Thursday, November 19, 2009
Editorial: The bad economy offers an opportunity
The Roanoke Valley has a chance to reconsider options for Explore.
From the RoundTable blog
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Not surprisingly, Larry Vander Maten came calling on Tuesday to ask the governing board of the defunct Explore Park to delay his June deadline to either break ground on a new development or lose his lease.
Capital isn't available for a project like his envisioned Blue Ridge America, which he figures will take $200 million to turn 1,100 acres of mostly undeveloped state land into a commercial family resort.
Vander Maten cites the extremely tight credit market for his lack of financial backing, and of course there is truth in that. The credit freeze is real and in no way the developer's fault. Today's economic hardships do present the public with an opportunity, though, to change the look of the future for Explore's land.
At the very least, the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, which signed a 99year lease with the developer, should be prepared to renegotiate the terms to protect public access -- particularly to the Roanoke River and to the long-planned leg of the Roanoke River Greenway through the old Explore Park.
The authority also should pump energy into its homegrown economic development consortium, which is supposed to draft an alternate master plan for developing the site should the deal with Vander Maten fall through.
The consortium should have a realistic vision down on paper well ahead of the Florida-based developer's June 13 deadline so the authority can make an informed choice between renegotiating the lease or letting it expire. Extending the current terms should not be an option.
Authority board member Elmer Hodge -- longtime Roanoke County administrator, now retired -- has the right idea. "At this point," he told fellow board members, "I'm interested in seeing both go forward in parallel to see which is going to be the better alternative for us."
If economic activity continues to languish, it's possible no major commercial development will materialize. It's also possible that could prove to be the best alternative of all.
