Pembroke Square is one of the most ambitious redevelopment projects in Virginia Beach. One of the earliest malls built in the country, Pembroke Square, formerly Pembroke Mall, opened in 1966. For decades, the property followed the familiar economics of the American mall: retail first, everything else secondary. Today, a $300 million redevelopment is reversing that model, creating a mixed-use district where residential, hospitality, shopping, entertainment, dining and everyday services are designed to generate demand for one another.

Several elements of that strategy are already in place. Pembroke Square brings together national retailers, grocery anchors, restaurants, entertainment, recreation and everyday services, giving visitors multiple reasons to come and stay.

Aviva Pembroke is a 153-unit senior living community, completed and welcoming residents since December 2024. It is one of the components creating a permanent audience within Pembroke Square.

The next major project, already under construction, is a Tempo Hotel. The 163-room Hilton brand hotel will introduce a new hospitality concept to the Virginia Beach market, serving both business and leisure travelers with a contemporary business-class hotel experience.

In the coming months, construction of a 284-unit luxury multifamily development, The Pembroke, will begin at Pembroke Square. Two additional phases are in pre-development, while approximately 26,000 square feet of retail space is expected to come to market through 2028.

The sequencing is central to the economics of the redevelopment of Pembroke Square. Residential creates recurring demand. The hotel introduces a new flow of guests. Entertainment, live shows and restaurants extend activity into the evening. Retail and dining gain access to multiple audiences at once. Each new phase creates additional demand for the assets already in place.

Behavioral data suggests that this effect is already taking hold. From April 2025 through April 2026, foot traffic increased 6.7%, with more than 1 million unique visitors generating approximately 4.8 million visits. Peak visitation occurs between 6 and 8 p.m., evening traffic from 7 to 10 p.m. increased 12 to 20%, and visits lasting 44 minutes or longer increased 8 to 15%. Saturday has become the strongest day of the week, while Friday evening traffic continues to rise.

Those shifts show that visitors are using Pembroke Square differently, staying longer and combining shopping, dining, entertainment and social activity within the same visit. That is the distinction between a conventional retail center and a destination.

Ramsay S. Smith, President of Pembroke Realty Group, sets the strategic direction for the redevelopment, while Travis Bode, Vice President of Development and General Manager of Pembroke Square, translates that strategy into development sequencing, operations and execution. Together, they are guiding a long-term redevelopment designed to strengthen the economics of the district as each phase comes online.

In 2016, Pembroke Mall marked its 50th anniversary, a milestone that recognized the property’s historic role as the first enclosed shopping mall in Hampton Roads. Fred Napolitano, Richard Olivieri and Vincent Olivieri received City Council proclamations and keys to the city. Years later, at Virginia Beach’s 60th anniversary State of the City, city leadership identified the Pembroke Square redevelopment as the biggest project then underway in the Central Business District. Together, those milestones underscore Pembroke’s enduring significance to Virginia Beach, from a pioneering retail destination to a major mixed-use redevelopment shaping the future of the city’s urban core.

The true scale of the redevelopment lies not in the number of buildings delivered, but in its ability to change the economics of the property. The strongest projects do more than change a skyline. They change where people spend time, where businesses see opportunity and where capital sees a future.

Traffic and behavioral data: April 2025 through April 2026, Placer.ai and Pembroke Marketing Department..

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