Assembly, a four-story campus for entrepreneurs and innovators in downtown Norfolk, has reached 100% occupancy and plans to expand.
“Our vision in creating Assembly was to build an environment where ambitious companies and individuals would thrive together as a collective community and it’s exciting to see that vision continue to come to life,” Drew Ungvarsky, Assembly’s co-founder and CEO, said in a news release.
Assembly’s first phase opened in 2021 in the Ames & Brownley department store building at the corner of Granby and Freemason streets with 50,000 square feet of office, coworking and retail space with shared amenities and common areas that include a rooftop deck, event space, podcast studio and a bike share and storage station.
Strong tenant demand is now bringing to fruition the original vision: repurposing three historic department store buildings into a regional hub for creativity and community-building.
Planning for Assembly’s second phase is now underway. The adjacent redevelopment will add 53,000 square feet to the campus with the restoration of the historic Sears and Roebuck buildings at Monticello Avenue and Freemason Street.
“The Phase 2 development will include a unique expansion of our office community including shared new amenities, as well as retail and residential space,” Ungvarsky said in an email.
While specific plans have not been announced, city documents show the next phase of development is expected to be a $35.8 million investment.
The business had purchased the property for the Assembly complex from the city for $3.7 million in 2019, and City Council voted at its Aug. 26 meeting to amend the agreement to take $1.55 million off the purchase price, the amount still owed, on the condition the second phase is developed, including improvements to the historic facade. Ungvarsky said part of the consideration is Assembly provided a roughly $1 million discount on rent for the city to lease the Phase 2 buildings through 2023 plus payments of $2.15 million to the city to date. The complex had previously been occupied by four city departments.
Assembly’s newest tenants include: Scend Studio, a production studio available for rentals, membership or services that include podcasts, video and photography shoots, and Orbis, a non-traditional landscape architecture firm that launched a floral design service focused on micro-weddings and events.
Istoria, a marketing agency focused on brand elevation and storytelling through strategy, web, photo and video services, recently expanded within the campus. And Work Program Architects, the original designer of the Assembly building, is expanding its studio space there for its growing team.
Current demand includes a waitlist for office spaces as well as year-over-year growth of memberships for access to the coworking space, meeting and event space rentals, and community events, Ungvarsky said. While the office spaces are leased out, companies and individuals can still join Assembly through its coworking program.
“We are optimistic about strong demand for Phase 2,” Ungvarsky said.