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VIRGINIA BEACH — As Virginia Beach is considering the future of Rudee Loop, two local developers who have a stake in the game are at odds over a proposal for an adjacent piece of land — raising questions among some City Council members about whether any development should happen there before the city decides on a long-term plan.
Developer Bruce Smith, who leads one of the four groups that submitted ideas to develop Rudee Loop, is turning his attention to another project a few steps away where he envisions building a 200-unit apartment complex. The NFL Hall of Famer owns a piece of land — approximately 1/3 of an acre — next to the Rudee Inlet bridge. A small apartment complex, built in 1981, currently occupies the space.
Now, Smith says, he’s ready to develop it, but he needs to buy city-owned land next to his in order to build apartments.
On Tuesday, the City Council held a closed meeting about Smith’s proposal. But before the body met to discuss it, developer Bruce Thompson, who also submitted a proposal for Rudee Loop last year, heard about Smith’s newest proposal and weighed in. He sent an email to city officials saying he is concerned Smith is trying to skirt a submittal process for potential development at Rudee Loop.
But Smith says what he wants to do with his privately-owned land is a separate matter.
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Competing visions
Last year, the city invited qualified local, regional and national real estate developers to submit responses for development of approximately 8 acres of city-owned land at Rudee Loop, a peninsula adjacent to Rudee Inlet on the southern end of the resort area. The land is mostly parking lots used by beachgoers, surfers and fishermen.
Four ideas were publicly presented including those from Smith and Thompson that would transform the area. Smith’s proposal included a 4-acre park, retail, hotels, apartments and a parking garage. Thompson’s proposal put an emphasis on a 7-acre park with a skate park, dog park and surf hall of fame and also included a parking garage and apartments. Thompson’s proposal included a second option that would put a new hotel where the existing Schooner Inn is located. It isn’t the first time the two men have competed, and sparred, over development prospects.
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City surveys found most residents wanted a public park at Rudee Loop, rather than condos or more hotels. The city has not yet announced the next step for the land, but the City Council plans to hold a workshop to discuss it this summer. With a decision outstanding, Thompson argues those who submitted designs for Rudee Loop should be able to submit revisions for consideration. Or the city shouldn’t accept any new proposals at all.
“The process is ongoing,” Thompson wrote in an email sent May 12 to City Council members and city attorneys. “It would seam(sic) to me the city is either to conclude the process and advise developers and the project why.”
In the email, Thompson also accused Smith and “some council members” of interfering with proposed development plans that could potentially come forward.
“It’s amazing that in the middle of a public process, that he would submit another completely different proposal before the city has made a decision on the first and notified the public that has weighed in on the various proposals as to their decision,” Thompson wrote Wednesday in a text to a Virginian-Pilot reporter. “Any experienced developer would know how totally inappropriate it would be to interfere with an ongoing public process.”
But it was the fact Thompson knew about Smith’s proposal at all that concerned Councilman Chris Taylor.
“I’m not sure how Bruce Thompson has knowledge of what we’re going to discuss in closed session,” Taylor said Tuesday ahead of the council’s closed meeting, the details of which are not publicized. “It leads to distrust.”
Smith said he met with every council member individually before this week’s meeting, and he’s wants the city to get to the bottom of who leaked specific details about his project to Thompson and why.
“There needs to be an investigation,” Smith said. “It’s very disturbing.”
Councilwoman Barbara Henley said because Smith had shared his idea with council members outside of a closed meeting, she doesn’t see a problem with Thompson having knowledge of it.
“That loses his confidentiality,” she said.
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‘A separate proposal’
Smith’s privately-owned land sits outside of the 8 acres the city wants to develop at Rudee Loop. He bought it in 2015 for $1.1 million, according to city records. The most recent city assessment of the land is $728,000.
Smith has been interested in developing mixed-use projects in Rudee Loop for years, and has submitted unsolicited proposals to the city in the past. He’s also been involved in several local development projects in Hampton Roads, including 27 Atlantic apartments and the Hyatt House hotel at the Oceanfront.
He decided to propose an apartment building now because he realized the public wasn’t interested in his idea for more extensive development at Rudee Loop.
“It was somewhat of an overwhelming conclusion that people want a park,” Smith said. “It’s a separate proposal that will have no negative impact on the acreage of the park.”
His latest project would help offset the costs to build and maintain a public park at Rudee Loop, Smith wrote in a letter to Mayor Bobby Dyer and the City Council members April 21.
“The development would also enhance the market by attracting the new residents who are crucial to the goal of counterbalancing seasonal revenue and making the oceanfront resort a year-round economy,” Smith wrote.
In order to build the 175 to 200-unit apartment complex, Smith says he needs to buy 3/4 of an acre of land next to his site that the city owns. He’s offering to pay up to $1 million for it and to lease 200 spaces in a future parking garage that the city would build, he wrote. He plans to make some of the units “affordable” and wants to add storage units to the rear of the garage for the apartment residents, surfers and fishermen. He’s not asking for any taxpayer money, he said.
Thompson was aware that part of Smith’s proposal included a bid to purchase city land.
“I would hope that after decades of assembling property at Rudy(sic) Loop they would not start selling it off piecemeal,” he wrote in a text.
Taylor said he wasn’t ready to fully consider Smith’s proposal Tuesday.
“We need to first as a council decide what we’re going to do with the entire Rudee Loop piece,” Taylor said.
Councilman Worth Remick, reached before the meeting, said he liked the proposal, and that it was his understanding the apartments could potentially be wrapped around a parking garage, which would provide more land for park amenities.
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Remick also said elements of Smith’s pitch are in line with the city’s 10-year strategic plan for the resort area, which calls for more parking and year-round residential options.
“Mr. Smith’s proposal addresses both of these needs,” Remick said.
Councilman Michael Berlucchi said the bottom line for him is making sure no one is left out, “that everyone has a fair chance to respond to what the public wants,” he said.
Smith declined to talk about any feedback he got from council members after the meeting. Thompson said he hasn’t been advised by anyone on the council as to what they may do.
Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson, who represents the district where Rudee Loop is located, said she didn’t attend the closed meeting but met with Smith about his proposal.
“I don’t think we want to rush this,” she said.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com