Virginia
Virginia Home spends nearly $9M to buy Hanover site for new facility – Richmond BizSense
The Virginia Home has acquired a Hanover site for a new residential facility. (Images courtesy the Virginia Home)
The Virginia Home has officially acquired the land it needs to make its move from the city to Hanover County.
The nonprofit recently paid $8.7 million for a 70-acre site in eastern Hanover, where it will relocate its Richmond home for disabled adults to a $128 million new-construction facility.
Plans call for a 160-bed residential facility across a 190,000-square-foot, one-story building that would rise near the intersection of Pole Green and Bell Creek roads. The project site is adjacent to the Food Lion-anchored Shoppes at Bell Creek.
Gilbane has been tapped as the project’s general contractor. Architecture firm Baskervill is handling the facility design. The two-parcel assemblage has a total assessed value of $1.6 million, and the sellers in the late-November deals were Shield Hanover Land Trust and Big Oak Development Co., according to online land records.
Site work for the Hanover facility is expected to start in July, with completion targeted for the fall of 2027, CEO Doug Vaughan said.
While its relocation plans have been reported previously, the Virginia Home on Thursday formally announced the move during an event at its current location, 1101 Hampton St. in the city. It plans to sell that property, where it has been based for nearly a century, to help finance the move.
CEO Doug Vaughan shares remarks during the Virginia Home’s formal announcement of plans to relocate to Hanover.
The new facility is planned to have more beds and be larger than the current 130-bed, 120,000-square-foot facility that overlooks Byrd Park.
Vaughan said the hunt continues for a buyer for the Richmond property but added that the Virginia Home has been in talks with residential developers for the site.
“There is interest,” Vaughan said. “It’s developers and they will more than likely be converting (the property) to apartments, that’s what the interest is.”
The 2-acre property features a five- and six-story building that fronts Hampton Street and has an attached annex on South Meadow Street.
The property’s assessed value is $18.2 million, online city records show, and the land is zoned single-family residential (R-5).
The Virginia Home at 1101 Hampton St. in Richmond. (BizSense file)
The Virginia Home is relocating to Hanover to expand its operations and provide a better living experience and larger rooms for its residents, who have conditions such as quadriplegia, brain injuries, cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy.
“Our new campus will address key challenges of our current six-floor building by transitioning to a one-story, more modern design that enhances safety, accessibility and the ease of movement for residents, staff and visitors alike. Every resident’s room will have beautiful outdoor views, abundant natural light and a warm home-life atmosphere,” Vaughan said in his remarks during the event.
In the new location, the Virginia Home plans to continue to offer nursing and therapy services to residents and also introduce a day program for 55 to 60 adults on the facility’s waiting list for a residential unit or who don’t require full-time care.
The residential units at the Virginia Home’s upcoming Hanover facility will be larger than rooms in the nonprofit’s current location in Richmond. (Courtesy the Virginia Home)
The Virginia Home has been on Hampton Street since the early 1930s. While it has twice expanded its facilities over the decades, it has run out of room for further growth there and the old building lacks the capacity for newer technology.
“Over the years, I’ve seen residents do amazing things like adaptive golf, skiing, surfing and horseback riding, but we want everyday life to be great too, and that means a bigger, brighter facility and the infrastructure to support the most up-to-date technology,” said Laura Stewart, chairwoman of Virginia Home’s board of trustees. “It will be hard to say goodbye to this building, but our new building is an opportunity to better serve our current residents and staff and open our doors to more residents.”
The Virginia Home anticipates it will cost $128 million to build the one-story, 190,000-square-foot residential facility planned in Hanover. (Courtesy the Virginia Home)
While the Virginia Home’s more immediate plans are to have 160 beds in the Hanover facility, the site is expected to allow for further expansion of its residential capacity.
Future expansion projects could bring different housing options, such as “multiperson cottages” that would offer a more independent living arrangement for residents, according to a news release.
Ahead of this week’s announcement, the Virginia Home has been working toward its eventual move. The organization in October received regulatory approval from the state to relocate its current 130 beds. In Virginia, certain medical and healthcare facilities and equipment require approval through the state health department’s certificate of public need program.
Vaughan said the organization will need to make a separate request to have an increased bed count in Hanover. The project also will need a rezoning from the Hanover Board of Supervisors to pave the way for construction.
The organization also recently secured permission from Hanover to issue up to $70 million in industrial revenue bonds to help finance the project. Through the arrangement, the Hanover Economic Development Authority will act as a conduit for the Virginia Home to tap the public bond market in exchange for a fee. Vaughan said the Virginia Home hasn’t yet sold the bonds.
The Virginia Home first opened as an eight-resident home on the former Ross Street (now Governor Street) in 1894 and later moved to its current location by Byrd Park. It has 260 employees and officials said it hasn’t been determined how much its workforce might expand as part of the Hanover move.
90+ artists to exhibit on the Va. Beach boardwalk with the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Get ready for the largest surf art show on the East Coast!
The 17th Annual Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on the boardwalk, 3rd through 7th streets, will begin Saturday, May 23, through Sunday, May 24, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., ending on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Courtesy: VB Surf Art Expo (Antone Nixon, with VB Sunrise)
The Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo features over 90 regional artists from Maine to the Mid-Atlantic region and down through Florida, capturing the essence of the beach, the ocean, wildlife, sea life, and surfing-related themes in art.
The Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo is partnered with the Coastal Edge Steel Pier Classic and the surfing competition at the 1st Street Jetty.
This event is an official kick-off to the summer season at the Oceanfront.
“Isn’t seeing an artist’s interpretation of the beach vibe the very best way to enjoy it? We drip salt water from our pores,” says Jodie Woodward, founder and show director of the Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo.
Surf art comes in all mediums, including painting, photography, jewelry, sculpture, ceramics, wood, metal, fiber, glass, and mixed media, all available for purchase at the art expo.
Each artist has a special connection with surfing, the ocean, beach life, sea life, seascape scenes, shells, coral, dolphins, fish, lighthouses, mermaids, custom surfboard and skateboard designs.
Expect to see more Patriotic themes this year in alignment with America’s 250th birthday, officials say.
“We can’t wait for the 23rd Annual Coastal Edge Steel Pier Classic presented by Katin,” says D. Nachnani, president of Coastal Edge. “This Memorial Day Weekend, the heart of Virginia Beach becomes the soul of East Coast surfing. We’re proud to host the WSL World Tour Longboard event alongside our professional shortboard competition. With over 300 athletes representing more than a dozen countries, and a combined $16,000 purse on the line, this is more than a contest—it’s a celebration of art, athleticism, music, and the surf culture that defines our coast,” Nachnani went on to say.
For more information about the Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo, click here, call (757) 348-1048, connect on the Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo’s Facebook here, or their Instagram here.
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is monitoring a Virginia traveler after they returned from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak.
The outbreak is tied to the MV Hondius, which is traveling from Argentina to the Canary Islands. Eight cases were reported this week, resulting in three deaths and several other sicknesses. Multiple passengers are now considered at risk, including one Virginian.
A local doctor said the risk to the public remains low. The traveler in question is not currently showing signs of infection, but is being monitored as a precaution.
“Typically in this country, [hantavirus is] transmitted when people are cleaning up around their rodents and they aerosolize the rodent droppings and they breathe those in,” said former Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Randy Gordon.
Gordon said the virus has existed since the 1990s and often presents with flu-like symptoms.
“Until 2023, we only had 890 cases worldwide,” he said.
Despite the minimal risk this outbreak currently poses to those on land, Virginia health officials are still taking things seriously, Gordon said.
“The state health department is very aware of it and the district health department is very aware of it,” he said. “They’re monitoring this person and they’re seeing if any symptoms develop. However, it’s notable they’re not isolating this person.”
He emphasized that hantavirus has a very low transmission rate, despite its higher death rate of about 35%, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“It’s very rare, number one, and one’s likelihood of encountering it is almost zero, especially if you take precautions,” Gordon said. “You’re more likely to get it right now from cleaning up rodent excrement.”
He added that this appears to be a small cluster of cases and is likely to remain limited.
Gordon said there is no specific treatment for hantavirus and doctors instead treat symptoms. The best protection is basic hygiene and avoiding exposure to rodent droppings.
(VIRGINIA MERCURY) – “We needed this rain,” farmer and entrepreneur Graham Redfern said from his front porch in Caroline County Wednesday as U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, who represents Virginia’s 7th District in Congress, approached.
The lawmaker was there to learn about the crops and products at Redfern Hemp Co., one of the state’s small businesses whose future hangs in the balance between soon-to-start federal restrictions on hemp THC products and Virginia’s not-yet-finalized retail cannabis market.
The rain was one certainty for Redfern, and a welcome one at the start of his planting season. But another, he said, is that most of his products will become illegal later this year, when the federal hemp crackdown kicks in.
“It’s scary,” Redfern said of thinking six months forward. He added that some of his staff members are thinking about looking for other jobs.
Redfern’s company, which employs 14 full-time staff and 5 part-time staff, makes body creams, dog treats, chocolates and gummies from hemp. His products offer calming and pain management effects for customers, while other parts of the hemp plant help create oils, birdseed and fibers.
Tamra Herndon, a longtime customer of Redfern, said the products have been helpful for her mental and physical health.
As an amputee, she experiences “phantom pain” where her left leg used to be, along with joint pain from walking on her prosthetic leg. The combination of THC and CBD in Redfern’s products helps both ease aches and calm anxiety.
Read more on virginiamercury.com
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