.9 million prototype other transaction authority (OTA) agreement to develop a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Hybrid Electric Vehicle prototype for the U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office. The company is building the prototype in its Virginia Beach facility, with a June 2023 delivery deadline.
Kern also attributes his company’s growth to a solid reputation and word-of-mouth: “To me, the growth engine is not marketing. …What enables us to grow is having happy customers, and they spread the word and that allows us to compete for new customers.”
The fourth fastest-growing company this year in Hampton Roads, Vectrona LLC, provides technology development, operational support services and management services, largely to the defense community. Past clients include the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Navy’s U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Danville Community College. Vectrona ranked No. 880 overall.
Real estate closing services company Priority Title & Escrow LLC fell from No. 793 in 2021 to No. 984 this year but had a higher growth rate: 617% to 661%. This is the company’s second consecutive year in the Inc. 5000’s top 1,000.
With a population of 1.79 million people spread across 17 localities, Hampton Roads is the second-most populated region of Virginia, just behind Northern Virginia. Virginia Beach, with approximately 457,000 residents, is the commonwealth’s biggest city by population, and neighboring Norfolk has the highest density in the region, with 4,467 people per square mile, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.
To outsiders, the Hampton Roads region is perhaps best known as the home to more than 120,000 active-duty and reserve military members, as well as the Port of Virginia, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. and Newport News Shipbuilding, all major economic engines. Tourism — particularly at Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront — is another big driver of dollars, and Norfolk and Portsmouth are betting on two forthcoming casinos to help their cities strike it lucky.
The region also has its fair share of colleges and universities, ranging from the nation’s second-oldest school, William & Mary, to Tidewater Community College, which spans four cities.
Last year, when Old Dominion University was searching for its new president, the executive search firm contracted by the university also provided a bit of business intelligence about how the university of 24,000 students in Norfolk was viewed nationally.
“Old Dominion University was seen as a university on the rise,” says ODU‘s rector, Bruce Bradley, former president and publisher of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper and retired president of Landmark Publishing Group.
That pretty well describes the steady upward transformation that Bradley says he’s observed at ODU during the past few decades.
The university, he says, has gone from being perceived as “an adequate commuter college” to becoming a recognized research and residential university with ambitions to make a larger impact, perhaps on the national stage.
“It’s gotten up a head of steam,” says Bradley, who first came to the Hampton Roads region in 1971 when he began serving in the U.S. Navy.
Founded in 1930 as the Norfolk division of William & Mary and Virginia Tech, ODU became an independent institution in 1962 and achieved university status in 1969.
Bradley says ODU’s 2021 designation as an R1 research university (recognizing it under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a doctoral university with a great amount of research activity) was huge.
The R1 designation creates a pathway to recruiting high-quality faculty and students, obtaining large research grants, and attracting industry and government agency partners, the university says.
Equally as significant to ODU’s future are the ongoing efforts by ODU, Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and Norfolk State University to create the ONE School of Public Health, with support from Sentara Healthcare. There has also been talk about a potential merger of EVMS and ODU.
“If you look at the public health metrics for Hampton Roads, we tend to score near the bottom on every key category,” Bradley says. “So, the thought is, one of the ways we can address the health inequities in this community is [by] combining these two organizations [ODU and EVMS] and funding it more aggressively through Sentara, which has been a willing partner, as well as the [state government].”
ODU also is focused on graduating students who will enter the health care profession and work to create better health outcomes in Hampton Roads. The university says it’s second in the state only to Virginia Tech in producing STEM-H (science, technology, engineering, math and health sciences) graduates — accounting for about 40% of all ODU graduates.
And it wants to produce even more, aiming for growth among students from underrepresented communities and those who are the first in their families to attend college.
Increasing opportunity
ODU, which estimates it has an annual economic impact of about $2.6 billion, also has evolved into one of the commonwealth’s leading institutions for social mobility.
President Brian Hemphill, who became ODU’s first Black president on July 1, 2021, has walked that road himself.
“For me, it was growing up in eastern North Carolina the son of a brick mason, [my] mother a seamstress, and having the opportunity to grow up in humble beginnings on a farm and understanding the importance of hard work,” he says.
Hemphill’s parents worked hard so that he and his seven siblings could go to college, he says. “There was a sense of responsibility to go out and do the best I could every single day.”
Since then, Hemphill has been a strong advocate for increased educational and economic access and opportunity.
“About 28% of our students are African American, and about 49% of our students are from diverse populations or backgrounds,” he says. “We’re one of the few campuses that have a center for social mobility. It is really looking at the opportunity for engaging students and positioning them for success — with services and support, as well as some of their financial needs.”
Formerly president of Radford University, Hemphill notes that 38.1% of ODU’s fall 2020 undergraduates received federal Pell grants, which assist low-income students. That’s compared with an average 26.1% for all of Virginia’s public four-year institutions.
Additionally, last year, the university reported that roughly half of ODU’s incoming freshmen and 25% of its graduating class were first-generation college students.
“That’s an important niche for us to continue to focus on,” says Bradley, ODU’s rector, adding that the success of first-generation students is crucial to the futures of ODU and the region.
During the 2010s, the number of African American students at ODU increased 34% (from 5,211 to 6,846) and the number of Hispanic students jumped 73% (from 1,204 to 2,088), according to data from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
Additionally, approximately 25% of the university’s enrollment consists of distance learners, and ODU has conferred more than 20,000 degrees to online students. Hemphill wants to grow that remote-study enrollment because, he says, the university faces space constraints for in-person lessons on its 337-acre waterfront campus.
ODU’s online degree program began by serving Navy personnel around the world, then through a satellite learning system in partnership with Virginia community colleges before maturing into today’s web-based studies.
Workforce development remains an overarching focus for ODU’s efforts in distance learning and face-to-face instruction, providing employers with assistance to sustain and grow their companies and Virginia’s economy, Hemphill says.
To that end, in June ODU announced plans to create a School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations, acknowledging the region’s historic roots in the maritime industry and its juxtaposition to the Port of Virginia and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval station.
ODU has an established record of leader- ship and collaboration with the maritime industry, Hemphill says, adding that industry partners have asked the university to increase its work in the space.
The university is also increasing its research in coastal resilience and offshore wind, coinciding with timely factors such as sea-level rise and Dominion Energy Inc.’s planned $9.8 billion wind farm in waters 27 miles off the coast of nearby Virginia Beach.
And in September, during his State of the University address, Hemphill announced that ODU plans to launch a School of Data Science in partnership with the Jefferson Lab (Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility) and NASA Langley Research Center, both of which will receive faculty status for researchers. ODU faculty and students in turn would receive access to the national labs’ facilities and have opportunities for research collaborations.
‘The front porch’
ODU has been taking its “on the rise” reputation literally in recent years, making and planning a series of major additions to its physical footprint.
Last year, the university opened its new $75 million chemistry and biochemistry building, which features the 122-seat Michael and Kimthanh Lé Digital Theater and Planetarium, as well as 24 research laboratories and 13 teaching labs.
Also in 2021, the university opened a $62 million residence hall, providing housing for up to 470 students in an environment designed to be a living-learning community for cybersecurity, gaming, health professions and engineering students.
In summer 2023, ODU plans to complete work on its $75 million, three-story Health Sciences Building. Housing the School of Dental Hygiene, the School of Rehabilitation Sciences and the School of Medical Diagnostic and Translational Sciences, the building also will function as a focal point for university community health care initiatives.
During the 2022 General Assembly session, ODU secured $188 million for a new, five-story, 160,000-plus-square-foot Biology Building that’s slated to replace the university’s Mills Godwin Life Sciences Building by 2026.
On the athletics side, in July ODU joined the Sun Belt Conference, which will widen the school’s exposure to ESPN audiences, while roughly halving travel time to away games.
“It’s a great move for our student athletes and fan base,” Hemphill says. “Our fan base is excited to be able to compete against the likes of James Madison, Marshall, Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.”
Wood Selig, ODU’s director of athletics, says the Sun Belt’s 10-year contract with ESPN was a “game-changer” because of the exposure it will give ODU and its conference rivals, and the access it will provide to ODU fans to follow their favorite teams. Last year, the conference signed a media rights deal with ESPN that will see a 50% increase on Sun Belt football games aired across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
Additionally, ODU, which completed a $67.5 million makeover of its S.B. Ballard football stadium in 2019, announced in September that it had received a $2.5 million donation from Dennis and Jan Ellmer toward the $20 million renovation and expansion of the school’s baseball stadium. Dennis Ellmer is president and CEO of Chesapeake-based Priority Auto Group Inc., a dealership with locations in Hampton Roads, Roanoke and Northern Virginia. Planned in stages, the baseball stadium makeover will include expanded and upgraded seating, luxury suites, a club area, new locker and meeting rooms, and a new press box.
“In many ways, athletics can be the front porch of an institution; it’s certainly a part of the branding and mission,” Selig says. “A well-run athletic program can generate national notoriety, which can help with enrollment growth, out-of-state enrollment interest and elevate the overall brand and perception of the institution in the eye of the public in a very significant and meaningful way.”
And at least one former ODU athlete has elevated the university’s profile as an ambassador in a different realm: poetry.
Last year, ODU alumna Natalie Diaz, who was a point guard and captain of the women’s basketball team, became the first Latina and Native American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry. A 2000 ODU graduate, she received a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” fellowship in 2018 before going on to win the 2021 Pulitzer for “Postcolonial Love Poem,” her collection of what the Pulitzer jury described as “heart-wrenching and defiant poems that explore what it means to love and be loved in an America beset by conflict.”
The next stage for ODU as it seeks to reach wider notice could come this fall when the university will announce what Hemphill says will be the largest fundraising campaign in ODU’s history.
“There are a lot of things I’m proud of, and it starts with our faculty, our staff and our students,” Hemphill says. “They are the drivers behind the growth and momentum of this great institution.”
Founded
Old Dominion University was founded in 1930 as a two-year school to train teachers and engineers as an extension of William & Mary and Virginia Tech.
It gained independence in 1962 as Old Dominion College and began offering master’s degrees in 1964 and doctoral degrees in 1971. It was renamed
Old Dominion University in 1969.
Campus
Old Dominion has seven academic colleges and three schools. Its 337-acre Norfolk campus is bordered on two sides by the Elizabeth and Lafayette rivers. The school also operates regional higher educational centers in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Hampton.
Enrollment1
Undergraduate: 18,363
Graduate: 4,656
In-state: 20,178
International: 717
Students of color: 11,5902
Employees: 2,474
Faculty: 915 full-time
Tuition and fees
In-state tuition and fees: $11,630
Tuition and fees (out of state): $31,580
Room and board: $14,116
Average financial aid awarded to full-time freshmen seeking assistance: $15,987
1 Fall 2022 enrollment statistics
2 2021-22 data
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Astraea Inc., a geospatial analytics startup based in Charlottesville, spearheaded an effort to provide free satellite imagery that could be used by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, as well as civilians and humanitarian organizations. The company’s platform allows users to see and analyze images of any location on the planet captured over a given area as recently as yesterday and as far back as 15 years. The company was co-founded by Brendan Richardson, a University of Virginia alum who also teaches at the university. In July, Astraea closed an oversubscribed $6.5 million Series A round led by Aligned Climate Capital LLC and Carbon Drawdown Collective with participation from CAV Angels, Tydall Investment Partners and the U.Va. Licensing & Ventures Group Seed Fund. (UVA Today; news release)
Global investment firm Techstars selected Woodbridge’s CarpeDM Sept. 12 to participate in an accelerator program aimed at helping Black, brown and women business owners gain more access to capital. A matchmaking firm, CarpeDM’s primary product is a dating app geared toward Black women professionals. The company is among 60 startups nationwide selected to go through a 13-week program during which participants will receive mentoring, meet with potential investors and partners, and participate in a demo day. The program is run in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s private bank, which has raised $80 million to fund the effort. (Washington Business Journal)
Scott and Lauren Janney were on their way to opening a coffee shop in Hampton Roads — complete with a magazine wall — when the pandemic hit. In August 2020, the Janneys came up with a different business venture — Magazine Jukebox. The company offers digital magazines as an alternative to physical ones in commercial spaces. The idea is to provide consumers a way to enjoy magazines without having to touch them while waiting, accessing the publications via custom scannable QR code. The Norfolk-based business has grown to seven full-time employees and four sales associates. Launched in January, Magazine Jukebox is aiming to be in 700 locations throughout the U.S. by the end of 2022. (Inside Business)
Atlanta-based Saltbox Inc., a cowarehousing startup, opened a 45,000-square-foot location in Alexandria in late August to tap a market of small- and medium-sized e-commerce businesses. The company provides businesses with space in shared logistics facilities. A merchant can buy a month-to-month license, like a monthly rent, for a customizable suite. Membership provides access to logistics-oriented amenities, equipment and services, like loading docks, carts, palette jacks, outbound package bins for scheduled pickups, a photography studio and building security. The one-story industrial building contains 85 suites of various sizes for warehouse and office uses, with prices starting at $630 per month. (Washington Business Journal; Saltbox.com)
PEOPLE
Richmond-based Kishau Rogers, founder and CEO of Time Study Inc., returned to her native Lynchburg in late August to speak at a quarterly breakfast hosted by the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance as part of Black Business Month. Headquartered in Virginia and New York, Time Study is an artificial intelligence platform used by more than 75 hospitals to help understand the impact of how their employees spend their time. Rogers said many of her clients use the platform to identify more profitable activities and billable hours, and to reduce burnout. (The News & Advance)
As a kid growing up in Virginia Beach, “Scotty” Gray saw military aircraft so routinely that he wanted to become a pilot.
Today he is U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Christopher (still “Scotty”) Gray, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, where he oversees an area that stretches from Wisconsin to North Carolina and includes 14 installations — five in Hampton Roads — and nearly two dozen reserve outposts.
In Hampton Roads, Gray is responsible for as many as 90,000 active-duty personnel and another 52,000 civilian employees — as well as the world’s largest Navy base, Naval Station Norfolk, where as many as 72,000 military, civilians and contractors work.
He replaced Rear Adm. Charles “Chip” Rock, who retired in June.
Gray’s most recent post was commanding the Navy’s Europe, Africa, Central region, based in Naples, Italy. He also was a naval flight officer and deployed on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Additionally, he commanded the Norfolk-based Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 124.
A graduate of the University of South Florida and a former investment banker before receiving his commission as a naval flight officer in 1989, Gray says he was a true “beach kid” who spent a lot of time fishing and surfing in Sandbridge.
In August, he spoke to Virginia Business about the Navy’s efforts to recruit and retain civilian and military personnel, as well as Future Base Design, a plan launched last year under which the Navy would lease desirable, underused land to private developers. About 400 acres in Virginia Beach’s 7,000-acre Naval Air Station Oceana is the first property offered for leasing.
Virginia Business: What are your priorities for the Navy’s presence in Hampton Roads, and what are the main challenges you face?
Gray: The biggest thing is making sure we can just continue to do our business. Frankly, we’re struggling in many areas. Security is first and foremost for us, and the pandemic and the COVID environment has made it very challenging.
Our model is based on a certain number of military folks and a certain number of civilian guards and/or law enforcement officials. We’re just much too close to the edge, where it could be impactful for us. The primary challenge is the pay has not been very good. We’ve hired at a level that has been low, where we get some interest but not very good interest. … We’re just getting ready to go out and try and hire at a higher pay grade. I’m hopeful that we will attract a lot more interest.
I’m taking a much broader look at how we leverage our underutilized resources and assets that we have here across this region … so that we can reinvest in ourselves. The infrastructure is very old, and it’s challenging us and our ability to maintain it. We’re seeing increased numbers of power outages and utility failures. I’d say that’s probably my second priority, because the Navy has chosen to underfund the shore for the benefit of the combat forces.
VB: What are some ideas you have for the Future Base Design plan, in terms of leasable property or in-kind swaps?
Gray: We’ve got lots of opportunities here. Down Hampton Boulevard, there’s … the South Depot Annex. It’s a piece of property that we’ve owned for years, and it’s smack-dab in the middle of the Port of Virginia‘s enclave there.
The Port of Virginia has expressed some interest in it because it is in the middle of its operation, and because it’s very valuable. It has a rail line into it, and it has warehouses that they could utilize. They have a piece of property that abuts the south end of Naval Station Norfolk. We could do a land swap. They could take those warehouses that are on that piece of property and build us a warehouse on the piece of property they have that abuts the south end, [and] they would get what they want. We would get some new warehouses and property that is adjacent to our existing structure, our base.
We’ve got the Lafayette River Annex. It’s just a beautiful piece of property on the water. We’ve got one headquarters there. I’d be perfectly willing to swap that to somebody, if they built me a five-story building on, or paid for some type of in-kind consideration on Naval Station Norfolk. I’d save all the expense of having to protect and operate a little separate enclave.
There’s St. Julien’s Creek Annex down in Chesapeake. We have some functions down there, but I don’t know that there [are] any that we couldn’t shift somewhere else — and that’s a lot of property on the waterfront that’s hard to come by these days.
I’m considering it all holistically, and we’re starting to talk to folks about all the potential opportunities, and we’ll begin to gauge interest. Where we find interest, we will look to pursue.
VB: Has there been any interest in the land at Oceana, which has been available since August 2021?
Gray: We’ve had some … consequential meetings with senior Navy folks, with the base, with some of the local military and community organizations. My impression is we’ve made some good progress. We have put out some requests for interest, which have received interest, which is encouraging.
Like anything that’s relatively new, especially when you have a large bureaucracy, the bureaucracy is resistant to change. You may get some new policy that says, ‘You can do this,’ but a lot of times [you’ve] got to go through many different stakeholders in the bureaucracy to get people to sign off on it — and what you find is resistance.
Those are the types of challenges that we face. If there’s one thing I would say that people would say about me, [it] is [that] I’m not afraid to bull through barriers.
VB: How have your conversations gone with local government and community stakeholders?
Gray: I’ve met with several local leaders, spoken to them in passing, [and] some of them in more than just collateral passing. I’ve attended a couple of local civic meetings. I’m still getting up to speed.
What I am communicating to them is: Let’s find ways to find win-win solutions to the problems that are facing the city and the problems that are facing the military.
I’ll give you a perfect example: If I have to buy enough trucks to plow snow here in Virginia Beach, where it only happens every now and again, then I’ve got millions and millions of dollars of equipment sitting around waiting for a contingency that may only happen a time or two a year. Why don’t I just make an agreement with the city to pay them a certain amount of money … to plow my streets on the base?
There [are] all kinds of opportunities like that. I could go down the list of probably 10 or 20 of those things.
VB: Retaining separating sailors to take skilled jobs is a huge goal locally, and this is a potential workforce for you. What efforts are being made by the Navy to keep veterans here?
Gray: First and foremost, I think we need to increase our agility and the ability to adjust to the market conditions, because we’re getting creamed at it right now.
Here’s another thing that on a broader scope that we need to take a look at: The state of North Carolina just passed a bill to make military retirement [pensions] untaxable. Well, guess what? North Carolina’s 50 miles from here. I know where I’m going — that’s a straight economic decision for me.
If all goes according to plan, towering wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach will begin spinning out enough electricity in 2026 to power up to 660,000 homes.
Dominion Energy Inc.’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) farm will have 176 turbines — each rising 800 feet above the ocean, with around 8,000 parts apiece. Up until now, most of those components have been manufactured in Europe, but Virginia wants to change that.
The state scored a win in October 2021 when Spain-based Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A., a partner with Dominion on the wind farm, committed to building the first offshore-wind turbine blade facility in the United States at Portsmouth Marine Terminal. Siemens says the plant will create 260 jobs and include a capital investment of more than $80 million to erect buildings and lease 80 acres of the property that’s part of the Port of Virginia. The company says infrastructure work should begin in 2023, with actual production scheduled for 2025.
“The Virginia blade facility will be enabled by the CVOW project,” says Brett Persons, offshore U.S. localization manager for Siemens Gamesa. “However, it’s envisioned to potentially support other offshore wind projects on the East Coast.”
Virginia’s ultimate goal? Make Hampton Roads the East Coast supply chain hub for the mushrooming offshore wind industry. With CVOW construction scheduled to begin in 2024, businesses are lining up for a share of the work. Virginia Beach is home to the necessary coastline, of course, but the city can’t do it alone.
“The Dominion project is important to Virginia, but I’d say our broader goal as a region is to be serving the [wind] industry,” says Matt Smith, director of offshore wind business development for the Hampton Roads Alliance. “We have a whole group of folks — the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the alliance, localities — talking to companies all up and down the supply chain about investing in Hampton Roads.”
High demands
The Biden administration has focused on promoting renewable energy, as well as building a more robust supply chain and workforce to design, build and maintain parts of turbines and other key equipment.
CVOW is projected to require around 900 workers for its construction phase and 1,100 employees for operation and maintenance during the next 30 years. There are currently plans for more than 30 offshore wind projects for the East Coast, including one off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, all of which could be a boon for Virginia. Analysts have estimated future wind farms could create between 5,000 and 6,000 additional jobs in Hampton Roads, Smith says.
“This is where a regional strategy wins for us because if you look at the cities in Hampton Roads, we all bring a different piece of the puzzle to the table,” says Taylor Adams, Virginia Beach’s deputy city manager and director of economic development. “We have great sites for suppliers and distribution, but we don’t have an abundance of deep-water port access. Portsmouth and Norfolk certainly have some of the critical pieces. Chesapeake has open land.”
It starts with Dominion, which is banking heavily on energy from its 112,800-acre ocean floor property that starts 27 miles off Virginia Beach and extends east another
15 miles. Dominion’s bid of $1.6 million won the federal government’s lease in 2013.
The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act requires the utility to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity generation by 2045. Dominion has its own goal of reaching net-zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions from its power generation and natural gas operations by 2050.
In August, the Virginia State Corporation Commission approved Dominion’s application to build and recover costs of the wind farm, but there are still some details left to settle. Later in August, Dominion petitioned the commission to remove what it called an “involuntary performance guarantee” — making the utility financially responsible if CVOW doesn’t produce the amount of electricity promised due to factors beyond the utility’s control, such as severe weather or terrorist attacks. The SCC granted Dominion’s request for a review, and the matter is expected to be resolved this fall.
Even with that hitch, wind energy has gained plenty of momentum in terms of federal, state and corporate support.
“The Biden administration’s goal is to build out 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, so companies are considering their supply chain investments in the U.S. with respect to meeting that goal,” Smith says. “To get projects built using components that are manufactured in the U.S., we’d want to locate as much of that supply chain here as possible.”
That could include every major component, he adds: “The towers, foundations, blades, cables, even the actual wind turbine generators themselves.”
European influence
Experienced international players are already setting up shop in Hampton Roads. In addition to Siemens Gamesa, Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted has agreed to lease land at PMT to stage equipment through at least 2026, and Dominion is also leasing terminal property to preassemble the turbines’ foundations.
Three English energy-focused companies have office space in Virginia Beach, and the influx of these businesses has created a snowball effect, notes Laura Chalk, business development coordinator for the city. “It’s such a niche market, they all know each other,” she says. “We just had an Irish group in here for three days trying to get a feel for the area.”
In May, the Virginia Beach-based Miller Group purchased Lambert’s Point Docks in Norfolk from Norfolk Southern Railway Co., with plans to use it in part to support offshore wind operations. Now called Fairwinds Landing, the 111-acre property is expected to generate $100 million in investments and 500 jobs, starting later this year.
“Together, Portsmouth Marine Terminal and Lambert’s Point give us 400 really prime acres to base the development of the industry in Hampton Roads,” Smith says. “North Carolina did a study that looked at the best manufacturing sites for offshore wind in the country, and Portsmouth Marine Terminal and Lambert’s Point were ranked in the top three.”
The proposed North Carolina wind farm is being developed by Avangrid Renewables, a major player in the industry with projects in more than 20 states. Avangrid, headquartered in Connecticut, won the lease for 122,405 acres off the Outer Banks and is pitching the project as Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind. Still in the planning stages, Kitty Hawk Offshore would be similar in scale to Dominion’s CVOW, generating 2.5 gigawatts of energy as compared with CVOW’s 2.6 gigawatts. Likewise, it anticipates sending considerable business to Virginia.
“We expect that the Hampton Roads area would be a major beneficiary of this project,” says Ken Kimmel, vice president of offshore wind development for Avangrid. “And we see Virginia Beach playing an important role by serving as a landing location for some or all of our cables.”
Avangrid’s proposal to bring its Kitty Hawk cables ashore at Sandbridge in southern Virginia Beach has stirred up opposition among some residents; Dominion’s cables will land a few miles north at the State Military Reservation, then work their way west through Oceana Naval Air Station.
Avangrid, which already has a 104-turbine onshore wind farm near Elizabeth City just south of the Virginia border, projects that the Kitty Hawk wind farm’s construction phase alone would add 799 jobs and $390 million to the Virginia economy. Adds Kimmel: “We are also looking at many other opportunities along the East Coast, including the mid-Atlantic.”
Virginia Beach’s Adams says the city has been “in almost constant contact with the Avangrid team.”
Training up
Further inland — 240 miles west of Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront, to be precise — is New College Institute in Martinsville. In 2021, NCI became the first location in Virginia to offer Global Wind Organisation certification, a requirement for anyone working on an offshore wind turbine.
Most of the 30 or so people who have gone through the program have come from out of state, with their employers paying the way, says NCI’s advanced manufacturing trainer/instructor Evan Kissel. But he expects that to change soon, following the SCC’s approval of CVOW.
NCI offers two one-week courses: basic technical training and safety training. Among the safety assignments: learning how to get a 150-pound dummy down a ladder that can be almost three football fields high.
“The goal is for it to not ever happen,” says Kissel, “but things do happen, and people do get hurt. Generally, when you’re on a site doing maintenance, you’re working in two-man crews, and you’d hope the other guy knows how to help you.”
The NCI program is part of a state workforce initiative that also includes offshore wind training at Tidewater Community College, Centura College in Virginia Beach and the Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy in Norfolk.
The region’s workforce is part of the sales pitch to prospective businesses, says Smith: “Workforce, port infrastructure, the shipbuilding industry — we see offshore wind as fitting into our existing maritime infrastructure. As the industry grows and moves south, we’re in a strategically located area. We have physical infrastructure available and ready, and that’s not the case everywhere. We have a workforce well-suited to the industry, the largest maritime workforce in the country.”
Another advantage, says Smith, is that Virginia is “generally a lower-cost state” to conduct business in, especially compared with New York and New Jersey, where the federal government held a February auction for six wind leases, yielding $4.37 billion.
One question that remains is what will result from Virginia’s noticeable absence from the White House’s Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership, which includes 11 other East Coast states led by governors from both political parties. President Joe Biden, who recently signed a spending bill with more than $300 billion in energy and climate reform, including $60 billion in renewable energy infrastructure, created the partnership to speed up offshore wind development.
Tackling an emerging industry has serious challenges, and while wind power is not new — it dates back to 2000 B.C. in China — offshore wind technology is up to the minute, especially in this country.
“If you look at the history of development, we’ve been an exporter of intellectual property in the U.S.,” Adams says. “But this is one of the first times in the last century that the U.S. is importing an industry. We can learn from the investments that have already been made overseas. So instead of having to write the future here, there’s a playbook we can already use.”
MicroStrategy Inc. founder Michael Saylor was sued in August by the city of Washington, D.C., which alleges that he defrauded the nation’s capital of more than $25 million in income taxes. The lawsuit argues that Saylor falsely claimed to reside in Virginia or Florida while instead living in a luxury Georgetown penthouse.
The civil suit, filed Aug. 22 by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine in the District of Columbia Superior Court, also names MicroStrategy as a defendant.
MicroStrategy’s executive chairman, Saylor stepped down as CEO following the Tysons-based tech company’s August earnings report, which tallied a $1.98 billion impairment loss on its bitcoin holdings. Saylor is a major bitcoin influencer on Twitter, and MicroStrategy is the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.
According to the lawsuit, since 2005, Saylor has lived in “Trigate,” his 7,000-square-foot waterfront D.C. penthouse. In 2012, he bought a house in Miami Beach, got a Florida driver’s license and registered to vote there.
Around 2013, the suit alleges, Saylor asked MicroStrategy to begin using his Florida address on tax forms while MicroStrategy provided him with a security detail and transportation in D.C. and was aware of his residency there.
About a year later, according to the lawsuit, MicroStrategy’s then-chief financial officer grew concerned after finding that Saylor spent the majority of each year in D.C. Saylor agreed to reduce his salary to $1, but his compensation remained high because of fringe benefits, the lawsuit says.
MicroStrategy continued to report Saylor’s Florida address on his W-2s from 2014 through 2021, and failed to withhold D.C. income taxes, the lawsuit says, adding, “This was no mere clerical error.”
Saylor and MicroStrategy deny the allegations.
“Although MicroStrategy is based in Virginia, Florida is where I live, vote and have reported for jury duty, and it is at the center of my personal and family life,” Saylor said in a statement.
Accusing D.C. of “overreach,” MicroStrategy called the case a “personal tax matter” involving Saylor.
Under the city’s new False Claims Act, Saylor, who has a reported net worth of $1.6 billion, could be found personally liable for more than $75 million in unpaid taxes and penalties.
The act encourages whistleblowers to report instances of city residents evading tax laws by misrepresenting where they live. In this case, whistleblowers filed an April 2021 lawsuit against Saylor alleging tax fraud.
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