Lebanon, VA (April 27, 2017) – The Bluestone Business and Technology Park in Tazewell County will soon be home to a new 40,000-square-foot technology shell building, thanks to a $2.739 million loan from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) to the Tazewell County Industrial Development Authority (IDA).

VCEDA closed on the loan during a brief ceremony at the Tazewell County IDA office today (Thursday, April 27). The VCEDA board approved financing for the project earlier this year. The funds will be used for site grading, site development, building construction, utilities installations and extensions, other improvements and costs associated with the foregoing including legal, permit, architectural and engineering fees associated with the development and construction of the new shell building.

“VCEDA is pleased to assist with this project,” VCEDA Executive Director Jonathan Belcher, who also serves as the authority’s general counsel, said. “As we talk with potential prospects interested in the region, one question we hear often relates to the availability of existing buildings for location. Our inventory of available publicly controlled industrial buildings in the region has been decreasing for several years as those buildings are occupied, and we are pleased to assist in the construction of this building in Tazewell County’s Bluestone Business and Technology Park.

“Tazewell County and VCEDA have already been marketing the future shell building to potential business prospects,” Belcher added.

The new building is the first building to be constructed in The Bluestone Business and Technology Park, located just off U.S. Route 19 in Tazewell County. Funds for the project are coming from VCEDA’s Tazewell County account.  VCEDA also previously provided a $2 million grant to the Tazewell County IDA to assist with the development of the park.

Construction of the new building is expected to begin in June, with completion anticipated in December 2017.