Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990 TAG: 9003290780
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We're in the final stages of preparing documents and hope to have an announcement in the next week to 10 days," said Tony Skillbeck, a vice president with Faison & Associates in Charlotte, N.C.
Skillbeck would not discuss the project today or say when construction will begin on what Faison said earlier would be a building with at least 18 stories.
"We think it will go forward," Skillbeck said, adding he has no reason to think that the proposed building at Jefferson Street and Salem Avenue will not be constructed.
David Caudill, president of Dominion Bankshares Corp., said earlier this week that negotiations among tenants, city officials and Faison are beginning to come together. Dominion Bankshares and the Woods Rogers & Hazlegrove law firm will be anchor tenants in Faison's building.
Some officials have indicated that ground may be broken for the project by mid-April, but Skillbeck would not comment today on a target date for a groundbreaking or construction.
Faison had hoped to start construction in January, but city officials have said it has taken attorneys longer than anticipated to draft the legal documents that are required for the project because the city will own a six-level parking garage within the building.
The Jefferson Street leg of the Hunter Viaduct, which was to have been closed in January, apparently will remain open until at least the middle of April or even later.
City traffic officials have developed an interim plan for downtown traffic until a proposed inner-loop road system is finished in 1992 and a new bridge is built across the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks at Second Street Southwest.
They say it will take at least two weeks to make changes in traffic signs and street markings once they receive official notification from Faison that he is ready to begin construction. The city does not want to tear down the viaduct leg until it is necessary.
Even if a groundbreaking is held in April, no significant construction apparently can begin on Faison's building until May, at the earliest, because it will take a contractor about 30 days to raze the first segment of the viaduct.
City Council awarded a $180,130 contract last November to Branch Highways, Inc., to raze the first segment of the viaduct. The contractor is still awaiting word from the city on the date to begin razing the viaduct.
A spokesman for Branch Highways said today its $180,130 bid, which was accepted by council, is still valid even though it was submitted more than four months ago.
The interim traffic plan is mainly designed to speed traffic in and out of downtown during morning and afternoon rush hours after part of the viaduct is razed. The chief features are:
Conversion of First Street between Campbell and Salem avenues into a two-way street.
Conversion of Jefferson Street between Salem and Norfolk avenues into a two-way street.
Creation of two left-turn lanes on Campbell Avenue at Williamson Road between 3-6 p.m. to speed the flow of afternoon rush-hour traffic out of downtown. Parking would be prohibited on the north side of Campbell in the block between the City Market and Williamson Road to provide the additional lane for left turns from Campbell onto Williamson Road.
Removal of the traffic lights on the viaduct at Williamson Road and Salem Avenue, closing the median break and eliminating a left turn from Williamson Road onto Salem Avenue for northbound motorists. Southbound motorists could still turn right onto Salem Avenue from Williamson Road.
by CNB