Navy, Pentagon Enter Into $1.7 Billion Housing Expansion in Newport News
Hunt Military Communities entered into a deal with the Pentagon and Navy to create a $1.7 billion development that will bring more unaccompanied housing for junior sailors in the Hampton Roads, Va., area, the sea service announced Wednesday.
The development, which will bring 8,098 beds through new construction and renovation projects, will replace the current Huntington Hall. In addition to housing, the new development is planned to include retail amenities, according to the Navy release.
The deal with the Pentagon, Navy and Hunt Military Communities also includes the city of Newport News, Va.
Part of the $1.7 billion development is HomePort Hampton Roads 2, a project estimated at $450 million, according to a release from the government of Newport News.
HomePort Hampton Roads 2 will have two 17-story residential towers with approximately 750 two-bed rooms each, a 1,050-space parking garage and commercial space on the ground floor, reads the release.
The city committed $10 million for the project, with the state of Virginia also approving a $40 million treasury loan, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Other projects included in the five-year plan are 712 bedrooms in seven buildings on Naval Air Station Oceana, 614 bedrooms in three building at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and 5,272 bedrooms in six buildings on Naval Station Norfolk, Destiny Sibert, spokesperson for Commander, Navy Installations Command, told USNI News.
Hunt Military Communities negotiated the deal with the Navy over a two-year span, according to The Virginian-Pilot. As they negotiated over the project, the company made moves in the community, including taking over the HomePort Hampton Roads, which provides unaccompanied housing for sailors. Hunt took over the housing complex in January 2025, according to the company.
The Navy and Hunt have worked together to provide barracks for more than 10 years, Sibert said. Previous project performance led the Navy to choose the company for the current housing project.
Hunt Military Communities owns 46 housing properties across the country, including Naval Base Kitsap Family Housing, Whidbey Island Family Housing and the Landing Family Housing in Bremerton, Wash.
The company has been sued by military families, as recently as February, over quality concerns such as mold. In 2022, Hunt agreed to a $500,000 settlement with the U.S. government over fraud allegations, according to the Department of Justice.
The housing projects are part of the Navy’s quality of life plans for the Hampton Roads area following a spate of suicides on USS George Washington (CVN-73). Several sailors died by suicide while GW underwent its more than six-year refueling and complex overhaul, including three who died within a week of each other. While the Navy found there were no links between the sailors, one of the investigations found several quality of life issues, including lack of sleep while housed aboard the ship.
The Navy is also working to reduce the amount of supplemental work required by sailors who are assigned to ships undergoing RCOH as another way to address quality of life, USNI News previously reported.
