ALEXANDRIA, VA-Wood Partners has purchased a three-acre site here in order to develop a new, $68-million luxury multifamily property. Called the Heights at Groveton, the 290-unit project will be built on the site of the former Beacon Field Airport along US Route 1. Construction is expected to begin this month, with completion targeted for the end of 2012. 

Leonard Wood Jr., director of the company’s Mid-Atlantic region, said the firm received a lot of attention from capital sources. Other deal drivers included the favorable demand and supply fundamentals, favorably construction pricing and a stable interest rate environment. JPMorgan Chase is providing the financing at a 55% LTC, with the remainder financed with equity. Wood Partners is partnering with Washington DC-based developer Redbrick Development Group on the project. 

The company is actively seeking other sites in the DC area to develop, Wood tells GlobeSt.com. “We have one under construction in Ellicott City, MD, which will be delivering its first units in April.” The Alexandria project is the company’s tenth in the area, which it entered in 2002, he says. 

Given its location--six miles north of the US Army’s Fort Belvoir--the apartment community will also benefit from BRAC. The submarket is expected to see an increase of nearly 50,000 military and civilian jobs as well as the development of a new 120-bed Belvoir Community Hospital. The Heights at Groverton will be located at 6830 Richmond Highway, encompassing 299,000 square feet. There will also be 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.