WHO WE ARE

ABOUT US

Real Estate development firm based in Richmond, Virginia

WVS is a pedestrian-oriented, urban developer that builds sustainable communities that integrate seamlessly into the existing urban fabric.

OUR HISTORY

The History of WVS Companies

In 1996, after extensive development experience in the Washington DC metro area, Larry Wilkes was working for the Caruthers Family on Belmont Bay’s project in Northern Virginia. That summer Jason Vickers-Smith came to intern at Belmont Bay for his Great Uncle, Preston Caruthers. Preston Caruthers was a visionary developer in Northern Virginia and his latest venture was to build a town on the Occoquan River at Belmont Bay. Working for Preston and his family, Larry had helped to secure entitlements, design and build a train station for Prince William County in exchange for building an entrance over the railroad track into the property and developed housing lots and a golf course. Over the next few years, Jason and Larry would provide development services for Belmont Bay through their respective entities. During that time, Epstein Family Office became a partner in a portion of Belmont Bay. Jim Epstein brought a focus on Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), and its associated design elements, to the project.

In 2001, Larry and Jason decided to form WVS Companies as vehicle to provide development services at Belmont Bay and future projects. In title, age, and experience, Larry was the senior partner and Jason was the junior partner. In 2004, WVS was able to start development of Rocketts Landing in Richmond, Virginia with Snell Properties as their financial partners and local developer Bill Abeloff as a development partner.

In order to build a team capable of successfully undertaking Rocketts Landing, Richard Souter joined WVS in 2004, thereby completing the partnership team.

During the Companies early years, WVS focused on supplying development services; including entitlements, permitting, design oversight, construction management and financial modeling for land development and condominium projects. Since, Larry, Richard, and Jason were all civil engineers by education, WVS was able to tackle complex and challenging projects. During this time, WVS continued to strengthen its focus on brownfield and greyfield development. From 2001 to 2009, WVS was part of developing over 500 condominiums as well as hundreds of townhome lots at Belmont Bay and Rocketts Landing.

The great recession started in 2007 and continued for several years. This was an extremely challenging time for WVS as it was for almost everyone in real estate or finance. Rocketts Landing was able to survive and advance thanks to the determination and support of Snell Properties.

In 2011, while the for-sale housing market was still in the early stages of recovery, WVS started to focus on rental apartments in addition to continuing their development services business.

At this time, Richard and Jason formed Cato Investments to be the investment vehicle for their personal real estate project investment.

The Locks was the first of many apartment projects and was co-developed with Fountainhead Development and completed in 2013. South 16 at the Bridges was the first project that was a partnership with PRG. This has proven to be a very fruitful partnership with over 2000 apartment units completed to date.

Sadly, Larry Wilkes passed away in early 2016.

MEET THE TEAM

The WVS Companies, LLC Team

Jason grew up in Fairfax, Virginia, and after graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, he attended Duke University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a BSE in Civil Engineering and Economics. Jason began his career in real estate development as an intern for the Caruthers Family on their Belmont Bay project in Northern Virginia during college. He worked on Belmont Bay from 1996 until 2005, taking a break in 2001-2002 to earn an MBA from Oxford University. During his time at Belmont Bay, he worked for both the Caruthers Family and the Epstein Family Organization, and he co-founded The WVS Companies with longtime Washington developer Lawrence Wilkes. Jason is married with two daughters, is an avid reader, and has a penchant for owning homes.

Richard grew up in South Africa and completed his undergraduate education in Civil Engineering in Cape Town. He worked in construction management for several years, overseeing large infrastructure development projects as part of the post-apartheid reconstruction and development program. He then spent three years at a strategy management consultancy, completing assignments for companies in various industries such as mobile telecom, beer, mining, and manufacturing. After attending business school at Oxford University, he worked with a real estate private equity firm in London, completing several large transactions in Europe, including a $200 million sale-leaseback deal with a supermarket chain in Sweden and the purchase of a non-performing loan portfolio in Germany. In 2004, Richard moved to the United States and became a partner in The WVS Companies. Richard is a low handicap golfer, backcountry snowboarder and kite surfer when he is not developing real estate projects.

Lawrence was born in Warrenton, Virginia, and attended Warrenton High School. He earned a BSE degree in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute, and served in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Captain. Lawrence then worked for Fairfax County in their public works division. He earned a Master’s Degree in Economics and in Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia. He ran a regional office for Dewberry and Davis, and worked for Cadillac Fairview in the early 1980s, when they were among the largest developers of urban real estate in North America. Lawrence worked in various roles on projects totalling 5-6 million square feet of commercial office space, including Fairview Park and 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue. He developed a series of office buildings in the Washington, DC Metro Area totalling 400,000 gsf. With Preston Caruthers and the Caruthers Family, led the entitlement and early development of Belmont Bay. He formed WVS in 2001.

Bruce has over 25 years of project experience and has managed several large engineering projects ranging from $30 – $200 million. He has also gained experience managing multiple small projects in the mining and infrastructural sector as well as managing several feasibility studies from pre-feasibility to bankable feasibility and taken some of these projects into execution. Bruce has the knowledge and experience to add value to a wide range of projects from both the project management side as well as the engineering side. Bruce has gained experience over the last two years in the construction of multi-family homes where he has used his background in constructing mining projects to great advantage. He works closely with the WVS team on many of their developments and is seen as a partner more than just a consultant.

Mike has 38 years background and experience in the finance and accounting field and has been in the property development sector for the last 28 years. His extensive experience and background in all aspects of finance, accounting and tax related, together with his vast network of contacts across the industry, makes Mike another extremely valuable member of the team. His role in providing support to our clients on the financial management of their projects as well as monitoring and control of their budgets, books, payments etc. is key to the overall service offering.

Matthew has a varied background that started in the automotive industry in 2011 but which shifted into the property development sector in 2017. Matthew has a diverse knowledge across the property development process and is particularly well versed in the pre-development, construction management and early operational phases. His ability to solve challenges on site, to direct sub-contractors and to close out tasks makes Matthew a critical member of the team.

ranging from $30 – $200 million. He has also gained experience managing multiple small projects in the mining and infrastructural sector as well as managing several feasibility studies from pre-feasibility to bankable feasibility and taken some of these projects into execution. Bruce has the knowledge and experience to add value to a wide range of projects from both the project management side as well as the engineering side. Bruce has gained experience over the last two years in the construction of multi-family homes where he has used his background in constructing mining projects to great advantage. He works closely with the WVS team on many of their developments and is seen as a partner more than just a consultant.

THE WVS COMPANIES

WVS focuses on urban projects that enhance the community and the surrounding environment.

LARGE mixed-use land development projects

townhomes and condominiums

apartments across 17 buildings

office buildings totaling 80,000 gsf

WHO WE ARE

Real Estate development firm based in Richmond, Virginia

The History of WVS Companies

The WVS Companies, LLC Team

Jason Vickers-Smith

Richard Souter

Lawrence Wilkes

Bruce Souter

Mike Tomajczyk

Matthew Dellinger

Richard Souter

Mike Tomajczyk

Matthew Dellinger

WVS focuses on urban projects that enhance the community and the surrounding environment.