Sale of Poplar Hall School for Investment Property

URGENT:

Sorry for the late notice, this just came to my attention.

Item PH-7 on the City Council Agenda for 20 July 2021 is for the sale of the Poplar Hall School property to a property Investment Group. It may be too late the register to speak (Have to register by 3pm on the day of the meeting)

See City Council | City of Norfolk, Virginia – Official Website
Below is a letter I wrote that you can feel free to copy and paste to the council members/address on the above website.

Mayor Alexander promised the Federation of Civic Leagues over a year ago that a discussion would take place on the use of this property. Some ideas put forth were building of a recreation center, senior center, and possible replacement library for the aging Janaf Center one. Also despite numerous inquiries during our East Side Task Force meetings, the answer was always that no decision had been made.

Apparently neither of the above was true. The property is on the agenda to approve the sale to an investment/property management group that will most likely build apartments on that land and possibly the adjacent land that used to be a motel and Grate Steak.

That the Task Force and the Civic Leagues were NEVER given the opportunity to provide input or even be made aware of the planned sale and use of this property ahead of time is completely unacceptable. Please, if you have time, consider registering to speak. If not, please send an E-mail to the council before the 6pm meeting to express your concerns.

I recommend DISAPPROVAL or at the very least tabling of Item PH-7 on the agenda for 20 July 2021.

This item on the agenda is the first time that we are hearing of this sale. It has NOT come up on the East Side Task Force meetings, despite asking about plans for the Poplar Hall School property on numerous occasions. Since this is an investment group, I would assume it will become multi-family housing and may eventually include the adjacent land that used to be Grate Steak and a hotel that is now vacant.

This goes against a promise made by the Mayor to the Federation of Civic Leagues to at least consider this location for uses such as a Recreation Center adjacent to the Poplar Hall Park, new library to replace the aging Janaf Library, and possible use as a Senior Center. Since it was never discussed with the East Side Task Force, despite numerous inquiries during our meetings, we can only assume this consideration never happened. There was never any discussion with the Task Force, Civic Leagues, or neighborhoods on how this property could be used, or how the above goals could be otherwise met by the city. The Task Force and Civic Leagues should have been included in this discussion, but AGAIN they were left out of the loop.

The surrounding neighborhoods are full of Senior Citizens, Low Income, and minorities that would benefit from these services as the Mayor discussed. In addition, yet again another development is being done by a business that is not minority owned. If discussion and consideration never happened with the Task Force and Civic Leagues, how much effort went into helping minority owned businesses take advantage of an investment opportunity here?
I’m disappointed in the Mayor not keeping his promise to have a dialogue on use of this property, and I’m disappointed that the sale and future use of this property was hidden from the Task Force and Civic Leagues. This is NOT what the City Council promised it’s residents when considering development and improvements and specifically future use of this location.

Thank you!

PH-7 PUBLIC HEARING scheduled this day, pursuant to State Law, to hear comments Approving a Purchase and Development Agreement Between the City of Norfolk, as Seller, and Breeden Investment Properties, Inc., as Purchaser, for that Certain Parcel of Real Property Located at 5523 Pebble Lane in the City of Norfolk, Virginia, and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Purchase and Development Agreement on Behalf of the City of Norfolk.

An Ordinance Approving a Purchase and Development Agreement Between the City of Norfolk, as Seller, and Breeden Investment Properties, Inc., as Purchaser, for that Certain Parcel of Real Property Located at 5523 Pebble Lane in the City of Norfolk, Virginia, and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Purchase and Development Agreement on Behalf of the City of Norfolk.