Economy
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Neilsen Construction to build $2.4M lab for SRI International |
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 click here for a larger version of this image As indicated per a recent building permit issued by Rockingham County, it seems that Neilsen Construction will be building out the first floor of SRI International's Rockingham County facility with a $2.4 million laboratory. SRI International is located just north of the Harrisonburg City limits, you'll find yourself at the entrance to the Rockingham Center for Research & Technology, more recently identified as Innovation Village @ Rockingham.  click here for a larger version of this image | |
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Harrisonburg is #2 Best-Performing Small City in Virginia |
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 The Milken Institute recently published their "Best performing Cities" report which ranks cities across the country as to how well they are doing in "creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth." The ranking takes into account job, wage and salary, and technology growth. Harrisonburg, VA was ranked #22 (out of 179) in the Country --- and #2 in Virginia, behind Charlottesville. Click here for an interactive data table. Click here for a PDF of the full report. Click here for the Jan 28 Daily News Record article. | |
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Innovation Village @ Rockingham |
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 Innovation Village @ Rockingham is a 365-acre, Class-A planned community located in Rockingham County, Virginia, home of SRI International Shenandoah Valley, where innovators and entrepreneurs can collaborate and create their own businesses. With strategic partner James Madison University, IV@R is destined to become a high-tech and bio-tech hub, perfectly suited for businesses and organizations in the life sciences, energy, information technology, and agriculture and crop science industries. Learn more about Innovation Village @ Rockingham.... | |
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Harrisonburg to see 50% growth in next 30 years!? |
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 According to population projections from the Weldon Cooper Center we are will see significant population growth in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County over the next 30 years. The City of Harrisonburg is projected to grow from 48,914 people (2010 census) to 75,015 people --- which would make it the third fastest growing City in Virginia. Perhaps this continued growth will help our housing market continue to improve? Read more in this weekend's Daily News Record article, or on Old South High. | |
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Local Unemployment Rate Drops To 5.3%, Again |
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 Our local unemployment rates have fallen again (for the 3rd straight month) to 5.3% --- a tie for the lowest rate we have seen in nearly four years. Read more from yesterday's Daily News Record article. | |
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Harrisonburg City Council spends $4.76M on Roads, Sidewalks, Employee Bonuses, Northend Greenway, Bluestone Trail, Smithland Soccer Complex |
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 Did you miss it? The Harrisonburg City Council spent $4.76 million last night. These funds were "reserve suplus funds" --- which are undesignated funds that have built up over time --- not a surplus in a single year's budget. How did the City Council decide to spend the funds?
So What? Why does this matter? Wasn't it just extra funds that had to be spent? Why should we care where the funds went? I believe these expenditures reveal the priorities of the City of Harrisonburg --- road improvements, sidewalks, bicycle and pedestrian trails, employee retention, parks, soccer fields. Personally, I think these are great priorities for the City of Harrisonburg to be focusing on to make it a safer, more enjoyable place to live. | |
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Approved 160-Acre Mixed Use Development in Harrisonburg, VA For Sale Priced at $8M |
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 This mixed use development located between Country Club Road, Linda Lane and Smithland Road is one of the only large developments left be built out in Harrisonburg. This project was approved several years ago, but development of the project never began. As approved by the City, The Quarry would include commercial space, single family homes, townhomes, apartments and condominiums.  Click the Site Plan above for a larger version. This property is listed by Tim Reamer of Cottonwood Commercial. | |
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Visit Larkin Arts in Downtown Harrisonburg tomorrow for their Grand Opening! |
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 In great news for downtown Harrisonburg, Larkin Arts will be opening this Saturday which features an art supply store, gallery spaces, art classrooms for students of all ages, and studios for working artists. Read more about Larkin Arts on the Do Downtown Blog, or at LarkinArts.com. Better yet, swing by the grand opening tomorrow (Saturday) from 9A - 5P. | |
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Conference Center (and hotel) coming to Downtown Harrisonburg? |
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Last night the Harrisonburg City Council discussed a proposed conference center and hotel to potentially be built in downtown Harrisonburg. The proposal went before City Council because the developers are seeking public funding for part of the project. City Council made a decision to seek competing proposals, which are due to the City by Nov 13, 2012. After competing proposals have been received, the City can decide whether to move forward with a feasibility study to provide more data with which to make a decision about whether to provide the public funding for this project. The hard costs of the potential feasibility study will be paid by the City with funds paid by each developer that submits a proposal. The project team that is working on this proposed conference center and hotel include:
dpM Partners is based out of Gaithersburg, MD, has recently developed a Westin Hotel in Virginia Beach. Its principal, was the lead developer on the Stonewall Jackson conference center in Staunton and he is also a JMU graduate. The W.M. Jordan Company (proposed general contractor) recently completed the Hilton at Short Pump. The proposed conference center facility would be 18,180 square feet --- twice the size of the JMU Festival Conference Center --- and would be the largest conference center between Northern Virginia and Roanoke. The hotel would feature 205 rooms and would have a full-service restaurant. If eventually approved, the City would be contributing nearly $10 million of public funds to this project in the way Tax Increment Financing Bonds. The specific site has not been publicly identified, for competitive reasons, but it is in downtown Harrisonburg within walking distance of Main Street. I believe this is exciting news for Harrisonburg as it could potentially grow our local economy even further by bringing regional conferences into our area. It would also certainly be a boon for downtown retail businesses and restaurants. Stay tuned -- within the next 60 days the City will be seeking competing proposals, and then they will be deciding whether to move forward with a feasibility study. | |
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The second half of the headline |
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Here is the first half of the headline from today's Daily News Record.... (the only part that was really printed)  Here is what the second half of the headline could have been.....  So yes, it is true that this is "the biggest monthly jump in nearly a year" -- but put in context, it's not as terrible news as some might otherwise suspect. The bottom line here is that month by month analysis of local unemployment rates can cause you to have sudden mood swings. After all, last month we were celebrating a tie for the lowest unemployment levels in over a year.....and this month we're mourning a huge increase in unemployment. | |
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Virginia home prices increase 11% |
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 Virginia home prices have increased 11% over the past year when comparing the May 2011 median sales price to the May 2012 median sales price. Read this good news and more in the most recent Home Sales Report from the Virginia Association of Realtors. | |
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Does Fannie Mae's prediction of a national home price bottom in 2013 affect us in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County? |
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 Home prices seem to be starting to increase again in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County (read more here) so what impact (or relevance) does this new report from Fannie Mae have on our local market? "Doug Duncan, chief economist for Fannie Mae, released a report saying growth for all of 2012 is expected to come in at roughly 2.2%." Maybe so, though locally, home sales are up 7% thus far in 2012. (read more here) "And before Americans finish off the year, they will continue dealing with a reduction in hiring, potential issues stemming from the fiscal crisis in Europe and a potential drag on the U.S. economy during the remainder of the year." We have remarkably low unemployment rates locally, that are still declining. (read more here) Thus, any declines in national hiring seem unlikely to significantly affect us locally. And issues in Europe and with the general U.S. economy might peripherally affect us here locally, but our local economy has managed to remain relatively stable throughout the past five years despite significant negative impacts in many other parts of the country. "Main measures of home prices have firmed in recent months, as the share of distressed sales has declined in a strong seasonal period," he explained. "Despite this recent encouraging trend, the (research) group continues to expect that home prices on a national basis will show a slight additional decline before bottoming in the beginning of next year." I am guessing that we will not see an additional decline in home prices in 2012 and 2013 (as predicted above) for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. I believe the 2012 median home price will be relatively similar to 2011 (+/- 1%). National housing market and economic news is important to monitor, but it is important to keep it in context and to pay even more attention to what is happening locally. | |
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Local unemployment levels continue to decline |
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This is one metric that we like to see declining.....  | |
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Just like the housing market, the employment situation is more favorable locally than nationally |
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The national headline (and excerpt) from the Daily News Record over the weekend....  The local headline (and excerpt) from last week's Daily News Record....  Just as with the housing market, the local news is often quite different than the national news, thank heavens! | |
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Overall Virginia housing market continues to gain strength |
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From the Virginia Association of Realtors this morning....  Home sales (# of sales) and median prices are both up across Virginia! Click the image below to download the full Virginia Home Sales Report.  | |
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JMU (slightly) boosts first year student count, continuing steady growth trajectory |
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 After several years in a row of relatively similar sized classes of first year students at JMU, the first year headcount will jump up a bit this coming year, as shown above.  Despite this jump in first year students, the overall growth trajectory will stay relatively similar to what JMU has experienced over the past several years. These increases in enrollment will (gradually) help the over-supplied student housing market in Harrisonburg. If you haven't heard, there are many more places for students to live than there are students. (read up here) These increases are also (continued) great news for the local economy, as JMU is a major economic engine for the local economy -- as both students and faculty/staff live here, work here, spend here, etc. This is not, of course, to ignore the significant contributions made to our local economy by Bridgewater College, Eastern Mennonite University and Blue Ridge Community College. The data for the graphs above is based on JMU's enrollment projections. "Total On-Campus Headcount" is the number of students who are taking classes on the JMU campus. | |
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Good news round up |
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Mortgage rates hit all-time low again: 3.83% on 30-year fixed rate. WSJ: Home prices rise in most of United States. NAHB: Harrisonburg added to list of improving markets. Gas prices drop again | |
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Proposed Rockingham County budget (2012-2013 fiscal year) and proposed 2012 tax rates ($0.64 for real estate) |
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 Some observations without knowing much about the budget:
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Rockingham County considers 7% increase to real estate tax rate |
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As per the Daily News Record today, the Finance Committee for Rockingham County has proposed an increase of the real estate tax rate --- from $0.60 per $100 of assessed value up to $0.64 per $100 of assessed value. Here's how that would impact a few different price ranges of homes....  In many ways, it is actually surprising that we haven't seen an increase in tax rates before now --- many localities across the country have been forced to do so in order to continue to pay for public services. Click here for the full article from the Daily News Record. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
Licensed in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
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