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Growth & Development: Hampton Roads
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story:
- In a jam
Virginia Business
May
2004
The Hampton Roads
region is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the
Southeast, with a population approaching 1.6 million
and a labor force of more than 750,000. The region includes
the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk,
Portsmouth, Poquoson, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg,
along with the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight,
James City, Mathews, Surry and York.
Two important economic drivers in the region are the
military and the Port of Hampton Roads. Although the
prolonged deployment of service men and women in the
Middle East has hurt retail sales, overall the contributions
to the local economy by the military are positive. Department
of Defense procurement and outsourcing spending has
risen 27 percent recently, from an estimated $2.3 billion
in 2000 to $3 billion in 2003.
Commercial shipping at the port continues to grow, with
1.65 million containers passing through in 2003, making
it the third-busiest port on the East Coast. And the
leisure travel market is expanding, with a new $30 million
cruise terminal being added in downtown Norfolk to handle
the 115,000 passengers expected in 2004. In addition,
both Virginia Beach and Hampton have new convention
centers under construction, with a combined investment
of more than $300 million.
The region is also home to two Fortune 500 companies
– Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer
in the world, and Norfolk Southern Corp., which serves
approximately half the United States from its mid-Atlantic
terminus in the region. Other large employers in the
area include Ford Motor Co., which recently completed
a $400 million expansion at its F-150 pickup truck assembly
plant in Norfolk; Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding,
the region’s largest employer with more than 18,000
workers, and Anheuser-Busch Williamsburg, which recently
announced a $200 million modernization of its brewing
facility.
Hampton Roads continues to see economic growth above
3 percent, outpacing both Virginia and the U.S., according
to a recent study of the region by Old Dominion University.
The following information represents major regional
economic expansion announcements in Hampton Roads.
Source:
Old Dominion University Regional Studies Institute:
The State of the Region, 2003.
Shipping
line announces deal to build $500 million terminal in
Portsmouth
The Danish steamship line Maersk Sealand announced plans
to build a $500 million cargo terminal on 600 acres
along the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth. The new terminal
will take about four years to build and will add 3,500
feet of berthing area and almost 300 acres of terminal
space. It will be able to handle more than 500,000 additional
container units per year, and be Maersk’s biggest
East Coast facility.
In 2003 the port moved 1.65 million containers and ranked
as the third-busiest port on the East Coast. Maersk
handles many of the shipping containers for Wal-Mart,
which has a distribution center in James City County.
Lockheed Martin locates new $31 million research
center in Suffolk
One of the nation’s largest defense contractors
is building a $31 million Global Vision Integration
Center in Suffolk. The facility will use computer simulation
technology to develop new products for national security
customers and the Department of Defense. The center,
scheduled for completion this fall, will employ 50 people.
Aerospace
and HRC North Campus
The National Institute of Aerospace is opening a location
in the Langley Research and Development Park to facilitate
aerospace and engineering development. Eventually, the
location could employ as many as 400 scientists, engineers
and graduate students. A groundbreaking ceremony was
held in March for the new 60,000-square-foot class A
office space being built on 48 acres in Hampton Roads
Center North Campus. The park will focus on attracting
companies in the aerospace and transportation industries.
National
Institute of French shipping firm to locate North American
headquarters in Norfolk
The French firm CMA CGM, the world’s fifth-largest
shipping company, will move 376 employees to an $11.5
million facility on a seven-acre campus to be built
in the Lake Wright Executive Center in Norfolk. The
80,000-square-foot headquarters will house 260 employees
transferring from a Virginia Beach location and another
116 employees moving from New Jersey. The firm selected
Norfolk over Houston, citing its proximity to the port,
major airports and hotels.
ODU
opens new Engineering and Computational Sciences building
Old Dominion University has a new $12 million, four-story,
83,000-square-foot Engineering and Computational Sciences
(ECS) building with an environmentally friendly design.
The school is now seeking official certification under
the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
Green Building ratings system. This voluntary national
standard was developed to encourage environmentally
positive innovations. The new building has a special
glass to filter UV light and keep the building cooler
during warm weather, and motion-sensitive lights in
classrooms. Landscaping around the building includes
drought-resistant native plants to reduce water usage.
And, no new parking lots were paved for the building,
which will have a bike storage area and be served by
buses. Once approved by the U.S. Green Building Council,
the building would become the first LEED-certified higher
education project completed in Virginia.
Town Center of Virginia Beach opens second phase
of project
The Town Center of Virginia Beach broke ground in February
on the second phase of its $350 million multi-use project.
The phase includes a luxury hotel, a 320-unit apartment
complex – The Cosmopolitan – and a new performing
arts center. Phase one construction in the city’s
Pembroke Central Business District began in 2001. Spanning
more than 17 city blocks on 25 acres, the Town Center
combines retail, residential and Class A office space,
along with the arts center and a Hilton Garden Inn.
Norfolk State University’s RISE Center
completes first structure
Norfolk State University is close to completing its
new Research and Innovations to Support Empowerment
(RISE) Center. RISE One, the first of several planned
buildings, is a 160,000-square-foot structure housing
university-supported research in the areas of advanced
materials, information security and assurance, and computational
science. A second building, RISE Two, will be a 240,000-square-foot
facility housing a telecommunications infrastructure
for a 7-terabyte-bandwidth exchange center.
Isle
of Wight benefits from $24 million distribution center
expansion
Cost Plus Inc., a national retailer operating 212 stores
in 26 states, announced plans to invest more than $24
million to double the size of its 500,000-square foot
distribution center in the Shirley T. Holland Commerce
Park along Route 460 in Isle of Wight County. The expansion
will create 190 jobs. The project is being supported
by a $225,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity
Fund, and the Virginia Department of Business Assistance
is providing employee training through its Workforce
Services Program.
ABNB
Federal Credit Union announces plans to locate headquarters
in Chesapeake
ABNB Federal Credit Union, one of the largest home-based
financial institutions in Hampton Roads, announced plans
to locate its headquarters in the city of Chesapeake.
The not-for-profit financial institution, which has
eight offices in Hampton Roads, provides financial services
to its member-owners. ABNB will invest approximately
$7 million in the new 50,000-square-foot headquarters
and hire up to 150 additional employees.
Stihl Inc. involved in $60 million expansion
in Hampton Roads region
Stihl, Inc., the 30-year-old Virginia Beach-based manufacturer
of chain saws and lightweight power equipment, has several
local expansion projects underway. Its 650,000-square-foot
manufacturing facility is undergoing a $27 million expansion
that will add 25,000 square feet of capacity. The added
capacity was needed to handle international demand for
its products in more than 70 countries — all served
from the Virginia Beach location. There is also a 228,000-square-foot
expansion project planned for its Oceana West Corporate
Park headquarters. The expansion, which will include
the purchase of 14 additional acres, is being completed
in three phases and is expected to create 200 new jobs.
Hampton
University joins National Institute of Aerospace
Hampton University is the latest member of the National
Institute of Aerospace, joining the University of Virginia,
Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State University,
North Carolina A&T and the University of Maryland.
The partnership was formed to encourage aerospace and
atmospheric-sciences research and graduate-level education.
NASA has recognized Hampton for several aerospace research
initiatives, including a Hampton study on Earth atmosphere
that was chosen for satellite flight in NASA’s
Small Explorer program in 2002. The study was one of
two missions selected from among 43 proposals submitted
by U.S. universities and research centers.
Construction
begins on Sentara Heart Hospital
Construction began in January on the $94.5 million Sentara
Heart Hospital on the campus of Sentara Norfolk General
Hospital. The six-story, 300,000-square-foot building
will adjoin the existing River Pavilion facility on
the first, second and third floors. It’s scheduled
to open in 2006. All rooms will be private. There will
be 112 licensed inpatient beds and 45 pre/post-procedural
rooms for patients undergoing interventional cardiac
procedures, as well as five cardiac operating rooms
able to accommodate 2,000 cardiac surgery procedures
a year. Underway nearby is a four-story parking garage
with approximately 450 parking spaces.
Anheuser-Busch
Williamsburg brewery plans $200 million modernization
project
The Williamsburg brewery of St.Louis-based Anheuser-Busch
will get a $200 million modernization, company officials
announced last year. The project includes improvements
to control systems, cleaning systems, beer delivery
systems, new production lines, utility systems, along
with improvements to logistics systems.
The company estimates that total spending for the project
will reach $437 million by the time work is completed
next year. The Williamsburg brewery is one of 12 Anheuser-Busch
breweries across the country. It employs about 1,000
people with an annual payroll of $80 million.
DOE
announces $250 million investment at Jefferson Lab
A $250 million upgrade at the Thomas Jefferson National
Accelerator Facility in Hampton Roads will help scientists
there unlock the secrets of nature’s tiniest particles.
The Department of Energy is funding the upgrade, which
will double the beam energy of the Continuous Electron
Beam Accelerator Facility from 6 billion electron volts
to 12 billion.
The facility is already the world’s most advanced
particle accelerator for investigating the quark structure
of the atom’s nucleus. The upgrade will let scientists
test new theories on the nature of quarks. The project
includes other improvements, including a fourth experiment
hall. The Jefferson facility is managed by the Southeastern
Universities Research Association.
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