Federal officials file suit to get Granby Tower site in Norfolk

NORFOLK

Federal officials filed a condemnation lawsuit on Thursday to claim the site of the failed Granby Tower project and will take ownership of the property as soon as today.

They deposited $6,175,000 with the federal court, saying that's the worth of the property according to a private appraisal, attorney Joe Waldo said.

Waldo, who represents Granby Tower developer Buddy Gadams, said he will contest the amount offered but can't contest the lawsuit itself.

The federal government plans to use the site for a $104.7 million expansion of the Walter E. Hoffman Courthouse, which it hopes will open in 2013.

Granby Tower would have been at the intersection of Granby Street and Brambleton Avenue, across Granby from the courthouse.

Federal officials also filed to claim a smaller, adjacent property on York Street owned by Raj Randeria, a Norfolk hotel developer. Randeria had planned to build a 15-story Hampton Inn on the site.

Randeria could not be reached Thursday. He said months ago he expected the federal government to offer about $1.1 million for the property. Federal officials indicate they will use both sites to build the annex.

Gadams said the government has offered him $1 million less than what he owes on the mortgage with Bank of the Commonwealth.

"I have many times over" that amount invested in the project, he said. "The federal government has been stalking me for five years. They put this project under a dark cloud, and we were never able to get out from underneath it."

Waldo said Gadams could have sold the project for far more than $6.2 million to a developer. Utilities have been installed, as were hundreds of pilings that would have formed the foundation for Granby Tower.

Waldo said he expects to file papers next week contesting the government's offer. "I believe that the courts will treat me fairly," Gadams said.

Gadams proposed building the 34-story, $180.5 million Granby Tower in 2004. The 327-unit condominium project would have been the city's tallest building and jump-started efforts to extend downtown to the north.

But in 2005, as Gadams prepared to begin selling condos, the federal government threatened to take the site for a courthouse expansion. Construction was delayed for nearly a year while Gadams, Norfolk city officials and the city's congressional delegation fought the federal plans.

The government relented, and construction began in the summer of 2007. But with the economy slumping and the condominium boom cooling, Gadams lost his financing and construction halted.

Gadams ceased efforts to acquire new financing last October, when he received a letter from the federal government announcing its intent to seize the property.

"Essentially, what the government did is shoot the buffalo, follow it and wait until it fell," Waldo said.

General Services Administration public affairs officer Gina Blyther Gilliam issued a statement late Thursday.

"GSA is working closely with local city planners to turn the site into a welcoming public space until construction begins," she wrote.

Mayor Paul Fraim said that "it's a welcome turn of events" if the government builds the annex. But he said Norfolk officials have heard nothing from the GSA, either about sprucing up the Granby Tower site or about the design of the annex.

Although the city has no legal say in how the courthouse annex is designed, federal law requires the GSA to consult with city officials, Fraim said.

"The spirit of the law is that they're supposed to try to build a building that fits within the fabric of the structures downtown and with our zoning ordinances," he said. "We hope they will do that."

Pilot writer Tim McGlone contributed to this report.

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com