NORFOLK
City leaders agreed Monday to condemn five properties near Hampton Boulevard, helping Old Dominion University acquire more land for its next phase of University Village.
Negotiations with the property owners continue, but Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority officials said the sides were so far apart on price that they worried agreements could not be reached.
"It's not that people don't want to sell," board member Robert Layton said. "It's selling at an appropriate price."
Under condemnation, the authority can take the properties but will have to pay market value.
The properties - one empty house and a handful of commercial buildings - occupy land south of the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The university's Real Estate Foundation has slowly been buying up land there for years in the hopes of expanding University Village's mix of shops, restaurants and apartments.
On Monday, Tommy Arney, who owns three commercial properties on Hampton Boulevard, protested the decision to take his buildings.
"I don't think it's right that ODU can come along and put a shopping center there," Arney said. "I've worked hard all my life and ain't nobody going to take my property."
The foundation offered $1.47 million for his land, but Arney countered with $3.15 million, saying he based his figures on square-footage prices the university has paid for other property in the area.
Ronnie Boone Jr., who bought a vacant house on 41st Street in 2005 for $125,000, also protested the condemnation. The university offered him $140,000, but Boone wants $230,000, saying he has spent thousands on interest and tax payments to maintain it.
"I didn't buy it to hold on to it and be greedy in any way," Boone said.
Since 1998, the foundation has spent $6.8 million acquiring properties within the 16 acres between Hampton Boulevard, Killam Avenue, 38th Street and 41st Street.
Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com
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Huh?
The Commonwealth of Virginia would probably be very interested to know that one of it's state universities has become a private enterprise. You know, all that money they spend paying state employees and such.
being railroaded -
NRHA 'norfolk redevelopement and housing authority' should not be a part of this dispute. ODU has become a private enity, and until this issue, ODU has acquired the surrounding properties on it's own. To take one's enterprise to put another enterprise is very unconstitutional per the recent court decisions on eminent domain. The same court decision is what NRHA says is impeding their redevelopment progress in wards corner. Forked Tounge Devils. Pay the fair markable price with a percentage for lost income as a result of condemnation. Otherwise, Tie it up in court for years and years and years, it's worth every private penny to keep the arrogant NRHA at bay until a just price is obtained.
Im-property Rights
The people mentioned in this article are not land owners who lived in these properties for years and are being pushed out. These people are oppurtunistic real estate speculators who's greed is beyond human imagination!! I am the KING of property rights! However, I have no sympathy for these people. These people have slithered around ODU looking to hold up development. Everyone of them are SUMMA CUM LAUDE graduates of the ED LINDSLEY School of Real Estate Speculation.
Hail to NRHA, kick their butts in court. HAIL to ODU to for cleaning up our west side of Norfolk and giving back some much than they take!!
More to the Story
I bet you that property on 41st Street was purchased with intentions other than using it for rental property. I have to ride near that area and I am going to scoot by just to see what kind of condition it is in. Can you say Speculation. It is no secret that ODU is expanding. I bet you will see more similar purchases on the south side of ODU over the past five years. Sometimes it can be like hitting the lottery.
I opened my new city
I opened my new city assessment for the upcoming year to find that my property value had been increased another 8% this year. I've seen double digit increases over the last seven years, but this year the land my house sits on went up $19,300. When I called the city to ask why, I was told that they reevaluated the value of my land because of the size of my lot. Evidently they feel that Norfolk is land locked and therefore the land is worth more. So, if I have to pay more taxes each year for my land, ODU can pay the fair market value to purchase someone else's. After all, that's what the city keeps telling me about why my taxes are so high. "If you sell your house, that's what you can expect someone to pay for it. Oh, and if the land is more valuable than the property sitting on it, well, that's what happens in a land locked city and the buyer may knock down your property to put something even more expensive on it." Hold them to it Norfolk residents. If they aren't going to see the stupidity of over burdening us with taxes, they can come buy mine too and I'll move. Eventually this area will be like New York City and you'll have to shell out millions of dollars for an 800 sq
The property values have soared, so pay market value.
According to a study just released from the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance yesterday, the housing costs were 26.4 percent higher here in the first three quarters of 2007 in Hampton Roads. That means that a $350,000 property in 2006 was increases to $408,238 last year. The cities have increased assessments to reflect steep increases in value over the past five years or so. You can't have it both ways, if ODU wants to buy peoples property with the market value from five years ago, then the cities need to reduce the assessments to match that value. I don't think that will happen, so ODU needs to take some of the high tuition prices they charge and up the antie on buying the property they want, instead of trying to steal it.
Maybe ODU can ask Danny glover for some funds.
As per an article in yesterdays Pilot, ODU is honoring danny glover (the well know anti-American communist) and other people who have embrased our enemys with an award. Maybe ODU should go to them and ask them to fund buying the land. OH WAIT! That's right, COMMUNIST governments can just TAKE the land of private indivisuals. If ODU wants to HONOR a man that has shown support for communist dictators such as, Castro and Chavez (close friend to Ahmadinejad), supports the Maoist group "Not In Our Name" (which directs the Revolutionary Communist Party). I understand that many state politicians will be there also. This does not look good for the politicians, to show up for an event to honor several anti-Americans while at the same time taking peoples land at less than market value. Maybe it's time to take a close look at the leadership of ODU? I know that any state politician that shows up at the awards event should be put under a microscope, given the recent events of how they demonstrated trying to kick the state constitution to the side. WAKE UP CALL!!!
Property Rights, anybody?
I remember reading about this a few months ago, and I remember siding with the property owners. ODU wasn't offering 'fair market value' for this land and that's why they were holding out. I may have this wrong but it sounds like, once again, special interests (people with connections) have trumped personal property rights again.
Am I missing something?