Navy Hill developers now planning 17,000-seat arena, massive mixed-use project in Henrico
Henrico Citizen breaks the news that the Navy Hill developers are taking their talents to the County.
After failing in Richmond, Navy Hill developers are working to bring a massive arena to Henrico - Henrico Citizen
by Tom Lappas
Stonewalled in their efforts to build a $235-million 17,500-seat arena in downtown Richmond as part of the unsuccessful $1.5-billion public-private Navy Hill project, a team of developers now intends to build a 17,000-seat arena with its own money as part of a similarly massive mixed-use project in northern Henrico County – to be known as GreenCity – the Henrico Citizen has learned.
The team, led by Michael Hallmark and Susan Eastridge, has a tentative agreement to purchase from Henrico County the 92.3-acre former Best Products Co. Inc. headquarters site at I-95 and East Parham Road, which it then will seek to rezone to allow construction of the arena and an associated mixed-use development ultimately containing about 2 million square feet of office space, 280,000 square feet of retail space, two hotels and more than 2,400 residential units on a larger 250-acre tract, the Citizen learned.
Warner, Spanberger help lead push for $908 billion COVID relief package - Richmond Times-Dispatch
By Michael Martz
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, have moved to the forefront of a bipartisan push for Congress to deliver emergency relief to Americans struggling to survive the intensifying COVID-19 public health crisis.
Warner and Spanberger helped fashion a $908 billion framework for emergency COVID-19 relief unveiled Tuesday by a coalition of centrist lawmakers from both political parties and chambers of Congress. The proponents say it’s essential to help people, businesses and governments survive until new vaccines are widely distributed to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.
Va. political leaders name 8 legislators who’ll serve on new redistricting commission - Virginia Mercury
By Graham Moomaw
The group of eight Democratic and Republican legislators who will serve on Virginia’s new redistricting commission will be made up of five men and three women, including two senior members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
The legislative members, who will wield significant power over how legislative and congressional districts are redrawn when new U.S. Census data comes in next year, come from districts that touch most regions of the state, ensuring some level of geographic diversity in the process.
The Virginia NAACP just named a new director - Virginia Scope
The Virginia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Virginia NAACP) announced on Tuesday that Da’Quan Marcell Love will be the organization’s new Executive Director. According to the Va NAACP, Love is the youngest state executive director in the history of the NAACP.
Hailing from Henrico, the NAACP referred to Love as a “longtime member, leader and a respected civil rights activist who will be tasked with guiding the Virginia NAACP through a period of tremendous challenge and opportunity at a key point in its 85-year history.” The Virginia NAACP says that they have undergone transitions in leadership over the past several years as they try to re-imagine themselves in a new social and political landscape.
“Da’Quan comes to us with a wealth of experience on the national level. He has the business acumen, strategic leadership, and knowledge of the Association to lead our State Headquarters and serve our membership in an outstanding manner,” said Robert N. Barnette, Jr., President of the Virginia NAACP. “As a civil rights veteran, he is intimately knowledgeable about the issues that Black Virginians face and that the Virginia NAACP must work to address,” he added.
“Having worked with the Virginia NAACP over the past two years, I’m confident that Da’Quan is the perfect candidate to lead this state conference forward so it can implement its strategic plan,” said the national NAACP Administrator Gloria Sweet-Love. “Mr. Love’s unique knowledge of the internal workings of the NAACP and the professional relationships he brings from the political arena will undoubtedly elevate the Virginia NAACP’s political advocacy efforts.”
Mr. Love was selected by the Executive Committee after a national search yielded over 60 highly-qualified candidates.
A former member of the NAACP National Board of Directors, Da’Quan served in many national leadership roles including vice-chair of the annual national convention, and chair of the National Youth Work Committee. As national youth work chair, he led the programmatic oversight of the NAACP’s youth and college units across the country. He formerly served as president of the Virginia State Conference NAACP Youth & College Division, where he successfully led a campaign to stop the proposed invalidation of more than 16,000 voter registration applications in 2012.
Aligned with the Virginia NAACP’s intense focus on non-partisan political and voter engagement for the 2021 election cycle, Da’Quan brings an unmatched political acumen to the state conference. A former state legislative candidate and political staffer, Da’Quan has worked on numerous local, state and federal political campaigns as a fundraiser and strategist.
Da’Quan earned his bachelor’s in political science from historically-black Hampton University and his master’s in teaching from North Carolina State University. He serves on the board of directors of Profound Gentlemen and New Leaders Council-North Carolina and is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Da’Quan will be the sixth full-time executive director of the Virginia NAACP, following the likes of former executive directors: Lester Banks (Executive Secretary) 1947-1977; Jack Gravely 1977-1984; W. Paul Matthews 1984-1986; Linda Byrd Harden 1987-1998; King Salim Khalfani 1998-2014.