Norfolk, Virginia–based owner and developer S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. has started the first phase of construction at 2 Rivers Apartment Homes, an affordable housing development in Williamsburg, Virginia. The first phase will consist of 59 apartments, while the second will bring the total to 119 across a 14.5-acre site, according to the developer.

Apartments at 2 Rivers will range from one to three bedrooms in size, each with black Energy Star appliances, granite countertops and 9-foot ceilings. All units will also have patios and/or balconies, high-efficiency HVAC systems and wall-to-wall carpeting with tile flooring in kitchens and baths.

Units will be arranged in a cluster of three-story residential buildings with pitched roofs designed by TS3 Architects. Residents will have access to open space across the wooded development site, as well as a clubhouse and fitness center, a business center with Wi-Fi access, a tot lot, a dog park, a cabana, a grilling patio and other outdoor activity areas. 

“We deliver an affordable product that has the look and feel of a higher-end market rate community, and we maintain that look with strong, meticulous property management for the long term,” Richard T. Counselman, senior vice president of development at S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co., told Multifamily Dive.

2 Rivers marks the first Williamsburg project for S.L. Nusbaum, which manages 30,000 luxury, market-rate and affordable apartments across the Mid-Atlantic and South and has 18 properties in the nearby city of Newport News. Development and construction costs are expected to total $26 million, funded in part with low-income housing tax credits and Virginia State Housing Trust funds.

Williamsburg, a town of 15,425 according to the U.S. Census, is home to The College of William and Mary, the Colonial Williamsburg historic district and the Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park. Education is the town’s largest employment sector, followed by arts, entertainment and the service industry.

While Williamsburg has seen a tremendous amount of growth in luxury and market-rate housing in the last decade, affordable housing has fallen behind, according to Counselman.

“Our closest affordable comparable property is about 20 years old,” Counselman said. “Williamsburg — James City County to be more specific — is ripe for new high-quality affordable housing. This will serve a hugely underserved segment of the population in this area.”