North Tidewater News

Mayor Donnie Tuck and other city officials helped NorthPoint Developers break ground this morning on the site of the Phenix Commerce Center, which will create 250 jobs and also offer a workforce training center.

The commerce center will include two warehouses, expected to open in 2024, that will total more than 840,000 square feet of space. Mark Gloyeske, NorthPoint's vice president of development, said it represented an investment of $111 million. In addition to the 250 permanent jobs, Goyeske said the project would also create 200 jobs during the construction process. He cited multiple city offices as well as local businessman Greg Garrett for helping to land the commerce center in Hampton.

The commerce center will be located on the longtime site of the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled. Mayor Tuck noted that because of the workforce training center, "This will once again be a place of learning and education." Hampton residents will be given first shot at warehouse jobs and enrollment in the workforce training center.

NorthPoint Development has projected that the commerce center will create $800,000 in tax revenue for the city. Assistant City Manager Brian DeProfio said: "That money will help fund city services and projects that will continue to make Hampton a good, clean, safe place to live."

As part of NorthPoint's community outreach, students from Hampton City Schools' Academies of Hampton were engaged to provide catering, video and still photography for the groundbreaking ceremony.

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