Biz Beat Roundup: Popular coffee shop set to enter market

BUSINESS ACTIVITY

• A 7 Brew drive-through-only coffee shop is planned at the Jarrell Properties’ Cowan Station project on the east side of U.S. 1 near Cowan Boulevard in Fredericksburg (1740 Olde William St.). The shop is planned in a new 510-square-foot building with two drive-through lanes on a 1.17-acre parcel at the northern end of the project, where a bank had once been planned. 7 Brew is a fast-growing national coffee operator with 13 locations in Virginia. This would be the first building at Cowan Station, which was formerly a mobile-home park.
• The Stafford County Planning Commission voted last week to recommend approval of the proposed Buc-ee’s travel center off the Courthouse Road exit of Interstate 95. The votes were 4-3 on two matters — a rezoning and a conditional-use permit — and they came after a majority of 46 speakers at a public hearing denounced the project. Buc-ee’s travel centers are larger than most other convenience stores, and the Stafford proposal calls for a 74,000-square-foot building with 120 gas pumps and 833 parking spaces (including 24 Tesla charging stations) on more than 36 acres. The matter will now move to the Stafford Board of Supervisors.
• The Sunshine Ballpark Foundation is proposing to work with the City of Fredericksburg on a new multi-sport turf field at the Sunshine Ballpark off Fall Hill Avenue.
• Mary Washington Healthcare is welcoming Mary Washington Pulmonology, a new practice offering comprehensive lung and sleep medicine services, designed to bring advanced respiratory care closer to home for patients across the Fredericksburg region. The practice is located at 1101 Sam Perry Blvd., Suite 318, on the Mary Washington Hospital campus.
• Bloomia’s Tulip Festival in King George County is now set to start this coming weekend (April 3-4). This festival and Bloomia itself will be the subject of next week’s Biz Beat Clips video, and the Free Press also has a feature story about the festival.
• The Turning Point restaurant in Stafford’s Embrey Mill development (827 Wonder Road) recently opened.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

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  Screenshot from the Garden & Gun website.

  Downtown Fredericksburg has advanced to the Final Four in Garden & Gun magazine’s online competition for “Best Main Street in the South.” Fredericksburg has now defeated Eureka Springs, Ark., and Bristol, Tenn./Va., to advance to a Final Four matchup with Blowing Rock, N.C. Winners advance based on number of votes received in an online poll. This round’s voting goes until Thursday night (April 2), and if Fredericksburg advances the final round would run between April 3 and April 7. People can vote every hour for each matchup. The other semifinal matchup pits DeLand, Fla., against Paducah, Ky.

• Olympic-gold-medal swimmer and local banker Jeff Rouse is the subject of this week’s edition of the Biz Beat Banter podcast.
• Mary Washington Healthcare’s new thrombectomy equipment to treat stroke victims, and the physician who runs the program, are the subject of this week’s Biz Beat Clips video.
• The members of Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc. recently voted in Debbie Pederson as the organization’s president. Previous longtime president David James is now vice president.
• The Fredericksburg Clean & Green Commission has started taking applications for the 2026 Sustainability Awards, which recognize downtown Fredericksburg businesses that “demonstrate leadership in environmental responsibility, community engagement and sustainable business practices.” Businesses can apply through May 30 (there is one application for restaurants, and one for other businesses).
• The University of Mary Washington (UMW) College of Business ranked 92nd nationally in Poets & Quants’ Best Undergraduate Business Schools list for 2026. The school ranked 84th on the list last year.
• Sarah Walsh, currently president and CEO of Rappahannock United Way, next month will become Interim Executive Director of United Way of Virginia. In her new role, Walsh will work closely with local United Ways and partners statewide. Walsh will be based in Fredericksburg.
• Tree Fredericksburg recently received a 2026 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award from Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. Tree Fredericksburg is responsible for more than 45 percent of the current tree canopy on public land in Fredericksburg, according to the award announcement. Tree Fredericksburg co-founder Anne Little will be the guest on the April 21 edition of the Biz Beat Banter podcast.
• UMW will host a watch party Sunday at the Anderson Center for the men’s basketball team’s Division III championship matchup Sunday (April 5) at 4:30 p.m. against Emory University. The watch party will start at 3:30 p.m., and food and beverage will be available. UMW has never before advanced this far in the Division III men’s basketball tournament.
• Data center operator STACK Infrastructure has promoted Fredericksburg resident Kevin Hughes to the newly created role of Chief External Affairs Officer, STACK Americas. He will lead the company’s external affairs strategy, overseeing public affairs, public relations campaigns, corporate security, government relations and community engagement throughout STACK’s key markets.
• Rappahannock United Way, which closed June 30, has used its assets to establish the Rappahannock Community Legacy Fund with The Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region. The assets came in part from the sale of the United Way’s headquarters building at 3310 Shannon Park Drive in Spotsylvania earlier this year. Grants from the new fund will “support nonprofits whose work aligns with Rappahannock United Way’s historic focus on strengthening education, financial stability, and health in the region,” according to a news release.

REAL ESTATE REVIEW

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  This home at 25 Rhonda Court in Stafford sold last week for $900,000, the highest total for the week in the region.

  There were 93 homes sold in the past week in the Fredericksburg area, according to the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors’ (FAAR) weekly sales list. Check back weekly for the new list.

• Fredericksburg city staff continue to work through issues regarding a proposed preliminary subdivision plat for a 199-unit residential project at the current home of the Greenbrier Shopping Center on Plank Road. The older commercial portion of Greenbrier Shopping Center would be demolished. Individual commercial pad sites along Plank Road (Metro Diner, M&T Bank, Royal Farms and Cook-out) would remain. The project applicant is Kettler, a Northern Virginia-based real estate firm that developed the Fredericksburg Park project at State Route 3 and Lafayette Boulevard. The city received a number of comments from residents and business owners about the proposed Greenbrier Place project, and the developer’s first plat application was not approved. The developer is expected to submit a revised application. The city recently released a detailed Q&A regarding the project.
• Billiken’s Smokehouse in downtown Fredericksburg has submitted a major site plan for review by the city to build a 1,550-square-foot roof structure over an existing outside bar area, a second uncovered bar area, a stage and a brick patio with outdoor seating.
• Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite reports the following recent commercial real estate leases:
  • Sansage Medical leased 918 square feet of office space at 4520 Plank Road, Suite 101, in Spotsylvania from Redwood Realty LLC
  • Kadosh Nails LLC leased 5,860 square feet of industrial space at 109 Juliad Court, Suites 101 & 103, in Stafford from Franklin Companies LLC
  • Pearlescent Candle Company leased 2,130 square feet of retail space at 809 Caroline St. in Fredericksburg from 809 Holdings LLC

Biz Beat Roundup runs every Wednesday and includes a roundup of business news from around the Fredericksburg region. Send submissions to: bill.freehling@fredericksburgfreepress.com