Frederick solar farms move forward
Published
Frederick County is on the verge of seeing its first solar power farms. Three facilities are in the works, with another in the pipeline. That’s not to say Virginia’s northernmost county is exactly embracing fields of solar panels. “Solar farms change the character of the land from rolling fields and animals grazing in pastures to
![“Congress is looking at ways to raise additional revenue and taxes and ultimately [may] discourage people from investing in IRAs,” says Jeff Grinspoon, managing director and partner of VWG Wealth Management at Hightower Advisors in Vienna. Photo by Will Schermerhorn](https://www.virginiabusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Va-Biz-Grinspoon-Mega-IRAs-2142-112x75.png)
Supersize means
Mega retirement accounts draw congressional scrutiny
Published
Watch your nest egg, particularly if it is extra-large. As Congress scrambles to hike taxes on the wealthy and fund trillions of dollars in social spending, legislators see a potential goldmine in so-called mega individual retirement accounts. Mega IRAs, defined as individual retirement accounts containing at least $5 million, are being touted as a hot
SPAC-ulative finance
Blank-check deals come down to earth
Published
One of the hottest investment tools in the past year and a half has imploded. But don’t give up on special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs as these peculiar financial structures are called, industry experts say. Also called blank-check companies, SPACs are here to stay, but not necessarily at the high-flying levels of 2020 and
Come together
Community bank consolidations gather steam
Published
Virginia is seeing a wave of bank mergers and acquisitions, a trend that could intensify, banking experts say. “We could potentially see a record-setting year for bank mergers and acquisitions,” says John Asbury, president and CEO of Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp. and chairman of the Virginia Bankers Association. Banks are reaching for scale, meaning
Work to begin next year on GMU’s $168M Arlington campus expansion
Published
Move over, Silicon Valley. Northern Virginia is poised to become the next super hub for tech talent. The charge is being led in part by George Mason University, which is bringing together a diverse community of digital innovators at its growing Arlington campus. The university is tearing down an old building and replacing it with
A diversified portfolio
Region brings in companies of different stripes
Published
From tea to trucks to technology, an eclectic blend of industries settled into the Roanoke/New River Valley region in 2020. Some companies brought new operations to the region, while others expanded existing facilities. Traditional Medicinals kicked off 2020 with its January announcement of a new facility in Franklin County, manufacturing herbal teas and supplements —
Rolling forward
Mack Trucks gets new medium-duty trucks out fast
Published
Once a big economic development is announced, it can be years before it comes to fruition. But that wasn’t the case with Mack Trucks Inc., one of North America’s largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, which took only nine months from announcement to starting full production of medium-duty trucks in the Roanoke Valley. In January 2020,
Commercial leases take a more generous turn
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As Northern Virginia has been hit hard by rising office vacancies during the pandemic, companies there are increasingly seeking more generous lease terms and benefits. “There has been a shift toward short-term renewals of existing leases,” says David Ritchey, executive vice president of JBG Smith Properties, a real estate investment trust based in Bethesda, Maryland,
Hotel owners switch focus to residential
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Hit hard by the economic effects of the coronavirus, the hotel industry isn’t expected to fully recover until 2023 or 2024. Meanwhile, several hotel properties, including two in Northern Virginia, are being redeveloped into more profitable residential units. Sunburst Hospitality won approval in October 2020 to convert the 187-unit Arlington Court Suites Hotel into one-
Downtown Buena Vista buildings go to auction
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Updated Oct. 29 Some things just don’t work out as planned, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end. Roanoke developer Ed Walker purchased 16 properties in downtown Buena Vista for $1.3 million during 2017 and 2018, with a plan to revitalize the small city nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains just southeast of Lexington. Walker