For the Record – Shenandoah Valley, November 2013

Published October 30, 2013 by Virginia Business

The Beverley Hotel in Staunton is back on the market after a deal to purchase the building fell through. David Denman, the real estate agent handling the property’s sale for Cottonwood Commercial, confirmed in September that the contract pending to buy the hotel had been canceled. The 100-year-old former railroad hotel had been most recently used as low-cost apartments before it fell into such disrepair that the city was forced to close it two years ago. Its owner at the time fell into financial difficulties and refused to maintain the property. After the closure, John Adamson bought it at auction for $50,000.
(The News Leader)

Miller Winery, a micro-winery, uncorked its first bottles of Riesling, Concord, noiret and seyval blanc in late September in Front Royal. Similar to the trendy microbreweries that have popped up across the state, a micro-winery is not attached to a vineyard and produces a limited amount of wine. Although Miller Winery uses grapes from its own vineyard near Lake Anna, owner Jason Miller said much of its wine is pressed from half-ton lots of grapes out of Gordonsville and New York’s Finger Lakes. (Northern Virginia Daily)

Shenandoah Solar was working in September on a solar array at the Harrisonburg headquarters of Mid Valley Electric, one of two local companies that partnered with a Maryland firm to form Shenandoah Solar earlier this year. The 77-panel, 24,000-kilowatt-hour system is projected to supply about two-thirds of the electrical contracting company’s electricity needs, said Tim Link, co-owner of Mid Valley. The company’s array is the largest solar system on a commercial property in Harrisonburg, company officials say. (Daily News-Record)

Middletown’s historic Wayside Inn was scheduled to return to the block in mid-October. Owners Jacob and Lois Charon bought the property for $1 million at an April 2009 auction. One of the oldest continuously operated inns in the U.S., the Wayside Inn opened in 1797. It has 22 rooms, a conference center and a restaurant. (Northern Virginia Daily)

Western State Hospital was scheduled to move to its new, $140.5 million facility in Staunton in late October. The 66-acre site on Valley Center Drive — nearly adjacent to the old site — was previously owned by the city, which contributed $15 million to the construction in a land-plus-cash swap. Western State is among eight state-run adult mental health hospitals in Virginia. It is operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.  (The News Leader)