Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 9, 1995 TAG: 9506100012
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Franklin Real Estate Co., a subsidiary of the Roanoke-based electric utility, is selling a 138-acre parcel at Smith Mountain Lake.
It's the first time in seven years the company has put property on the market.
"It's really exciting, " said Audrey Agee, a lake real estate agent and president of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce. "It's going to be interesting to see who buys it and what they do with it. It's a beautiful piece of property."
The land, which includes about four miles of shoreline, is off Virginia 942 in Franklin County, directly across the water from Smith Mountain Lake State Park. It is adjacent to a 37-acre peninsula that is owned by the state and is being developed into a park by Franklin County.
The buyer of the Apco property must agree to establish a permanent easement for access to the park, and must provide plans to make sure any development is compatible with scenic recreation and aesthetic values at the lake, Apco spokesman Don Johnson said.
The minimum bid Apco will accept for the property is $4.1 million - the appraised value of the land, he said.
The tract will be sold by sealed bids, which must be submitted by Sept. 1. Additional information about the sale is available by calling the company's land management department at (703) 985-2821.
A Franklin Real Estate representative will give tours of the property, meeting potential buyers at the intersection of Winding Waters Drive and Channelview Drive on June 30 and July 1 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Apco, which built Smith Mountain Lake in the early 1960s as part of its hydroelectric generating facility there, has an agreement with the State Corporation Commission to sell land it is not using, Johnson said. Including the 138-acre parcel, the company owns more than 2,000 acres surrounding the lake's 500 miles of shoreline.
The agreement rose out of debate in the mid-'70s over a proposed Apco rate increase. Customers and politicians questioned Apco's substantial land holdings at the lake and the company's future plans.
Apco last sold lake land in 1988, when the Snyder-Hunt Corp. of Blacksburg bought a 130-acre tract in Franklin County for $3.4 million.
"We certainly wouldn't want to dump all our property at once and flood the market," Johnson said.
This year's sale comes as development at the lake - which slowed in the early '90s after the boom of the '80s - shows signs of increasing again, according to Agee and other lake real estate agents and developers.
Many who earn their living in lake real estate are keeping their eyes on the latest project of Ron Willard, the Franklin County developer who built the first golf course at the lake.
Willard is putting the final touches on The Boardwalk, a residential community on 93 acres just downstream from the Apco property.
Willard could not be reached for comment about his possible interest in the Apco land.
by CNB