Mayor Bobby Dyer highlights Town Center growth, $200 million Penrook redevelopment and trail funding at CBDA luncheon

Mayor Bobby Dyer on Thursday told attendees at a Central Business District Association luncheon that decades of public–private collaboration have helped transform Town Center into a regional economic hub and singled out several large projects and grants that he said demonstrate continued momentum.

"The CBDA is one of the most influential business organizations in the great city of Virginia Beach," Dyer said, praising founders Gerald Devaris, Fred Npalitano and the late Richard Oliveri and urging continued partnership between city government and the business community. He described the CBDA’s 40th anniversary as a milestone in that long-running collaboration.

Dyer said Armada Hoffler recently announced Atlantic Union Bank signed a full-floor lease of roughly 12,000 square feet at One Columbus Center, leaving Armada Hoffler’s Town Center office portfolio about 99% leased. He also described the Penrook Square redevelopment as a roughly $200 million project that will include a seven-story hotel, a seven-story apartment complex, an expanded comedy club and additional retail, and said the city will add two public parking garages to support the development.

The mayor credited the Virginia Beach Development Authority (VBDA) with helping package deals and cited recent economic development investments the city helped to facilitate. He said the VBDA awarded support to several businesses, including a reported $193,000 under the economic development investment program to Gov Solutions and $39,800 to Groundworks to support expansion and operations. Dyer said Groundworks reported about $1.2 billion in 2024 revenue, employs nearly 900 people in Virginia (about 543 in Virginia Beach), and plans to hire roughly 75 more workers with an average salary above $114,000.

Dyer also highlighted the city’s incubator activity, saying the Virginia Beach incubator welcomed Opi Corporation and that local startups (Crunchy, Hydration, Ed Logix, Sales E and Attorney Live) competed in the 2025 Startup World Cup regional finals, with the city’s Economic Development Department serving as a presenting sponsor.

On infrastructure, Dyer described major public-works projects planned or underway: a $67 million Cleveland Street improvements project—described as a 1.22-mile reconstruction with turn lanes, a shared-use path, bike lanes, upgraded lighting and modernized signals—and a separate $20 million project at Independence Boulevard and Edwin Drive to add median U-turns to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion coming off I-264.

He said pedestrian-focused upgrades across the central business district are underway, and that the city received $23.8 million in 2025 grant funding to support construction of phase 4 of the Virginia Beach Trail, a 2.8-mile segment connecting Birdneck to London Bridge Road. Dyer noted that a prior federal grant of $14.9 million supported phase 1, describing the trail as part of a planned four-phase corridor that will ultimately link Town Center to the oceanfront.

The mayor cited a resident survey that, he said, found 85% of respondents rated Town Center cleanliness as excellent or good and 82% said they felt very safe when visiting. Dyer closed by noting the city’s diversified economy—defense, tourism, advanced manufacturing, information technology, agriculture and healthcare—and the city’s recent mention in a New York Times list of global destinations.

A CBDA representative, who identified themself as a past CBDX president, told attendees the association would make a donation to the CBDX Foundation to fund scholarships and promoted the CBDA internship day with Princess Anne High School set for April 1. The luncheon ended with applause.

Notes: All project descriptions, dollar amounts and employment figures were reported by speakers during the luncheon; some spellings and agency abbreviations in the transcript were inconsistent and are noted in the audit and clarifying details.