5 May 2006

Longwood Landings nears completion

[From left] Dr. Patricia Cormier, president of Longwood University; Richard Park, owner of Pinnacle Construction; and Jesse James, employee of Pinnacle, are raised in the lift bucket to place the flag near the top of Longwood Landings Building 1.

A “topping off” ceremony was held on May 5 at Longwood Landings, a $20 million housing/retail project located on Main Street in Farmville adjacent to the Longwood University campus.  The ceremony included the installation of a U.S. flag at the top of building number one.  The flag was placed by Longwood University President Patricia Cormier who ascended to the roof via a lift bucket.

Longwood Landings at Mid-Town Square enables Longwood University to provide upscale housing for students as part of the University's Residence Life Capital Improvement Program and long-range strategic plan. Construction is expected to be complete by mid-August with student housing ready for occupancy for the fall semester.

Three of the four buildings of Longwood Landings, viewed from the direction of Main Street.

Inside a loft apartment on the first floor of housing space, just above the future retail shops.

The project, the result of a public/private partnership involving the Longwood Real Estate Foundation and Bluestone Land LLC, provides both residential housing and retail space in the property formerly occupied by the Farmville Shopping Center. The residential village includes four, four-story buildings with the top three floors as residential housing and the ground floor as retail space.  Upon completion, Longwood University students will occupy 96 four-bedroom and 24 single-bedroom apartments.  Approximately 400 parking spaces will be provided for students, visitors, and shoppers.

According to Jim McVey, vice president/partner with Commonwealth Commercial, a variety of retail establishments including a restaurant, coffee shop, women’s clothing and jewelry store, cell phone provider, and tanning salon are expected to occupy the lower level retail sites.

The 408 beds at Longwood Landings will be used as “swing space” to replace housing that will be taken offline during renovation of certain residential space on campus. The current inventory of on-campus housing beds will remain at 2,500. As residence halls are renovated, some buildings - due to their age and antiquated infrastructure - will be adapted for uses other than housing or demolished.

View the January 2005 release along with project renderings of the Longwood Landings >>