Stoneridge Events Center and catering business sold

After three decades in the hospitality business, a well-known Warrenton caterer has sold her company and the building that houses it.

Angela Smith and her husband Mark last week completed the $1.12-million sale of the Stoneridge Events Center just north of town.

Chuck and Helen Cornwell, who own the RE/MAX Regency real estate brokerage in Warrenton, bought the building at 7373 Comfort Inn Drive. The Cornwells last month sold their building at 403 Holiday Court. After remodeling, they hope to move the real estate brokerage to Comfort Inn Drive by the end of May.

Built in 1989, the 8,800-square-foot structure originally housed a Western Sizzlin restaurant. After that restaurant closed and other ventures there failed, the Smiths bought the building six years ago for $780,000.

Ms. Smith also has sold her Savory Fare Catering to Jessica and John Brose, experienced caterers from Culpeper.

Since founding Savory Fare in 2013, Ms. Smith had catered about 500 events a year, she said.

Mr. and Mrs. Brose will rent the large commercial kitchen at the former Stoneridge Events Center from the Cornwells and run the business, renamed Serendipity Catering & Design, from there.

“Jessica had worked with me for about a decade,” Ms. Smith said of the business buyer.

Ms. Smith, who previously operated Legends Restaurant and Catering in Warrenton and worked as the Fauquier Springs Country Club general manager, plans to retire from the hospitality business. Already a licensed Realtor, she will work with Piedmont Fine Properties in Warrenton.

Through the series of transactions, the Cornwells will have a smaller space for RE/MAX Regency in a dramatically changed business environment.

The built the 30,000-square-foot structure at 403 Holiday Court in 2006.

“When we built it, the real estate business was such that needed a big building, but things have changed,” Mr. Cornwell said. “Buyers and sellers almost never come to the office. You don’t need all that space.”

The Cornwells plan an open, “café-style” interior with some offices. Their title and closing company, Entitle Settlement Services, will move there as well.

Glen Armand’s North Rock VBT purchased the Holiday Court building for $3.55 million. After RE/MAX Regency moves, the Holiday Court building will house Eastern Point Trust Co., a firm that Mr. Armand runs from offices on Broadview Avenue.

“It’s been a struggle” to maintain the larger Holiday Court building through the Great Recession a decade ago and the slow recovery, Mr. Cornwell said.

But, the business has started to grow again. The Cornwell’s recently purchased a RE/MAX franchise in Chantilly and moved it to Haymarket.

Contact Lou Emerson at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 540-878-6007.