The Suffolk News-Herald
James Robinson
October 6, 2023 

Suffolk celebrates a new addition to the Harbour View area. Thursday saw officials cut the ribbon for Attain at Harbour View, a Class-A 300-unit multifamily community on Thursday, Oct. 5. Located at 2000 Ironside Dr. The complex provides various amenities for residents, such as a dog walk area, a gym with a cardio room, a club room, electric vehicle charging and solar panels. 

During the ceremony, Bonaventure Founder & CEO Dwight Dunton expressed how excited the company is to be a part of Suffolk and noted that despite officially cutting the ribbon, over 230 families have already made Attain their home. 

“We’ve been in the Hampton Roads market for 20 years, and this is our first project and hopefully not the last in Suffolk…,” Dunton said. “It’s extraordinary to have a population double over just one generation, and that means there’s an extraordinary desire for people to live here, but then there’s the push and pull of when they get here, will they find housing that meets their needs in prices they can afford. And that is what Bonaventure is all about.” 

Mayor Michael D. Duman presented to ceremony attendees by calling the project “impressive.” 

“I want to commend the EDA and their partners in bringing this to fruition and making it work for you. I want to thank you for providing the needed housing that we have for this growing workforce that we also have right here in our neighborhood, especially as it relates to government employees,” Duman said. “This is perfect, they can almost walk to work. So thank you very much. I thank you for your investment, and it’s going to be a huge asset for our city for years to come.” 

After the ceremony, Dunton talked about the project’s process. Noting his family’s 60 years in the apartment business, he said Attain follows the experience, evolution, knowledge, and lessons while wanting to meet the demands of today and beyond. 

“The process really starts with figuring out zoning entitlements as well as looking at the community and saying ‘What is the community in need of?’ and what we realized what was missing here was a mixed-use community that had four lifestyle in retail and living, but the living component was really missing that super high end lifestyle community of renters of choice,” Dunton said. 

President of Bonaventure Development Chris Cobb, acknowledged the cooperation of various team members in in-house design, development, and partners in the completion of the project. He expressed his hopes for the future of Attain. 

“Our ‘why’ every day, everybody within the development business, is to communities that our customers love,” Cobb said. “We have 200 plus families that call this place home … and that is really what drives us every day. On the bad days, on the good days, we like to get up, and we like to think about our customers, the people that ultimately call this place home. There’s a lot of problems that come up every day, and that’s why we solve them so that people can call this place home.” 

Dunton provided final remarks on Attain’s support for the North Suffolk and overall Suffolk community, saying that he and his team hope it’s a place 300 families will call home. 

“We hope that it is a component of having a vibrant community in North Suffolk whereas people love to say, ‘Where do I want to live? Where do I want to work?’ they can then find a community that matches their needs,” he said. “We feel like this is going to provide that solution for countless families in the years to come.” 

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