THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120608
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The City Council doesn't know what to do with the Corporate Landing office park. But with millions of taxpayer dollars on the line, it is carefully considering its options.
The council has even considered selling the park. But this week, the Development Authority, which owns the 400-acre park on General Booth Boulevard, announced it is set to sell a chunk of land to Regal Cinemas. The Knoxville-based company would build a 10- to 14-screen theater to be the heart of a retail development styled like a main street of a traditional town.
The City Council must approve a zoning change for the cinema sale to go through. Most council members were generally supportive but said the concerns of neighboring residents must be taken into consideration.
But several council members doubted whether the cinema and related retail center could jumpstart the rest of the project, and they favored selling the bulk of the park. The consensus was for a workshop in which the council could study the choices in detail.
``I would like to sit down and talk,'' said Councilwoman Louisa Strayhorn, who began her first term on the council July 1. ``As far as I'm concerned I haven't made up my mind until someone gives me more information.''
The biggest concern is that the office park lacks immediate access to an interstate highway. The planned Southeastern Expressway would cut directly by the project, but the highway from Chesapeake to Virginia Beach is, at best, years from becoming a reality.
In the late 1980s, the Development Authority paid between $25,000 and $53,000 an acre for the land. Council members say this was too much. The authority then spent more money putting in roads and other infrastructure.
To pay its bills, the authority has borrowed $6 million from City Hall. It owes $8 million to NationsBank. In addition to Corporate Landing, the authority also owns a one-acre site at the Oceanfront and 31st Street. It paid $4 million for the property but has been unable to interest an investor in a project.
The authority is set to gross more than $2 million with the sale of land for the cinema and two other related businesses, council members say.
But even if the 24-acre retail center is built, some council members still leaned toward selling the bulk of the project. That way, they say, the city's Economic Development Department, which works with the quasi-independent Development Authority, could focus on more viable projects.
``I think that if we could find a buyer for the balance of the Corporate Landing property, we probably ought to do so,'' said Councilman Louis Jones. The Bayside representative is the council's liaison with the Development Authority. His views often carry weight with the council on business matters.
``The thinking that (the cinema project) will stimulate a sudden growth in the development of the industrial park, is to me something that probably will not happen.''
Mark R. Wawner, project manager for Corporate Landing, said many companies are now looking for places where their employees can live close to where they work and are less interested in quick interstate access. These companies include data processing centers, financial centers and telecommunication firms. Corporate Landing is surrounded by neighborhoods that line General Booth Boulevard.
KEYWORDS: CORPORATE LANDING OFFICE PARK
VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL
by CNB