
DATE: Monday, September 15, 1997            TAG: 9709150062

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:  109 lines

NEW LIFE FOR BLOCKBUSTER PROJECT THAT WENT BUST? FIRST, NEW DEVELOPERS MUST PAY OVERDUE TAXES.

The plush property along the Nansemond River, once envisioned as a ``Hollywood East,'' has long been a place for developers with dreams.

But a decade of bankruptcies and failed plans turned it into a nightmare for city officials.

Hillpoint Farms, the development that was to surround a glittering movie studio, has racked up nearly a quarter of Suffolk's uncollected real estate taxes.

Now some businessmen want to turn 400-plus acres into a luxury development with an 18-hole golf course running among 1,200 expensive homes.

They say it will be the kind of place that carries its own weight, providing enough to city coffers to cover all services and fueling development in nearby commerce parks.

But City Council members say they will not deal with the new plans until the developers pay up the delinquent taxes.

Close to $385,000 is now owed on the entire Hillpoint Farms property. The developers' current plan does not include all the land, so only about $235,000 of that has to be paid for Hillpoint to go before the council, said City Treasurer Ronald H. Williams.

``At one time, its developers owed, like, $1.2 million,'' Williams said. Part of the responsibility rested with the city, he said.

``The largest single problem with taxes is that assessments were blown way out of proportion.''

Still, the outstanding $235,000 would have allowed the city to build the $75,000 swimming pool that was put on hold earlier this year for the Cypress section of the city.

It would have covered two-thirds of the money Suffolk needed earlier this year to finish paying for its new courthouse.

Tuesday, the developers will bring a new plan before the Planning Commission, and the plan will be heard by the City Council the next day.

This project includes up to 480 apartments, about 150 townhomes and about 1,200 single-family homes that would sell for more than $150,000.

The owners who are seeking approval of their new plans said they would pay the unpaid taxes - some of which have been in city books for several years after previous owners backed out due to bankruptcy - before the plan goes to the council on Wednesday.

``It's frustrating that the city's bringing them up,'' said Jerry Bowman, one of Hillpoint's owners. ``. . . Most people will be paying taxes before the meeting. We've paid what we owe at a much higher assessed value than the land is worth. The city has not been hurt in that regard.''

The vision:

The dream started in 1986 in the minds of father and son Albert and Richard Marten, New York business lawyers who foresaw a movie studio, about 2,700 luxury homes, a shopping center, a business park and even a hotel, in a city better known for peanuts and Econo-Lodges.

So in 1986 they purchased close to 1,000 acres at about $3 million for what was touted as ``Hollywood East.'' They talked about a place where producers and actors could escape from the hustle and bustle of the country's entertainment mecca and film in a cheaper and more peaceful community.

By late 1988, they had spent $2.5 million and built a 10,000-square-foot soundstage, dressing, screening and editing rooms, and a commissary.

But only a few projects were filmed in the studio, and contractors began bailing out of the residential end of the development. In the spring of 1991, the Martens filed for personal bankruptcy.

The studio is now being leased to a simulation entertainment company, Mariah Vision.

In the late '80s, other developers trying to help the Martens save their dream began purchasing portions of the property.

That's how Butler and a group of other developers got hold of some of the Hillpoint land.

They began meeting with the city about a new plan for developing the property in early 1994.

Plans have gone before the council so many times that many of the folks involved have lost count.

``It's been frustrating,'' Butler said. ``Here we are, three years later and after spending a lot of money. There have been a number of suggestions and changes that I think are positive for the city and ultimately the development of Hillpoint Farms.''

What's new:

Besides the 157-acre, 18-hole golf course, about 30 acres have been set aside for a park and school. The city will have control over the appearance of the homes.

Bowman said developers have also agreed to improve some of the roads near the development and to add a water line to support it.

They will also help reimburse the city on the interest it has been paying to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District for extending a sewer line to the site several years ago.

Steve Herbert, Suffolk's assistant city manager for development, said Hillpoint's current plan is a dramatic improvement over the old.

``It stands a better chance than before,'' Herbert said. ``Strategically, it's a good location for the city. It should help generate business downtown.''

Bowman said if it's approved, construction could begin as soon as early next year.

Maybe then the vision - in a revised fashion - will finally become reality. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Map

Area shown: Hillpoint Farms

Graphic

WHAT'S NEXT

A revised plan for the Hillpoint Farms development will go before

the Planning Commission, an advisory body to the City Council, on

Tuesday at 2 p.m. in City Council chambers, 441 Market Street.

The development will go before the City Council on Wednesday at 7

p.m. in council chambers.