Virginia Beach developer plans headquarters expansion

A major player in the Hampton Roads development scene is taking a literal hands-on approach for its newest project: expanding its office building.

The Breeden Company, a Virginia Beach-based developer with a portfolio of more than 15,000 apartments, plans to break ground this summer on a $2.4 million, 6,558-square-foot expansion project on the building, which is on Lynnhaven Parkway, just off Interstate 264.

The arrangement gives Breeden extensive control over the project timeline, said Tim Faulkner, chief operating officer.

“We have our own construction company,” Faulkner said. “The only part of it we can’t control is the governmental approval process, but we can stay on top of it probably better than most corporate folks can.”

The expansion builds upon a 5,000-square-foot renovation project Breeden completed around 2005, Faulkner said. Breeden founder Ramon Breeden developed the office park in 1985 and sold off the rest of the buildings. The space is ideal for the company because of its central location in Hampton Roads and its accessibility, Faulkner said. The office currently has 14,584 square feet of space.

The project is driven by rapid expansion of the company’s property management division and its construction services, Faulkner said. In fact, Breeden Construction’s Virginia Beach office a mile away also added 2,200 square feet to its space recently.

These additions are a signal from Breeden Company leaders that in-person work and offices are here to stay, Faulkner said, at least for them. More than 8 out of 10 company leaders nationwide plan to let employees work remotely at least some of the time after the pandemic, according to a

survey from the Gartner research firm.

At Breeden, offices are essential to building relationships between employees, Faulkner said. Additionally, it still makes sense to have a physical presence in the community, he said, just like the company has management offices at apartment complexes and workers at construction sites.

The expansion projects will give Breeden space for 16 more employees at the headquarters and 10 more at the construction office. Some of those hires have already happened, Faulkner said.

Since its founding in 1961, The Breeden Company has designed, managed or built more than 2 million square feet of retail and office space, along with its thousands of apartments. Outside Hampton Roads, the company has worked on projects in Northern Virginia and Richmond. Breeden and its subsidiaries employ 400 people.

The company’s newest planned local development is The Pinnacle on 31st

Street, a $66 million apartment complex project at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

Additionally, the company recently expanded into a Charlottesville office. In the future, the company plans to focus on growth in that region, as well as North Carolina and South Carolina, Faulkner said.