The Navy and Hunt Military Communities have marked the start of construction on two 17-story sailor housing towers in downtown Newport News, Virginia, a project the Navy puts above $450 million within its first large-scale barracks privatization. Monday’s ceremony came about six weeks after financial close on the wider $1.7 billion program.
The towers will hold about 750 two-bedroom apartments, which the Navy says will house 1,500 sailors drawn from bases across the region. A 1,050-space parking garage and ground-floor commercial space complete the plan, and the development replaces Huntington Hall, the Navy’s current housing and recreation center on the site.
What Is Being Built?
Hunt president and chief executive Brian Stann said each sailor will have a private bathroom. Plans reported in 2025 described a development of more than 930,000 square feet, roughly the floor area of 16 football fields.
Construction is phased so sailors can stay in Huntington Hall until the first new rooms are ready, and the old building comes down only after residents have moved, according to Hunt. City officials have expected the garage to finish by summer 2028, the first residential phase by summer 2029 and the final phase on the Huntington Hall site by summer 2031.
Newport News leaders see a second payoff. They hope more residents downtown will lift foot traffic for nearby businesses, and Mayor Phillip Jones called the city “a Navy and Marine Corps town” at the ceremony.
Who Is Paying for It?
The program rests on a five-year agreement that the Navy says was signed on July 1, with financial close reached on September 29, according to Hunt. It covers 8,098 beds across Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Newport News accounts for about 1,500 of them but more than a quarter of the $1.7 billion, which reflects the cost of towers, a garage and retail space.
Stann said earlier this year that Hunt was seeking about $1.4 billion in bonds, with the Navy adding roughly $400 million. Virginia has also lent Newport News $40 million through the state treasury, interest-free, a loan the Navy called instrumental in securing the project. The Navy estimates privatization will save the government more than $325 million, money it says will go to other quality-of-life projects.
Why Is Hunt’s Record Under Scrutiny?
Hunt manages more than 60,600 homes at 59 military bases and already runs Homeport Hampton Roads, which houses more than 3,600 junior sailors, Stars and Stripes reported. Critics point to tenant lawsuits over mold and poor conditions in Hunt-managed family housing. Eight of nine suits filed in 2019 were settled out of court this year, and a jury awarded more than $91,000 in the ninth.
WHRO reported that Hunt paid $500,000 in 2022 to settle a federal case over incentive payments on family housing, without admitting wrongdoing. Jones said he does not expect the barracks to repeat those oversight problems, because his talks with Hunt and the Navy focus on sailor quality of life. The Pentagon’s financial close announcement says the agreement raises long-term sustainment funding by 400 percent.
Rental housing is also advancing elsewhere in Virginia, where the 355-unit Lake Pointe community in Woodbridge that we covered at groundbreaking now leases as The Kincaid at Caton Hill.
Project Overview
- Project Name: HomePort Hampton Roads 2 (Newport News Navy housing towers)
- Developer or Owner: Hunt Military Communities, with the U.S. Navy
- Location: Near Huntington Avenue and Warwick Boulevard, downtown Newport News, Virginia
- Project Type: Privatized housing for unaccompanied sailors
- Project Value: More than $450 million, per the Navy, within a $1.7 billion program
- Capacity: About 750 two-bedroom apartments for 1,500 sailors
- Key Components: Two 17-story towers, 1,050-space parking garage, ground-floor commercial space
- Program Scale: 8,098 beds built or renovated across Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach over five years
- Procurement Model: Public-private venture under a five-year Navy agreement signed July 1, 2026
- Public Financing: $40 million interest-free state treasury loan to Newport News
- Status: Financial close September 29, 2026; construction start marked November 9, 2026
- Phasing: Garage by summer 2028, first phase by summer 2029, final phase by summer 2031, per city officials
- Replaces: Huntington Hall Naval Berthing Facility
- Main Contractor: Not publicly disclosed
Project Team
- Developer and operator: Hunt Military Communities
- Client and funding partner: U.S. Navy
- Defense oversight: Department of War
- Host city and borrower: City of Newport News
- State financing: Commonwealth of Virginia
- General contractor: Not yet disclosed
Leave a Reply