The hospital building at Fort Monroe, the decommissioned Army base and historic site in Hampton, has been vacant for more than a decade. But in the future, people will be able to call that building — or the old arsenal next to it — home.
State and local officials announced plans to redevelop the historic structures into housing Wednesday. Gov. Abigail Spanberger handed the keys to the buildings to developer Edwin Gaskin, owner of Echelon Resources.
Housing is among Spanberger’s top priorities. On her first day as governor, she signed an executive order to increase the state’s housing supply. The order estimates the state is short nearly 300,000 affordable rental homes to meet demand.
The project at Fort Monroe is a prime example of “how you can connect today’s problems of housing affordability and lack of supply to celebrate, honor and recognize our past,” Spanberger said at the Fort Wednesday.
Fort Monroe is a National Historic Landmark and national monument. Point Comfort at Fort Monroe was the first landing of enslaved Africans in English North America.
Hampton Vice Mayor Steve Brown said the project will breathe new life into the historical site.
“The history is so proud and runs so deep,” Brown said. “The goal has been to preserve the history while at the same time developing this beautiful space through a public private partnership.”
The state’s Fort Monroe Authority and Echelon Resources will work together on the project. Echelon Resources is already redeveloping former barracks on Fort Monroe into apartments.
Gaskin said his task is to preserve the buildings’ history while making them relevant for the next couple generations.
“These buildings have long predated us, and if we do our jobs right, they will long outlast us,” he said.