Mixed-Use Development Coming to Denbigh

Daily Press
Copyright (c) 2005, The Daily Press, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 10, 2005
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Money & Work
PAGE: C7
By JODY SNIDER
jsnider@dailypress.com | 247-7874

VIRGINIA BEACH
Construction on a Port Warwick-style area to begin at Jefferson Avenue and Denbigh Boulevard.

The Breeden Co., based in Virginia Beach, will begin construction this spring on a $50 million mixed-use apartment development in the Denbigh area of Newport News that offers 304 apartments surrounded by shops, restaurants, offices and a hotel.

The 45-acre Villages of Stoney Run is planned as a traditional neighborhood development at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Denbigh Boulevard. The development includes many signature features for which the Newport News Port Warwick development has become known -- such as second-floor apartments topped on first-floor retail, pedestrian-friendly restaurants and shops and public art in the courtyards -- all set around a natural setting of woods and a creek.

The Breeden Co. will act as its own general contractor and manage and own the property once it is open in late summer 2006.

The Villages of Stoney Run has been in the planning stages for the past five years. The land was rezoned from retail/commercial to mixed-use in 2003. Nearby neighbors opposed the rezoning, worrying that if the wooded acreage was replaced with buildings and pavement, it could worsen flooding problems for those living in the Hanover Heights neighborhood. The Breeden Co. responded by increasing the amount of land set aside for drainage and paying to install a new culvert.

"We see this development as an evolution of apartment living," said Kent Little, president of The Breeden Co. "This development offers 120 apartments with garages that have private access. There are 64 apartments that set on top of 35,000 square feet of retail shops, which will offer restaurants and service-type retail."

In addition, Little said five outparcels, three of them fronting Jefferson Avenue, will likely become restaurant venues for those living in or staying at the 100-room hotel in the development. A Chick-Fil-A restaurant is planned for one of those locations. The land to build the hotel is under contract, and Little said he expects to make a hotel announcement in 60 days.

The apartment development is targeted to attract professionals, empty nesters and families with children, said Tim Faulkner, president of The Breeden Property Management. He said the rent would range from $1,100 to $1,400 per month.

Faulkner said that some of the services those people might need also will be available in the development. He hopes to fill an office building at the site with dentists, attorneys, insurance firms, real estate companies and architectural firms.

With the fast growth of Port Warwick, city planners say they're seeing more rezoning for Port Warwick-like developments.

"We have another project going through zoning now," said Al Riutort, city planning director. "It's a more urban type of development, and it's what much of the country is going to."

Riutort said the Villages development fills a housing need for more upscale housing in Newport News.

"That's a concern for us. We need to provide more upper-end housing."

The Breeden Co. owns 2,500 units in 14 apartment complexes in Hampton Roads. The company also has a 240-unit apartment complex under construction in Eagle Harbor in Isle of Wight. The company also owns and manages several shopping centers in the area. *