Could Fredericksburg get a modern, consolidated courts facility and rid itself of the so-called Big Ugly with one decision?
A partnership among the Silver Cos., the Garrett Cos. and Hunter Greenlaw placed that proposal--without many details--before the City Council last night.
This partnership has been pushing a roughly 12-acre site on Lafayette Boulevard, near the site of the old Rappahannock Regional Jail, as the best location for a new city courts complex.
They're competing with a collection of proposals that would use the land that the post office currently occupies on Princess Anne Street.
Van Perroy, who owns the Fredericksburg Square banquet hall on Caroline Street, has also placed his building in the running for Fredericksburg's future hall of justice.
Council members didn't make much progress toward choosing a site last night, but they did set a goal of choosing one by the end of the year.
Vice Mayor Kerry Devine said she does not want to take the courts out of the core downtown area, and she doesn't consider that part of Lafayette Boulevard part of that core. "I was here 27 years ago when the downtown core emptied out when the mall opened," she said. "You need to factor in the cost to the rest of the economy."
To try to address that concern, Silver, Garrett and Greenlaw have proposed that if the city chooses their site, Silver could buy the Executive Plaza and the current Juvenile and Domestic Relations courthouse on Princess Anne Street.
They would demolish those buildings and build "new mixed-use products."
The proposal argues that the sale of the buildings, along with the tax revenue the new projects would generate, could help the city to pay for a new courts complex--something already expected to raise real estate taxes for city residents.
Estimates on several different versions of their proposal range from $50 million to $60 million.
But the post office site also offers the possibility of private development offsetting public expense. It would likely take a year longer to build than the Lafayette option--which promises to be complete by fall of 2009--but could include retail and residential space on parts of that property, as proposed in the Economic Development Authority's JumpStart plan for the city.
The city would have to first pay to move the post office off that property and buy the Wachovia bank that is also on that block.
Cost estimates for that proposal, for fulfilling the city's courts needs for the next 20 years, range from $62 million to $73 million.
Perroy has put forward proposals with price tags ranging from $40 million to $45 million, but council members have asked for more information. Even the smallest initial investment the city has identified that it could make--$33 million to build the first phase of a court complex on Princess Anne Street--would require a 6-cent tax rate hike.
Council members Marvin Dixon, Debby Girvan and Hashmel Turner all said the Lafayette site could help the city extend its core downtown, and not necessarily suck all the life out of the present core.
Councilman George Solley said there are other things the council should consider.
He thinks the city should put a priority on consolidating all three of its courts in one building, which makes securing those courts much easier. He also thinks the cost of the new building and the timeline for construction should be deciding factors.
Dixon agreed, and council members asked for some more information on the two private proposals.
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413