Lucas touts Portsmouth hotel project as first for black community

PORTSMOUTH

Sen. Louise Lucas is a woman with big plans, and she wants big money from this cash-strapped city.

Earlier this month, Lucas made an ambitious pitch behind closed doors, proposing to build a $65 million conference center and 12- to 15-story hotel in the city’s new Victory Village business park.

She also asked the City Council for $13.5 million in cash and tax breaks to help finance the project. Although $13.5 million in funding is in line with other public-private conference center developments, it is more than Portsmouth has provided to private developers in recent years.

If the project is built, Lucas says, it would be Portsmouth’s first development led and funded by the black community. She’s raised $1.8 million from about 600 black investors – mostly Portsmouth residents – to help build the conference center, which would be one of the largest components of the new business park off Interstate 264 at Victory Boulevard.

Lucas would be the principal owner of the project.

“I wanted the African American community to have an opportunity to do something we’ve never been able to do before, and that’s be part of the economic development of Portsmouth,” she said.

Councilman Ray Smith, who is black, said the project is “a golden opportunity to really give African American folks in the city the chance to say we’ve accomplished something, this is ours.”

But Smith and other Portsmouth officials said Lucas is asking for money the city hasn’t set aside, especially in a year when it is struggling to pay for major needs, including a new Circuit Court and drainage improvements.

“I want to push the envelope, but I have to be realistic about the position we’re in,” Smith continued. “That amount of money is going to be a stretch.”

Lucas’ position as a Democratic state senator representing Portsmouth – and now as the public face of hundreds of investors who are Portsmouth voters – also has made the project a touchy political subject. Four members of the council face re-election in May, a point not lost on anyone involved.

“This isn’t about me,” said Lucas, who will lead the Senate’s local government committee next year. “This is about how the City Council is going to deal with 600 citizens in this community.”

Three council members – Mayor James Holley, Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas and Councilman Steve Heretick – either didn’t return calls or declined to comment on the project.

Others said they will have to walk a fine line in coming to a decision.

“The smartest thing we can do is to treat this project like any other,” said Councilman Doug Smith, who said he is interested in the project but needs more information about its costs and benefits.

“We need to do this in the light of day so everyone understands what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” he said.

The project would be Lucas’ most ambitious commercial project to date. She’s president of Lucas Lodge, a company that runs several group homes in Portsmouth for people who have mental and physical disabilities.

City leaders credit Lucas with pulling together a team of architects, consultants and developers with experience overseeing similar-size projects.

HBA, the architect hired by Portsmouth to build its Churchland Library, is designing the conference center, and Hunter Interests, a Maryland-based consultant, has performed feasibility studies to determine the appropriate size for the hotel and conference space.

Lucas said she began thinking about building a conference center in 2003, after she opened a new office and received requests from social organizations to host meetings there.

“We need a place in Portsmouth where Portsmouth people can have their functions,” she said.

She looked at eight other sites before choosing Victory Village. The vacant land is being developed as a retail and office center with a Tidewater Community College campus adjacent to it. She and her consultants are negotiating with Bob Williams, the managing partner of the business park, to buy the land.

“It’s an excellent match for Victory Village,” said Portsmouth economic development director Steve Lynch, adding that original plans for the business park called for two hotels on the property. “It adds another strong component to the park, and can be a great revenue generator for the city.”

Lucas has proposed a two-story conference center that would be about 55,000 square feet, with a ballroom seating as many as 1,800 people for dinner.

By comparison, the city’s only other conference facility, the Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel and Waterfront Convention Center, can seat up to 900 in its largest dining room.

According to Lucas’ proposal, the facility would be adjacent to a 200- to 250-room hotel and a three-story office building. The entire cost of the project would be nearly $65 million, and Lucas’ consultants have estimated annual tax revenues of $2.1 million.

“It’s going to provide the city with tons and tons of additional taxes,” Lucas said. “They’re going to get that and the exposure – why not help support the project?”

She hopes to fund it through a mixture of $32 million in local Empowerment Zone bonds, conventional financing and at least $4.7 million in cash from the city. She also has requested $8.8 million in city tax abatements for the center and hotel.

“There’s not one developer who comes to a city and does not look for incentives,” Lucas said. “Why would we be any different? Why should we be treated any differently?”

City leaders said they plan to spend the next few months analyzing the feasibility studies from Lucas’ consultants.

“We’re going to have to vet it,” City Manager Ken Chandler said. “It’s just like any other developer – it’s 'What’s your deal?’, 'What are you asking for?’ and 'Are we going to be able to do it?’”

Among Lucas’ financial backers are Portsmouth residents Warren S. Harris, a retired Army colonel, and his wife, Dora.

“There’s not many times that you can invest in something in your own city,” Warren Harris said. “My children and my grandchildren will reap some of the benefits from it.”

The Harrises belong to the Eureka Club Inc., a charitable organization in Portsmouth, and are members of a fraternity and sorority.

Warren Harris said they travel to other Hampton Roads cities several times a year to attend functions. In June, it was a concert at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, and in April they attended a debutante cotillion at the Chesapeake Conference Center.

“There’s no place here in Portsmouth that can host or handle situations of that nature,” Harris said. “It’s important that we have landmarks that will keep businesses and organizations in Portsmouth.”

Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com