On Tuesday, members of two families with deep roots in Williamsburg spoke at the groundbreaking of a new building, called the Griffin Arms Building, at the intersection of Armistead Avenue and Prince George Street.
Leslie Schultz, vice president of Henderson Inc., spoke along with Greg Granger, who will head the rental of the property. Later, Granger’s father and former mayor of Williamsburg Gil Granger also made his way to the podium.
The trio represents three companies involved in the construction and management of the new building: Henderson Inc., Great Knights Inc. and G-Square Inc. Henderson will build the structure while the Grangers — through their companies – will handle the rental property.
Griffin Arms will house 4,000 square feet of retail space and eight apartments furnished with granite countertops, dishwashers, tile and flat screen TVs.
The area of where the Grangers and Hendersons are building has been targeted by the city as a downtown revitalzation project. The city is planning to spend $1.4 million on sidewalk and streetscape improvements on surrounding blocks; The Jewish Mother announced in early September they would be moving in just a block west of the Griffin Arms; and the eastern connecting property to where the Griffin Arms will stand is the site of another project by G-Square that, according to city documents, will be also be a mixed-use building.
“The neighborhood is changing in a big way,” City Manager Jack Tuttle said at the announcement that Jewish Mother would be a tenant in the city owned Triangle Building.
Both Leslie Schultz and Greg Granger said they were excited to be a part of the project. Schultz said it was “very special” to be a part of something “that’s going to make history in Williamsburg.”
“I am going to be able to show my daughter what we were a part of,” Schultz said. “That’s what’s so amazing.”
Granger said he felt “privileged” to be a part of the revitalization project. He said investing in the project was a no-brainer because he plans on staying in the region for a long time.
“We’re delighted to contribute to the city that we love and we hope our children and grandchildren will live in for years to come,” he said.
The Griffin Arms is scheduled to be completed by June 30.
Both the Hendersons and the Grangers have deep ties to Williamsburg, and both families have spent generations contributing to the area’s growth.
The Grangers have been a Williamsburg family since 1958 – the year Gilbert Granger and his wife Connie — who met during their time at the College of William & Mary — got married. In 1965, Granger opened G-Square Inc. and his son, Greg, was born.
The family decided to stick around in the area because the older Granger moved often as a child, which he didn’t want for his own children.
“That made the question of investing in the community go away,” Greg Granger said. “He decided to really invest.”
And invest he did: Granger served on the school board, city council and then – from 1996 to 1998 – as mayor of Williamsburg.
The Hendersons have been in the construction business since 1957 when David Henderson started Henderson Inc. David Henderson headed the company for 22 years before retiring to Florida in 1979.
Today, the business is run by a Pete Henderson, who is David’s son and Schultz’s father, and other family members are also in on the business.
The Hendersons stuck around in Williamsburg, according to Leslie Schultz, because of the “people and community.”
“Williamsburg has been good to us,” she said. “We just want to keep the economy going here at home.”
Correction: this article has been updated to reflect that Leslie Schultz’s name is spelled as such and her grandfather’s name was David.
