Developments run gamut of progress in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH

Construction of the $78 million courts complex downtown is under way and on schedule.

Businesses in a Churchland shopping center are moving to make way for a Harris Teeter.

And it's back to the drawing board for a large, vacant parcel in Midtown that city officials had hoped to redevelop years ago.

The three sites reflect the spectrum of progress for more than a dozen of the city's highest-profile developments. Some are moving through the planning stages or are near completion; others have barely moved past the fanfare of their announcement. Together, their successes or failures will shape Portsmouth's next decade of growth.

Several of the proposals that arrived in 2010 were still moving forward at year's end.

A pitch to turn the old Cradock High School and surrounding land into a neighborhood of 200 houses should reach the planning commission in February in a rezoning request, said Fred Brusso, the city's special projects administrator.

Meanwhile, the Economic Development Authority will soon begin negotiations to sell 7 acres to the same developers, Bob Arnette and Franciscus Homes, for a project to build about two dozen houses in Port Norfolk.

A different developer, Atlanta-based Oxford Properties, wants to build nearly 300 apartments and retail space on two city-owned parcels near the downtown waterfront. The company sent a letter last week to city officials saying it wanted to begin negotiations to buy the land.

If that process goes smoothly, construction could begin this year, said Bill Hall, regional development partner for Oxford Properties.

Construction could start sooner at Victory Village, the large mixed-use development awaiting its first buildings near the new Tidewater Community College campus. Infrastructure and streets have been laid, and developer Bob Williams now has a deal with Virginia Beach-based Ripley Heatwole to build apartments.

Ripley Heatwole plans in the first phase to build 132 apartment units across the street from TCC, said Daniel Heatwole, the company's development coordinator. A street closure request for the project is headed to the City Council next month, and construction is expected to begin this summer, Heatwole said. Plans for the second phase include 36 to 72 apartment units, he said.

State Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said last week that she still expects to build a 120-bed Marriott hotel at Victory Village. She needs a franchise agreement from the company, however.

Progress eked along nearby at New Port, the community that Virginia Beach developer L.M. Sandler & Sons announced in 2004 with a target of 1,628 new homes. About 25 townhouse units were built there in 2010, putting the development at less than a quarter complete, Brusso said.

Another major redevelopment proposal - City Center at Midtown - is still in its formative stages after the City Council announced it in April. Williams, the lead developer behind the idea, said Armada Hoffler, the firm that built Virginia Beach's Town Center, has since signed onto the project.

The plan involves new offices, shops, apartments and an expanded Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center campus. City staffers have not yet begun negotiating a development agreement with Williams on the city-owned land involved in the proposal, which will have to pass a council vote, said Patrick Small, Portsmouth's economic development director.

Other major projects are stuck in neutral.

In 2007, city officials chose Texas-based Lincoln Property Co. to redevelop a downtown waterfront parcel into a $158 million mixed-use hub of residential, commercial and office space.

Lincoln has since struggled to obtain financing for the project, which aims to redevelop the site of a former Holiday Inn. Last June, the Greater Portsmouth Development Corp., a nonprofit that controls the property and is led mostly by city officials, again extended a deadline for Lincoln to consider its purchase of the land - to June 14 of this year.

"The first sign that the banks have freed up money for projects like this, they're going to be ready to move," said David Tynch, president of the Greater Portsmouth Development Corp. "Right now, I don't think anybody knows when that is."

In another project, a new Holiday Inn was supposed to be built near the entrance to the Downtown Tunnel by Jan. 31, 2009. The developer behind that project, Jay Barot, has not secured financing and is now being sued by the Economic Development Authority for more than $200,000 in late fees.

City staffers are back to square one on another prominent city-controlled parcel: the former site of the old Norcom High School on Frederick Boulevard. The Sembler Co., a Florida-based development firm, was slated to build a shopping center, but the company and the city parted ways in December 2009 when Sembler sought to resort to a phased development because of the economic downturn.

The city is still searching for a new developer to take on the site. The property should be more attractive now that new homes have replaced the rundown Jeffry Wilson public housing complex across the street, said Kathy Warren, deputy executive director for the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Residents should begin moving into the redeveloped Jeffry Wilson neighborhood, now known as Seaboard Square, in the coming weeks, Warren said. The housing authority expects to begin building another 100 subsidized apartments this spring for Seaboard Square's second phase, she said.

Two other notable projects that will alter the look of downtown are closing in on their opening days.

Oasis Social Ministry, a charity for the poor and homeless, will relocate this month to a new building about 10 blocks from its High Street address. Business owners are eager to see Oasis take with it the large crowds that regularly loiter around its current location, a visible spot on one of the city's main thoroughfares.

Andy McCullough, an owner of the renovated Montgomery Square at Effingham and High streets, said the homeless haven't caused problems for his tenants, but the sight outside Oasis can scare off retailers.

"It's that perception," McCullough said. "I think that's hurt Portsmouth west of Effingham, people being afraid to develop."

Farther down High Street, the Children's Museum of Virginia plans to reopen in mid- to late spring after 17 months of renovation and expansion. The museum was a draw for out-of-town visitors before the work, said David Cartier, who runs a coffee kiosk nearby with his wife, Betsy.

"I think everybody's kind of waiting for that to open," he said.

Dave Forster, (757) 446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com