Home Properties Breaks Ground on Fredericksburg Apartments

Fredericksburg, Va.–Home Properties Inc. has broken ground on the Apartments at Cobblestone Square in Fredericksburg, Va. The new property will feature eight four-story buildings totaling 302 one- and two-bedroom apartments and a refurbished 100-year-old rail depot.

The first of apartment buildings, along with the rail depot renovation, are slated for completion in late 2011. Subsequent buildings will be added afterward and the entire project should be completed in 2012.

The depot will house 12 apartments (10 of which will be loft-style) and a clubhouse that include WiFi, a fitness center, a club room with gaming area, and a business center. The project will also feature an outdoor pool and access to an adjacent 10-acre nature park.

Cobblestone Square has a number of green elements, such as proximity to a Virginia Railway Express station. More unusually, the property will be trailhead for a planned trail system that will eventually link downtown Fredericksburg to various points in the Virginia countryside. The development is on track to achieve the National Association of Home Builders’ Green Building Standard Silver certification.

Currently, Rochester, NY-based Home Properties owns and operates 115 multifamily properties containing about 38,860 apartment units, and the REIT says it’s on the lookout for more, both through new development, as in the case of Cobblestone Square, and acquisition. “Our strategy for ’11 is to continue to be aggressive on acquiring,” said Edward J. Pettinella, the company’s president and CEO during its most recent conference call. “Our goal is $200 million to $350 million in gross acquisitions.”

The REIT developed 449 new apartment units in 2010. Besides Cobblestone Square, another project slated for development this year by Home Properties is Ripley Street, North, a 379-unit highrise in Silver Spring, Md.