The Builders’ Table: A Thanksgiving Story of Work, Gratitude, and Community

By Eric S. Cavallo, Editor-in-Chief
Hampton Roads Construction News Network (HRCNN)

As the chill of late November settles across Hampton Roads, the hum of machinery grows softer. Worksites that have echoed all year with the rhythm of progress take a rare pause. In the stillness before Thanksgiving Day, there’s a quiet reminder that every foundation poured, every beam raised, and every street paved has been a shared act of purpose. This is the season when the region’s builders, engineers, and inspectors finally step back to recognize what they’ve helped create—not just structures, but community.

The “Builders’ Table” isn’t a single place. It’s wherever men and women in hard hats gather for coffee before dawn, where project managers review drawings under the glow of a job-trailer light, and where city inspectors shake hands with contractors after another safe, code-compliant completion. It’s a table built on mutual respect and endurance—a place where gratitude is measured not in words, but in the day’s honest work.

Across the construction landscape of Hampton Roads, that spirit of thankfulness runs deep. The crews who build our schools, hospitals, and homes know the weight of the work they carry and the trust the community places in them. The surveyors, engineers, and planners who guide each project understand that their precision shapes the safety of our neighborhoods. Together they represent an ecosystem of effort—one that seldom pauses long enough to celebrate itself, yet deserves recognition from every citizen who drives the roads, crosses the bridges, and lives in the homes they’ve made possible.

This Thanksgiving, we honor that entire community. From the field teams battling the elements to the public-sector partners who review, inspect, and approve each milestone, their collective commitment forms the backbone of progress. They remind us that infrastructure isn’t only concrete and steel—it’s integrity, collaboration, and the quiet pride of knowing you’ve built something that will outlast you.

There is gratitude, too, in the resilience of this industry. Through economic shifts, supply shortages, and storms, Hampton Roads’ builders have kept the region moving. Their work doesn’t stop when the headlines fade; it continues before sunrise, after deadlines, and through every challenge. Theirs is the kind of perseverance that binds a community together—the steady belief that tomorrow’s stability is worth today’s effort.

And behind every project are the mentors, apprentices, and families who give this industry its heart. Thanksgiving is as much for them as it is for those on the jobsite—the spouses who hold things together when the hours run long, the children who look up to parents who build the world around them, and the teachers and trades programs that light the spark for the next generation. The Builders’ Table extends to all of them.

In that sense, Thanksgiving is more than a meal. It’s a moment of collective recognition—a table wide enough for every trade, every craft, and every dream built with purpose. Whether gathered around a dinner table or standing shoulder to shoulder on a project site, the people of Hampton Roads’ construction community share something profound: the satisfaction of knowing that their work matters, and that gratitude is built one beam, one plan, and one day at a time.

From all of us at Earthly Infrastructure® and the Hampton Roads Construction News Network, thank you to the men and women who build, inspect, design, and plan the places we call home. May your Thanksgiving be filled with rest, reflection, and the pride of knowing that the communities you’ve helped raise stand as lasting testaments to your craft.

Quarterra’s Arrival Could Reshape Virginia’s Housing Landscape

By HRCNN — Hampton Roads Construction News Network

In the Hampton Roads housing market, where inventory remains tight and prices continue to climb, the arrival of a national multifamily builder such as Quarterra carries consequences worth examining. While most headlines around housing tend to focus on interest rates or local rezonings, the deeper question is whether new players in the market can disrupt the longstanding supply-and-demand imbalance that keeps many entry-level buyers on the sidelines.

Quarterra, once part of Lennar and now a stand-alone multifamily powerhouse, has been steadily expanding its presence across Virginia. Its projects in Northern Virginia, such as the Lumen development at Tysons Corner, showcase a blend of scale, capital, and design that few local firms can match. And while Quarterra’s portfolio has traditionally been concentrated in larger metro areas, its national strategy and recent property management consolidation with Alfred’s RKW Residential signal an intent to broaden its footprint. For Hampton Roads, this could mean new development energy in cities like Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.

The significance is not only that new buildings would rise on local skylines, but that a company with Quarterra’s resources has the ability to deliver hundreds of units at once. In markets long dominated by a handful of builders, such capacity matters. Local firms often manage growth carefully, limiting inventory to maintain price strength. By contrast, a national multifamily developer is incentivized to build at scale, creating new supply that filters across price points. Even luxury apartments can relieve pressure on the overall market by drawing households upward and opening opportunities in more affordable segments.

This is particularly relevant in Hampton Roads, where buyers and renters alike face constrained options. For many young families, the price of new single-family homes has been pushed beyond reach, as builders hold pricing power in a market short on alternatives. The presence of a national builder with the ability to deliver volume may weaken that grip, easing scarcity and giving buyers relief from what has too often felt like a controlled market.

Still, the implications are complex. Local builders who have long set the terms of development may view Quarterra’s presence as unwelcome competition, especially if land values rise and project standards shift upward. Others may see opportunity in partnership, leveraging Quarterra’s capital and management infrastructure to pursue larger-scale developments together. Either way, the entry of a firm with national reach forces a recalibration of the region’s housing dynamics.

Quarterra’s recent financial moves underscore this potential. The company has engaged in multi-billion-dollar transactions, selling large portfolios to investors such as KKR and QuadReal, while reinvesting in select markets. With a management platform now overseeing more than 50,000 units nationwide, Quarterra has both the balance sheet and the operating infrastructure to scale quickly in regions where demand is strong. If Hampton Roads becomes a focus, local builders and policymakers will need to adapt to an environment where the pace of delivery is no longer set solely by local interests.

For buyers, that adaptation may be long overdue. Housing affordability in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and the broader region has become a persistent challenge. Introducing a new supply stream at scale could soften demand pressures, break through price locks, and open doors that have been closed for too many entry-level households. In the end, the presence of Quarterra in Virginia should be viewed less as a threat to established players and more as an opportunity for the market to reset — toward balance, toward competition, and, most importantly, toward relief for the families who simply need a place to call home.

About HRCNN The Hampton Roads Construction News Network (HRCNN) delivers independent, fact-based coverage of development, zoning, and infrastructure issues shaping Virginia. Our reporting provides residents, policymakers, and industry professionals with clear insight into how growth is managed across the region. By highlighting both local builders and national firms, HRCNN is committed to transparency, accountability, and advancing public understanding of the forces that are reshaping Hampton Roads.