Mixed-use mecca Downtown is one of four significant
mixed-use development projects under- way in Suffolk. A few miles away, the former Louise Obici Memorial Hospital site sat vacant for more than a decade after the hospital moved to a new facility in 2002. But the construction of Merid- ian Obici apartments there in 2016 spurred commercial development, culmi- nating with Cinema Café’s plans to build a seven- to eight-screen, 35,000-square- foot movie theater, restaurant and bar at Obici Place. The mixed-use community includes the apartments and an Aldi grocery store. The theater is expected to open in 2022. Several mixed-use projects also are
in the works in the burgeoning North Suffolk area. The Point at Harbour View includes 55 acres of the former Tidewater Community College site, which will be developed into apartments, town homes, condominiums, shops, office space and hotels. TCC sold the property to the Suffolk Economic Development Author- ity about 15 years ago. The college’s real estate foundation owns the remaining acreage, which it plans to market for development this fall. Hughes is excited about the site’s
prospects. “This one is definitely unique and one we’ve been thinking and dream- ing about for a very long time,” the economic development director says. He adds that the location, off Interstate 664,
“There’s something special about Suffolk,” says Marie DePrado, who opened second locations of her Virginia Beach businesses, World Class Realty and Pourfavor Coffee, in Suffolk last year.
is ideal, with about 80,000 cars driving by it daily. “Development is heading that way.” Also off I-664, Chesapeake devel-
opment firm BECO is spearheading Bridgeport as a community-centric development for North Suffolk and the Bridge Road corridor, one of the city’s most heavily traveled highways. Old Dominion University’s E.V. Williams Center for Real Estate named Bridgeport as one of the region’s top five 2019 retail developments. BECO founders Burt Cutright
and Eric Olson envision Bridgeport as a walkable community that will feature more than 700 luxury apartments, bou- tique shops, offices, an outdoor enter- tainment venue and a social club. It is slated to be completed within four years. “The Bridgeport project really
aligns with the comprehensive plan we have,” Hughes says. “Folks are interested in walkability and more amenities sur- rounding where they live.”
Attention-getting Bridgeport’s first phase will feature
288 one- and two-bedroom apartments in five buildings, with the bottom levels of four of the buildings containing shops, a boutique fitness club, restaurants, a financial firm and an upscale salon. Called
www.VirginiaBusiness.com
3800 Acqua, the apartments are expected to open this fall. The second phase will include the
159-unit apartment complex, Royal Sail at Bridgeport, one of the nation’s first 55-and-older communities in a mixed- use development. “Senior communities are not really common in mixed-use communities,” says Julie Gifford, BECO’s public relations director. The final phase will include building more than 280 apartments in a yet-to-be named com- plex. BECO has not announced when construction will begin on Bridgeport, but the project is slated to be completed in four years. “We’re getting lots of interest,”
Gifford adds. “This area is not only the fastest-growing area in Hampton Roads, it’s one of the fastest-growing in Virginia.” Across Bridge Road from Bridgeport,
BECO is constructing the Harbour Breeze Medical Center, which it expects to be completely occupied by the end of the year. Health care is a growing industry in
North Suffolk, with two of the region’s major providers in fierce competition. The Virginia Department of Health approved Bon Secours’ request to build a $77 million, 75,000-square-foot hospital
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