THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100469
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Eight years after developers started building the Kings Crossing condominiums on the riverfront, a new company appears ready to come in and finish the project once dubbed the heart of downtown revitalization.
First Realty of Virginia has signed a letter of intent to complete the condominium project, said Danny Cruce, executive director of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which owns the property.
The final contract is being negotiated, but the letter of intent says that the company will build a swimming pool and a recreation center, as well as complete the first 20 condominiums - a third of the expected final total. The project also includes retail space on the building's first floor.
Cruce said he hopes to have a development agreement and a contract within the next two to three weeks.
First Realty has begun negotiations to sell some of the condominiums, Cruce said. The contractor and subcontractors are doing preliminary work at the site.
With its high visibility on the Portsmouth waterfront, the building has been symbolic of Portsmouth's development problems, and the city hopes its completion will be equally significant.
``I think this is going to be a real visual indication of the city's new life,'' said Councilman Cameron C. Pitts. The development at the end of High Street is next door to a proposed inlet, ferry landing and public park.
The original developer, a subsidiary of the Norfolk thrift Home Savings Bank, bought a 1.8-acre parcel of city land near the Lightship Museum and broke ground for the project in 1987. But the Home subsidiary, Master Development Corp., became notorious for its repeated delays and inability to meet construction deadlines.
Home Savings, which provided more than $8 million of financing for the complex, finally bought Kings Crossing at foreclosure in 1991 and hired a new general contractor to complete the work.
But in 1992, the federal Resolution Trust Corp. seized control of Home Savings and halted construction of the development.
Since then the building has sat empty, save for a few homeless folks who have stayed there during the winter. The housing authority finally bought the building more than a year ago so that the city could market it and control its use.
``I hope we can bring that to a close and get moving on it. It sure has been a long time,'' said Mayor Gloria O. Webb. ``It will be an eyesore taken off the waterfront. It will bring people downtown as residents, which is what it was first supposed to do.''
Cruce said the Miami-based company that formed First Realty of Virginia has completed 30 condominium projects in cities across the country, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle and Baltimore. Cruce declined to name the parent company, and company officials declined to comment until after the contracts are finalized.
The city's economic development director said that if the project brings families downtown as expected, it will benefit existing businesses as well as encourage new business to come downtown.
``We're excited about it,'' said Matthew James, the economic development director. ``It will be good to see that building occupied and in use.''
James said the housing authority has done a good job marketing the building.
``It took a while for the right tenant to come along,'' he said. ``It takes time for negotiations and finding the best potential use for any building.''
The housing authority is still negotiating with developers. The city hopes to hold on to the retail space, ``because it's so important to the image of the city,'' Pitts said. ILLUSTRATION: FILE PHOTO
The Kings Crossing building has sat empty for three years, except
for homeless people taking refuge during the winters. The city hopes
that condo dwellers downtown will help business.
1987: ground is broken on the Kings Crossing condos, but the
developers run into financial trouble. The project becomes a symbol
of the city's redevelopment hurdles.
1992: Resolution Trust Corp. takes the building during the savings
and loan crisis that left the previous owners bankrupt.
1993: The housing authoriy finally buys the building so that the
city can market it and control its use. The building remains vacant
after eight years.
KEYWORDS: CONDOMINIUMS PORTSMOUTH by CNB