The Cove Riverwalk Villas, a community of luxury houseboat rentals docked in downtown Wilmington’s Port City Marina, is growing.

The first phase of The Cove’s 40 houseboats was completed about two years ago, and a second phase of 31 houseboats is under construction, with the first completed units already docked in the marina.

The expansion aims to meet the demand for more hotel and hospitality options in downtown Wilmington and incorporates new models and floor plans designed to meet visitor needs, said Marcia Bittner, The Cove’s general manager. The feel of the community has also evolved since it opened, she said.

“It started out much more as a short-term rental, find-your-way-on-your-own type of thing,” Bittner said. “But we're really moving more toward a resort feel where you show up and have a concierge, and we walk you to your houseboat and settle you in.”

The Cove worked closely with houseboat manufacturer Villamar, formerly Atlantic Houseboats, to design the new houseboat units, said Nate McElwee, a development associate with Zephyr Development Company. 

Villamar is part of the Zephyr portfolio, which also includes Marina Grill, Tequila’s Waterfront and Port City Marina. The new Villamar name signals the company’s focus on producing more elevated, luxury houseboat units, said Kayla Boucek, Zephyr’s marketing director and development project manager.

“There's been a huge collaboration between The Cove and Villamar,” McElwee said. “We go through renderings and floor plans and design sessions with one another before giving it that final stamp of approval. But at the end of the day, it comes down to rentability.”

For example, the new phase will include more one-bedroom models, called The Southport 2.0, which cater to couples who don’t necessarily need a two-bedroom houseboat, Bittner said. All but one of the houseboats in the community’s first phase are two-bedroom models, called The Masonboro.

They’ve also developed a three-bedroom model, called The Lumina, and are working on a houseboat with two separate units – one on the first floor and one on the second floor – that will come with a lower price point, Bittner said.

The existing houseboat community is located on Port City Marina’s A Dock, while the expansion will be anchored to B Dock, McElwee said, in staggered positions to limit sight lines between the decks of the houseboats.

The staggered positioning, along with trees and a pocket park on the docks around The Cove, aims to give it a “community feel,” said Boucek.

The houseboats are constructed upriver from Port City Marina at a site in Navassa. They start with a steel frame, floats are added and then framing, electrical, plumbing, countertops, doors and more are built out on top, McElwee said. At least 30 vendors work on each houseboat during its construction, according to McElwee.

Once finished, a crane lifts each houseboat into the Cape Fear River, and it's towed by boat to Port City Marina. Bittner said during the construction of The Cove's second phase, they've tried to put all big-ticket items, including couches and mattresses, onto the new houseboats at the construction site before they’re towed downriver. (A completed houseboat being towed is shown below at right.)

The goal is to construct each houseboat in 60 days, McElwee said. Up to nine houseboats can be under construction at one time.

“On the production side, we're trying to average about one every 10 days,” he said. “Three a month is what our goal is.”

McElwee said they delivered their first houseboat in the second phase in December and expect to wrap up construction and delivery in the fall. 

While the decor of the houseboats has always focused on a “clean, modern vibe,” Bittner said, The Cove's team has started incorporating new themes, such as film and safari, along with location-themed concepts.

“We try to keep the same vibe of very luxury, very elegant,” Bittner said, “but we started doing a lot more location vibes; we have Santorini, Paris, Napa, Malibu. Aloha is our Hawaiian-themed one.”

The Cove is also in the process of upfitting its first on-land hub in a 1,400-square-foot retail space under Pier 33. Bittner said it will house The Cove’s concierge, where guests can make reservations, ask questions and get help moving their luggage onto the dock and into their houseboat.

Most of the visitors who stay at The Cove come from within driving distance of Wilmington, Bittner said, including visitors from Raleigh, Charlotte and from South Carolina up to Maryland.

McElwee and Boucek said Zephry Development is looking to expand the concept at The Cove to other marinas in the Southeast. They’re currently in active discussions with a few marinas, McElwee said, but he declined to provide details.

“I think this concept and collaboration have really proven that you can use an underutilized asset for residential living, like water, and turn it into something that is luxurious and has that community feel to it,” he said. “We don’t want to just save it for Wilmington. We want to introduce it to other cities.”