Virginia Sen. Mark Herring (D-eastern Loudoun) had a hand in bolstering business incentives in Virginia this month.

His legislation, Senate Bill 1326, which helps to create a research and development tax credit for start-up businesses and early-stage firms in targeted industries, was signed into law by Gov. Bob McDonnell April 7.

The bill is meant to target companies using research and development services through Virginia colleges and universities to strengthen the Commonwealth’s business competitiveness, according to a statement.

“Innovation is a huge driver of economic growth.  This is an example of a smart tax policy to promote additional investment in advanced technology industries, which have high- growth potential and pay high wages,” Herring said at the signing.

Herring also co-sponsored Senate Bill 1485 with Sen. Steve Newman (R-central Virginia) that will bolster the Commonwealth Research and Commercialization Fund. The fund will serve as a catalyst for the Virginia higher education research assets and private-sector funding to encourage evolving technologies, according to the statement.

“States all over the country, and countries all over the world have become very aggressive in trying to attract advanced technology industries to their areas,” Herring said at the signing. “It is vitally important for Virginia and our economy to remain competitive with those states and countries.”

Herring’s legislation are two of 10 measures that constitute the first part of the governor’s 2011 “Opportunity at Work” program that is positioning Virginia as an attractive place for new businesses.

“The key to turning our economy around and getting Virginians back to work is ensuring that businesses continue to choose the Commonwealth of Virginia to locate, grow and expand,” McDonnell said at the signing.  “Our economic success is dependent on good jobs, a well educated workforce and a strong business climate. The legislation I ceremonially signed today positions us to continue to be the best state in America in which to start or grow a business.”

This article was first published by Hannah Hager on LoudounTimes.com.

The Loudoun Times-Mirror building and its parking area are about to receive a major facelift.

The redevelopment of the Times-Mirror building will include the preservation of its red-brick facade and its circa 1916 historical main building, but the cinderblock addition at its rear will be demolished, said Bob White, president of Landmark Commercial Real Estate, the project’s developer.

In all, the redevelopment, named Courthouse Square, is projected to cost between $25 million and $30 million and will be finished in 2014 at the earliest, he said. Fifteen investors are currently involved in the project, he said.

Courthouse Square plans include 96,000 square feet of new construction and 9,000 square feet of renovations to total 106,000 square feet, White said. The Loudoun Times-Mirror building is around 9,000 square feet.

The Arundel family, publishers of the Times-Mirror, are currently the majority owners of the property.

“We are fortunate to have such a unique location. The proposal represents a tremendous opportunity for the town as well. We have worked hand-in-hand with the town on scale, architecture and general market concerns. The town has been extremely helpful and has shown great vision in the process,” said Loudoun Times-Mirror President and Publisher Peter Arundel.

The removal of the cinderblock addition at the rear of the Times-Mirror building will make way for an elevator lobby leading residents and visitors to a five-story structure that will include two stories of office space above a three-story at-grade and one and one half below-grade parking garage in what is now the Times-Mirror’s parking lot.

The alleyway that now connects King Street in the west to Church Street in the east will shift north toward the Times-Mirror’s red brick building. A breezeway will connect the Loudoun Street with Market Street entrances. Two retail shops and an elevator lobby will face Loudoun Street in the south.

The project has yet to be approved by Leesburg’s Board of Architectural Review. It will go before Leesburg’s Planning Commission April 21. The planning commission will discuss the allowance of a new height district to accommodate Courthouse Square. Currently, Leesburg has a height restriction of 45 feet, but Courthouse Square will require a height of 65 feet to accommodate the office space, which will pay for the three-story garage, White said. The neighboring Loudoun County parking garage is 45 feet tall.

On March 8, the Leesburg town council approved a motion to consider amending the maximum building height by a vote of 5-1-0. Mayor Umstattd cast the dissenting vote and councilman Tom Dunn was absent.

On April 12, Landmark erected a ‘balloon study’ in the Times-Mirror parking lot so that the public can see the visual impact from a particular vantage point.

When asked if the Times Mirror plans to remain in its current location, Arundel said, “We have every intent to remain in Leesburg if the rates are right.”

Contact the writer at hhager@timespapers.com.

This article was first published by Hannah Hager on LoudounTimes.com.

A former, two-term mayor of Purcellville, Ronald Masters, died in his Winchester home March 17. He was 77 years-old.

Masters, who was considered a tireless community servant, entered the public eye when he was elected to the Purcellville Town Council in the late 1970s.

He later served as mayor from 1982 to 1986, and then again from 1990 to 1994.

“Whenever we would go out on the town, it would be like pulling teeth with him to get him home because so many people wanted to talk to him about issues,” said his eldest son, Marc Masters, of Washington, D.C.

Masters is also survived by his two other sons, John, of Washington, D.C. and Michael, of Berryville. He is preceded in death by his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Jennifer.

Marc Masters described his father as a social person who frequently went out on the town to talk with residents about Purcellville’s issues. One of his first memories of his father’s time in office was when he accompanied him while campaigning door-to-door.

Though the town was home to just under 2,000 residents during Masters’ tenure, it struggled with the same growing pains it does today – an increase in development stressed the balance of its small town atmosphere. People moved to Purcellville for its small town feel, but that environment was slowly jeopardized by periodic growth, Marc Masters said.

“It could be kind of a heated issue, but he always sort of looked at it in a neutral point of view,” Marc Masters said.

“Ron anticipated the population growth in our Western Loudoun area and worked to get the town ready for it,” said David Milam, pastor at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Purcellville, during his eulogy. Masters was instrumental in setting up the Purcellville Urban Growth Area Management Plan, he said.

Milam said Masters was too progressive for his time, which is why he lost reelection in 1986. However, Masters decided to run again during the next election cycle because so many citizens asked him too, Marc Masters said. He did, and won.

Masters was very good at listening to his constituents and giving everybody a voice, taking all phone calls big and small.

“His patience and a listening ear. It was his biggest strength,” he said.

Masters taught his children to give themselves time to react to something, be very patient and tolerant – character traits he likely perfected in his professional life as a mechanical engineer for such companies as Westinghouse, Deco and Fairchild.
“Ron worked on things like the first stealth bomber and even helped make the black box that would go on the first space shuttle,” Milam said.

“Ron gave himself to young people, working with the students of Loudoun Valley and Loudoun County High Schools for an Annual Engineers Week, where kids could find out from him about the distinctions between mechanical, electrical and civil engineering and the like,” Milam said. “These community involvements would grow through his membership in Lions and Rotary to become a platform from which he would eventually run for Mayor of Purcellville.”

He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Michigan. Masters also served in the Navy as a Construction Contract Administration Officer from 1959-1962. He was in the reserves until 1970. After his retirement, he taught engineering for 10 years at the Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Va.

But engineering was more than just his career, it was his hobby, Marc Masters said. Masters once built an engine in the family’s basement and was constantly constructing things out of metal and machine parts.

In 2008, he and his wife were each honored with the Town of Purcellville Citizenship Award, which is dedicated to individuals who exemplify the highest quality of citizenship through their efforts to enhance the quality of life for residents.

Upon acceptance of his award, Masters said, “Purcellville is what it is because of you all. I wish I could give you all a plaque.”

Master’s memorial service was held March 23 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Purcellville. Memorial donations may be sent to the Lord Fairfax Community College Educational Foundation Inc., 173 Skirmisher Lane, Middletown, Va., 22645.

Contact the writer at hhager@timespapers.com.

This article was first published by Hannah Hager on LoudounTimes.com.

If one were to look at the county’s real estate market as just a west side story, it would show two years of increasing sales.

The Western Loudoun real estate market, including the towns of Middleburg, Purcellville, Round Hill, Hamilton, Lovettsville and Waterford, saw an increase of sales from 2008 to 2010. In 2008, 465 homes were sold in Western Loudoun alone. That number spiked to 510 homes sold in 2010, according to market research conducted by housing analyst Rosemary deButts.

“We are cooking right along and seeing multiple offers,” said Sue Puleo, an associate broker at Prudential Carruthers in Hamilton. Puleo said the agents in her office started to see an uptick in sales starting the first week of March this year. She attributes increased sales activity to “a lot of pent up demand.”

“A lot of the sellers who have been waiting for the market to get better are thinking that now is a good time because it seems pretty stable,” she said.

So far this year, the total sales in western Loudoun in January and February 2011 have outperformed sales in the same period last year, deButts said.

“Preliminary results indicate that sales increased 6 percent compared to revised January figures and 21 percent compared to last February,” she said.

DeButts also noted that the February 2010 blizzards didn’t significantly affect Western Loudoun sales as much as it did throughout the rest of the county.

However, congruent with the rest of the county, median sales prices in Western Loudoun fluctuated. The median sales price in 2008 was $410,000 before it fell to $390,000 in 2009. The median sales price bounced back to $410,000 in 2010. So far in 2011, 66 homes have sold in the area at a median sales price of $399,000, according to deButts.

“Maybe they don’t get [the price] they want on the selling end, but make up for it on the buying end,” Puleo said.

The February median sales price in Western Loudoun declined to $390,000 from $409,000 in January, a drop of 5 percent. However, the median sales price was $385,000 in January 2010, which results in a 1 percent increase, she said. Since January 2010, the lowest monthly median sales price in Western Loudoun was $346,916 in May 2010 and the highest median sales price was $445,000 in August 2010.

Looking at the county as a whole, the median sales price was $354,250 in February and the average sales price was $410,388, according to the Dulles Area Association of Realtors monthly sales statistics report. These are significant increases compared to January’s median sales price of $314,394 and its average sales price of $363,394. Additionally, 251 homes sold in January and 272 homes sold in February throughout the county.

Round Hill was the shining star in sales last month. Twelve homes were sold in February, but with a median sales price of $325,000, the second lowest median up from Hamilton’s $249,978 median sales price for three homes sold in February. Purcellville came in second for total sales – ten homes were sold with a median sales price of $430,000. Conversely, only one home sold in Waterford last month with a median sales price of $620,000.

“I don’t think anyone expects it to be a dramatic change, but we’re in stable mode, which is a good place to be,” Puleo said.

Contact the writer at hhager@timespapers.com.

Below is a breakdown of the average days a home spends on the market in western Loudoun in the following price ranges. These sales are from February 2011 only.

Less than $200,000:  Four sales; the average days spent on the market was 45 days.
$200,000 – $399,999: 15 sales; 142 days on average.
$400,000 – $599,999: Nine sales; 191 days on average.
$600,000 – $799,999: Five sales; 70 days on average.
$800,000 – $999,999: Zero sales.
More than $1 million:  Two sales; spent an average of 669 days on the market.

This article was first published by Hannah Hager on LoudounTimes.com.