Suffolk weighs major distribution and warehouse center

SUFFOLK

A Chicago-area developer unveiled plans Wednesday to build a massive warehouse and distribution center in the heart of the city to meet growing port traffic.

The project calls for a rail yard and 5 million square feet of distribution and storage space over parts of 900 acres. It is "absolutely critical" to the long-term success of the state's port and economy, said J.J. Keever, deputy executive director of the Virginia Port Authority.

CenterPoint Properties must receive zoning approval to proceed on the full project, however, and a host of questions remained after company representatives made their first public pitch at a City Council work session Wednesday.

Most prominently, city Planning Director Scott Mills told the council he needs to hear a solution for the deteriorating traffic

conditions along U.S. 58-Holland Road before he could support the project's location in that corridor.

Other infrastructure issues, including sewer pump stations, also need to be addressed, Mills said.

CenterPoint Properties representatives have worked privately with city staff for months and made it clear they want to move ahead quickly. Keever and a state official were on hand to say the project has strong support outside the city.

David Smith, Virginia's deputy secretary of commerce and trade, said the state wants to help make the project happen.

"What's good for the commonwealth, we hope, is good for the city of Suffolk," he said.

CenterPoint Properties owns or manages more than 42 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space across the country, according to a release from the company.

Neil Doyle, an executive vice president, told council members CenterPoint Properties is in about a half- dozen areas outside of the Chicago area, "none of which are even half the investment we are willing to make in Suffolk."

That investment would total $325 million, according to the release. The company said the project could generate more than 7,000 jobs throughout the region over 10 years, though Doyle said that takes into account construction work and other businesses that would profit from the distribution center.

Councilman Charles Brown said the proposal is one of the biggest projects he's seen since arriving on the council in 1994.

"We're talking about a tremendous burden financially on the city, but at the same time I see it as a tremendous financial tool for the city," he said.

The project would front about half a mile of U.S. 58-Holland Road about four miles west of downtown.

Improving Holland Road has long been a topic of conversation in Suffolk. About 30,000 drivers use the road each day.

With or without the CenterPoint development, traffic there would fall to an F level for service by 2017, with traffic crawling along at an average speed of 11 mph if improvements aren't made, according to a recent study by the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.

The study pointed to two potential solutions, widen the three-mile stretch of road from four lanes to six at a potential cost of $90 million, or build a bypass that might cost $250 million.

Bob Harbour, a development partner with CenterPoint, said he believes the study overestimates the cost. The developer wants to pay an engineering firm to conduct another study, he said.

Some council members expressed concern at how fast CenterPoint wants to move ahead on its re zoning request. The company presented a schedule that has it before the Planning Commission next month and to the council in October for a final decision.

The new road-widening study wouldn't be done in time for the planning commission to consider it, Harbour said.

"Why would we want to go to planning without that information?" Mayor Linda Johnson asked.

Harbour said the company has been working out details of the project with city staff since winter and doesn't want to prolong the wait for potential tenants.

"They'll become nonbelievers. They'll go away and then CenterPoint says 'This ain't going to happen,' " he said. "We're going to lose this opportunity."

Vice Mayor Curtis Milteer Sr. said the council should act as soon as possible.

"Let's not tarry when it ain't necessary," he said.

Councilman Leroy Bennett voiced caution.

"I hope that we will not pressure staff to move forward unless we have some figures," he said.

CenterPoint would make several improvements to the site's infrastructure and make other contributions to the city for the project, including a land donation for a fire station and cash for a new water tank.

Pilot writers Hattie Brown Garrow and Josh Brown contributed to this report.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com