Virginia’s Economic Evolution: From Business Ready Sites to Expedited Permitting

Virginia’s Economic Evolution: From Business Ready Sites to Expedited Permitting

Virginia is taking steps to ensure the availability of construction-ready sites, which will help the Commonwealth compete to win transformational megaprojects.

The Virginia Business Ready Sites Program (VBRSP), established by the Virginia General Assembly in 2015, aims to identify, assess, and improve the readiness of industrial sites with at least 100 contiguous, developable acres (50 acres if specific criteria are met). Recently, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed two related bills establishing the Virginia Business Ready Expedited Permitting Program to expedite the permitting process for certain economic development projects and sites.

Analysis from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), which administers the programs, showed that a lack of prepared sites cost Virginia more than 52,000 direct jobs and $120 billion in capital investment between 2016 and 2022. Industrial projects requiring sites larger than 250 acres represent the majority of potential industrial jobs and more than 75% of potential capital investment.

The most recent bill supports Virginia’s efforts to increase speed to market for larger sites. The permitting process is often a major contributor to delays for important projects, not just in terms of added costs, but in jobs and economic growth — the sooner a project is permitted, the sooner work can begin, and people can be hired and trained for jobs. Exacting regulations and high interest rates can challenge new development — as VEDP Vice President of Real Estate Solutions Michael Dreiling put it, “A major trend has been that the demands of the companies don’t match up with the interest rates and the time needed to deliver sites.”

Virginia is working to reduce that delivery time through targeted investments. VBRSP funding has increased from $500,000 a year in the 2018–2020 budget to $125 million in the current budget. VEDP said it received over $700 million in requests for funding in FY24. Localities can apply for grants to defray costs associated with site assessment and the development required to increase its designation level.

“The leading priority of the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program is to increase our project-ready sites portfolio across the Commonwealth, and this unprecedented site development funding is an important step forward in strengthening Virginia’s infrastructure,” Youngkin said in a January 2023 announcement of $90 million in VBRSP development grants for 21 sites across the Commonwealth. “Prepared sites drive economic growth, and we have to move faster to attract new businesses.”

Key Virginia partners applauded the Commonwealth’s efforts. In a statement, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce said the bills “Give permit applicants and project developers certainty that a permitting decision will be made within the established timeframe while preserving important requirements for public comment to ensure all stakeholders can have their voices heard.”