Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 15, 1993 TAG: 9306150124
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The authority's Board of Commissioners voted to pay the Virginia Tech Real Estate Foundation $3 million for land around the hotel, including the parking lot and the site for the conference center that will be part of the project.
In turn, the authority will lease the property - 4.7 acres - to the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Commission and Hotel Roanoke Limited Liability for use in the project.
The land deal was part of the financial arrangement announced earlier. It is a way for the city to provide additional public funds for the $40 million hotel project.
City Council agreed earlier to provide $18 million in bonds and federal loans to the project.
The city asked the redevelopment authority to serve as a conduit for funneling more public money into the hotel project.
The city will provide the $3 million; no authority funds will be used for the land transaction, said Neva Smith, executive director of the agency.
The city will provide $2 million on the closing date for the transaction and the remaining $1 million by Jan. 31. The money will come from unspent funds for a pedestrian skywalk over the Norfolk Southern railroad. The skywalk will be financed with state highway money.
City Attorney Wilburn Dibling said officials decided to use the redevelopment authority for the land transaction to eliminate any doubt about its legality.
Under state law, the authority has far-reaching powers in a redevelopment area, such as Gainsboro, to help stimulate development.
"The authority's powers are more explicit in this area" than the city's, Dibling said.
In other action Monday:
The authority's board approved a $15 million consolidated budget for all of the agency's operations for the next fiscal year. The budget includes pay raises in the range of 3.5 percent for authority employees.
Smith, who became executive director last fall, said there are no comparative statistics, because this is the first time the agency has prepared a consolidated budget for all of its operations.
The board was urged to halt construction of houses in the Gainsboro neighborhood on small lots with no off-street parking and no back yards. The Rev. Carl Tinsley, president of the Gainsboro Neighborhood Development Corp., asked the board to prevent the construction of more houses by Habitat for Humanity and other organizations until guidelines are developed.
"I am not against housing, but I want housing that attracts people to the neighborhood," Tinsley said.
Rob Glenn, board chairman, said the authority has discussed the issue with Habitat for Humanity and will have talks with others who are building in Gainsboro.
by CNB