DATE: Friday, July 4, 1997                  TAG: 9707040510

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN MURPHY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   90 lines

BEACH PLAN COMBINES PARK, HOTEL

Oceanfront beachgoers may soon drive to the city's 31st Street lot for more than a place to park the family car.

City officials Thursday unveiled a plan to develop the 130-space parking area into a $17 million hotel, conference facility, restaurant, ice cream outlet and grass-covered park that would offer visitors one of the Oceanfront's longest unobstructed views of the Atlantic.

The roughly 1-acre site, at the east end of 31st Street (or Laskin Road), has long been considered prime Oceanfront property, ripe for development as a commercial space by some and as one of the last opportunities for an open public park by others.

If approved by the council, the plan being pursued by Professional Hospitality Resources, a Virginia Beach-based company, may meet both of those goals, city officials said.

Under the proposed agreement, the company would enter a partnership with the city to buy the property for about $2.4 million and build a 168-room hotel with conference and meeting facilities, parking, an upscale dining establishment and a Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe or similarly themed restaurant.

The company also would invest $1 million in landscaping, waterfalls and greenery in a public park beside the hotel complex.

That would mean the city would receive $3.4 million for the lot, which it has invested about $4 million in since 1988. And the development would create annual tax revenues, which a public park alone would not.

The size of the proposed park, about 72,000 square feet, includes about one-third of an acre now occupied by an arcade. The developers are negotiating to buy it, city officials said.

With the arcade property, the open space would encompass an area larger than the parks at 24th and 17th streets combined. It would include a Dairy Queen franchise with public restrooms, similar to the 17th Street park.

City Manager James K. Spore praised the plans as a way to preserve open space, attract visitors year-round and provide new job opportunities.

``It's a real win-win situation,'' he said during a news conference at the city's development authority office.

Donald L. Maxwell, the city's economic development director, promoted the plan as a way to create an attractive gateway to the Oceanfront.

For several years, the city has been studying ideas to redevelop the Laskin Road corridor between Baltic Avenue and the Oceanfront.

``It sets the tone for other development in the area,'' Maxwell said.

But Maury Jackson, a civic activist who started a campaign to preserve the tract as a public park, said the public needs a park without a hotel.

``They want what every other city along the coast has, a place to look at the ocean,'' he said.

Doug Thompson, a high school history teacher who helped Jackson amass a list of 6,000 signatures to save the lot, gave cautious approval to the plan.

``If (the developers) are serious, I think that's great. If there is a place where the sun's not blocked off at 1 p.m., I would be very pleased.''

Thompson added, however, that he would continue to collect signatures until the plan is complete.

The plan promises one of the clearest views of the ocean from Atlantic Avenue.

Any vote by the council will not occur for at least 60 to 90 days.

The proposal is one of three directions for the lot that will be considered by the City Council.

Spore said the city may choose to keep the lot as a parking area. Or, it may choose to develop the lot as a park.

The plan announced Thursday was one of three submitted by local developers. The city would not name the other developers, but one proposed a restaurant and parking and the other proposed a hotel, officials said.

A review committee of the city manager, the economic development authority, city attorney, planning department and other city departments evaluated the proposals.

Professional Hospitality Resources offered the best financial benefits, tax revenues, year-round employment opportunities and open space, city officials said.

Bruce Thompson, president of the company, would develop the property along with business partner Ed Ruffin, and Richard Maddox, owner of the 17th Street Dairy Queen. If their plan is approved, construction could begin in February.

The developers already have begun talks with international hotel companies, including Radisson, Omni and Hyatt. The hotel and combined facilities would employ between 150 and 300 people.

While not part of the proposed plan, a parking garage across Atlantic Avenue from the hotel could be included in future development. Spore said that could require an investment of more tax dollars. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic with map

PARK COMPLEX

Beach officials call it a ``win-win situation'': turning the

130-space parking area on 31st Street into a $17 million hotel

complex with a park that would provide an unobstructed view of the

ocean. If a complex isn't developed, other plans - for parking lot

or park - are options.

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