By: Rick Stouffer
Edited By: Abbey Zaluski
When companies are scouting locations for a new facility, they want sufficient land that is readily available. They also desire multiple transportation modes, a trained, or trainable work force, low taxes, and easily obtainable permits. Very few workers look forward to a 90-minute drive to get to work, and the same amount of time to get home when the eight-hour “workday” is over.
What came first, the job or the housing? Both are so important, and needed for a vibrant, local economy. Two new West Virginia housing developments on the Ohio River are looking to attract buyers just north of the state’s capital city. These buyers are expected to flood the redevelopment of the site that defined Weirton.
Harbor Point has brought new luxury living construction to the mid-Ohio River Valley. This is roughly 17 miles north of Parkersburg, West Virginia, mid-way between the towns of Boaz and Williamstown.
A mixed-use development, Harbor Point includes townhouse living, along with commercial development. What really sets this development apart is the 60-slip private marina!
“My brother Mark (president of Mondo Building and Excavating) has dreamed of having a development with a marina for years – he looked for the right piece of property for almost 30 years and had been developing it for 11 years,” said Mona Mondo, salesperson, and the point person for marketing Harbor Point.
The marina opened in the summer of 2019. It offers reserved slips, protected from large commercial vessels plying the Ohio and river boating wakes. With 1,000 feet of floating concrete docks, the Harbor Point Marina can accommodate roughly 60 vessels, with a maximum length of 60 feet. The inner harbor marina provides quick access to the Ohio via the Big Run tributary. A private boat ramp is also available on-site for marina members.
The commercial component of Harbor Point already has signed a trio of tenants, including WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medicine, Mountain River Physical Therapy, and Rejuvenation and Skin Care.
“Construction of a restaurant will begin after the holidays… a medical-related professional corporation is coming,” Mona Mondo said. “Our goal is to have a variety of commercial tenants.”
Harbor Point’s residential component will include three six-plexes and six duplexes, with all units offering river and harbor views. Units will feature three or four floors, with square footage ranging from 2,176 square feet to 3,250 square feet of living area, plus 1,000 square feet of garage space.
“The key to growth in any area is to live, work and play,” according to Bryce Custer, SIOR, CCIM, a petrochemical and energy services commercial broker. Even though he has no affiliation or representation of the development, Custer welcomed the chance to promote Harbor Point. “We want to attract people to live near the Ohio River, to help make the entire area prosper.”
Projects like Harbor Point’s luxury living townhouses will certainly be one of the many key components to the development of the area.
Weirton Crossings
For roughly a century, the city of Weirton – the city Weirton Steel built – relied on the big brother located along the Ohio River for employment, tax base, and providing funding for charities, etc.… When steelmaking left the city, the question was, what do to with 1,100 acres of property formally dedicated to making steel? The brownfields must be repleted and remediated in order to attract potential tenants.
The partner for Weirton was the Frontier Group of Companies, which has participated in similar repurposing projects in North and South America, including in the Ohio River Valley and sites in and not far from its Buffalo, New York, headquarters. The result is Frontier Crossings, which will include multi-purpose locations that cater to industrial, commercial retail, and residential users.
“The residential component will be built on roughly 30 acres in the northern end of the site, which already includes infrastructure, including roads and utilities,” said Patrick Ford, Frontier Group’s Business Development Director. Ford added that the entire Frontier Crossings mixed-use development represents $2 billion in private investment, and roughly 500 jobs.
“New residential is the key to growth in the Weirton-Steubenville (Ohio) area – it’s absolutely critical,” according to Ohio River Corridor’s Custer.
Frontier is in the middle of conducting a market analysis for the development’s residential component, so Ford could not give unit sizes and prices. However, the residential plan will include multi-family, attaching housing and single-family homes. Ford added his company’s goal is to have many of the residential units at Frontier Crossings well underway by late 2021-2022.
Looking for a place to live, work or play along the Ohio River?
Contact Bryce Custer
Direct: (330)-418-9287
Email: [email protected]