Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 29, 1992 TAG: 9202290159
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
DEVELOPER HAS PLANS FOR SHOPPING, BUSINESS COMPLEX NEAR TECH
Shop owner and developer Ray Chisholm filed a rezoning request to build an $8 million retail and commercial complex next to downtown and the Virginia Tech campus.The center, called Collegiate Square, would sit on the property in the triangle bounded by Prices Fork Road and Turner and Gilbert streets.
Chisholm filed a request with the Blacksburg Planning Department on Feb. 14 to rezone the land from high-density residential to commercial.
He said he soon would have all the retail space under pre-lease agreements. Most the merchants would be from out of town, including a few major chains, Chisholm said.
K&W Cafeteria of Winston-Salem, N.C., has agreed to open at the center in about a year, and would be the second phase of the project, he said.
If the rezoning is not approved, the application says, "the developer's alternative is to construct 100 four bedroom apartments on this tract."
Chisholm has been acquiring bits and pieces of the triangle property over the years and now owns nine of the 15 parcels, according to his rezoning application.
He said Friday that he has at least five of the remaining parcels under a purchase agreement. The application contains letters from the other property owners agreeing to his rezoning request.
Chisholm, who owns Softcovers bookstore and is co-owner of the Ivy Gardens apartments on Turner Street, said he has several partners who will contribute to the cost of the project.
He would not say who the partners are or how many there are, but some are local and all are from Virginia, he said.
In his application, Chisholm says the project meets all the town's goals for growth and would improve the area. The property is mostly vacant, with a few older houses in various states of disrepair.
Among other things, he said, Collegiate Square would:
Reduce traffic generated by Tech because of the proximity to campus.
Improve the sewer system by replacing part of the old sewer line.
Improve the "gateway" to Blacksburg with unified architecture and extensive landscaping.
Provide an economic development boost, including adding 250 jobs.
Some of the triangle property land is involved in what appears to be a stalled legal dispute between Chisholm and Clearbrook Inc., a Roanoke consulting firm best known for its work on the Explore Park.
Clearbrook sued Chisholm in Montgomery County Circuit Court in July for about $43,000, saying Chisholm failed to sell some of the triangle property to Clearbrook as they had previously agreed.
Chisholm, in an interview at the time, said Clearbrook had agreed to buy the property and finance a joint project to build apartments and/or offices.
He said that when tried to complete the land deal, Clearbrook "could not come up with the money."
In August he filed a response to the company's suit, denying all the claims.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 3, 1992.
J&S Cafeteria, a North Carolina restaurant chain, has agreed to open in two years or less at Collegiate Square, a new commercial complex being proposed for downtown Blacksburg adjacent to the Virginia Tech campus. A story in Saturday's New River Current incorrectly reported the name of the cafeteria.
Memo: CORRECTION