Atlantic Park breaks ground in Virginia Beach

Atlantic Park, the $335 million dollar surf park development planned for Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront, has broken ground and closed on its financing, according to an announcement Thursday from Venture Realty Group, the firm developing the project with music icon Pharrell Williams.

The 11-acre surf park has been in development since 2017 and its first phase is expected to be open in summer 2025, a year later than initially announced.

Construction on Atlantic Park’s first phase will begin immediately, developers said Thursday. It will include about 100,000 square feet of mixed-use retail, including restaurants, shops and “experiential attractions.” The development also will have 309 apartments and about 10,000 square feet of office space in addition to a 70,000-square-foot entertainment venue, called “The Dome”, and the nearly 3-acre surf lagoon.

The surf lagoon will feature wave-making technology from Wavegarden, an engineering company based in northern Spain, and will generate about 1,000 waves per hour. Amenities will include cabanas in a beach club environment

Atlantic Park’s second phase, which is still being conceived, will include public parking, residential and retail space and a boardwalk connecting Atlantic Park to the Virginia Beach Boardwalk and 17th Street Park. A target date has not been confirmed.

“After a lengthy, complicated and unorthodox process that included various COVID-related shutdowns and historic post-pandemic inflation, we are honored to finally get started on bringing Atlantic Park to life,” Donna MacMillan-Whitaker, Venture Realty Group’s founder and managing partner, said in a statement. “This project hits close to home for our entire Virginia Beach-based team, and we’re immensely proud to move our vision forward.”

Along with Venture Realty, the project is being developed by Williams, the Virginia Beach Development Authority, Newport News-based W.M. Jordan Co., Virginia Beach-based Bishard Development Corp. and Virginia Beach- based Priority Title & Escrow /Virginia Beach-based H2O Investments LLC. 

The city of Virginia Beach will contribute $125 million of public investment to the project, including funding for two parking decks, the entertainment venue and public infrastructure improvements to the central resort area.

The public-private partnership is also funded by $210 million of private investment, including the sale of Atlantic Park Community Development Authority (CDA) Revenue Bonds and Virginia Small Business Authority (VSBFA) Sports and Entertainment Facility Revenue Bonds, according to a new release from Venture Realty. The Atlantic Park CDA is the first community development authority in Virginia Beach and relies on project tax revenues to provide support for the project’s infrastructure. The VSBFA bonds will finance the surf lagoon, which will be owned by P3 VB Holdings LLC, a nonprofit that will contribute excess revenues from the surf park to community organizations.

Private construction financing was led by Fulton Bank, including Old Point National Bank and Dollar Bank, according to the release. Additional supporting construction lending was provided by TowneBank.  Venture Waves LLC, supported by a team of local investors and community leaders, provided equity. 

The Dome will seat 5,000 people at full capacity, with indoor and outdoor seating — when a convertible door is opened. With the door closed, the venue will seat 3,500 patrons inside. Douglas Higgons, senior vice president with Oak View Group,  told Virginia Business in July 2022 that there are only about a half dozen or so similarly sized venues with indoor/outdoor capabilities around the country. The venue’s indoor area will be air-conditioned, even when the door is open for outdoor events.

The entertainment venue’s name harks back to the property’s roots as the site of The Dome, a geodesic dome concert venue and civic center that was demolished in 1994. Acts such as The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, and The Monkees were among the musicians that rocked the house in The Dome’s heyday.

OVG360, a venue management and hospitality division of global sports and entertainment company Los Angeles-based Oak View Group LLC and Live Nation, will operate and manage programming for the entertainment venue.

“Atlantic Park changes everything for Virginia Beach,” Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said in a statement. “With year-round surfing, entertainment, community gatherings and the influence of global visionaries like Pharrell, the heart of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront will be changed forever and for the better, for locals and visitors alike.”