WVS, Fountainhead begin construction on Manchester Square townhomes project

Manchester Square is set to rise catty-corner to The Box, an apartment building pictured in the distance. (Mike Platania photo)

A new townhome development is getting underway amid a sea of apartments in Manchester. 

Construction recently began on Manchester Square, a 40-unit project at 600 Decatur St. from locally based WVS Cos.

The new homes will take shape on a 1-acre lot a block east of Hull Street in Old Town Manchester.

WVS, which has had a hand in developing Rocketts Landing, The Locks and the South Falls tower, is taking on Manchester Square with frequent collaborator Fountainhead Real Estate Development.

WVS and Fountainhead had initially planned to build nearly 200 apartments on Manchester Square’s lot that would’ve been a de facto second phase to The Box, their nearby apartment building at 501 Decatur St., but changed course last year. 

WVS Principal Richard Souter said it made more sense to go for a for-sale development there because apartment rent increases aren’t keeping up with rising construction costs, and because there’s strong demand for for-sale homes.

“You can get financing for a multifamily (development); I just don’t think the returns are in multifamily,” Souter said.

Pre-sales at Manchester Square began earlier this month and three of its 40 units have already sold, per Providence Hill Real Estate’s Nikki Axman, who’s handling the listing with colleague Stephanie Harding. 

Two different floorplans are available, ranging from around 1,500 to 2,100 square feet and reaching three or four stories, with options for patios or rooftop terraces. 

A rendering of Manchester Square’s townhomes. (BizSense file photo)

The townhomes start at $419,000, a price point that Axman said is on the low side when it comes to new-construction homes in the area. 

“If we’re talking in a really close proximity to Manchester, we’re extremely competitive. There just isn’t a lot out there opportunity-wise,” Axman said. “When you spread out a little bit further (in the Southside), there are some more options. But if we’re really comparing apples to apples, there’s not anything really that is exactly like what we are offering at that comparable price point.”

Harding said Manchester Square’s units can be purchased in payment plans with monthly installments that are similar to rents at higher-end apartments, which she said has drawn interest from nearby renters. 

However, she said, “the first three buyers that we’ve had all have owned homes previously,” she said.

The first tranche of the development is a row of eight townhomes at the corner of Decatur and East Sixth streets, and is due to be completed by early next year. WPA Studios, the local firm formerly known as Walter Parks Architects, is designing the townhouses, and KBS is the general contractor. Souter said Manchester Square is a roughly $20 million project. 

Elsewhere in Manchester, WVS and Fountainhead have also been planning subsequent phases of South Falls that could reach similar heights to the existing 14-story tower. Those buildings have been in planning for years, and Souter said there will “absolutely be a second building there.”

“It’s just it’s an expensive building. But at some point the numbers will work and we’ll do that,” he said of South Falls.

Across the river in the Fan, WVS recently began site work on the next phase of The Parkline, a townhome development that’s taking shape on a former Dominion Energy parking lot. Once completed, The Parkline will count 26 townhomes. 

Souter said they’re also working on another apartment building at Rocketts Landing that would rise next to The Waterford, a 204-unit midrise that was completed in 2023. WVS was initially considering a double-digit-story building there, but Souter said they’re now thinking it’ll be closer in height to The Waterford, which reaches five stories.

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