As much as we wanted to surprise you today with the announcement of Suffolk's largest development to date, news this exciting was too great to keep to ourselves. At almost two million square feet of mixed-use development - Harbour View Town Center - will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting projects in the entire Hampton Roads region.

While the proposal has yet to receive its final approval, it promises to be one of the most beautiful and most pedestrian friendly of any of the new town centers in the region. As it appears on the drawing board, our Town Center will have about 40 buildings laid out in an urban-style grid pattern including:

" 1,200 condos and apartments

" 750 hotel rooms

" 500,000 square feet of office space

" 150,000 square feet of medical space

" and 600,000 square feet of retail space

The area will also include numerous restaurants and other amenities that so many of our residents have been seeking. Citizens and visitors alike will have numerous choices where they want to live, work, dine, shop and spend their free time all within one area.

Harbour View has already revolutionized northern Suffolk. The new town center will be the icing on the cake. Development activity is expected to continue through 2013.