Yesterday I saw a flyer advertising an open house luncheon for realtors at Wilson's Landing, a new condominium community in downtown Hampton. Several of us went over this afternoon.I posted about Wilson's Landing back in January, while taking a walk downtown. At that time they were still being constructed. This is how they looked then.
And this is how they look now.
If you want a trilevel condo in downtown Hampton, these units might very well be for you. To the left in the photo, there is a walkway. The front doors of four units are facing each other. Going into either of the doors on the right will take you into two of the models we saw. The middle balcony where the "models open" sign is draped is the balcony of models E & C, the largest and smallest units at 2,409 and 1,961 sq feet respectively. I was confused when I went onto the balcon
y from the larger unit, but when I went onto the same balcony from the smaller unit and asked about it, I was told that the divider has not been constructed yet. Just to the right of where the "models open" sign is is where the 2,409 sq foot unit ends and the 1,961 sq foot unit begins. We also saw the 2,092 & 2,328 sq. ft. units.All units have a ground floor garage. All have a great room with fireplace, a kitchen, and a half bath on the second floor. Hardwood floors in the kitchen area - we saw a light blond wood in the smallest unit and a gorgeous dark wood in the largest unit. Also on this floor, there is a separate laundry room in the larger two models, while the washer and dryer are combined with the half bath in the two smaller units. All four of these units have double doors leading out to a balcony. Units E & C's balconies face Eaton Street, and while it's not the interstate, there is some traffic. The amount of balcony space on the larger unit and the large overhang make up for it somewhat. The units with balconies facing the courtyard are a bit more serene.
On floor three, all three of the larger units have two masters, while the 1,961 sq. ft. unit has a master and a second bedroom with a hallway bathroom.
The best feature of these units, in my opinion, is the fourth floor loft. Each unit's fourth floor has a loft and a full bath, and though the size of the units differs, when I got to the fourth floor of each, I had the same feeling of space and comfort.
Floorplans & Pricing
I have to be honest though. If you were here and you told me that you wanted a new trilevel condominim or townhome on or near the water on the lower peninsula, I would take you to H2O first. I suppose I'll have to visit both again to come up with concrete reasons and a better and more specific comparison. My main reason is that H20's layout and view of Newmarket Creek appealed to me more, but that may have been influenced by the fact that all of the models were staged, whereas only one unit in Wilson Creek was staged. But while H20 has a water view, Wilson's Landing is located near the Hampton river, in restored and historic downtown Hampton. Over the past 20 or so years, this area has seen a revival. Longstanding seafood & watermen establishments like Graham & Rollins, I Cooper's, and Amory's Seafood Market co-exist with many fairly new restaurants, the VA Air & Space center, Hampton History Museum, and thriving businesses. Downtown Hampton is small, quaint, and thriving.
Wilson's Landing is adjacent to Mill Point (on the water) & Towne Creek (not on the water) townhomes. Towne Creek is visible in the photo above. You can see Mill Point behind the house in this photo. Mill Point very rarely has units for sale - only one went on the market this year, in May. It's pending as of 9/13. Towne Creek had 2 units go on the market this year. One sold in two months above list price, the other in four months at list price. So you can see that real estate in the Hampton Roads area is not quite in dire straits compared to
other areas of the country. Most say the main reason this area's economy and real estate prices don't take such huge dives and jumps is due to the stabilizing presence the military has on the local economy. Between Mill Point, Towne Creek, & Syms Eaton Square (the other side of the street), there are 4 condos/townhomes currently on the market in this area: 2 one-bedrooms in Syms Eaton, at 655 sq ft. each, and two larger units in Mill Point. So Wilson's Landing is meeting a need for more/larger townhomes/condos in this area. Wait, there's another established development down Eaton St., Jonathan's Landing. There's a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath townhome in the mid 150's that just went on the market 9/4.Another part of the area's appeal is the proximity to Mill Creek Park, which is on the Hampton River between Mill Point townhomes and the Booker T. Washington bridge, pictured above (photo courtesy of Jerry Gammon). Events such as wine festivals, the Blackbeard festival, and the Afrikan American Festival are held at this park. For larger events like Bay Days, the entire area is cordoned off for pedestrian traffic and streets are off limits to cars. It's only during fest
ivals like this that you will see in Hampton Roads cities the pedestrian traffic that is native to larger cities. After the festival is over, it's back to suburbia - cars rule. If you like the feel of living in a small downtown with easy access to the rest of the Peninsula, less than five minutes to the HRBT and a quick jaunt to Norfolk, and the opportunity to live in the middle of downtown's block parties, you might like living in Wilson's Landing. 
The event was catered by several downtown Hampton restaurants: Marker 20, Goodfellas, La Bodega (formerly The Wine Shop), The Taphouse, Queens Way Soul Cafe, and The Grey Goose.
Marker 20's crab dip was all gone when we got there, and I passed on the Texas Caviar. Goodfella's Hawaiian meatballs were awesome. La Bodega's Greek salad and the Taphouse's Mediterranean Cheese Tortellini with crab and feta were awesome. The best of the day for me. The Soulfood Cafe's fried whiting and collards were decent. The folks were the friendliest, and I've heard they have great drinks. I missed the Grey Goose's dessert.
