By ops@our-hometown.com | on August 03, 2022

“The Lake” development will feature a 13-acre man-made lake, six-acre surf park, amphitheater, hotels, residential, mixed-use entertainment and office space adjacent to the county’s Genito/288 Special Focus Area plan. RENDERING COURTESY OF FLATWATER VENTURES

The Board of Supervisors deferred to the regularly scheduled August meeting voting on the particulars of a performance grant agreement on a proposed surf park project in the River City “entertainment district.”

During last week’s work session, the performance grant agreement item was moved from the board’s consent agenda to a discussion item during the regular meeting. That discussion comprised a presentation from Finance Administrator Matt Harris to the board, as well as lengthy dialogue between Richmond-based developer Brett Burkhart of Flatwater Ventures and board members delineating different aspects of the project.

The performance grant in question would refund 80% of taxes on the mixed-use elements of the project for the first 10 years and 60% for the next decade. Stand-alone residential development would not be tax exempt, and mixed-use residential development would receive a 40% tax refund for the entire 20-year period.

“We work out a deal proportionate to whatever the project is, and they get a portion of that income stream back over time,” Harris said, noting that the county uses performance grants sparingly – having only paid out $10,000 in fiscal year 2021, as recorded in the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) – and are reserved for “unique projects,” such as the Shamin Hotel and Conference Center at Stonebridge, or the Courthouse Landing project’s inclusion of a healthcare facility.

The undeveloped property is currently assessed around $4.7 million, but Harris underscored the project idea, coupled with its location, as making it a huge potential asset.

“With sports tourism you have to continue to differentiate your crown jewel and for us that’s River City,” he said, and in this instance, the multi-use surf park offers a complement “unlike anything on the East Coast,” Harris said. “This is very much in line with some of the recent incentive deals that you’ve done – Lego in particular, from a percentage breakdown is very, very similar to this.”

Harris said the best estimate for the entire incentive packages is in the $27-$28 million range, and the revenue expectation is projected at $25 to $26 million, “So roughly about a 50-50 split,” Harris said, “which is very, very close to other deals.”

And while Flatwater Ventures is working on Phase 1, which they anticipate should open to the public by the end of 2023 with commercial construction, including restaurants, and the 13-acre man-made lake – the project has navigated nearly six years of red tape to bring Burkhart’s vision for the 105-acre development to life.

“The Lake” will feature a six-acre surf park, amphitheater, two hotels, more than 700 residential units, 100,000 square-feet of office space and 150,000 square-feet of retail and entertainment adjacent to the county’s Genito/288 Special Focus Area plan.

As for the 13-acre lake itself, Burkhart explained, attendees will be able to wakeboard, participate in an inflatable obstacle course, kayak or paddle board.

“And then, we’re really excited about the surf park itself – this is a very new industry when we started this, there had never been one built, and so we’ve been following the technology for many years kind of quietly,” he said, “And then when we did announce this when we got our final permit, right before COVID, the announcement made international news so … we’re excited to be kind of on the leading edge of that technology because there’s only a few of these in the world right now.”

Nonetheless, more than six of the last seven and a half years have been dedicated to working through governmental processes to install the latter vision; Harris said safeguards have been built into the back-end of things, too, such as construction coming to fruition within 36 months of permitting, or the agreement “dries up,” and liability falling on the financial institutions, not the county.

“So now we’re starting to spend a lot more money,” Burkhart said. “We are out there clearing trees, we’ve built an entrance road, put in all the spine utilities, moving it forward as fast as we can and so this will kind of help accelerate the next phase and help us bring in a lot of these cool tenants that we’re talking to.”

Indeed, the zoning process alone took more than a year, three years of permitting and two more years to acquire the necessary credits – the last environmental credit was obtained on July 10 and within two weeks Burkhart said crews were on site going to work because “it’s been a long time coming.”

As part of the zoning, Burkhart cannot begin building any residential units until The Lake and at least 20,000 square-feet of commercial use space are complete. At that point, stand-alone townhome construction can begin, followed by another 150,000 square-feet of commercial use to balance the residential component.

“I think this could be a very successful project and would add to the revenue of the county,” said Dale supervisor Jim Holland, “However, I have to admit I’ve been out for the last week and haven’t had a chance to immerse myself into details, so I would personally need more time to digest the economic fundamentals.”

Hence, Holland said, he would either abstain or defer from a vote, “but I do applaud your persistence and your perseverance with this project.”

In short order, Board Chair and Clover Hill supervisor Chris Winslow made a motion to defer the agreement question to the August meeting, which Holland seconded.

The performance agreement proposal was subject of significant scrutiny in the days preceding last week’s meeting, after ABC8 published an article noting that Winslow received a $2,500 campaign donation from Lake Adventures LLC in May.

“I was advocating for this project before anyone bothered donating to my campaign, and I’ll still support it if any donors withdraw their support, because it’s a good deal for the county,” Winslow said after the meeting last week. ¦

This is another example of graft and corruption. County pays double the assessed value of property. Commits Dominion Energy to build a substation to power the facility (already done), tells us sports tourism is net negative, gives multi decade tax abatements, gives them free water to fill a man made lake. Then the Board of Supervisors raises our residential property tax 18.5% (tax=rate x assessment), jacks our water and sewer rates 5%, then tells us we need a $540 million bond issue to pay for essential services. How about making the developers pay their fair share in taxes with no abatement, charge them for water to fill the lake at the retail rate, and stop taking campaign contributions from these very same developers? I am voting the Board out in November 2023. The county administrator and budget director may also need to be replaced to get these tax, borrow, and spending policies under control.

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