Atlantic Park expected to open in spring 2025

The $350 million Atlantic Park project backed by music icon Pharrell Williams in his hometown of Virginia Beach is progressing, with the 2.6-acre surf lagoon, entertainment venue and other pieces of the project expected to be delivered in spring 2025, Kathy Warren, Virginia Beach’s planning director, told the city council Tuesday.

Atlantic Park, a joint project between Williams and Venture Realty Group, backed with about $153 million of public funding, broke ground in March 2023. The rest of the funding is privately raised. The development is between 18th and 20th streets at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, adjacent to the ViBe district.

It will have 300 apartments, 106,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 10,000 square feet of office space, 20 surf bungalows, a 3,500-person amphitheater (that can expand to 5,000), two parking garages with nearly 1,500 spots, the surf lagoon and a half mile of upgraded public streets, according to Warren.

“This is going to be a game changer for the city,” City Council Member Barbara Henley said in the meeting. “It’s going to be an entirely different thing in that part of the city than we have ever had before.”

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. It’s about 47% complete, according to Warren’s presentation, and 24% of its budget has been expended. It is expected to open in spring 2025.

The two parking garages, which will have 1,475 spaces, are about 71% complete and will also open in spring 2025. These will be owned by the city, getting built at a cost of $47.7 million. Off-site infrastructure is about 56% complete, the entertainment venue is 29% complete and the mixed-use component is 20% complete.

The entertainment venue, called The Dome, in recognition of the original use for the site, can seat 3,500 people inside and expand to hold another 1,500 people outside. The venue will be owned by the city and costs about $54.8 million. The first concert will be in spring 2025.

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 Los Angeles-based global sports and entertainment company Oak View Group — and Live Nation will operate and manage programming for the entertainment venue.

The off-site infrastructure, which is 56% complete, will be done in fall 2025. The mixed-use residential will open from spring to fall 2025, and mixed-use retail will open from spring to summer 2025. This part is 20% done.

The public-private partnership is also funded by private investment, including the sale of Atlantic Park Community Development Authority (CDA) Revenue Bonds and Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA) Sports and Entertainment Facilities Revenue Bonds. 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, a nonprofit that will contribute excess revenues from the surf park to community organizations.

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