When the former Tidewater Community College Visual Arts Center in downtown Portsmouth went up for sale, successful Hampton Roads entrepreneur Angela Reddix knew just what to do with the property.

The founder, president and CEO of ARDX, a Norfolk-based health care management and technology consulting company, is known for empowering others on their road to entrepreneurial success. She mentors young girls through her Envision Lead Grow nonprofit and advises women in business through her Reddix Rules program.

When the 33,000-square-foot building at 340 High St. opened up, she saw an opportunity to find a home for the training and resilience coaching where women become part of a tribe while searching for capital and scaling their businesses.

Reddix and her husband, Carl, bought the building in April for $1.9 million. Renovations to transform and modernize the building, vacant since the summer of 2021, are bound to reach $1 million.

“This is a building provided by women for women for services that mostly benefit women,” Reddix said. “So, it’s almost a women empowerment center.”

Reddix named the facility The Mustard Seed Place, a biblical reference.

“If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains,” she said. “This building is the mustard seed where small dreams grow big.”

The first and second floors will be a place for female small-business owners to learn and grow together as they serve as training grounds for other women-owned small businesses, she said.

“Look at the opportunities that are being created for these women,” Reddix said. “If we can impact women, we impact families, communities, cities, states and so on.”

Leases are signed for eight businesses at different stages of growth, including a mental health boutique and spa, a collaborative movement studio, a cooking studio and lunch cafe, a film production studio and bridal boutique. Move-ins are anticipated in November.

Envision Lead Grow, now in its eighth year of operation, will move its headquarters into the High Street location. A related social enterprise program for youth will be announced soon, she said.

A wealth lab, focused on financial literacy, will give women a safe place to learn about money. Reddix will provide mentoring for the in-house business owners and conduct coaching classes for others without a space in the center. There will also be a meeting space on-site to accommodate 80 people and a nonprofit accelerator to assist with the business side of each organization’s mission.

The third floor, including the rooftop, will house Très Elèvè, a French-inspired event space with seating for 450 people for high-end weddings and corporate events.

Once known as The Famous, an upscale department store with its bridal suite on the top floor, Reddix is elated that history will repeat itself in a sense.

They own the parking lot across the street, so that will not be an issue for employees, customers and event attendees, she said.

“I’m so proud to be a bright light in a community that sometimes you don’t hear a lot of brightness about,” she said.

To learn more, visit mustardseedplace.com

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, [email protected]