‘World’s largest surf park,’ first on East Coast, coming to Chesterfield County

The first surf park on the East Coast – and supposedly the largest of its kind in the world – is coming to Chesterfield County, we’ve learned this morning. The 105-acre project, to be known as “The Lake,” would be a entertainment, retail, and tourism magnet, once developed.

From CoStar, who has the exclusive on the story:

A Virginia developer is planning a new mixed-use project in Richmond where the main attraction will be the first surf park on the East Coast and, upon its completion, the largest in the world.

Named simply, The Lake, the proposed 105-acre project reflects the lengths developers are going these days to compete for a generation of renters for whom just a pool and gym no longer cuts it. The development has been drawn up to incorporate 150,000 square feet of retail and entertainment, 100,000 square feet of office space, a 170-key hotel, 750 apartments, a 13-acre artificial Wake Lake, an amphitheater and a six-acre water park, capable of generating artificial waves large enough to surf.

Flatwater Cos., a firm that counts a real estate development veteran, an investment banker, and a construction manager as its principals, hopes to turn The Lake into a local and regional destination, hosting more 200 events per year.

“We’ve been working on [this development] for a handful of years, going through the permitting process, zoning entitlements,” Brett Burkhart, Flatwater’s director of project development and operations, told CoStar News. “Our firm was started with this project in mind.”

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