THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240518
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
For a while, the vision of Harbourview - more than 2,000 acres bringing about 10,000 residents and 7,000 jobs to northern Suffolk - seemed oh-so-distant.
Now, though, with moving vans, construction trucks and hundreds of residents in the area, it's clear that the long-awaited city-within-a-city has sprung from the drawing boards to reality.
In 1994, 184 homes were sold in the first phase of the project, Burbage Grant. With 125 homes occupied, the development is well on its way to becoming a vibrant community.
The new Suffolk residents have come from out of state as well as from Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and the Peninsula. They were drawn by location, its quiet, almost-rural atmosphere and value. Dollar for dollar, builders say, purchasers can get more in a new house in Harbourview than almost anywhere else in Hampton Roads. Although the region lagged behind the national trend of increased housing starts for 1994, Suffolk's numbers were up dramatically. From a 1993 total of 406, permits for new, single-family houses jumped to 703 in 1994.
``We saw a steady rise during 1994, and see that remaining for 1995,'' said Wayne Whitehurst, Suffolk building official. Much of the building, he said, was in northeast Suffolk.
Lower interest rates in early- and mid-1994 encouraged buyers. Homes in Harbourview sold at twice the rate expected by Robert T. Williams, executive vice president of the Jorman Group, the project's developers.
When interest rates rose, sales leveled off, but they never dropped below Williams's original estimate.
Harbourview was planned to integrate residential development with recreation, office, light industrial and retail facilities. Upon completion, it will encompass 2,072 acres, partly on the Nansmomd River. The property is split in two by Interstate 664, allowing easy access to the Peninsula and the rest of south Hampton Roads.
If all goes according to the master plan, the project will bring 7,000 new jobs and 10,000 new residents to Suffolk.
Harbourview Business Park, a 372-acre site within the community, has generated more inquiries since December than Williams had received in the last five years, he said. Many were from employers looking to consolidate Peninsula and Southside facilities in a central location.
Adjacent to Harbourview is the Bridgeway Commerce Park, a 400-acre site owned by Dominion Lands, Inc. and zoned M-1, for light industrial development. Although there have been no sales, Vice President Don Priest said he is optimistic that completion of water and sewer lines within the next few months will stimulate sales.
South of Harbourview, Hampton Roads Crossing, a 160-acres business park, straddles the Portsmouth/Suffolk line. James N. Owen, senior vice president of Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, marketers of the property, said they are awaiting the first major buyer to kick off the project.
``We see this as having potential to be a very strong commercial center,'' Owen said. Harbourview's residential component was planned similarly to the Riverwalk development in Chesapeake. A wide range of housing choices, townhouses, duplexes, detached single-family condominiums, and single-family homes, will be clustered in villages, enhancing the neighborly feel of a small community.
Although the West Village, a golf course community of custom homes priced up to more than $500,000, was intended as the first phase of Harbourview, the market for that type of home was sluggish. Instead, Burbage Grant, offering more affordably priced homes in several different villages, became Harbourview's first development. Centex Homes of Hampton Roads were the first to break ground, offering a selection of one- and two- story, single-family homes priced from $95,000 to $140,000. The average selling price is $122,000. The Centex homes are in the Burbage Lake Village.
Two other, smaller villages offer similarly priced homes, with Pace Construction & Development Corp. from Virginia Beach building in Scottsfield Village, and Atlantic Homes Development Corp. of Hampton building in Glenrose Village.
The Castlewood Village has attracted a variety of builders from Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and the Peninsula. They are selling homes with more custom touches and larger lots for $145,900 and up.
Richard Charles and his wife, Gail, were the first residents in Harbourview. Charles, 27, is a Navy veteran and former Virginia Beach resident who is now a full-time student at Tidewater Commnity College. Gail Charles is a civil engineer working in Newport News. ``I saw the land before it was developed and thought it would be a wonderful place to live,'' he said. Charles feels a certain kinship with Thomas Burbage, the English settler who received a patent on the land from the British crown in the 1630's. Burbage's mission was to establish an English community on the south side of the Nansemond River.
Since January 1994, when Charles moved into his home, he has seen a neighborhood evolve around him. ``I sometimes feel like the grand patriarch watching an infant community grow up,'' he said.
Williams, who has led the project since July 1986, shares Charles' feeling - on a larger scale - as he watches Harbourview come alive after several years of setbacks and delays.
In April 1987, zoning for the project was approved. The developers aimed to have the project on its way by the time the Merrimac-Monitor Bridge tunnel was open, originally scheduled for November 1990. Construction delays on both the tunnel and connecting highways, however, stalled Harbourview.
For three years, 1989 to 1991, the developers filled time by mining sand from the property, creating two large lakes from borrow pits and supplying construction sand for the highways. ``Route 164 and the Pughsville interchanges are built on sand right from here,'' Williams said.
By the time the tunnel opened in April 1992, Williams had finetuned Harbourview's master plan. ``The delays gave the development partners the chance to think the project through and anticipate any errors,'' he said.
Williams is the former city manager of both Portsmouth and Newport News. After managing two cities, he was ready to build a third. ``I want to build a community, a place where people can live, work and play, with any kind of housing available to them,'' Williams said.
He is enthusiastic about the development's progress in 1995.
Holly's Inc., a Suffok-based solid-waste collection and disposal firm, plans to build a 30,000 square- foot facility in Harbourview. Offices, a maintenance garage and a materials recycling center will replace Holly's' existing facilities on Carolina and Dill Roads in Suffolk. Holly's expects to break ground in early summer.
Water and sewer lines are being built by the city of Suffolk along Harbourview Boulevard, from Route 17 to College Drive, and should be finished this year.
Towne Point Road will be a extended as a four-lane road from College Drive to Harbourview Boulevard, with traffic signals installed at College Drive.
These preliminary projects will allow the developers to build the first phase of Harbour Club Road into the west side of the Harbourview site and begin work on the golf course and the West Village residential area.
A pool, bath house, and playground will be built near the entrance to the Burbage Lake Village.
A new elementary school on Respass Beach Road is scheduled to open in the fall of 1996.
Eight-foot-wide walking/biking paths will be built to connect the villages and the school.
Jansen and Patsy Butler are particularly eager for the new school. Last year, the Butlers were living in an apartment in Virginia Beach and searching for a four-bedroom home for their family of three young children and Patsy's mother. ``The prices in Virginia Beach were extremely high, and we got a lot more for our money here in Suffolk,'' Patsy Butler said.
The Butlers, who moved in during the summer, were surprised by neighborliness.
``We walk through the neighborhood, and everybody is smiling and waving,'' Patsy Butler said."This is becoming a very nice community.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Harbourview: From plans to reality
ON THE COVER
The Butler family moved into Harbourview this summer. They are
pictured in their new home by staff photographer John H. Sheally II.
On the stairs are Jensen and Patsy Butler with their children
Tierre, Shantell and Lakesha. Standing is grandmother Patsy
Rollins.
Bob Williams, executive vice president of the development group,
strolls along one of the new neighborhoods.
Castlewood Village has attracted builders from Virginia Beach,
Chesapeake, Portsmouth and the Peninsula. They are selling homes
with custom touches and larger lots for $145,900 and up.
Map
by CNB