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Developers are Seeking More Density in Downtown Fredericksburg
Local Fredericksburg-based developers are calling on the city to allow them to build more dense projects in the central business district. The hope is to spur more economic development from restaurants and other retailers who have traditionally set up shop in the suburban areas. Several projects are already under way downtown including the Amelia Square townhome project and One Hanover, which is an 18-unit condo building. The new projects are geared towards individuals who are interested in living and working in a more urban setting.
Bedford County Developer Offers 35-Acres for New Middle School
Bedford County-based developer George Aznavorian has made an offer to the County’s School Board that they might not be able to pass up. He has offered 35-acres of developable land on U.S. 460/U.S. 221 next to the Bedford Area Family YMCA for the creation of a new middle school. The offer came Tuesday night at a Board meeting and a feasibility study might be voted on as soon as tonight. (more…)
Sports and Entertainment Venues Flock to I-95 Corridor
We have reported extensively on the increase of new projects and deals along the I-95 in Virginia as more developers see the potential of the highly used corridor. Two companies are looking to take advantage of all that traffic to build world-class entertainment venues. First, the owners of Old Dominion Speedway announced last October that they were seeking to move their operations to Spotsylvania County in the hope of reaching new audiences.
Hotel and Conference Center Approved in Norfolk
The Norfolk City Council last night approved a $126 million hotel and conference center development in the heart of the city’s downtown area. The project is a public private partnership with Gold Key/PHR Hotels & Resorts that will bring a 300-room luxury hotel, 50,000 square foot conference center, and a new parking garage to Main and Granby Streets. The city has already cleared the lot for the development and the project could be completed as soon as spring 2017. This could become a landmark development for Norfolk, but it has not been without controversy.
Public-Private Partnership Proposal has Virginia Beach Real Estate Developers Excited
A public-private partnership proposal was submitted to Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms yesterday which would extend the popular light-rail system known as The Tide. The proposal, which was submitted by former Hampton Roads Transit President and CEO Philip Shucet, Skanska, Truland Transportation, Jacobs Engineering, and AECOM, would extend the system 5 miles east into the City of Virginia Beach to Rosemont Road just past Town Center by 2016. This is proposal would bring the system online four years earlier than current projections that relied solely on federal funds. However, it does not extend the line all the way to the Oceanfront which was originally planned. Instead, the group that submitted the proposal wants to concentrate more on business travelers.
