Spirits high on Staunton Crossing’s progress at public forum update

STAUNTON — It’s been almost 10 years since Staunton took total control of the former Western State Hospital site, but the finish line could finally be coming into view on the city’s much-anticipated economic development project at Staunton Crossing.

That optimism was on full display during last week’s public forum hosted by the Staunton Economic Development Authority at the Blackburn Inn. The two-hour forum was marked by hopeful statements from representatives of state and regional economic development organizations, as well as an update on the development of Staunton Crossing.

With 275 acres still left to develop, there’s plenty to break down. If you want to go through some of the information yourself, the slideshow presentation from the forum is available on the Staunton EDA website.

What’s got everyone so excited about Staunton Crossing?

“I think that the city has really knocked it out of the park. I know it’s taken a lot of money and it’s taken time, and it’s going to take some more time,” said Jay Langston.

Langston is the executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Parntership, a regional economic development organization that focuses on development in the Interstate 81 corridor starting from Shenandoah County down past Lexington and Buena Vista, and he was speaking to the work the city has already done on the development site. The site, according to Langston and Jason El Koubi, president of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, is a “premier site” for development in the region.

“Even though we’re still in the development stage, this is getting a lot of looks. Over the last 12 months, Staunton Crossing is actually one of the most frequently recommended sites that we point out to economic development projects,” El Koubi said via Zoom to the gathered crowd of residents, business owners and city officials.

According to the speakers throughout the forum, the interest in Staunton Crossing comes from the unique position the site has, being a rare site of over 100 acres that is both on an interstate highway and has access to rail service.

Billy Vaughn, Staunton’s director of economic development, also delivered welcome news on the tax revenue front. That revenue comes from phase one of development, which saw the opening of hotels, restaurants, and other retail stores, and has already brought in $2.95 million in taxes from 2020 to 2022. It's projected to bring in $1.4 million of tax revenue in 2023.

What’s left to do on the site?

Another source of optimism was how, in the eyes of potential site selectors, Staunton Crossing is already being viewed as a Tier 4 site, according to the Virginia Business Ready Sites program standards. While that is a sign of interest in the site, the city still has work left to do to bring the site up to tier 4, namely in water and sewer infrastructure. But those checkpoints shouldn’t be too far off, as the presentation indicated that wastewater utility installations should be finished by May 2024.

With a site attracting attention from plenty of companies, Langston lauded the city’s methodical approach to choosing partners for the remaining 275 acres left to develop. The idea is to hold out hope to bring in partners that will maximize the tax revenue that can be generated from the area. Once the site is ready for development, the city plans to target a few specific industries.

• Manufacturing

• Food and beverage/agricultural

• Professional services

• Logistics/transportation

• Rail-oriented industry

• Data centers

Throughout the forum, speakers repeatedly pointed to advanced technology manufacturing and data centers as a focal point for the types of business the city wants to bring in to Staunton Crossing. Per the city’s projections, having a data center, advanced manufacturing, office flex space, and some retail space would bring in $4 million in tax revenue to the city, as well as 3,250 jobs for the city.

On the other side of the financial picture, the city is still paying off the $15 million it took to purchase the property. The city has been paying around $1.14 million per year on the debt service for that purchase, and that price will jump up to around $1.19 million starting in 2024. According to Vaughn, the remaining debt on Staunton Crossing will be retired in 2028.

But to get there, the city still needs to attract site selectors and companies to build on the site. To that end, Lee Downey of the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth spoke about the marketing strategy to attract quality companies to the area. The main focus thus far has been about building the internet presence for Staunton Crossing, as well as building out an audience on LinkedIn. While social networking may seem odd for a project such as this, Downey spoke about how great the reach can be to finding site selectors through LinkedIn. The page, without any active promotion, already has 267 followers and thousands of interactions, according to Downey.

The lack of promotion of the LinkedIn site is due to the other arm of the current marketing strategy, which is building up Staunton Crossing’s internet presence. That involves building a specific landing page just for the site to make it easier to find for site selectors. Those site selectors, according to Downey, want to have information available to them quickly, and may pass over the site if they can't find it.

What else is important for Staunton Crossing's success?

While the conversation around Staunton Crossing mostly seems to focus on bringing in new business, Langston was sure to mention the importance of existing businesses.

"Yes, it's always nice to attract a large company here, but where are the existing businesses going to grow if you don't have a place for them to grow," Langston said, adding that 70% of growth in the city will come from existing businesses.

Langston also touched on the importance of retaining a labor force in the area and messaging the career path opportunities in the area, especially with over 9,500 graduates from community colleges and universities within the Sheanandoah Valley Partnership's footprint.

With the types of industries that Staunton Crossing is hoping to attract, Langston mentioned the wide opportunities for four-year degree and post-doctoral degree graduates.

"We are not telling the story about those job opportunities," Langston said.

He said the issue was one that his organization was working on, and mentioned a companion website that is being built out called ShenandoahValleyLiving.com to help tell the story about living and working in the valley.

"We are in a fight for talent," Langston said.

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—Akhil Ganesh is the Government Reporter at The News Leader. You can contact him at aganesh@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @akhildoesthings.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Spirits high on Staunton Crossing’s progress at public forum update