BLACKSBURG, Va. – A new plan is on the table for a hybrid commercial-residential development in Blacksburg. It would go on the current vacant lot where the old Blacksburg Middle School used to be.
The plans were unveiled in a standing room only community meeting Wednesday night. Developers received lots of questions and feedback from the community on the updated plan. The original plan was presented in fall 2017, and after a comment session the developers re-tooled it. This time, they think they have a winner.
The voice of Virginia Tech, Bill Roth, voiced a video shown to the audience that was a fly over and walk-through of the proposed property. It could be the next big thing in Blacksburg - commercial, residential, a hotel and civic space all wrapped into a project they call Midtown.
"I think we've got a plan now that responds to the feedback of the community to create a place where we truly can live, work, and gather as a town," Midtown Redevelopment Partner Jim Cowan said. "I think getting the mix of that right, getting the pedestrian and bike connectivity, getting all of those pieces in the right amounts, the right amount of parking but not too much, and getting all those details and that feedback has really allowed us to come to a design that we were just really excited to get to unveil."
Tall grass now stands where Blacksburg Middle once stood, developers say now is the time to move into phase one, and others agree.
"We have people who walk into our office and ask if we have anything available," Blacksburg developer Audrey Hill said. "We tell them there's hopefully new construction coming and that we are in our declining development years."
About 300 condos town homes, and duplexes would fill that need. The residential part of the project is geared toward adult residents. They can't legally bar students, but they can put in numerous barriers like an HOA, strict income requirements and no student-conducive floor plans, among others.
"I definitely have concerns that I am curious to see how they are already addressed or if they're addressed," Blacksburg resident Alan Baker said. "I'm sure that other people have concerns."
Numerous business leaders went on video in support of the project. It would be a public-private partnership, and large civic spaces would eventually be turned over to the town.
"This is a project where it's got to be a win-win, the town has to say wow this is great, we want to invest," Cowan said. "We want to put a public safety building here, we want to have a public garage, we want to activate these civic spaces."
Developers estimate 250 office jobs would be placed on site, and that more than $1 million would be generated for county and town tax rolls - something they say everyone can get behind.
Moving forward, the town and developers will take Wednesday's comments into their plans. The planning commission needs to approve the rezoning request, and if that happens then the plan can move forward to town council for the next hurdles. The next meeting is scheduled for July.
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