TCC plans for its undeveloped waterfront property

For all of the sparkle and shine of its new Portsmouth campus, Tidewater Community College is sitting on a gem of another kind - one of the last undeveloped waterfront properties in Hampton Roads.

The site - all 389 acres of it - is between the Peninsula and the Southside. It is the first land that drivers from the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel reach when they cross into North Suffolk.

"On the water, interstate access - it's just primo property," said Art Collins, a Suffolk resident and board member of the city's Economic Development Authority.

The land will move one step closer to its future - as what, nobody knows - when TCC starts classes in January at its new Portsmouth campus, south of Interstate 264 off Victory Boulevard.

The North Suffolk site - which, despite its location, has long been called the Portsmouth campus - will retain TCC's truck driving program and some warehouse and facilities services, but only temporarily. The college will try to relocate those last remaining operations so it can develop the land through its real estate foundation.

TCC President Deborah DiCroce said it's too early to speculate how the land might be used, but she acknowledged that its sale could be "life-altering" for the college.

"There is not another community college in the country with this type of asset," she said.

Developers have called, but TCC has not started discussions with any of them, DiCroce said. First, she said, the college must work with Suffolk officials to plan how they want to approach the task. DiCroce said TCC has been talking directly with City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn.

Debbie George, a Suffolk spokeswoman, said city officials are in "very early conversations" with TCC on the site. College representatives have approached city staff about a joint land-use study and a nearby 56-acre parcel that the city's Economic Development Authority bought from TCC in 2006, she said.

Councilman Robert Barclay, whose borough encompasses the TCC land, said the council has not discussed the property since he was elected and took his seat in January. However it is used, the property should have some kind of open space for the public, he said.

"There's almost unlimited potential," he said.

Bob Williams, who developed North Suffolk's fast-growing Harbour View area, called it a great piece of property with a fantastic view. The water there is shallow, though, which will be restricting, he said.

The land should not be used for residential development, Williams said - mixed-use, maybe, or it would be great for a major corporate office site.

A portion of the site is on the federal Superfund list because of its former use as an ordnance depot. The Army Corps of Engineers' site management plan for the cleanup project includes about 42 acres on the TCC property, said Frank Dunn, the college's vice president for administration.

The Superfund process is expected to be complete in 2014, but much of the cleanup will be done well before then, Dunn said. Development of the overall site will not have to wait for that 2014 date, he added.

With so many unknowns, gauging the value of the property is difficult. Williams, though, said one might get in the ballpark using the price that Suffolk's Economic Development Authority paid for the 55.6 acres of TCC land in 2006 - about $5.6 million.

That would equate to about $39 million for the other parcels. Plus, add a 10 to 15 percent premium because the remaining land is waterfront, Williams said.

Money aside, DiCroce said the college will strive to do what is good for the community and to honor the Beazley Foundation, which gave the land to the state in 1968 and later helped fund TCC's new Portsmouth campus.

"We take very seriously a civic responsibility to do right by the people of Hampton Roads as we take a look at where to go," DiCroce said.

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