THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601110149
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
A proposed 266-unit apartment development near College Park Shopping Center that is aimed at the seniors market got the nod from the City Council Tuesday without dissent.
The complex, to be known as Jamestown Commons, will be geared for the 55-and-older set and will offer one- and two-bedroom units that will rent monthly for about $480 to $540.
The apartments will be on 11.13 acres on the west side of College Park Boulevard, across the street from the shopping center.
Attorney R.J. Nutter, spokesman for the three-man development group before the council, said the project would cost an estimated $12 million.
Nutter said investors - veteran housing developers Larry Goldrich, Bart Frye and Bill Burger, operating as the Virginia Beach Investment Company - did their homework in laying the ground work for the project.
They met with residents of surrounding neighborhoods to iron out potential conflicts before coming to the council with the plans, Nutter explained, noting that no opposition was present at the Tuesday council meeting.
Nutter told council members that the apartment complex was geared for retirees primarily.
Councilwoman Barbara M. Henley questioned the wisdom of labeling 55-year-olds as ``seniors'' these days, since most people of that age and older still work.
``I don't know why they're making age requirements earlier, because to get Social Security (benefits) they're making it later,'' she said, adding, ``When you require the head of a household to be 55, that doesn't mean there won't be children around.''
Nutter said developers had taken that into account in planning the complex.
The A-24 designation assured the city that a lower density development would be built on the property.
``It reduces the density from 600 to about 200 (units) for the elderly and has restrictions on rental units for those 55 and older,'' Nutter said.
A construction startup date has yet to be set, Nutter said, because the development group first had to get council approval for the project before applying for a loan.
``We have to apply for credits and interest financing from the Virginian Department of Housing and Development,'' he said. ``You have to do that for most retirement housing.''
What the council did to get the project under way was to approve the investment company's request for a change in conditional zoning from B-2 business to A-24 apartment use. ILLUSTRATION: This model by the TAF Group shows the Jamestown Commons complex
sitting on 11.13 acres on the west side of College Park Boulevard,
across the street from the shopping center.
Photo by LAWRENCE J. GOLDRICH
KEYWORDS: SENIOR CITIZENS HOUSING VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL by CNB