Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990 TAG: 9007280375
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES PAGE: SMT-10 EDITION: BEDFORD
SOURCE: DAVID POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Plans are under way or in the works for:
Three different shopping centers totaling more than 150,000 square feet of retail space.
A Williamsburg-style office complex.
Several other projects including a Central Fidelity Bank branch and Central Mart convenience store.
Added to existing commercial and office space, the new projects would mean the busy intersection could rival Hales Ford Bridge as the lake's "Main Street" business address.
The intersection is the main entrance to the Virginia 616 corridor, a residentially developed peninsula formed by the Roanoke River channel to the east and the Blackwater River channel to the west.
Developer Bill Draper has the most ambitious vision of the intersection's commercial potential.
Draper's company, Lake Area Development, is working on two commercial projects - a 30-acre tract on the southeast corner and an 18-acre tract behind Fairway Bay Shopping Village.
Draper is trying to land a national grocery store chain as the anchor tenant of the corner tract. Draper said he is negotiating with some "noteworthy national names," but does not want to make an announcement until leases are signed.
Developers have been trying - in vain - to lure Food Lion or another national chain to the Smith Mountain Lake area. The lake's only full-service supermarket is Shoprite in Moneta.
Draper said his company has halted erosion problems on the corner lot that drew complaints from residents on nearby Becky's Creek. A siltation pond has been built to catch most of the silt before it washes into the creek, he said.
Central Fidelity Bank is completing a branch bank on the southwest corner. Next door is a new convenience store, Central Mart, operated by William and Nancy Lawson.
Nearby, Colonial World Inc. has begun site work for the first phase of a 13,000 square-foot office and professional complex.
Steve Scott, a principal in the project, said the complex would be built in a Colonial Williamsburg style on an acre tract. The first four units are scheduled for completion in November, he said.
Another commercial development, Chimney Hill, could lead to a test of Franklin County's zoning regulations.
Last year, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors approved a 95,000 square-foot shopping center, restaurant, 80-room hotel, and 270,000 square feet of light industrial and office space for the 81-acre site.
In January, the developer who obtained the zoning change sold the land to Robert W. Waddell, a Virginia Beach physician. Waddell has said he plans to make changes in the site plan, a move county officials say he cannot make without the Board of Supervisors' approval.
The burst of construction has led local historical preservationists to save the 1881 Duncan School building, located in the heart of the intersection.
With the help of $6,000 from the Franklin County Board of Supervisors, volunteers have prepared the building to be moved to nearby Dudley Elementary School.
Franklin County School Superintendent Len Gereau said he would apply for a state grant to restore the Duncan School, which was also known as Hales Ford Academy.
by CNB