CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Leaders in the City of Chesapeake have several big projects on the business horizon.
On Thursday, Mayor Rick West called Chesapeake a thriving community during his State of the City address.
Making Chesapeake a fun place to live work and play is a top priority for city leaders. City officials said they have many multi-million-dollar projects in progress throughout the city.
“We invest in all of our communities,” said Chesapeake City Manager Chris Price.
There’s excitement about new businesses popping up at Summit Pointe. Mayor Rick West said it’s Chesapeake’s new downtown spot. He said Wasserhund Brewery just opened a second location there, and more fun is coming.
“First Watch has just opened,” West said. “I am told by Chris, within the next several weeks, Luce’s, the famous restaurant in Norfolk, is opening a second dining area.”
Mayor West said redeveloping the Chesapeake Square Mall is also a top priority.
Large companies are growing their roots in the city. Thursday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Perdue Agribusiness is expanding its plant in Chesapeake, a $59 million investment.
“Particularly for our farmers, it makes that soybean a better product, more desirable,” West said. “It helps our economy, the taxes this group pays.”
That plant is in South Norfolk. Officials said the plan is to modernize the facilities and increase the production of its high protein soybean meal.
A spokesperson for Youngkin said Virginia beat out Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania to have the company grow their facility.
"The product that they provide the nation, grain, seed, fuel, all from a soybean, that’s amazing,” West said.
West said another $9 million is coming from the state to build Chesapeake’s first public swimming pool at the Dr. Clarence V. Cuffee Community Center.
West said city council members’ main focus now is a $120 million project to build a new state-of-the-art training facility for their first responders.
“There will be a facility for aquatic training, for shooting ranges, driving ranges, for classroom technology,” West said.
He’s excited to see all the new projects come to life.
“Since 1963, we’ve never had a year where we did not grow,” West said.
Officials also talked about several expansion projects at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. They are building a new critical care tower, a heart center building, expanding their delivery rooms, and creating a new outpatient clinic for veterans.