$20M housing development coming to Fort Monroe

South Boston-based developer Echelon Resources will invest $20 million to redevelop two historic Fort Monroe buildings in Hampton into housing as part of a larger redevelopment effort, Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced Wednesday.

Echelon will rehabilitate Fort Monroe’s nearly 68,000-square-foot historic Post Hospital at 60 Ingalls Road and the roughly 17,000-square-foot Old Arsenal Building at 66 Ingalls Road, creating around 85 new apartment units. Built in 1898 with later additions, the Post Hospital served as the former Army base’s primary medical facility for decades. The adjacent Old Arsenal, a Civil War-era masonry structure constructed around 1860, replaced an earlier arsenal destroyed in 1855.

Echelon President Edwin Gaskin said construction should start near the end of this year or early next year and last between 12 to 15 months, for a likely 2028 completion date. He noted that the exteriors and many interior historic elements will remain intact and be preserved, and that the project will adhere to the guidelines of the Virginia Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits Program.

“Across our commonwealth, one of the things I hear most from Virginians is the need for more housing options,” Spanberger said in a statement. “This public-private partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority and Echelon Resources is exactly the kind of project that can increase the supply of housing in every corner of the commonwealth. Not only does this continued investment work to address Virginia’s housing shortage, but it does so in a really innovative and exciting way through adaptive reuse of historic buildings.”

The $20 million investment builds on two Fort Monroe redevelopment projects led by Echelon that are nearing completion: the conversion of Building 100 at 90 Ingalls Road and Randolph Hall at 150 Ingalls Road, which together will deliver 78 market-rate apartments. Gaskin said construction on those projects began in March and April 2025, and the sites will be delivered this summer. The combined cost of developing both of these sites was about $17 million, he said.

“These historic buildings have long predated us,” Gaskin said in a statement. “And if we do our jobs right, then they will long outlast us. My role as developer is one of responsible steward. By breathing new life into these buildings, we can make sure Fort Monroe continues to serve as a home to Virginians for generations to come.”

Gaskin said in an email that while Echelon hasn’t done any targeted advertising, many people are finding out about the redevelopment through word of mouth, media coverage and general interest in the fort, and said that interest “has been strong.”

Echelon will eventually develop an additional residential phase at Fort Monroe, redeveloping the roughly 4.2-acre former U.S. Army Training Doctrine Command complex for housing. Gaskin said designs for this phase have not begun, and there is currently no estimated construction timeline.

Fort Monroe’s history

The 565-acre Fort Monroe carries centuries of American history. Named for President James Monroe, the U.S. Army built it between 1819 and 1834, and in the 20th century was a training ground for Army units. It is where the first enslaved Africans landed in English-controlled North America in 1619, and it later became a haven for thousands of people who escaped enslavement. This legacy earned the fort the name of “Freedom’s Fortress.”

After the fort was decommissioned in 2011, then-President Barack Obama declared 325 acres of the site a national monument. The state owns about 318 acres, while the National Park Service and the U.S. Army own the remaining acres, although the Army plans to transfer the property to the NPS.

In addition to Echelon, Smithfield-based Pack Brothers Hospitality is also pursuing a major redevelopment at Fort Monroe. The company initially proposed a $45 million plan to build a marina and convert two historic buildings into a conference center, restaurant and hotel. But amid rising construction costs, the developers put the plan on indefinite hold in early 2024.

Randy Pack said Wednesday that he and his brother still plan to move forward with the resort, known as 37 North at Fort Monroe, and are “actively pursuing” a scaled-down version of the original proposal.

Last month, the Fort Monroe Authority awarded the New York-based design firm Hargreaves Jones a $1.8 million contract to create a master plan that will guide future commercial, residential and recreational development at the fort, as well as historic preservation efforts.