Community Relations Archives - Gray Ryan Companies

5000 Families Pilot Program

Challenge: The Virginia Housing Alliance is seeking support from the Virginia General Assembly to launch a new pilot program designed to provide $100M in rent relief over a two-year period to 5,000 low-income families with school-aged children across Virginia. Managed by the Department of Housing and Community Development, the 5000 Families pilot program will empower families and set up students for success. To build support for the 5,000 Families program, a comprehensive and strategic advocacy and public relations campaign would be needed.

Supportive Housing Campaign

Challenge: Virginia Supportive Housing is the largest statewide non‐profit organization that serves homeless adults by providing permanent, supportive housing. In conjunction with its 25th anniversary, Virginia Supportive Housing was seeking to expand its footprint in Hampton Roads with the development of several new communities. To facilitate that growth, it needed to communicate the importance of permanent, supportive housing to both the general public in the cities of Virginia Beach and Norfolk as well as elected officials.

Georgetown South 50th Anniversary

Challenge: Georgetown South is a master-planned, townhome community home to 1,000 residents in the city of Manassas, just 30 miles from the heart of Washington, D.C. As a result of the Great Recession, the community was facing a crisis due to high foreclosure rates, increased crime, and deteriorating conditions of the amenities. A housing advocacy group built a coalition of financial partners including Bank of America and the Virginia Housing Development Authority to stabilize Georgetown South through the development of new amenities, crime prevention programs, and the introduction of new financing tools which would allow the homes to remain affordable.

Chesapeake Square Mall

Challenge: An underperforming mall in Chesapeake, Virginia fell into foreclosure in 2016 after several anchor tenants closed their operations. The 717,000 sq./ft. mall quickly became an eye-sore to the Western Branch community as the lender refused to make any substantial investments. In 2018, Virginia Beach-based Kotarides Holdings purchased the property as part of a strategic plan to revitalize the area and make it a destination for new business and residents.

2000 West Creek

Challenge: A Tennessee-based multifamily developer was looking to re-enter the Greater Richmond market with the development of two new projects representing a $110 million investment. One of those projects was 2000 West Creek. Located in the West Creek submarket, the asset was the first of its kind to be built in the area and represented a major departure from the traditional multifamily communities nearby based on size, amenities offered, and floor plans.

Stony Point Shopping Center

Challenge: Stony Point Shopping Center in south Richmond suffered a major set-back when its anchor grocery tenant vacated the property due to the company’s decision to leave the market. Despite having numerous other tenants including restaurants, specialty retailers, and boutique stores, sales at remaining retailers started slowing after the grocery tenant left.

Westwood Tract Development

Challenge: When Union Presbyterian Seminary sold a parcel of land adjacent to its campus to a leading national multifamily developer, a vocal group of neighbors organized to block the development. Despite the need for new, quality housing in the community, this classic NIMBY effort played out in legal courts and the court of public opinion, threatening the development’s viability and Union’s long-standing reputation.

Signature Lease Negotiations

Challenge: A large owner of office, retail, and industrial space in Hampton Roads, VA undertook a strategic decision to bring its leasing operations in-house in order to maximize its ability to negotiate with current and prospective tenants. Gray Ryan Communications helped the leadership of KPM create a comprehensive public relations campaign designed to highlight signature lease negotiations that the company was able to undertake with the new arrangement and to showcase that these leases demonstrated how the company was ready to make deals that benefited the end-user, local community, and the owner.

The Village at Gateway

Challenge: South Norfolk was an economically distressed area in Chesapeake, VA that needed a new vision. That catalyst for change was The Village at Gateway. The developer of The Village at Gateway saw a brighter future for the historic community that included a dynamic mixed-use community with retail and office space, condos, and community amenities, such as a new public library. However, the developer needed, and lacked, support from neighbors and community leaders to make this vision a reality.

5000 Families Pilot Program

Supportive Housing Campaign

Georgetown South 50th Anniversary

2000 West Creek

Stony Point Shopping Center

Westwood Tract Development

Signature Lease Negotiations

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