REGIONAL VIEW | EASTERN VIRGINIA FOR THE RECORD


The 555 Belaire office building in Chesapeake was finished earlier this year.


People in Hampton Roads reported in early May that gas stations were sold out of fuel and station owners saw a spike in demand for gasoline in the days following a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, which was shut down for several days. The fuel frenzy hit several states but was particularly hard on Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, due in part to a shortage of tanker truck drivers. Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency that loosened the state’s regulations to make it easier to get gas in tanks and also punished suppliers for price gouging. (The Virginian-Pilot)


Integrity Bank for Business opened for business in Virginia Beach in early May. The first new community bank established in Hampton Roads since 1998, Integrity received regulatory approval in April and is led by former Heritage Bank President and CEO Michael S. Ives. In January it announced that it had raised more than $20 million in stock purchase commitments. The bank plans to focus on serving business customers in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake. (VirginiaBusiness.com)


Summit Pointe continues growth by Mike Holtzclaw


C


hesapeake Mayor Rick West lives in the city’s Greenbrier section, so he frequently drives past Summit


Pointe, the rapidly expanding mixed-use development centered around the corporate headquarters of Fortune 500 discount retailer Dollar Tree Inc. And West likes what he sees at Summit


Pointe, which is aiming to be a new pedestrian-friendly downtown district. The latest step is Mosaic, a $68 million, 212,000-square-foot luxury apartment tower that began construction in April. When Summit Pointe’s first three phases are com- pleted in five years or so, the development is expected to include 1.75 million square feet of office and retail space plus more than 1,400 apartment units. “I’ve met a lot of people who have come to this part of the city because of Summit Pointe,” West says. “They’re starting businesses here because of Dollar Tree’s presence and Summit Pointe’s presence.” In 2015, after Dollar Tree’s $8.5 billion acquisition of North Carolina-based Family Dollar Stores Inc., the company decided to expand its 200,000-square-foot “store support center” in Chesapeake’s central business district. Dollar Tree then built the 12-story corporate headquarters tower that would become the first phase for Summit Pointe.


12 | JUNE 2021 JUNE 2019 That led Dollar Tree to form a subsidiary,


Summit Pointe Realty LLC, to create the mixed-use development around its headquarters. West described it in 2018 as “the beginning of a new Downtown Chesapeake.” Phase Two began with the Helix apartment building, completed in summer 2020. Next came 555 Belaire, a six-story office building that was finished early this year. With Mosaic now under construction, the final element of Phase Two will likely be another residential building, which would break ground in early 2022 and be completed in fall 2023. Even before the pandemic created an impetus for moving activities outdoors, Summit Pointe’s development plans called for plenty of outdoor spaces, such as patio dining and pocket parks, says Chris Williams, a senior vice president with Dollar Tree and Summit Pointe Realty. There is no current time frame for the


start of Summit Pointe’s Phase Three, which will ultimately begin with the extension of Belaire Avenue to better connect the develop- ment with the rest of the Greenbrier district. More residential space is almost a certainty, and if recovery from the pandemic permits, a hotel could follow in the future. “We’ll see where the market goes,” Williams says. ■


A modular housing manufacturer plans to establish its first East Coast facility in Newport News, investing $2 million and producing 220 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced in mid-May. A public-benefit corporation and Certified B Corporation founded in 2018, indieDwell turns recycled shipping containers into small homes with one to four bedrooms to help solve the affordable housing crisis. The company currently has facilities in Idaho and Colorado, with plans to expand to other states, building factories in areas with low to moderate income and a need for affordable housing. (VirginiaBusiness.com)


Signs are pointing to the Hampton Roads region’s COVID recovery picking up steam if workers return to fill thousands of jobs that are coming open again, according to Bob McNab, director of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. Before the pandemic, the region had a tight labor market with low unemployment — 2.9% in February 2020. Wages and income began to rise then, and now broad-based growth is returning on rising consumer confidence, increased vaccination and an increase in demand from deferred consumption and travel. Businesses, particularly in hospitality, have reported they’re having trouble finding workers, with many advertising sign-on bonuses. (The Virginian-Pilot)


Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare was named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in an annual ranking by Fortune and IBM Watson Health released in late April. Sentara landed in fifth place, receiving five stars for clinical outcomes and operation efficiency and three stars for patient experience. This is the second year Sentara was ranked among the nation’s top 15 health care systems. Also, Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk was named the No. 2 teaching hospital in the U.S. (VirginiaBusiness.com)


Agriculture startup Sunny Farms LLC plans to build a $59.6 million, 32-acre hydroponic operation in Virginia Beach, creating 155 jobs and one of the East Coast’s largest greenhouses, the governor’s office announced in April. The facility, which will cover 1.2 million square feet when completed in three years, will be at Taylor Farms off Dam Neck Road. The company’s co-founders, Jim Arnhold and Wayne Zinn, worked with the School of Plant and Environmental Science at Virginia Tech and other industry experts to develop the greenhouse. The development will be the site of a new workforce training nonprofit, One Matters Inc. (VirginiaBusiness.com)


Photo courtesy The Cavalier Daily Photo by Mark Atkinson


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