JV to Leave Its Mark on the Norfolk Waterfront

The city of Norfolk is about to get another apartment community. This week, a joint venture consisting of two out-of-state developers has announced its intention to build the Watermark, a $28 million development located along the Lafayette River.

El Paso-based Hunt Companies is working on the project together with Collins Enterprises of Old Greenwich, CT. They are building the Watermark on the 5.7-acre site of the former Riverside Terrace apartment community, in the Wards’ Corner neighborhood, about five miles north of the city’s downtown and within a mile of the Norfolk Naval Station. The joint venture has already demolished the old Class C apartment community.

The upcoming Class A apartment complex will feature 180 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, as well as a pool, clubhouse, business center, fitness center and other amenities. The project is scheduled for completion in June 2016.

New York-based Real Estate Capital Partners is also investing in the new Watermark community. Winks-Snowa Architects of Richmond is the project’s architect, with Clancy & Theys as the general contractor. In order to finance the development, the joint venture has secured a $21 million construction loan from PNC Bank.

“The Watermark offers the opportunity to take advantage of evident market growth and excellent demand by apartment renters as the Norfolk area grows into a more important East Coast port in the wake of the widening of the Panama Canal,” Glen Weisberg, CEO of Hunt, said in a statement.