New 326-foot tower will be Norfolk’s 2nd-tallest building

Feb. 13--NORFOLK

This fall, a luxury retirement complex plans to start construction on the tallest residential building in Norfolk.

The 27-story River Tower, a $100 million expansion of the decade-old Harbor's Edge community, will hold 138 senior apartments plus 40 memory-support units.

The tower will be 326 feet high, slightly shorter than Norfolk's tallest building, the 340-foot-tall Dominion Tower.

The first residents could start moving in sometime in 2019, with completion in 2020.

The glass tower near the Elizabeth River will change the skyline of Norfolk. And the man who started planning Harbor's Edge in 2000 and still runs it, Neil Volder, hopes it spurs more development in the Fort Norfolk area west of downtown.

"We're a catalyst," Volder said.

The first phase of Harbor's Edge opened in 2006 with a 17-story building holding 159 independent-living apartments. An adjoining health center has almost 100 more units: 50 assisted living, 15 memory support and 33 skilled nursing.

In addition to apartments, the new tower will have four dining rooms or restaurants -- one on the rooftop -- a ballroom and a movie theater.

Harbor's Edge says it was the first continuing-care retirement community in Norfolk. Such complexes allow people to live independently, then move into assisted living if they need to. People can move in starting at age 62.

Because there was no such facility in Norfolk, wealthy older people were moving to Virginia Beach's Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay.

When the first phase of Harbor's Edge went to market more than a decade ago, Volder said, demand was so high that people put down $78 million in "entrance fees" in nine weeks.

Harbor's Edge is owned by a nonprofit, Fort Norfolk Retirement Community Inc., which pays Volder's company to run it day to day.

The community sits on a former industrial site.

The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority bought the land and rents it under a 60-year "ground lease," meaning Harbor's Edge owns its buildings but not the land under them.

The nonprofit will pay the housing agency $15 million over the 60-year lease term, said Cathy L'Heureux, chief financial officer at Harbor's Edge.

For the first 15 years, the city receives an annual payment averaging just under $600,000 in lieu of property taxes. After that, the nonprofit will pay regular property taxes.

A second Harbor's Edge tower was always in the plans. Volder said he first planned the community with 273 units, but it made more financial sense to build it in two phases.

The new tower will rise nearly a decade later than planned. Harbor's Edge planned to start work on it in 2008 or 2009, but then the housing market and national economy crashed.

Volder said he and other officials have reviewed several market studies since then, waiting for the right time to start work on the second phase.

They began marketing the River Tower last year.

Harbor's Edge has not yet sought city approvals for the new tower. But Norfolk's development director, Chuck Rigney, included the tower and its 2019 opening in a summary of upcoming developments presented at a December public forum.

People who live in Harbor's Edge don't own their units.

Instead, they buy a right to live there for the rest of their lives with entrance fees, currently about $400,000 to $1.5 million, plus monthly fees of $4,000 to $7,000.

Volder compared the cost to a long-term care insurance policy, saying the price includes assisted living or memory support if it's ever needed.

People who move out can get 70 to 80 percent of their money back.

The new tower will be connected to the existing buildings. Volder said there are already about 112 deposits for the 138 new units, though some people will likely change their minds over the next few years because of changes in finances, health or other reasons.

The area around Harbor's Edge could include a city park or new retail, Volder said, though those are only discussions for now. He said studies show a clear demand for more retiree housing.

"We're not the only ones looking at this market," Volder said. "And so if we don't do it, someone else comes in and does it."

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