THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996 TAG: 9607100329
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 94 lines
After years of waiting to turn 172 acres on Kings Fork Road into a retirement community, representatives of the United Church of Christ say construction may begin soon.
City officials and church representatives have been negotiating an agreement to extend municipal water lines to the site.
The retirement community, named Lake Prince after the water it adjoins, will be run by United Church Retirement Homes Inc., a nonprofit organization operated by the United Church of Christ. The denomination has about 70 churches in Hampton Roads, including 16 in Suffolk.
The organization operates two retirement communities in North Carolina.
Lake Prince, to include everything from nursing-home living to cottages, will draw residents from across the nation.
``We are ready to go as soon as we can get an equitable agreement with the city,'' said Sylvia Old, marketing director for the project.
Church representatives bought the land seven years ago.
Last December, the City Council voted to participate in the Hampton Roads Sanitation District's $4.5 million Windsor force main, which extends sewer lines to the Kings Fork corridor.
Since then, church officials have been waiting for water. While the project needs only a 16-inch main, city officials want to treat the church organization as a developer and require it to pay for a 24-inch water main for future development.
But church representatives have argued that they are not developers and should not be in the business of ``financing the city,'' Old said. They have asked city officials to force developers who hook up to the line in the future to share the cost of the larger main.
The Kings Fork area is booming, and several more subdivisions have been approved for the rural corridor.
``We understand the city is hard-pressed,'' Old said, ``and all we want is an agreement that other people that come on equally share the cost.''
At a time when city officials are in a crunch to control development that in some cases costs the city more than it receives, United Church representatives say their retirement community will be a great asset.
The estimated $25 million project is expected to include a full health care center, apartment buildings, cottages, townhouses, child and adult day care centers, a retail center with office space and shops and a recreational facility with a swimming pool and park.
Church representatives plan to develop the retirement community in phases. The first will include some cottages, duplexes and apartments, as well as a moderately sized health care unit and a dining hall open to the public.
Initially the project is expected to bring 100 jobs, at least 90 percent of which will be filled by Suffolk residents, said Lee Jessup Jr., the organization's director of development.
``We're going to be hiring RN's, LPN's . . . as well as social workers and full staffs for maintenance and the dietary division,'' Jessup said. ``We plan to sponsor community education seminars on aging for the public.''
``Many of our residents and staff will serve on boards and committees and become real volunteers in Suffolk,'' Jessup said. ``We consider ourselves as part of the community and want Suffolk to consider us as a part of who they are as well.''
Jessup cites two North Carolina examples to show what the center can bring.
The Piedmont Center in Thomasville was initially constructed with a 36-unit apartment building, several cottages and duplexes and several wings of a health care facility.
Three years ago, the organization spent $9 million to double its population with more living units, a residential mall which includes a bank, barber and beauty shops and dining halls. It now has a staff of 150 and operates a meals on wheels program with the local social service agency.
The Abernathy Center in Newton stays full and has a two- to four-year waiting list. Abernathy, which has a staff of 200, is expanding. It operates an elder abuse program with the social service office. ILLUSTRATION: What is it?
A $25-million retirement community to be built by United Church
Retirement Homes Inc., a nonprofit organization operated by the
United Church of Christ, which has about 70 churches in Hampton
Roads.
Whom will it serve?
Suffolk residents as well as people from across the nation.
What's the problem?
Church representatives have been waiting for seven years for city
utilities on the 172-acre site on Kings Fork Road. Last December,
the City Council voted to participate in the Hampton Roads
Sanitation District's $4.5 million Windsor force main, which extends
sewer lines to the Kings Fork corridor.
What's next?
City officials and church representatives are trying to reach an
agreement for municipal water. After that, construction can begin on
the project, which initially would bring 100 jobs to the city.
DEVELOPMENT
Map
KEN WRIGHT
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