Virginia Beach-based Armada Hoffler to change name in rebrand and relaunch

Since its founding in 1979, Armada Hoffler — the developer of Virginia Beach Town Center — has carried a name well-known throughout Hampton Roads.

But as of March 2, the company will carry itself into the future with a new name — AH Realty Trust — and a new streamlined focus.

President and CEO Shawn Tibbetts, who took over the publicly traded real estate company’s helm a year ago and became chairman of the board Jan. 1, has been part of a yearlong review of the business. He referred to the relaunch as the start of a company transformation and the next part of its journey.

During the company’s fourth-quarter and full year 2025 earnings call Tuesday, Tibbetts said these strategic changes mark a defining moment in Armada Hoffler’s evolution. The company plans to reduce from five business units to two.

“Over the past year, we have stripped the company down to its foundation and are building it back up with the right people, the right focus and the right operating discipline,” Tibbetts said during the call. “It begins with our people, and we are confident in the team we have assembled to execute this plan.”

AH Realty Trust will focus on the company’s two largest asset classes — retail and office properties — and step away from its construction and development divisions.

“The idea and the objective was to look at our business and try to understand where can we improve, where do we excel and also where do opportunities exist,” Tibbetts said during a phone interview on Wednesday.

“We created an off-ramp for them to continue to do what they do well by, essentially, them taking that business private and a group of those employees will own that construction company going forward,” Tibbetts said. It will be called AH Construction Co.

The company is selling the majority of its real estate financing platform investments.

The company’s multifamily apartments owned throughout the Southeast in primarily Maryland to Florida are being sold off. Eleven of the 14 are in negotiations, two more will be sold over the year and one in Blacksburg will be retained, Tibbetts said.

“We’re willing to sell these apartments because we can harvest the arbitrage, pay down some debt and reinvest those proceeds into retail and office,” Tibbetts said. “We’re going to focus on our core business, which is managing and owning commercial real estate.”

Going forward, AH Realty will focus on increasing its ownership of retail properties, he said. It will remain a real estate investment trust.

“I think you’re going to see us grow in the form of retail and mixed-use (meaning retail focused within a mixed-use community) where applicable,” Tibbetts said.

It’s not to say AH Realty won’t do any development — as an investment partner on a project — in the future, Tibbetts said, but for now, it is removing the facets that dilute its focus.

As for its Virginia Beach headquarters, the company plans to relocate from Armada Hoffler Tower this April to a smaller space nearby, given high demand for office space within Town Center, he said. The new location will be adjacent to Apex Entertainment on Columbus Street.

In January 2025, the company moved from the 21st floor within its namesake building to a consolidated space on the 10th floor. The prime spot was leased to a digital marketing company.

Roughly speaking, AH cut its footprint in half last year and will cut that piece in half as well, Tibbetts said.

Town Center continues to grow. As of Dec. 31, 2025, office space was at 98.2% leased and retail was 97.3% leased. Two prime spots — formerly occupied by the Nike store and West Elm — are available for lease.

And the excitement surrounding the opening of Trader Joe’s at Town Center continues. He said visits to that location are outpacing the other Virginia Beach location by a large margin.

The adjacent Golf Galaxy is also ranked No. 5 among the brand’s stores nationwide in terms of foot traffic, Tibbetts said.

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