Office Spotlight: Hampton Roads
In July 2025, Gorove Slade opened its newest office at 300 E Main Street in downtown Norfolk. In the year since, we’ve focused on building new relationships, establishing a local presence, and assembling a small but mighty team rooted in the community.
A Region That Demands Local Expertise
In Hampton Roads, rapid residential and commercial growth, military and industrial infrastructure, and aging road networks create a layered set of challenges that call for both technical depth and genuine regional fluency. For Gorove Slade, expanding our presence there was a natural next step for our regional transportation work.
Leading the office is Mike Bailey, PE, PTOE, RSP1, a Principal with nearly 15 years of experience in business development, project execution, and client coordination across Virginia. Mike grew up in the Western Branch section of Chesapeake and has spent much of his career working in the Richmond and Hampton Roads regions – a background that has directly shaped the portfolio of work he’s built here.
Mike leads Gorove Slade’s practice serving convenience store operators, franchisees, and developers – work that demands deep knowledge of VDOT access requirements, trip generation, and site feasibility. From early-stage due diligence through permitting and final design, the team helps clients identify what’s achievable before they invest in sites that can’t be permitted as envisioned.
(l-r) Naomi Nelson, Mary Lee, and Mohammad Al-Khasawneh enjoy some creative downtime at the Hampton Roads office
Let’s Meet the Team!
Mary Lee, PE, PTOE, Associate and Technical Lead, brings 11 years of experience across traffic and transportation projects for both private and public sector clients. Naomi Nelson, Project Transportation Planner, is based in Norfolk and brings more than five years of experience in safety analyses, traffic impact studies, parking and mobility studies, bikeshare implementation, transit planning, and community engagement. And Mohammad Al-Khasawneh, Transportation Engineer, adds research-driven analytical depth. A newly graduated Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of Maryland, Mohammad’s work has centered on complete streets, pedestrian safety, travel demand modeling, and transportation data analytics.
Naomi and Mohammad are new to Gorove Slade entirely, a choice that reflects the firm’s investment in growing this office with fresh talent alongside seasoned leadership.
Alongside new project work, the Hampton Roads team is contributing to the firm’s broader body of thought leadership. Mary Lee, PE, PTOE, Associate and Technical Lead, recently co-authored an Insight on the ITE Trip Generation Manual 12th Edition, a technical update with real consequences for developers navigating traffic impact studies. Changes in trip generation rates can directly affect project feasibility, mitigation costs, and approval timelines, and Mary’s piece breaks down what practitioners and clients need to know. It’s the kind of expertise that makes a difference early in the development process, long before a site plan is filed.
What Comes Next
The pipeline is growing, the team is in place, and the region’s transportation challenges are exactly the kind that Gorove Slade was built for. As Mike Bailey puts it: “I’m particularly proud that Gorove Slade has been continuously building upon our portfolio of multiple projects that support the creation of jobs and promote continued economic development in the region.”
If you’re working on a project in Hampton Roads, get in touch with Mike.
