For the first time, Corey Stewart gives a business award to a firm that, for the first time, built a new apartment complex outside the Capital Beltway

This year marked a first in the history of the Prince William Chamber’s business awards.

Each year, the Chamber invites Manassas, Manassas Park, and Prince William County to present an award of their choosing at the annual business awards event. The selection criteria are entirely up to them.

“To my knowledge, this was the first time that Prince William County — in this case, it was actually Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart — gave an award,” said Betty Dean, Chair-elect of the Prince William Chamber.  

The award, called the Chairman’s Business Excellence Award, was given to IDI.

IDI has been building in the D.C. metro area for 40 years. Their portfolio includes over 12,000 condominiums, 2.7 million sq. ft. of commercial office and retail space, 1,400 hotel rooms, 1,000 single family homes and 2,400 acres of land development for residential construction.

Dean said IDI recently opened the Rivergate Apartments, a project that she described as having gone through “a lot of ups and downs before finally opening.”

This marks the first time IDI has contracted a project this far south of the Capital Beltway. A second building is now in the works.  

“IDI is a first-rate builder,” said Dean. “They built the Watergate and a number of other high profile developments in the area. They are a family-owned business. Carlos Cecchi was the primary manager for the project and served with me for years on the Occoquan River Communities board of directors.”  

IDI describes Rivergate as a luxury riverfront community offering rental and condominium residences with a full range of recreational and social amenities.

“We were delighted both to have Chairman Stewart presenting an award at our signature event, and to see that award go to a first-class organization that ten years ago chose to make an investment in PWC and has persevered through many, many obstacles to bring Rivergate to life,” Dean said.

The new complex is helping to revitalize the Woodbridge area by bringing a unique product to the area long known for its blight.

This kind of “high-end” development helps to raise the development profile in Prince William County, said Stewart.

“It’s a very beautiful building that is not only going to attract empty nesters, but also people who will work at nearby Ft. Belvoir.”

“And the Winners Are” is a series highlighting Prince William Chamber of Commerce business award winners.