County EDA ponders marketing and developmental options on its real estate holdings

Following an hour-and-a-half closed session at 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 25, the Warren County Economic Development Authority (WC EDA, EDA) convened the open portion of its monthly meeting of March. The meeting held in the caucus room of the Warren County Government Center opened with two motions out of closed session, as described in the EDA Press Release below. After brief Executive and Asset Committee reports the board moved on to “New Business” where Chairman Jeff Browne discussed a game plan moving forward on the movement of EDA properties.

A five-member board was present to vote on action items out of the closed session. Board member Jim Wolfe had to leave for a scheduled meeting shortly after the open meeting convened at 10:30 a.m. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini. Video by Mike McCool.

Browne discussed compartmentalization of EDA properties as to relative sale-ability and state of development as a step toward marketing them for sale or disposal as possible. He noted that all EDA transfers of property would need approval by First Bank, the EDA’s lien holder. Most of the EDA’s real estate holdings were inherited from the tenure of Executive Director Jennifer McDonald and the former EDA Board in place during the evolution of the $26-million to $62-million financial scandal the EDA is still trying to recover from.

Browne noted a desire to get the County out from under the expense of supporting the EDA’s ownership of the properties, especially ones that are not currently revenue-producing. In a segue from that observation, Asset Committee Chairman Greg Harold presented a plan he has proposed to develop a 4.5-acre strip of land the EDA owns off Kendrick Lane between Monroe Avenue and the Front Royal Police Station and Massanutten Avenue.

Greg Harold points to details on a map of his LEC affordable housing proposal for EDA property off Kendrick Ln. in town. Below, is a shot of the map of the proposed LEC developmental area. If the project moves forward, Harold hopes to involve the local builders’ community in its development.

Noting marketability issues with the parcel that is part of the Avtex property, Harold described the land’s potential development as affordable housing along with a Limited Equity Cooperative (LEC) model. Board member Marjorie “Jorie” Martin noted the parcel was designated “totally clean” by the EPA during the Superfund environmental remediation begun in the 1990s.

EDA Release:
The Board of Directors of the Front Royal and Warren County Economic Development Authority held the monthly board meeting on March 25, 2022, in person at the Warren County Government Center.
The Board met in a closed session to discuss property and leases. Exiting the closed session, the board voted to approve an addendum to the Sysco lease for 425 Baugh Drive and an additional year for the grazing lease to Jeremy Baldwin. The Visionary Optics lease and CCAP leases are in process.

The main agenda item for the open session was a review of the EDA properties and priorities to develop or sell. Jeff Browne, Chairman, said over the next several months the Board will review properties to determine the priority of sale and how the properties should be sold. He presented several options for the Board to consider depending on the property and priority:

• One tier of properties would be in an auction “bucket “of properties. These properties would generally be smaller parcels and not in the EDA’s best interest to develop.

• The second tier are properties such as parcels in the Stephens Industrial Park and Happy Creek Technology Park where the EDA could consider bringing in a commercial broker to sell the properties to targeted industries.

• The third tier is complex properties such as the Avtex/ Royal Phoenix site where the issues are complex and with many stakeholders including the Town, County, EPA, FMC Bank, and community residents. An international commercial broker with experience with brownfields might be appropriate to help market and sell the property.

• The last tier are properties that may be suited for development as greenspace and deeded to the County.

Greg Harold presented an illustration of the type of planning EDA proposes doing. He showed the Board a LEC concept (Limited Equity Cooperatives) for possible development on Kendrick Lane. The concept plan included forty townhouses, five two-story buildings with eight units each, with joined green space. Homeownership would be through a cooperative with a goal to provide reasonably priced housing to eligible persons in the community. The Board was very interested in developing the idea further and will discuss individual properties at the next meeting.

The next EDA Board meeting is scheduled for April 22. All meetings are posted on the website. The April meeting will be held at the EDA Kendrick Lane office at 8:00 a.m.

Watch the EDA Meeting in this exclusive Royal Examiner video as we join just as they come out of a closed session.