Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer represented the seller, LNR Property, in the $2 million sale of part of 260 Boush Street, a multiuse commercial and residential building in downtown Norfolk. Tidewater Community College is the purchaser of the 37,065-square-foot commercial space on the first floor, plus 99 parking spaces on the second floor of the 15-story building. The property is in downtown Norfolk with frontage along Boush Street, College Place and Tazewell Street. Tidewater Community College acquired the asset on Oct. 22. The transaction was completed by Rob Wright in Thalhimer’s Virginia Beach office with an assist from Eric Robison and Catharine Spangler of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group.
Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced the sale of 14300 Sommerville Court, located in Sommerville Office Park in Chesterfield County. Mitchell Scott Holdings LLC purchased the 11,904-square-foot flex building from Moseby Enterprises LLC for $1.85 million. Graham Stoneburner and Annie O’Connor of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.
Capital City Real Estate closed on the Commodore Apartments land for $1.74 million to construct 173 units. The property is located at 15 W. 7th St. in Richmond. Garrison Gore brokered the deal along with Charles Wentworth, Hank Hankins and Victoria Pickett, all from Colliers.
Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer announced the sale of 4101 Plantation Road in Roanoke. Self Storage Stewardship Inc. purchased the 2.53-acre property, which includes a gas station, car wash and self-storage units, from VRH LLC for $1,070,000 as an investment. Barry Ward and Price Gutshall of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.
Send any real estate transactions or news to Associate Editor Robyn Sidersky at [email protected].
Arlington-based defense contractorBAE Systems Inc. has won a U.S. Navy contract worth up to $478 million if all options are exercised, the company announced Oct. 27.
Under the five-year Systems Engineering and Integration Support Services contract, BAE Systems will continue supporting the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) office. The SSP oversees the Strategic Weapons System and Attack Weapons System on-board U.S. Ohio and U.K Vanguard class submarines, as well as on future U.S. Columbia and U.K Dreadnought class submarines.
“We are proud to continue providing full system-level lifecycle capabilities to SSP that will help advance their digital engineering strategy to ensure the readiness of the Navy’s strategic missions,” Lisa Hand, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions, said in a statement.
BAE Systems has more than 89,600 employees in more than 40 countries.
Dr. Mohit Nanda, a board-certified ophthalmologist affiliated with Virginia Retina Consultants, has more than 20 years of experience. He will lead the group, which represents more than 30,000 physicians, physicians-in-training, physicians’ assistants and medical students.
Nanda was elected at the society’s annual meeting on Oct. 23.
In his inaugural speech at the meeting, Nanda spoke about the importance of mental health and wellness for physicians, PAs and all health care workers.
“As we have learned over the last 18 months, dealing with unprecedented challenges has taken on a new meaning. So, how can we promote the mission of our society and keep Virginia the best place to practice medicine? Let us come together to deal directly with adversity on a personal and professional level. We know that physicians, PAs, medical students and other health care workers deal with an extraordinary level of stress. Let us as a society develop ways to help each other stay well so that we may help others get well. Let us reach out to our colleagues as friends to create a stronger bond that can help us when things get tougher. Whether we are involved in direct patient care, administration, research or education, we can only help others when we ourselves are strong. I believe the Medical Society of Virginia can be and will be our partner in this journey,” he said in a statement.
Nanda graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He received his opthamology training at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and subspecialty training in the management of retinal diseases at Rush Presbyterian Hospital. He practiced in California for 13 years and then moved his family to Virginia, where he has lived for more than 15 years.
He is a member of the Albemarle County Medical Society and the American Medical Association and was a 1978 Presidential Scholar.
Chu will guide Virginia ABC‘s transformative efforts to ensure priorities and objectives are met, overseeing project management and business transformation, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a news release from the state ABC.
Chu has been a partner at Thought Logic Consulting in Richmond for the past several years. She was part of the people and organizational change practice at Ernst & Young’s EY Advisory Services. She also consulted for Deloitte Consulting and Global Lead Management Consulting.
She earned her master’s degree in comparative and regional studies from American University’s School of International Service.
A 157-unit apartment building in Richmond sold for $27.25 million, Minneapolis, Minnesota-based real estate broker NorthMarq announced Wednesday.
Located at 308 N. Nansemond St., the three-story property known as The Gallery Midtown was built in 1938. The previous seller, Richmond-based Spy Rock Real Estate Group, renovated the building. Provo, Utah-based developer Peak Capital Partners bought it in 2018.
Peak Capital Partners sold the building to Richmond-based Levco Management. Wink Ewing, Mike Marshall, Matt Straughan and Jared Alcorn with NorthMarq’s Richmond investment sales team arranged the sale.
“The Gallery Midtown was a compelling opportunity for our company to acquire an incredibly well-located and unique asset right in our own backyard,” Jared Levin, a managing partner of Levco Management, said in a statement. “Over the next two years, we will be executing a property-wide renovation plan that will enhance the finishes and efficiency of the apartment interiors in addition to several other exterior, common area and amenity upgrades targeted at improving the property’s curb appeal and overall experience for the residents.”
With its discretionary private equity fund, Levco Multifamily Fund I LP, and other investment vehicles, the company plans to spend $300 million to $400 million on purchasing and renovating multifamily properties over the next two years.
The Shenandoah Community Capital Fund (SCCF) will receive $1 million in American Rescue Plan funding as part of the Community Navigator Pilot Program, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced Thursday.
The program is an initiative meant to reduce barriers that small businesses, especially those owned by veterans, women, people from rural communities and communities of color, face in accessing funding for 51 recipients. The funding will help the SCCF connect entrepreneurs in the Shenandoah Valley with government resources.
“To be part of this program is an honor and a testament to the expertise and experience SCCF has gained in developing entrepreneurs and supporting the growth of small businesses in our region,” SCCF Executive Director Debbie Irwin said in a statement. “With these funds, we’ll go even further in our pursuit of thriving entrepreneurial communities throughout the Shenandoah Valley.”
SCCF, formerly the Staunton Creative Community Fund, has supported entrepreneurs in Shenandoah Valley for 14 years. Using a GO Virginia grant, SCCF launched the Startup Shenandoah Valley (S2V) program, which provides online coaching to cohorts of businesses focused on light manufacturing, food processing, agriculture, technology and professional services.
Nearly three years after Amazon.com Inc. tapped Arlington as the home for its multibillion-dollar East Coast headquarters, construction is well underway, with the global e-tailer already hiring more than 3,000 Amazon HQ2 employees.
Since the project was announced, three numbers have stood out: 25,000 jobs, 4 million square feet of office space and a price tag of $2.5 billion.
However, the latter two figures have grown recently.
An Amazon spokesperson says the company now expects to invest more than $2.5 billion on the massive project, and the campus will include 4.9 million square feet if HQ2’s second phase is approved as-is by the Arlington County Board.
Known as PenPlace, the East Coast headquarters’ second phase is planned to include 2.8 million square feet. HQ2’s first phase — now under construction and nicknamed Metropolitan Park — includes 2.1 million square feet.
Amazon won’t divulge specifics of HQ2’s budget increase, but Telly Tucker, director of Arlington Economic Development, says, “If they’re building more square footage, I would say, naturally, they’re going to have a higher price tag than what they initially anticipated.”
Set to be completed by 2023, HQ2’s first phase will include two 22-story towers, 65,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and an expansion of an adjacent park. By early October, concrete crews working for Bethesda, Maryland-based Clark Construction Group LLC had finished the 12th floor of the two office buildings, according to Jeff King, the company’s vice president. Clark Construction expects to complete the concrete work on both Metropolitan Park office towers by spring 2022.
For the PenPlace development, Amazon proposes constructing three 22-story buildings, along with a much-discussed signature spiral structure called the Helix. Aaron Shriber, planning manager for Arlington County, expects that the county board will vote on Amazon’s plan for PenPlace during the first quarter of 2022.
In September, Amazon officials announced they’d already hired 3,000 employees, or 12% of the 25,000-employee minimum the company pledged to sign on by 2030. They hope to soon hire an additional 2,500 employees for HQ2. Not all of those jobs require doctorates in robotics, points out Brian Kenner, Amazon’s head of HQ2 policy.
“We’re one of those sort-of-unique companies that has a variety of different jobs along the educational spectrum,” he says. “I feel like we’ve got job opportunities for everybody.”
Fall visitors to Virginia Tech are likely to spot laborers hard at work on the university’s Data and Decision Sciences building, the first of four buildings that will make up the university’s Global Business and Analytics Complex (GBAC) — classroom and living spaces centered around using data to address problems facing businesses and society.
“We’ve been working on this project for years, so to be at the point where the first of the four buildings is coming out of the ground feels great,” says Robert Sumichrast, dean of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business.
To woo Amazon.com Inc. to bring its HQ2 East Coast headquarters to Northern Virginia, state leaders in 2018 created the Tech Talent Investment Program, a workforce pipeline initiative. As part of it, the General Assembly allocated $69 million for the Data and Decision Sciences building, and Virginia Tech officials agreed to add at least 2,000 additional students in computer science, computer engineering and related disciplines.
Scheduled to open in 2023, the 115,000-square-foot Data and Decision Sciences building will serve multiple colleges, including the College of Engineering, the College of Science and the Pamplin College of Business. The building will include specialized labs, data visualization classrooms and team rooms for interdisciplinary student collaboration.
The second academic building to be built as part of the GBAC will house the Pamplin College of Business. Currently, faculty members from the business college’s real estate and hospitality and tourism management departments have offices scattered across campus due to a lack of room in Pamplin Hall, the college’s current home. “Being able to bring them together will really allow more synergy within the business college,” Sumichrast says.
Additionally, the GBAC complex will include two “living-learning residential communities” with housing for 700 undergraduates studying business, science and engineering. It will also have entrepreneurship laboratories and faculty-in-residence apartments.
As of late September, Virginia Tech had put together all but a little under $8 million for the $250 million GBAC through state and private funding, according to Sumichrast.
The Deloitte Foundation, in partnership with Virginia Tech alumni who work at Deloitte, are contributing $3 million to build the GBAC. Virginia Tech also received $2.5 million from the KPMG Foundation and former KPMG Chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie and her husband, Ben; a $2.1 million grant from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation; and $1.6 million raised to date by Virginia Tech alumni working at Ernst & Young.
“I’m confident that by next summer we’ll have the money raised,” Sumichrast says.
What local industries/sectors do you think have potential for growth?
Continued growth around the Port of Virginia and green energy. … Entrepreneurs and local leaders have made substantial investments to tee up this area as part of a wind turbine corridor for future developments on the East Coast. If that vision comes to fruition, then the impact on our area could be once in a lifetime.
What’s the biggest challenge to doing business n your area?
Attracting and retaining young talent.
How is your area recovering economically from the pandemic?
Everything here is coming back strong. We lost quite a few local restaurants and bars, but the leisure sector as a whole is humming, and new development plans are back in the pipeline.
What are the top factors that have had the biggest impact on attracting business to your region?
Ease of transportation into and out of our market is a huge draw. We have one of the deepest and busiest ports on the East Coast and great connections by rail and highway to the rest of the U.S. We encounter a number of European and Asian companies opening offices in the area to service their U.S. customers. It is always exciting to watch them grow and develop. Additionally, the military presence here remains a huge draw for supporting organizations in the area, particularly in the government contracting sector.
What are the top obstacles to your region’s economic success?
Regional cooperation has been our Achilles’ heel for many years; fortunately, I believe a lot of business leaders are working to change that with the 757 initiative. Availability of employees is also a struggle; in our firm, we have adapted to some fully remote hires for various positions due to the staffing shortage in our local market.
What local industries/sectors do you think have potential for growth?
The health care industry continues to thrive and grow, given increasing demand placed by COVID. Optimistically, I believe the local hospitality and events sectors are poised for growth. Given the reduction in travel and in-person events, coupled with the shelter fatigue that many people are feeling, this sector is prepared to explode.
What’s the biggest challenge to doing business in your area?
The obvious challenge to doing business in our area is the pandemic. With numbers on the rise, and uncertainty in our future, it is very challenging to conduct business. Additionally, access to available and quality personnel has further impacted the region economically. There is an abundance of jobs available and a scarcity of individuals who can and will appropriately fill these roles.
How is your area recovering economically from the pandemic?
The Richmond region was recovering nicely, albeit [on] a long road, from the pandemic until the delta variant began its momentum. … In times of uncertainty, human nature is to conserve resources versus expend them. This pandemic uncertainty, including health requirements, available staffing and supply chains, will continue to impair our recovery.
What are the top factors that have had the biggest impact on attracting business to your region?
Our high-quality colleges and universities providing access to top-tier talent, as well as access to financial resources, including available investment capital and incentives offered by local government.
What are the top obstacles to your region’s economic success?
The biggest obstacle facing the Richmond region’s economic success is the unknown future of the coronavirus pandemic. … The second, and more rooted, obstacle facing our region is the suboptimal collaboration among our local government, business and community leaders.
Stepka photo by Don Petersen
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Andrea Hupp Stepka
Partner | Foti, Flynn, Lowen & Co. | Roanoke
What do you love about living and working in your region?
I moved here in summer of 1995, right after graduation from Virginia Tech. I love the mountains and the greenways. I am an avid runner, so the outdoor life here in Roanoke is amazing.
How is the economy faring in your part of the state right now?
Small businesses are having trouble finding good help, suppliers are limited everywhere … [and] prices are higher everywhere as well.
What local industries/sectors do you think have potential for growth?
Technology/software and knowledge-based industries
What’s the biggest challenge to doing business in your area?
Right now, the answer has to be COVID, right? It’s a huge challenge for workers to be face to face, and thus we as a CPA firm have had to embrace the remote aspects of working with our clients.
How is your area recovering economically from the pandemic?
Overall, I think we are doing fine. … Our clients have weathered the storm, and for the most part seem to be coming out on the other side. We haven’t seen many businesses having to close, most likely due to the [Employee Retention Credits] and loans from the government.
What are the top factors that have had the biggest impact on attracting business to your region?
Roanoke is a beautiful place to live. The mountains and scenery are a big attraction. The cost of living is very competitive as well. We have a high quality of living here, with a good mix of industries ranging from the small mom-and-pop to large businesses.
What are the top obstacles to your region’s economic success?
There are some disparities in income levels in Roanoke and we have a growing population of people in poverty.
Principal | Yount, Hyde and Barbour (YHB) | Winchester
How is the economy faring in your part of the state?
Spring and summer showed a strong recovery. Pent-up demand led to tourism, shopping and dining again. The valley offers outdoor activities along with farm markets, vineyards and breweries that capitalized on people traveling closer to home or getting out of cities. Our industrial sector is doing well, with I-81 contributing to our role as a distribution/manufacturing hub in a world of mail order.
What local industries/sectors do you think have potential for growth?
Based on the quality of life and comparatively low cost of living, the valley has been an attractive location for retirees but more recently has become a destination for people migrating from cities to work remotely. Housing and professional services for those groups have potential for growth, such as health care and assisted living, along with wealth management, accounting, legal and other services.
What’s the biggest challenge to doing business in your area?
One major challenge to doing business across industry sectors is obtaining and retaining talent. … Affordable housing is an issue for younger professionals and retail/hospitality workers.
How is your area recovering economically from the pandemic?
With COVID uncertainty creeping back, indications are the valley economy isn’t full speed ahead. While businesses spent stimulus on employees, cash reserves remain as employers decide on spending and investment. It’s worth noting the uneven impact of the pandemic. While businesses have cash, the appetite for further unemployment benefits for hourly and gig workers seems low if the pandemic lingers.
What are the top obstacles to your region’s economic success?
First, affordable housing remains a priority. Second, the lack of high-speed internet in large areas of the valley for work and education was exacerbated by the pandemic.
Williamson photo by Stephen Gosling
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Christine B. Williamson, CPA, PMP
Government contracting industry audit & advisory lead partner | CohnReznick LLP | Tysons
How is the economy faring in your part of the state?
Over the decades, many have commented that NoVa is “in a bubble,” meaning it fares well during turbulent economic times. This phrase continues to ring true in the pandemic and as we get back to the new normal. With the federal government, Amazon, Micron and data storage facilities, these sectors fuel the bubble effect here in Northern Virginia.
What local industries/sectors do you think have potential for growth?
The industries are endless here in NoVa, but I think the technology and medical sectors have the greatest potential for growth.
What’s the biggest challenge to doing business in your area?
My expertise is servicing companies who work for the federal government via government contracts. There is a talent war for many business sectors, including CPA firms. I’d say talent is the biggest challenge, regardless of the business type. We all struggle to find enough people to do the work, causing companies to go outside the area to look for talent.
How is your area recovering economically from the pandemic?
The Northern Virginia area is no different than other regions, as the business world has pivoted out of the pandemic by modifying how to do business, be creative, think strategic and figure out new ways to sell the same services. I hear many businesses say we are revisiting our business culture and purpose, which helps them through the recovery process.
What are the top factors that have had the biggest impact on attracting business to your region?
Location, location and location! And our vibrant technology sector.
What are the top obstacles to your region’s economic success?
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