HAMPTON — The Fort Monroe Authority is working to transform two historic buildings at the former U.S. Army base into upscale apartments by next year as part of a larger residential plan.
The first phase will begin this spring to convert 67,000 square feet between two buildings into a total of 78 apartments — including studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms. Randolph Hall, near the fort’s Mill Creek entrance, will be used for 40 apartments, while Building 100, in the village section, will be redeveloped into 38 apartments.
Randolph Hall was built in 1932 and used for barracks, while Building 100 was built in 1906, with several uses throughout the decades.
The authority is , which has worked on building revitalization projects in South Boston, Fredericksburg and Woodstock, and will use state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and National Park Service to finance the project.
“We’re proud to partner with the Fort Monroe Authority on a project of such significance,” Echelon President Edwin Gaskins said in statement. “Fort Monroe Lofts embodies our passion for preserving history while creating meaningful places for people to live.”
The new units are expected to be completed by early fall 2026, and eventually will be joined by two additional sites in the next few years, bringing Fort Monroe Lofts up to roughly 250 apartments across 14 buildings. Echelon is expected to be the developer for those projects, though that has not be finalized.
Site 3 will be an 85,000-square-foot project across three buildings — including 27 and 27A, which previously manufactured seacoast gun carriages.
The largest development will be the 4.2-acre site 4, which will turn the six-building U.S. Army Training Doctrine Command into a complex across the street from the Old Point Comfort Marina. Plans to redevelop the marina last year until utility upgrades are completed.
The phased strategy is due to costly utility upgrades that other sites require before new projects can begin, as well as challenges in balancing multiple developers at the same time, according to the Authority’s Chief Operating Officer John Hutcheson.
However, Hutcheson said Echelon is bullish on Fort Monroe and is already aiming to begin work on site 3 when the current project is done this time next year.
“They remain committed to Fort Monroe,” Hutcheson said. “They’re a good partner to have in this first phase, because they’ve been patient with us as we’ve been trying to get everything lined up to make sure we can facilitate these redevelopment projects in the future.”
Devlin Epding, 757-510-4037, devlin.epding@virginiamedia.com
