HAMPTON, Va. - A proposed $130 million housing development on the Peninsula has a new name.
"We have named the project — Trilogy," builder Nick Jacovides said in an email to News 3.
Just days prior, Jacovides, President of EDC Homes, and his business partner Ross Vierra, President of Axis Global Enterprises, stood on a massive piece of open land on LaSalle Ave.
The Virginia Beach-based developers explained their vision.
“This is a 24-acre site and inside this development and community are going to be 118 townhomes," said Vierra, adding that there would also be a large number of apartments for rent, in addition to a four-story building designated for active seniors and numerous amenites. “We really wanted to make sure that the vision came to life.”
In late February, Hampton City Council gave the proposed "community village" the green light to move forward.
The vacant land it sits on, which is still owned by Hampton Housing and Redevelopment Authority, has been empty since 2016, when the former Lincoln Park public housing was demolished.
"There's a lack of housing on the southside (and) there's a lack of housing and inventory on the Peninsula, but especially quality housing that people can get into at all different price points," said Jacovides, whose company is also behind the "The Tern at East Beach" townhome development in Norfolk's East Ocean View area. "You don't get 22 acres of land in a lot of places in this area so there's a lot of land here to work with."
According to the city's mayor, Donnie Tuck, that area of LaSalle Ave. just off I-64 is one of three "gateways" into the downtown — along with Rip Rap Rd. and Settlers Landing Rd.
“This project being on LaSalle, really opens up that area," Tuck recently told News 3 outside his office.
He describes the proposed build as "phenomenal," and says it would be the largest development since he became mayor seven years ago. One he believes would help make Downtown Hampton and the surrounding area a better place to live.
“We're constantly asked questions about, 'can we get a grocery (store) downtown?' Well, they say retail follows rooftops and the magic number is supposedly 5,000 new housing units in our downtown. We’re trying to really hard to get that number," Tuck said.
The proposal for "Trilogy" touts how close it is to the interstate and downtown, but also NASA Langley Research Center and Langley Air Force Base.
Tuck says finding enough housing for the base has been a problem and with more servicemen and women scheduled to arrive soon, the need is expected to grow.
“2,500 people coming [to Langley] between maybe late summer and the latter part of the year. Those individuals need housing," Tuck told News 3. “We want them to live in Hampton.”
Tuck says proposed monthly rents at the development between $1,200-1,500 would match what military members get for housing.
Jacovides and Vierra say townhomes for purchase would also start in the $300,000s.
“Police, teachers, firemen. We want all of those workforce types to be able to come into this community and live together," said Jacovides.
While Tuck says there is currently not a plan to build more public housing specifically, there is an effort to make sure at least some of the homes in the proposed development are accessible to people who might not be able to afford them otherwise.
Related: Millions in funding coming to affordable housing programs across Hampton Roads
“This right here will create about 300 units and I think some 80 will be income-based," he told News 3.
Jacovides and Vierra say the hope "Trilogy" can break ground this fall, with a "Phase 2" already in the works nearby.
