CHARLES CITY – Many of the partners at National Land Lease Capital (NNLC) in Richmond have long been familiar with an old marina nestled along the Chickahominy River in Charles City County.
As boaters and patrons of the marina on Wilcox Neck Road, they often took the 45-minute drive to enjoy the river and the locale’s restaurant. They also watched as the 18-acre site, which also included a small inn, fell into disrepair, went into a lender foreclosure, and then a lender auction.
NLLC invests and operates in RV resort spaces throughout the country and has an office in Charles City. The partners saw an opportunity and acquired the property at the auction.
“We think the location, in between Williamsburg and Richmond, and really accessible to Williamsburg, makes the asset really attractive to a lot of people,” said Yogi Singh, one of NLLC’s partners, adding the area means a lot to all the partners.
In the nearly three years NLLC has owned the property, the company has invested $8 million renovating nearly every aspect. The River’s Rest Marina and Resort held a grand re-opening on April 1, and now consists of the revamped Blue Heron restaurant, 126 RV campsites, a 20-room in, and almost five dozen boat slips.
“We replaced the marina. We fully renovated the hotel. The restaurant was renovated,” Singh said, adding the restaurant re-opened last year and the inn in March. “It took about 14 months of construction. Substantially, everything is new at the resort, and we added the RV and campground.”
The RV, boating, and outdoor industry has been one of the few that has seen a boon since the pandemic started. But even before that, NLLC was investing in the outdoors. It has about a dozen properties in Texas, Georgia, and Indiana, and soon will expand to Massachusetts. It has three other properties in Virginia, including at Smith Mountain Lake.
“This has been our business really going back now four years,” Singh said.
He admitted the industry has improved because of the pandemic, but there aren’t a lot of resorts such as this throughout the country.
“There’s a real shortage of high-quality camping resorts in most destinations in vacation-focused geographies,” he said. “We’re looking to fill that void, and that’s our business plan.”
The RV sites are available on a seasonal basis, and Singh said nearly 30 have been fully leased for this season. He expects most of the sites to be leased in the next two months. Trailering in and out daily is not available. For overnight options, the inn is available.
“They come and leave the RV with us,” Singh said. “It’s set up to become a second home for our clients.”
He said transient traffic is a big part of business at their other locations, but it doesn’t fit here. The boat launch is open only to resort and inn guests, but overnight boat storage is available, and boat slips can be rented. There is no public boat launch. The plan, Singh said, is to have boat rentals available after Memorial Day weekend.
He’s confident NLLC’s investment in Charles City will pay off.
“We’ve really seen a great reception to the industry,” he said.
Making vacations more affordable, and seeing families together and enjoying the great outdoors are why they are in the industry, one he praised as resilient. He called the pandemic “a really unfortunate time in our country’s history,” but maybe this industry is helping people cope.
“We see a lot of tailwinds in the camping industry, and this is just a continuation of those beliefs,” he said.
He and the rest of the partners at NLLC hope others come to realize what they have available at River’s Rest Marina and Resort.
“It’s a special place on the Chickahominy,” Singh said.