Developer set to build next phase in Beach office park

VIRGINIA BEACH

Eight semi-truck loads of structural steel and tons of precast concrete lie in wait as Olympia Development Corp. prepares to build the next phase of its high-end office park across Interstate 264 from Mount Trashmore.

The five-story office building, the fourth in Olympia's 30-acre Convergence Center Business Park off Bonney Road, is scheduled to take on its first tenants in April, said Cecil V. Cutchins, the company's president.

The developer is spending $22.3 million on the project, which also includes a three-story parking garage. On Tuesday, the company got an added bonus for the project: $800,000 in economic development performance grants approved by the Virginia Beach Development Authority.

It's been nearly a decade since Olympia built the first office structure at the park. Currently, the park has more than 350,000 square feet of Class A, or top-of-the-line, office space.

Cutchins said the new 89,000-square-foot building is 27 percent leased and will likely take a year or so after it is completed to be fully occupied. The building's main tenant is the law firm Wolcott Rivers Gates.

"People usually like to come by and kick the tires before they sign up for leases," Cutchins said. "So it won't be in a condition to be kicked until after Christmas."

In order to give Olympia the performance grant, the City Council must designate the office park as an economic redevelopment area, said Mark Wawner, a project manager at the Development Authority.

He said officials view the project as a good addition to the area.

"It provides opportunity and space to show to clients and brings new jobs to our city," Wawner said.

Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com