A new community of creative businesses now occupies a restored department store at 400 Granby Street, forming a “campus” for creators and technology innovators. Co-designed with Campfire & Co., this five-story office campus is called Assembly.
“It is a space designed to connect ideas and the people who make them,” says Drew Ungvarsky, CEO of GROW, a digital innovation agency and anchor tenant. “As we considered GROW’s expansion, we aligned with a broader purpose: strengthening our city, advancing our industry, and planting a flag for our community that no one can miss.”
Assembly spans three historic buildings on Granby Street: the Ames & Brownley building (c. 1919), later Rice’s Department Store; Sears & Roebuck; and an adjacent warehouse. Since 1992, these buildings housed multiple city departments, which have since relocated.
In addition to GROW, tenants include Work Program Architects (designers of the project), Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium, Orbis, Lynch Mykins (now IMEG), Istoria, and RISE (Resilience Innovations). The ground floor is home to 757 Startup Studios, a regional hub for entrepreneurs, offering training and programming for high-growth startups, funded by 757 Angels and 757 Accelerate.
The restoration preserved the buildings’ original architectural beauty, uncovering unique details—including a special room once used to store furs. Inside, cubicles and walls were removed to open the space. The first floor serves as Assembly’s “living room,” featuring a reception area, residential-style furnishings, phone booths, a large reconfigurable meeting room, open desks, and tucked-away conversation areas. At the southeast corner, Three Ships Coffee, owned by Brad and Amy Ewing and previously available only in the Virginia Beach ViBe District, has a 2,000 sf café that activates the street with locally roasted coffee.
GROW occupies the second floor, which includes a “front porch” with swings extending over the mezzanine. The third floor features larger suites for teams of 15–30 people, a library, a recording studio, and WPA’s 4,600 sf studio. The fifth-floor penthouse is a newly constructed space designed for large gatherings, with a fully operable north façade that opens onto an outdoor roof deck. Throughout the building, generously furnished landings encourage spontaneous “collisions” between tenants as they move up and down the iconic atrium stair.
Assembly offers over 15,000 sf of shared amenities. A central atrium — formerly occupied by a historic elevator — connects the floors, rooftop deck, and penthouse, while gathering spaces and casual work areas foster collaboration. Additional shared spaces include an event venue, a large reservable conference room, a mother’s room, a wellness space, a recording studio, a game room, and bike share and storage facilities. These features enhance the shared experience for Assembly’s residents.
Phase 2 of the project involves renovating the 53,000 sf Sears building facing Freemason Street and Monticello Avenue. The goal is to provide world-class design that fosters collaboration, shared resources, and dynamic programming.
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