- August 18th, 2006, 9:43 am
#25410
I like this one and so will the students:
http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... 6391&path=
http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... 6391&path=
LU land sale could mean new mall
By Ron Brown
rbrown@newsadvance.com
August 17, 2006
Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist Church are marketing 100 acres of land for a new high-end, open-air shopping mall near the intersection of U.S. 460 and Wards Road in Campbell County.
Jerry Falwell Jr. said the land, adjacent to LU’s East Campus, went on sale last week. The Richmond real estate firm, C.B. Richard Ellis, is handling the sale of the property.
“They are going to make an announcement in the next two or three weeks about the commercial entities that are interested in the properties,” said Falwell, LU’s vice chancellor.
C.B. Richard Ellis is also trying to enlist a shopping center developer for the proposed project.
Falwell said about six to eight major retailers have already expressed interest in locating in the new shopping mall, which will be similar to Short Pump Town Center near Richmond.
“The strongest drawing card this property has is its central location,” Falwell said. “We’re excited about it. It could become part of an endowment for Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist Church and help pay for all the new facilities that have been built recently.”
The exact format for the sale has yet to be worked out.
The university could get a percentage of the profits of the shopping center in payment for the land. It also could sell the land for a lump sum, allowing the university and church to pay down a substantial portion of their debt.
“The first choice would be for the ministry to retain an ownership interest and for it to be a long term endowment for the university and the church,” Falwell said. “A development of that size could produce several million dollars a year. That would be enough to amortize most, if not all, of our debt.”
Plans call for the shopping mall to be ready for the 2008 Christmas shopping season.
“These retailers should be excited about the fact that they will have 10,000 students next door, who can walk to the mall comfortably,” said the Rev. Jerry Falwell, LU’s chancellor. “I think it enhances the campus. When you can provide your students and your 3,000 faculty and staff a next-door major shopping center, it’s a great convenience to them.”
But first, the property must be rezoned. Part of it is zoned for commercial and part for multi-family housing.
“It will all have to be zoned for business,” Falwell Jr. said.
The proposed shopping center lines up with Campbell County comprehensive plan, a state-mandated blue print for county development.
Mike Davidson, Campbell County’s director of economic development, said, “An extremely good case can be made for the shopping mall plan.”
Davidson and County Administrator R. David Laurrell were instrumental in working out a road extension essential to the project.
A frontage road, which will intersect U.S. 29 at the current stoplight for the Lynchburg Regional Airport will parallel U.S. 29 for a short distance before running eastward.
It will cross existing railroad tracks on a bridge that will be constructed by LU.
The new road will be an extension of Liberty Mountain Drive, which runs in front of a series of new dormitories that have been built by the school in the past several years.
Laurrell said the good news for motorists is that the proposed project will not require any addition traffic lights on U.S. 29.
“There is a concern that it could become another Madison Heights,” he said. “From a public safety perspective the proposed project will greatly enhance the U.S. 29 corridor.”
Falwell Jr. said the new road will also be a plus for the 2,500 students that will live on East Campus in two years. There will also be a new off-ramp on U.S. 460 leading into the shopping mall.
“They will be able to come and go to Wards Road without having to drive across campus,” he said. “It will give the students direct access to U.S. 29.”
The access road will be two lanes at first and will likely be expanded to four lanes as the student body grows. LU plans to have 8,500 students living on East Campus within the next 10 years.
A special tax district could be put in place for the shopping mall to reimburse LU for the roadwork and the bridge, Falwell Jr. said.
Laurrell said the addition of the shopping mall meets one of the county’s primary comprehensive economic goals.
The county has been working to achieve a better balance between its residential, industrial and commercial tax bases.
In the past couple of years, the county has approved new retail complexes at Wards Crossing West near Lynchburg and Dearing Ford Road near Altavista, where a new Wal-Mart has been built.
“I think the solution on the table right now will be best for the public’s interest, the interest of adjacent property owners and Liberty interest,” he said. “It’s going to add a lot of value to the community as a whole.”
The proposed mall is the second major shopping center announced in Central Virginia in the past four months.
Lakeside Centre is a 130-acre development slated to be built at the corner of U.S. 501 and Lakeside Drive, within city limits. Plans show retail space for a bookstore, a grocery store and a home-improvement store.
English Construction Co., along with an out-of-town development company, are asking City Council to rezone the land from residential to business use. Council is scheduled to discuss the rezoning request next month.
*please disregard this post if dated before 2017 and accept my apologies*
- By Dalegarz1
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