Nags Head land sold for $7.25 million, but with some misgivings

ELIZABETH CITY

Pasquotank County commissioners agreed to sell a piece of Nags Head property for $7.25 million, more than $2 million less than was offered in 2005.

Several said, however, that they were concerned it would be the wrong decision.

The 10.51-acre parcel on U.S. 158 north of East Baltic Street was intended for an Albemarle Health facility, but those plans were abandoned after The Outer Banks Hospital was built through a partnership of University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina and what is now Chesapeake Regional Medical Center.

Commissioners hoped the land, initially valued at $1 million, would sell for as much as $10 million when they decided to sell and split the revenue with Albemarle Health.

Ocean Beach Club LLC, one of the corporate entities collectively known as Gold Key/PHR, bid $9.45 million for the property in 2005.

The Virginia Beach-based company wanted to build a hotel, restaurant and timeshare property but terminated its sales agreement in July because of density restrictions. Pasquotank collected more than $82,000 in fees during that time.

Since then, offers have gotten lower and less frequent.

The $7.25 million offer from R.V. Owens III, who formerly owned RV's Restaurant on the Nags Head-Manteo causeway, is the first that the commissioners considered. No additional bids were submitted during an upset bid process, which meant the commissioners could accept the bid or put the land back on the market and hope for a larger offer.

"I'm on the fence," Commissioner Jeff Dixon said Monday. "It's a gamble."

Though Dixon said he probably wouldn't sleep well that night, he made the motion to accept the offer rather than wait.

Commissioners approved the sale 4-2 on Monday night.

"I have always had the philosophy 'Money now rather than later,' " Commissioner Matt Wood said. "On the other hand, I would have liked to have closed the deal at 9 (million)."

Commissioners Marshall Stevenson and Lloyd Griffin voted no.

Owens has 180 days to determine whether his plans for the parcel will work before finalizing the purchase.

He has not yet revealed his plans.

Lauren King, (252) 338-2413, lauren.king@pilotonline.com