Sunday, November 30, 2008
Editorial: Smart growth in Blacksburg?
A mixed-use, infill development proposal might finally deliver.
From the RoundTable blog
Read the latest entries
Blacksburg's fans of mixed-use development have not had much to cheer. Both First & Main and Smith's Landing promised smart growth but failed to deliver. Now there is talk of a mixed-use project near the intersection of Prices Fork Road and North Main Street. This time, with the developer, the Virginia Tech Foundation and the town all at the table, it might actually happen.
The 4-acre parcel under consideration is adjacent to Collegiate Square and Odd Fellows Hall. Decades ago, it was the center of the town's black neighborhood. Today it features student housing.
Developer Bob Pack, best known for Kent Square, has a grander vision. He envisions commercial development on the ground floor with Tech offices or graduate student housing above. A parking garage would round out the project.
In other words, he is talking about just the sort of mixed-use, infill development that Blacksburg and many other communities need more of. He would improve an underutilized property in a key location.
In a few years, the very concept of "downtown Blacksburg" soon will extend beyond College Avenue. Coming improvements on North Main Street will better connect that area to the historic downtown, and Tech has plans for an arts center near the development site.
The latter will be built on a campus parking lot, eliminating about 375 parking spaces, even as it draws hundreds of visitors for events. A new parking garage could replace what is lost and serve the new traffic.
There is a lot to like about the proposal, assuming it all comes together. Current property owners still need to be brought on board fully, and financing details remain in the works. Pack and the Tech Foundation are talking about a complex back-and-forth leasing arrangement that could result in the foundation owning the land in 25 years. The deal bears watching as they hammer out the details.
The town, too, has some say when it comes to utilities and access issues. The land is already zoned for this sort of development, but keeping local officials in the loop would help smooth the process and ease public perceptions of campus creep.
Pack and the Tech Foundation could go one step further to thank Blacksburg Town Hall for its support.
Depending on how ownership of the buildings and land eventually shake out, eateries on site could technically fall under campus taxing rules. That would exempt them from the town meals and beverages tax.
That exemption has long been a wedge between the school and the community. A promise to forgo it on this site could mend some fences, even as the town and university continue their sporadic discussions about taxing campus eateries like every other restaurant in Blacksburg.
Whatever promises the town might receive, it should be sure to get them in writing. It has been burned before by lofty plans for smart development.
