Va. Beach’s Pembroke Mall to add apartments, senior living and hotel

Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach is getting a $200 million makeover.

The aging mall’s developers, Pembroke Square Associates, announced plans Monday for a series of updates to the 54-acre mall near the city’s Town Center area.

“The mall industry is changing,” said Ramsay Smith, president of Pembroke Realty Group, asset manager for Pembroke Mall. “We had a lot of small shop space. We were a traditional mall, we were looking to put bigger and better things here, go high rise and various things that all mall property owners probably look at.”

Pembroke Square Associates will complete three initial projects to redevelop the mall: An independent senior living community to be managed by Beth Sholom, a new-to-market hotel and apartments.

“Each of these projects reflect our long-term, deliberate strategy to enhance Pembroke Mall for a sustained future,” Smith said in a statement. “In the coming months, we will provide further definition around our plans to achieve these goals.”

The senior-living part, which will be seven stories high at the corner of Jeanne Street and Constitution Avenue, will have 153 units, pickleball courts and terraces. Smith said there is a high demand for senior living and it’s a growing demographic throughout the United States. He described it was a “middle market” that is “more affordable.”

The hotel will be 14 stories, and Smith said they are trying to fast track it, adding that construction could start as soon as the middle of next year. It would be where the former SunTrust bank was located, near the intersection of Virginia Beach and Independence boulevards. He declined to specify the hotel brand but said it will have 209 rooms.

The multifamily, or apartment building, will have around 329 studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, Smith said. It would likely not be under construction until the fourth quarter of next year. It will be in the area of the mall’s property where Stein Mart was.

Eventually, Smith said, there are hopes for a high-rise office building. The developer previously released plans for a bowling alley, but those specific plans dissolved; however, a “national bowling alley concept” is potentially interested for a 2025 opening. Smith said the developers want to add entertainment, additional restaurants and “things of that nature.”

As for the current mall, Smith said they will keep all exterior tenants in place and are working with interior tenants.

Redevelopment plans have been on the table for the past four or five years but the pandemic sped up the changes for malls even more rapidly, Smith said. Stein Mart left two years before its lease expired, which accelerated redevelopment plans, he said.

Tenants on the mall’s property include Target, Kohl’s, Old Navy, Nordstrom Rack, REI, The Fresh Market, Walgreens, J. Crew Factory and DSW.