Advocating for REALTOR® Members & Property Owners
SPECIAL EDITION OF THE MONITOR
Jefferson Lab to Lead $300+ Million
High Performance Data Facility Hub
This first-of-its-kind facility will provide unprecedented
data management resources for research
As a long-time supporter and “Friend of Jefferson Lab,” VPAR is proud to share this important economic development news with our members.
On Monday, October 16th, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility as the lead for its new High Performance Data Facility Hub.
Jefferson Lab will partner with DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to form a joint project team led by Jefferson Lab. The HPDF will be a $300-500 million computing and data infrastructure resource that will provide transformational capabilities for data analysis, networking and storage for the nation’s research enterprise. It will provide researchers with tools, methods and technologies to maximize the scientific value of data.
The Jefferson Lab HPDF Hub will be housed in the Jefferson Lab Data Center Building. Construction of the new building will be funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia, which to date already has provided $6 million in seed funding; the state also has committed to provide $43 million to fund the construction of the data center building on Jefferson Lab’s central campus. The initial build-out will be a versatile, modular data center that will allow future upgrades and expansions without requiring hardware system shutdowns.
“We would like to thank our many partners for their tireless support – from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Newport News, to our Virginia University system partners, our many regional business leaders, our national lab colleagues and our new project partner, Berkeley Lab,” Jefferson Lab Director Stuart Henderson said. “We would also like to thank our elected representatives, who have offered unwavering support for this project.”
Jefferson Lab’s proposal to build the new HPDF Hub was strongly supported by partner colleges and universities throughout Virginia, including Old Dominion University, William & Mary, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia. University partnerships are expected to expand as project plans more fully develop. The HPDF project will also benefit from Jefferson Lab’s strong existing partnerships with the 60 member universities of the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA).
HPDF will also provide nationwide leadership in managing the scientific data lifecycle. It will operate according to FAIR data principles, meaning data will be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. The facility will be developed to optimize scientists’ data access. It will incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning to dynamically configure its resources in computation, networking and storage to allow real-time access to data in its many forms.
Initial project budget estimates and timelines project an approximate operational budget of $75 million per year, which begins ramping up in fiscal year 2028.
Further Reading
Letter from Alan Witt, Friends of Jefferson Labs
U.S. Department of Energy Selects the High Performance Data Facility Lead
DOE National Laboratory Program Announcement: HPDF
FALL 2023
As we round out what has been a long, hot summer, VPAR’s Chief Advocacy Officer (CAO) has been out and about on the Peninsula, throughout Hampton Roads and across The Commonwealth!
From transit to community land banks, meetings with policy makers, flood plain management and resiliency, short term rentals and RPAC fundraising, the CAO and the Public Policy Committee are all about connection and action. See below for a quick rundown of what is happening in and around the VPAR footprint!
LOCAL
Hampton
VPAR remains active with the City in its resiliency efforts that includes the CAO serving on the Living with Water work groups to explore more opportunities to harden the City’s infrastructure and protect private property. Downtown Hampton, Phoebus and Buckroe have been in sharp focus on those efforts. On October 10th, the Resilient Hampton team will be briefing the membership on these actions and objectives. Look for marketing details in your Inbox soon!
Also underway is a review of the City’s Community Plan, Hampton 2040. We likewise are working with City staff to provide an update to the membership on this important strategic plan for the City.
The City has hired Jimmie Wideman, a lifelong Hampton resident and experienced law enforcement official who had worked with the Hampton Police Department beginning in 1994, retiring as a Captain in 2019. Since that time, Chief Wideman had been working as an intelligence analyst for the law enforcement division of the Department of the Air Force in Quantico. Councilmember Billy Hobbs is introducing the CAO to the Chief at an upcoming meeting.
Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight County is growing and is taking some nice bites out of the housing inventory issue on that side of the James River. VPAR remains in contact with the County Planning Director, Amy Ring, on all things housing and community focused.
Newport News
The CAO has been appointed to the City’s Flood Plain Management Committee that has been tasked to update the City’s flood management plan. Facilitated by Dewberry, the Committee is looking at issues that include:
equitable, community-driven mitigation efforts
reducing current and future flood risk
improvement of the City’s Community Rating System (CRS) in order to reduce insurance premiums
restoring natural flood plain function by implementing green infrastructure
enhancing future development and redevelopment
incentivizing sustainable development.
To continue this work and take it to a broader audience, Dewberry and the City have launched a survey instrument in which issues around drainage and flooding can be submitted. The survey can be found here.
The City held a town hall on the issue of homelessness in August – an important issue to all REALTORS® not only as housing professionals but also as active community stakeholders. The CAO has been communicating with Councilmembers on how best to engage VPAR in ongoing dialogue to find REAL solutions.
The CAO has been in ongoing discussions with members of Council to explore long-term solutions to housing inventory and housing opportunity. Earlier this summer, Councilman Cleon Long, Laura Lafayette – the CEO of the Richmond Association of REALTORS® (RAR) - and the CAO convened a meeting to explore how RAR, the City of Richmond and other stakeholders created a community land bank/land trust. Initiated by Councilman Long – named by the Mayor as Council’s Housing Czar - he has reached out to the CAO to have a deeper dive into how VPAR can be a driver on this topic. More to come on this important, transformational issue.
The CAO and Mayor Phillip Jones met on September 7th to discuss a variety of housing and real estate topics. Mayor Jones met with the VPAR membership earlier this summer as a part of the inaugural Speaker Series’ program, and we look forward to his return!
REGIONAL
The Hampton Roads Regional Transit Advisory Panel (HRRTAP) met on August 31st to discuss a variety of transit and transportation issues around the region. Joining the CAO as members of this important committee were representatives of the Hampton Roads NAACP, the Greater Norfolk Corporation, Hampton Roads Transit, Sentara Health System, the Children’s Hospital of the Kings’ Daughters, ODU, the Hampton Roads Military & Federal Facilities Alliance, Chambers of Commerce, and City Council representatives from Suffolk, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and other Hampton Roads communities. The HRRTAP meets regularly to advance public transportation throughout the region. The agenda included micro-mobility projects to enhance transit excellence, bus stop and shelter amenities, and the regional transit backbone.
SPECIAL NOTE: Hampton Roads Transit will host a STATE OF TRANSIT event on November 28th from 8:00 AM until 10:30 AM, in partnership with the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority (WATA), in Northern Suffolk. Stay tuned for details!
STATE
RPAC of Virginia has been very active in the November elections for the General Assembly! (Your CAO has been all over the Commonwealth to meet with incumbents and with candidates!) As the November 7th election date draws closer, look for more information from RPAC of Virginia and Virginia REALTORS® to learn more about who is a REALTOR® Champion of The REALTOR® Party!
Have an idea for legislation to be introduced on behalf of REALTORS® in the 2024 General Assembly Session? Here is where to go!
FEDERAL
With Congress having returned to Washington from its August recess, NAR is busy on a number of public policy issues. For the latest information on where your federal team is focused, check out The Washington Report that can be found here.
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Get Involved
Join your fellow REALTORS® advocating for homeowners and property rights. Put your advocacy into action!
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Submit an Issue
Have an idea for legislation that will help REALTORS®, Homeowners or our industry? Submit your idea for consideration.
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Invest
Invest in your business. RPAC is here to make sure your business and your clients are protected.
On Common Ground
This edition of On Common Ground explores the collection and use of big data in many aspects of community planning and management and end-user experiences — from housing needs assessments to healthy communities, from transportation to the financial impacts of land-use laws, from parks to sustainability and resilience, and ensuring that all residents benefit equally. There is something for everyone in this edition and the reader can only be left thinking, “What will come next?”
Brought to you from the National Association of REALTORS®
