Hampton Roads Transit receives $8.48-million grant for new headquarters

Hampton Roads Transit has been awarded an $8.48-million federal grant toward replacing its aging administrative headquarters, a former Cadillac showroom on Monticello Avenue, The Virginian-Pilot
 reports.

It’s part of a $775-million
initiative announced Monday by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to
bring buses, bus facilities and related equipment into a state of good repair.

With the grant, HRT is
$2.1 million shy of the $13 million to $15 million needed for a new
administration building, HRT spokesman Tom Holden said. Holden said the agency
is confident it will secure the remaining funding.

"It’s difficult to
justify major investments on repairs for a building that’s outlived its useful
life," he said.

The headquarters will be
the second phase of a construction project under way on a new bus operations
and maintenance center on 18th Street.