Hans Harman is the current President and CEO of Momentum Earthworks, LLC and current President of Velocity Property Group located in Harrisonburg, VA. Hans has ample experience with construction projects from successfully managing over 40 million dollars of new construction projects from when he was a Construction Project Manager for Harman Construction, Inc. from 2008 to 2011. In 2009, Hans managed all phases of the development process for Velocity Property Group including: zoning and local government relations, property acquisitions, networking, marketing, and branding.  Then, in 2011, Hans completed a company asset acquisition of a local longstanding site excavating company which became Momentum Earthworks, LLC.  Hans has grown the company from 7 full-time employees to 30 full time employees while tripling the revenues in the first 36 months.  
 
Hans currently serves as President of the AGC of Virginia Valley District Executive Board. He also serves Shenandoah Valley Builders Association Board, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, and VMRC foundation boards. He is also very involved in several church based and civic organizations.  In 2017 Hans was recognized as the Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber’s Entrepreneur of the year, as well as being listed in the Shenandoah Valley Business Journal’s “Top 10 under 40” innovative leaders.

Like most events these days, the meeting will be held virtually which means you can don some St. Patrick's Day swag while Hans shares his experience with real estate development in Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah Valley tonight from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. So grab some green beer and join us here!

The Harrisonburg Real Estate Investors network is a group of experienced investors, agents, lenders, attorneys, insurance brokers, contractors, and real estate newbies looking to grow their business. They focus on real estate investing ranging from residential to multifamily investments and active to passive real estate investing. Their goal is to establish a community of real estate professionals, both amateur and experienced, that creates the network and environment to grow everyone’s business. Check out their Facebook page or join their Meetup group to get more information about upcoming meetings!

Additional Resources:
Project Map
​Northend Greenway 
SVBC Greenway: Get Involved

Info obtained from:
hburgcitizen.com
​https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/northend-greenway
​https://svbcoalition.org/northend-greenway-to-begin-construction/

In 1958, James Madison issued its first business degrees to its graduates; however, it wasn’t until 1972 that the JMU School of Business was officially established. By the early 80’s, JMU had anchored national accreditation for the business degree and in the early 90’s Zane Showker Hall was built, the central hub for the business department and its courses. In 2016, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked JMU’s College of Business 18th in the nation. The University has been and continues to graduate the leaders of tomorrow. These leaders are taking initiative to enhance the current program to preserve and expand its legacy.

Showker Hall was designed for a capacity of 2,400 students back in the 1990’s. Over the past 30 years, the University business program has been increasing and is currently enrolling more than 5,000 students. The space is no longer able to effectively accommodate student enrollment, causing faculty to find spaces throughout the building for their courses and students. In 2016, a public announcement was made to expand the vision of innovation and excellence of JMU’s College of Business. The new vision is to create a facility that will utilize a “new” Showker Hall as well as develop a complex that will accommodate not only the increase of Business enrollment, but reflect the modern technological advances to continue its reputation of producing unrivaled business leaders. The 210,000 square foot Learning Complex will include: new classrooms, advanced technologies for research and cyberprojects, labs, dining facility, meeting halls, and many more features.

The construction is planned to begin this upcoming Fall for a grand opening in the Fall of 2020. By the Fall of 2021, all construction should be complete for the College of Business.
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The fundraising goal for the College of Business is $15 million dollars. As of August 2018, over two-thirds of the goal has been met.
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This is part of an on going blog series on JMU's development, to see the other developments, click here.

Source and more information:
https://www.jmu.edu/cob2020/

https://www.jmu.edu/news/2017/11/15-mm-cob-learning-complex.shtml

If you have driven East of Harrisonburg on Route 33.  You may have noticed some construction happening to the North around Crosskeys Rd.  If you weren't already familiar, the county is putting in park called Rockingham Park at the Crossroads.  This land was donated by Albert Long to Rockingham county in 1989.  The park was tgo be called Alber Long park but was changed by popular vote by the Board of Supervisors.  More info here.

There has been discussion and rumors about what will happen with this land.  A group out of South Carolina showed interest in having an assisted living facility be placed at the back of the park.  Other rumors have indicated a trampoline park will be on the premises.  At this point, the county has disclosed these as features of the Rockingham Park at the Crossroads:

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• Amphitheater (PDF)
  • The Amphitheatre will be a covered stage featuring low walls and flexible seating. The optimal sloped tiered seating has the capacity to hold 3500 to 4000 spectators with handicapped seating available. The Amphitheatre is adjacent to an open play area, pavilion, playground and a splash pad.
• Baseball Fields (PDF)
  • The Baseball/Softball Complex features two 250’ fields and two 300’ fields. It will include concessions with restrooms and located near a playground, pavilion and has prominent views of the Massanutten Peak. Other features include bleachers, green space and a drop off loop.
• Multi-Purpose Fields (PDF)
  • The Multipurpose Field Complex incorporates four (4) athletic fields. The complex consists of a pavilion with restrooms, concessions with restrooms, drop off area and bleachers. Open space surrounding each field allows for additional seating. In close proximity is a playground and natural stream corridor.
• Recreation Center (PDF)
  • The optimal Recreation Center will be approximately 50.,000+/- square foot facility. It will include four (4) basketball courts, elevated running track, dance/fitness room, multi-purpose room, kitchenette, kids zone, locker rooms and ample parking."

This blog is part of my Developments in the Harmony Heights Area series. Click here to see what other blogs I've written and what will be coming. 

Eastern Mennonite University has been a source of a lot of the development around the Harmony Heights area.  Here are the current projects they are working on:

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​EMU has used it's current dining facilities for the past 50 years.  As the pictures above show, they are working on an addition and renovations for the dining hall.  According to the EMU website, the plans for include:

• "Renovations that will provide a formal entrance and greeting space
• Renovated restrooms
• Heightened 16-foot ceilings in main dining hall to eliminate the basement-like feel
• Addition of an elevator to provide access to the residential part of the building
• Renovated serving area with attention to traffic flow and dinner services in a station type layout
• Renovated west dining room to a booth seating “pub-style” concept
• Addition of a new dining space with seating for up to 345 guests with flexibility for dividing the space
• Addition of a small meeting room with catering kitchen"​

Funding for the renovations for the Suter WEST campaign is almost complete. According to the website, $10.3 million has been raised out of the goal of $11.3 million.   Here is how the Suter WEST campaign page describes the renovation. 

"Both Lower and upper levels of Suter West must be updated to bring the center into full and productive service. This phase of the campaign will provide new labs to support a new engineering major; a refurbished D. Ralph Hostetter Museum of Natural History; renovation of S- 106 lecture hall in honor of President Loren and Pat Swartzendruber; updated HVAC and sprinkler systems; an expanded entrance to include a school bus pick-up and drop-off area; and refurbished classrooms with interactive projection technology."

EMU's track is now 26 years old and is a big reason a lot of students come to EMU.  The university plans to renovate the track to be able to host college track meets and improve the condition for their athletes and the surrounding community. 

Watch the following video and get more information on the web page.

EMU would like to renovate the Baseball field to be able to host college tournaments, high school tournaments, and local county leagues.  

From EMU's web page, the project will include:

Dugouts and Press Box
Construction of new, in-ground dugouts, 45-ft. in length, with an additional storage area on each one. An enclosed press box will be constructed on top of the first base dugout with capabilities for filming, as well as audio and video-streaming of games.

Backstop
An attractive and safety-enhancing backstop is planned that will feature a three-foot high brick wall connecting to the two dugouts with netting rising above the wall. This backstop will be closer to home plate and the netting will rise higher than the current fence backstop, increasing safety for spectators.

Spectator Seating
The naturally sloped area between Park Road and the backstop will be terraced and concrete pads will be installed for seating directly behind the backstop. Natural grass areas will be retained on the sides of the seating area.

Batting Pavilion
A pavilion with removable sides will be constructed in the right field bullpen area and will house batting cages and bullpens. This will provide a year-round training facility for the baseball program, greatly reducing the demands on the University Commons which currently houses one indoor batting cage.

Outfield Grass
With the 2015 addition of an in-ground irrigation system, the outfield can now be sprigged with Bermuda grass which will increase the playability of the surface and reduce maintenance.

All information came from EMU.edu and Braydon Hoover, Associate Director of Development at Eastern Mennonite University.  For questions, comments, or to help support one or more of these projects, contact Braydon Hoover. 

Hotel Madison officially declared it will be opening it's doors May 1st, 2018.  The have opened their reservations online.  Click Here

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance provides a great overview of the project thus far:

"A 230-room boutique hotel is slated to open in downtown Harrisonburg in Spring 2018. It will include 50 extended-stay rooms and one presidential suite.

• This $35 million hotel will be privately owned and operated by Maryland-based development firm dpM Partners whose principal is a JMU alumnus. The JMU Foundation will finance the $10.9 million conference center.
• The conference center will offer a grand ballroom that can accommodate between 551 - 882 people, depending on the type of event. It will also have two smaller ballrooms and multiple breakout/meeting rooms.
• The project will include a restaurant and bar facing Grace Street, green building elements, and design elements that complement local architecture.
• Phase I of the project is anticipated to conclude in spring 2016 with the development of a new 1000-car parking garage. Ground breaking for the hotel is anticipated in the spring and road work will commence in the summer.
• The construction of a hotel and conference center has been one of HDR’s long-range revitalization goals that would help establish downtown Harrisonburg as a destination. Extensive collaborative efforts will help integrate the hotel & conference center into the larger downtown community and will promote downtown businesses among visitors.

This project is a result of a strong public-private partnership among the City of Harrisonburg, JMU, and HDR. Harrisonburg City Council voted to approve this project in Oct. 2014, and entered into an agreement with James Madison University, the JMU Foundation, and dpM Partners."
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Source:
http://downtownharrisonburg.org/hotel-madison/