|
Growth & Development- Richmond
April 2007
Bass Pro store planned for Hanover County
Bass Pro Shops plans to open a superstore in Hanover County late next year. The sporting-goods chain is known for its elaborately designed stores, which include waterfalls, aquariums, climbing walls and archery ranges.
The Hanover store, which will create 300 jobs, will be the anchor tenant of a 186.5-acre entertainment and retail development off Interstate 95 at the Lewiston Road interchange. The complex also will include a hotel and an Islamorada Fish Co. restaurant.
Business First initiative targets needs of existing companies in the region
Economic development officials have started Business First Greater Richmond, an initiative targeting the needs of existing companies in the region.
The program is designed to enhance existing outreach programs for the region’s 25,000 businesses. These companies account for more than 70 percent of the new economic activity in the area.
In an effort to improve the region’s business climate, economic development officials and volunteers will conduct interviews with CEOs and business owners. Officials say the information will be used to obtain whatever resources the businesses need. In addition, a summary report (which will not reveal company names) will be published in July.
Three VCU medical projects complete, another two under way
Virginia Commonwealth University recently completed three medical building projects in downtown Richmond and two more are under way:
• The VCU School of Nursing moved into its new 70,000-square-foot building at Leigh and 11th streets in March. The building cost $17.1 million.
• The $41.8 million Massey Cancer Center Goodwin Research Laboratory opened in May 2006 on the VCU medical school campus. The 80,000-square-foot center houses 72 labs and has a 109-space underground parking deck.
• Also complete is the $6 million historical renovation of the Hunton Student Center, which includes food services, computer labs and study areas for medical students. The building is the former First Baptist Church, built in 1841.
• A $192 million critical-care hospital is under construction at VCU Medical Center. The fifteen-story, 367,000-square-foot hospital will include patient beds, surgical suites, and burn-care and acute-care units. It is scheduled for completion in summer 2008.
• Construction has started on Medical Sciences Building II on the former site of the nursing education building. The $69 million, 125,000-square-foot building will house 60 labs.
Old department store
being converted into hotel
The former Miller & Rhoads department store in downtown Richmond is being renovated as a Hilton Hotel and condominiums. The $80 million project is due to be completed by summer 2008.
The Hilton’s 250 rooms are expected to increase the total number of hotel rooms in downtown Richmond to more than 2,100. The building also will house 110 condos.
The store has been vacant since the Richmond-based Miller & Rhoads chain closed in the early 1990s.
Imported beer distribution center opens
California-based Biagi Bros. has opened an 80,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center near Richmond International Raceway in Henrico County.
The facility, which employs 19 workers, supplies imported beer such as Corona to 30 beverage wholesalers in Virginia and parts of Maryland and North Carolina.
DuPont expanding Chesterfield plant
DuPont is investing $25.5 million to expand its Chesterfield County plant. The move is expected to create 50 jobs.
The plant makes Tyvek Homewraps, a protective material used in building construction. Tyvek is a nonwoven material made from high-density polyethylene fibers.
The Chesterfield County plant had about 2,900 workers before the expansion.
MeadWestvaco to build headquarters in downtown Richmond
The Richmond region last year added its ninth Fortune 500 company when MeadWestvaco Corp. moved its corporate headquarters from Stamford, Conn.
The packaging company, which now has offices in temporary quarters in Henrico County, plans to build a headquarters building on the James River in downtown Richmond. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2009.
The headquarters site is a four-acre tract owned by Richmond-based NewMarket Corp., the parent company of Ethyl Corp. MeadWesvaco will lease the building from NewMarket.
MeadWestvaco’s relocation to the area created 400 new jobs.
The eight other Fortune 500 companies based in the area are Dominion Resources Inc., Genworth Financial Inc., Circuit City Stores Inc., Performance Food Group Inc., The Brink’s Co., CarMax Inc., Owens & Minor Inc. and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.
New retail development planned for eastern Henrico County
Construction will begin this spring on The Shops at White Oak Village in eastern Henrico County. The $152.8 million complex plans 917,313 square feet of retail and a 150-room hotel at Laburnum Avenue and I-64. A local developer, Thomas E. Pruitt, and Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, are developing White Oak — the same partners that developed Short Pump Town Center in western Henrico. Henrico County is providing some public financing to help pay for roads and other public facilities.
Biotechnology park gains new tenants
Two new tenants at the Virginia BioTechnology Park in downtown Richmond are m-u-t America Inc. and ClearPoint Resources Inc.
The first company is a subsidiary of Hamburg, Germany-based m-u-t GmbH. The company creates products in the field of photonics, a combination of optics and electronics.
ClearPoint was formed in June by the merger of Mercer Staffing and Quantum Resources. The company helps businesses reach goals with work-force solutions, business services and project-based augmentation.
Sustainability Park opens in Chesterfield
An office park aimed at companies committed to “sustainable” business practices has opened in Chesterfield County.
The 143-acre Sustainability Park near Chester offers office, laboratory, warehouse and manufacturing space. It plans to attract companies that want to serve customers without harming the environment or wasting nonrenewable resources. Targeted industries include recycling, plastics brokering, by-products brokering, bioenergy and environmental technology.
|
